JSBSim releases

[bcoconni]

JSBSim latest release is 1.2.1

• Download binary files
• Python packages are available from PyPI and can be installed with pip
• Conda packages are available from conda-forge. To install this package with conda run: conda install -c conda-forge jsbsim

Release 1.2.1

JSBSim version 1.2.1 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Aug 08, 2024
Python version: 3.8 or higher

Changelog

User

• Fixed a bug in the computation of orbital parameters where the perigee argument was valid only if the inclination and eccentricity were non-zero (PR Argument of perigee only valid if both inclination and eccentricity are non-zero #981)
• Restored the ability to use the linearization feature from the console and from XML scripts (PR Linearization from console executable and xml script  #991). As a result of this change, the script 737_cruise_steady_turn_simplex.xml no longer fails.
• Fixed an error in the computation of rotation rates in the body frame (aka vPQRdot) (regression test added by PR Wrong calculation of vPQRdot in FGAccelerations class #1034 and fixed by PR Fix a mistake in vPQRdot calculation #1036)
• The documentation has been updated regarding the values that the mixture of a piston engine can be set to (PR Documentation updates. #1048 and issue Fixing the mixture for JSBSim piston aircraft #1037).
• Fixed a bug where a telnet connection could not be reopened (PR Provide possibility to reopen telnet connection #1078)
• Added the ability to change the location of thrusters via properties (PR Added ability to dynamically change thruster location via property #1073)
• The error management in socket code has been improved to intercept and report more errors. This should help the user finding errors more easily when using this feature (PR Some improvements to the socket code. #1081)
• Added the ability to modify the property ic/vw-mag-fps i.e. the initial value of the wind velocity magnitude (PR Add support for setting ic/vw-mag-fps #1093)
• Reduced the console output when debug level is zero (PR Reduce console output when debug level is zero #1092)
• The thrust augmentation command is now clamped to the range [0.0 - 1.0] (PR AugmentCmd should be clamped to [0.0..1.0] for 'augmentation method two' #1090)
• Added properties AGL-ft to display the height above the ground of each contact (PR Create AGL property for contacts #1104)
• Clarified the document of <function> to state that it can contain a single <table> element (PR Update FGFunction documentation #1131)

Distributed flight dynamics models

• The model of the Short S23 Empire has been updated.
• Fixed the initial conditions of the script ball_orbit.xml so that its orbit gets circular (i.e. its eccentricity is zero). See discussion Ball script circular orbit setup #985 for more details.
• The model of the Zeppelin NT airship a.k.a ZLT-NT has been updated.
• The model of the Submarine Scout airship has been updated.
• The license of the following files have been changed from GPLv2+ to LGPLv2.1+
  • systems/airship-mooring.xml
  • systems/airship_added_mass.xml
  • systems/hydrodynamic-planing-floats.xml
  • systems/hydrodynamic-planing.xml
  • systems/hydrodynamics.xml
  • systems/visual-reference-point-extensions.xml

Python module

• Improved the caching of property nodes for faster lookups (PR Use cached PropertyNodes in python API for property reads #993)
• The reference counting of property nodes is now shared between the C++ code and the python module. This avoids crashes due to the inadvertent deletion of pointers by the C++ code of pointers that are also used by the Python module. (PR Make the Python binding of FGPropertyNode compatible with SGSharedPtr ref counting #1000)
• Fixed the documentation of the methods FGPropertyNode.get_double_value and FGPropertyNode.set_double_value (PR Documentation updates. #1048 and issue CMAKE Configure Error on MacOS (M1 aarch64) #922).
• Made the Python module compatible with NumPy 2.0 (PR Fix incompatibilities with NumPy 2.0 #1107)

Aeromatic++

• Fixed a typo in a message printed in the console by aeromatic++ (PR Fix typo in Aeromatic++ #1002)
• Fixed the headers so that aeromatic++ can also be compiled with VS2015 (PR fix: toupper is not a member of std #1020)

Developer

• The CMake target libJSBSim now includes the list of the headers it uses for cross reference in other CMake files (PR fix: target include directories #1022).
• Some maintenance / minor changes have been done (see PR Maintenance / Minor changes #1031 and PR Maintenance / Minor changes #1050 for details).
• Replaced hardcoded buffer lengths by a computation of the length using sizeof(). This avoids potential mismatches in future updates of the files (PR Ensure consistent buffer size for snprintf #1035).
• JSBSim is now compiled and tested on MacOS M1 runners (PR Run tests on M1 MacOS runners. #1030)
• libexpat has been updgraded to 2.6.2 (PR Upgrade libexpat to 2.6.2 #1080)
• The XML element of late bound properties is now released after successful binding for memory saving (PR Release XML element when property value node was bound #1096)

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.0

Release Date: Oct 17, 2020
JSBSim version 1.1.0 is the first stable official release from the JSBSim project.

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.1

JSBSim version 1.1.1 is a bug fix release
Release Date: Oct 24, 2020

Changelog

• Fixed an issue with the <magnetometer> which started after 1000 iterations (issue Magnetometer Startup Sequence Causes ~5 Seconds of Erroneous Data #332).
• An installer is used to release Windows executables and aircraft data.

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.2

JSBSim version 1.1.2 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Nov 21, 2020

Changelog

• Fixed assertion failures when the ground callback instance does not set the ellipse parameters of the 'contact' location.
• Now issuing a warning when the clipping max is lower than the min (previously an exception was thrown).
• The socket code is now compatible with OpenBSD
• The minimum inertia allowed for propellers has been lowered from 1e-3 to 1e-6 (see issue Propeller, engine improvements to support quadcopters etc. #333)
• Packages are now provided for Python 3.9 under Windows and MacOSX

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.3

JSBSim version 1.1.3 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Jan 22, 2021

Changelog

User

• In <magnetometer>, the Earth magnetic field is now updated every 1000 steps starting at first step.
• The vehicle angular rates are now taken into account in the propellers local velocities (issue Propeller, engine improvements to support quadcopters etc. #333)
• The torque produced by the engines is now correctly accounted for in the vehicle rotational accelerations (issue Propeller, engine improvements to support quadcopters etc. #333)
• Elevator deflection in the example aircraft no longer produces negative drag (issue Negative drag due to elevator deflection #357)
• Fixed an assertion failure which could be incorrectly triggered when creating a new FGFDMExec instance with an existing property manager.
• FGCondition now returns better (more explicit) exception messages
• The debug_lvl variable can now be modified to set the amount of information logged in the console:

import jsbsim

jsbsim.FGJSBBase().debug_lvl = 0 # disable debug information in the console

Developer

• The example C++ file JSBSim_minimal.cpp has been updated to compile with the current API.
• Removed a compilation warning about a comparison between signed and unsigned
• FGMassBalance is no longer having a pointer to FGGroundReactions
• Documentation build is now disabled when -DBUILD_DOCS=OFF is passed to CMake
• Updated .gitignore with Clion project files and Python cache files
• FGMatrixException now inherits from std::runtime_error
• The minimal version of CMake is now 3.1
• Build Doxygen documentation even when Python is not available
• The generation of the Python API documentation has been fixed (issue JSBSim Python API documentation unavailable! #373)

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.4

JSBSim version 1.1.4 is a bug fix release.
Release Date: Jan 24, 2021

Changelog

• Fixed the build of the documentation of JSBSim Python API (issue JSBSim Python API documentation unavailable! #373)
• Fixed the source package of JSBSim Python module. The source package in 1.1.3 could not build on Windows and MacOSX.

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.5

JSBSim version 1.1.5 is a bug fix release.
Release Date: Feb 05, 2021

Changelog

• Fixed the source package of JSBSim Python module. The source package in 1.1.4 could not build on Windows/Python 3.9 (issue Building the Python package from source fails for Windows/Python 3.9 #391).

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.6

JSBSim version 1.1.6 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Apr 30, 2021

Changelog

User

• New properties propeller-power-ftlbps, propeller-torque-ftlb and propeller-sense for Propeller power, torque, and sense (PR Properties added for Propeller power, torque, and sense #394)
• Fixes segmentation faults, a delta-wing Lift_alpha and Drag_alpha problem in aeromatic++ (issue AeromatiC++ Segmentation fault #400)

Developer

• Always set useDefault to false when calling SGPropertyNode::tie() (issue Always set useDefault to false when calling SGPropertyNode::tie() #363)
• Fixes build with recent versions of MinGW64 (issue Failing to build with MinGW64 on Windows #397)
• Fix ws2tcpip.h casing for cross compilation.

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.7

JSBSim version 1.1.7 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Jul 14, 2021

Changelog

User

• Mass flows can now be specified using SI unit (kg/s)
• Fixes issues where propellers were reported:
  • to generate high torques while being motionless or,
  • to unexpectedly spin in mild wind conditions.
• [Python] The methods load_ic and load_script now raise a FileNotFoundError exception when called on non existing files. This avoids the Python interpreter being killed when specifying a wrong path (or filename) to these methods.
• Adds a new property propulsion/fuel_freeze to freeze fuel consumption (PR Add propulsion/fuel_freeze property #462). This can be used for simulations that require the aircraft mass to remain constant.
• Adds a new flag DONT_EXECUTE_RUN_IC that can be specified to FGFDMExec::ResetToInitialConditions (PR Provide mode flag to ResetToInitialConditions() to skip the execution of RunIC() #466). When specified, this flag avoid calling FGFDMExec::RunIC when FGFDMExec::ResetToInitialConditions is executed.
• Fixes an error in the F-15 model where the kinematic element was not connected to the elevator position (PR Kinematic element wasn't connected to elevator position #471)

Aeromatic++

• Fixes lift curves for delta wings (issue Aeromatic alpha value output #436 / PR Fix delta wings #450)
• Samples input files are now provided for aeromatic++ in the folder utils/aeromatic++/samples/ (PR New config files for AeromatiC++ #453)
  • These sample files are distributed with the Windows installer JSBSim-1.1.7-setup.exe
• Fixes a bug which avoided engine data to be generated (issue Aeromatic alpha value output #436 / PR Fix systems #458)

Developer

• [Python] Both signatures of FGFDMExec.load_ic are now tested.
• Improves the release message
• Uses GitHub default TOC (table of contents) for Markdown documentation rather than providing our own (ugly) one.
• Avoids building JSBSim with Python 3.10 since this new version of the language will not be released until October 2021.

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.8

JSBSim version 1.1.8 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Jul 24, 2021

Changelog

User

• Add an interface to Matlab (PR Simulink integration  #445)
• Fix a bug in <linear_actuator> that resulted in erroneous output values when oscillating around the zero value (issue Linear Actuator behaving strangely #485)
• Update the Windows installer to distribute the files needed to build the interface with Matlab

Developer

• Improve test coverage for FGQuaternion
• Restore automatic deployment of the wheels for Python 3.9
• Deployment now need the build for MinGW32 to succeed
• Add a unit test for FGPropertyValue and FGTable
• Add an assert that forbids to set the value of FGPropertyValue when the property was specified with a minus sign
• Add a regression test for issue Linear Actuator behaving strangely #485
• Expand the message of the exception that is raised when not providing a value or a property to FGParameterValue.

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.9

JSBSim version 1.1.9 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Nov 07, 2021
Python version: 3.6 or higher

Changelog

User

• Fixed an error which prevented the equatorial and polar radii from <planet> to be propagated to the initial conditions.
• The header files needed to build the Matlab S-Function are now included in the Windows installer (issue Setting up the JSBSim interface to Matlab on Windows #491).
• The planet radii in <planet> can now be specified by the tags <equatorial_radius> and <polar_radius> which are more self explanatory than <semimajor_axis> and <semiminor_axis> (which are still valid).
• The support of Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 has been dropped: JSBSim packages for this version of Ubuntu are no longer released.
• Improved the error messages returned by FGTable: the file name and line number where the error occurred are now printed.
• Check the number of <input> tags for flight controls such as <pure_gain> (issue <pure_gain>: no error messages #497). This avoids a crash when some or all <input> elements are missing.
• JSBSim now accepts 2 sign conventions for the cross product inertia (xy, xz, yz) in <mass_balance> (see PR Fixed inertia matrix error #502). The sign convention is specified by the parameter negated_crossproduct_inertia which defaults to true for backward compatibility.
• The attribute negated_crossproduct_inertia is now specified in the JSBSim models that are using non zero cross product inertia.
• Turbine engines can now windmill even before they start (issue FGTurbine don't start windmilling until powered up at least once #494 and PR Ensure non-zero acceleration of N1/N2 for windmilling when N1/N2 = 0 #509).
• Fixed a sign error in the computation of aero/h_b-mac-ft (PR Fixed property "aero/h_b-mac-ft" algorithm error #508 )
• Example scripts and aircraft data (as well as their engines and systems) are now included in the Python wheels (issue A/C data file #337). They can be accessed from the Python module using the new function jsbsim.get_default_root_dir().

Developer

• Added a regression test for the <planet> feature.
• Expanded the unit test of FGTable. It now checks:
  • Initialization from XML
  • Table names using the prefix #
  • 3D tables
  • Error handling.
• Fixed a bug where FGTable instances were not untied from the property manager during their destruction. This could lead to segmentation faults when the property manager was later destroyed.
• Exceptions raised by FGTable are now instances of the TableException class.
• A minimum Python version is now specified for the binary wheels (currently 3.6 or higher).
• The Python script setup.py is no longer changing the current directory.
• The flag INSTALL_PYTHON_MODULE has been renamed INSTALL_JSBSIM_PYTHON_MODULE. The former being too generic, this avois potential name clashes with other modules.
• Two new scripts have been added in the admin folder:
  • XML_mass_update.py which allows automatically updating selected XML files in the aircraft data. It has avoided manual updates for the aircraft models which have been updated with the new XML attribute negated_crossproduct_inertia.
  • prepare_test_release.sh which modifies JSBSim to dry run a test release 0.99.xx to be published to TestPyPI

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.10

JSBSim version 1.1.10 is a bug fix release.
Release Date: Nov 12, 2021
Python version: 3.6 or higher

Changelog

User

• Added the Matlab example files (TestJSBSim.m and ex737cruise.slx) in the Windows installer JSBSim-1.1.10-setup.exe to allow the user testing the S-Function once it is built.
• Provide Python package for Python 3.10
• Fixed an error where JSBSim could not autodetect the location of the bundled aircraft data (issue A/C data file #337)

Developer

• The XML validation schema for scripts has been updated. All scripts are now validated against this schema when a GitHub Action is triggered.

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.11

JSBSim version 1.1.11 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Feb 13, 2022
Python version: 3.6 or higher

Changelog

User

This is the last release of JSBSim that supports Python 3.6.
Python 3.6 has reached its end of life and is no longer supported by the Python Foundation (see PEP494). Please upgrade to Python 3.7 or higher.

• Output files are now written in the current directory instead of being written in the aircraft folder (issue A/C data file #337)
• The uninstall of Python wheels now completely removes the directory structure that was created during the installation of the aircraft data.
• A new exception TrimFailureException is now thrown when trim fails. This eases the detection of the trim failure (previously the exception message needed to be checked).
• An exception is thrown when a latitude higher than 90 degrees is supplied to a <waypoint> control element (PR Added error handling in FGWaypoint in case a supplied or calculated l… #536)
• Fix the sign of the initial NED climb rate (property ic/gamma-deg) (PR Sign change for NED to climb rate #545)
• JSBSim now checks malformed data in <table> elements. Anything different than numbers and spaces/tabs will be rejected.
• Usage of <location> and <orientation> in engines is now officially dropped (PR Remove engine code that reads in position and orientation  #559, Remove output of engine location and orientation. Only thruster counts. #561 and Remove engine location and orientation elements #563). These elements were deprecated long ago in favor of the corresponding elements <location> and <orientation> in thrusters. Therefore the code removed is no-op.
• The computation of the initial rotation rates has been fixed (Issue Improper use of local frame rotation rate #553). Previously, the rotation rates could be initialized with extremely high values when the vehicle was spawned over the Poles. And for a given set of initial conditions, the initial rotation rates could have different values depending on the initial latitude at which the vehicle was initialized. This now fixed.
• [Windows] The script JSBSimSimulinkCompile.m that builds the MATLAB S-function is now set to be executed immediately after the installer JSBSim-setup.exe has been run and no longer need manual updates before being run.
• The precision with which values are transmitted thru a socket can now be set via the attribute precision such as <output precision="8"> (PR Allow output precision to be specified for socket output #579)

Developer

• Added 2 new methods to FGFDMExec: SetOutputPath and GetOutputPath to specify the path to which the output files will be written.
• Python method FGFDMExec.set_root_dir() no longer alters the aircraft, engine and system paths. This is now the same behavior than its C++ counterpart FGFDMExec::SetRootDir.
• All JSBSim exceptions now inherit from JSBSim::BaseException. There still exist std::string exceptions thrown by JSBSim. Cleanup is still in progress.
• JSBSim no longer calls exit() or abort(). Exceptions are thrown instead. This gives the calling application an opportunity to gracefully recover.
• The MATLAB S-Function is now tested on Windows and MacOSX in addition to Linux.
• As distutils will be deprecated for Python 3.11, the migration to setuptools has been started. There are still a number of distutils features which have no equivalent to setuptools so this is work in progress.
• Improved the ability of setup.py to be executed on multiple platforms (removed some hardcoded statements)
• SGPropertyNode:getName() is no longer used as it has been dropped from the official SimGear library. This allows remaining compatible with FlightGear.
• When <input> and <output> elements are read from a file, JSBSim now checks that the file can be read before reading it, otherwise an exception is thrown. This avoids SEGFAULTs.

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.12

JSBSim version 1.1.12 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Jun 26, 2022
Python version: 3.7 or higher

Changelog

User

• Improvements to the <table> element:
  • Better error handling and improved messages when an error is found.
  • <table> now accepts 1x1, 1xN and Nx1 shapes (issue Improvements to <table> #185).
• The XML schemas for scripts and systems have been updated to match the most recent JSBSim features.
• Accelerations with respect to the ECI frame (and expressed in the body frame) are now exported by the properties:
  • accelerations/uidot-ft_sec2
  • accelerations/vidot-ft_sec2
  • accelerations/widot-ft_sec2
• Rotational accelerations with respect to the ECI frame (and expressed in the body frame) are now exported by the properties:
  • accelerations/pidot-rad_sec2
  • accelerations/qidot-rad_sec2
  • accelerations/ridot-rad_sec2
• Clarified the legal notice as well as the license used by JSBSim and its dependencies.
• Temporary fix for issue Weather Balloon script crash #654: the balloon content can no longer reach 0.0 moles.
• The example script scripts/weather-balloon.xml now display the burst event.

Python module

• The minimum Python version is now 3.7
• The dependency of the Python module to setuptools has been removed.
• Fixed issue Cannot add extra arguments when inheriting FGFDMExec #611 - extra arguments can now be added to the constructor __init__ of a class inheriting from FGFDMExec.
• Fixed issue FGFDMExec.get_property_catalog() is supposed to take 0 arguments, but is says it needs exactly one #641 - the method FGFDMExec.get_property_catalog() no longer has arguments to match the signature of its C++ counterpart.

MATLAB S-function

• The documentation matlab/README.md for the MATLAB S-Function has been improved.
  • Added MacOS build instructions
  • Documented the version of MSVC used to compile the JSBSim library
• Added MacOS compile line for MATLAB S-Function in the script JSBSimSimulinkCompile.m
• Allow two engines
• Overrode script control through SFunction input
• Control input on scripts only when allowed
• Added XML script to config the I/O ports of s-function
• Added error handling and dynamic update of I/O ports
• Created optional second input for wind/turbulence
• Added read/write checks for nodes
• Weather input now loaded to JSBSim
• Updated simulink model ex737cruise.slx and ex737cruise_io.xml.

Aeromatic++

• Overhaul of the propeller code, the produced tables now matches published data quite close.
• Created a configuration file in metric units when the parameters are entered in metric units.
• Added the option to save the aerodynamics section and the external-force section into separate files.

Developer

• The Python module shall now be compiled with setuptools>=60.0.0
• Migrating the front-end of the Python module build process from setuptools to build (work in progress)
• The Python source package now includes the Cython source code jsbsim.pyx instead of the Cython output jsbsim.cxx. This allows having consistent input data if the local version of Cython is different than the one used by JSBSim while building the source package.
• Added an .editorconfig file to set coding conventions for editors.
• Progress has been made on the migration from distutils to setuptools (still work in progress).
• The JSBSim library can now be built as a DLL on Windows.
• JSBSim now builds and uses libexpat 2.4.8 (unless explicitely requested to use the system libexpat library).

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.13

JSBSim version 1.1.13 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Dec 03, 2022
Python version: 3.7 or higher

Changelog

User

• The license of libexpat is now included in the Windows installer and in the Python wheels.
• Input sockets that were broken on Windows have been fixed.

Python module

• The Python script JSBSim has been renamed JSBSim.py and now has the same features than the binary executable JSBSim.exe.
• Fixed the data folders that are installed along with the Python module: some aircraft sub-directories System and Engines were missing in the previous release (issue Aircraft's Systems sub-directories are missing in the wheel packages. #687)
• Python wheels for MacOSX are now provided as universal binaries for Python >=3.8 which allows using these binary wheels with Apple Silicon chips.
• Python wheels for Python 3.11 are now available.
• JSBSim Python module is now installed under a single folder including the licenses and the aircraft data. In the previous release, the files were scattered among several folders. This allows a cleaner installation and removal (PR Build a proper Python package #755).
• Type hints are now provided along with JSBSim Python module (as per PEP 561 and PR Add types hints to the Python module #756).
• Usage of uninitialized instances of JSBSim classes now throws an exception to avoid a crash of the Python interpreter.
• eTemperature and ePressure are now derived from the Python module enum.
• Some internal methods are no longer accessible. Their names were prepended by the double underscore __ which according to Python programming guidelines are meant to be private methods. So you were warned !

MATLAB S-Function

• By default, the S-Function is now compiled using the flag JSBSIM_STATIC_LINK since JSBSim is supplied as a static library in the Windows installer (PR MEX build issue on Windows #735).

Developer

• Removed the Messages feature as it was unused and was using a static member that could lead to a segmentation fault when using several instances of FGFDMExec (issue Support for run JSBSim instance in multi-thread environment #666)
• Restored the automatic rebuild of the Python module that should occur when the headers included in jsbsim.pyx are modified.
• Replaced CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR by PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR to allow JSBSim being built using CMAKE FetchContent (issue Prefer PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR over CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR #684)
• The dependency to the win32api module has been removed to build JSBSim Python module on Windows.
• Random number generation is now made using C++11 standard library. This allowed removing another static member (issue Support for run JSBSim instance in multi-thread environment #666)
• Fixed a bug that prevented building JSBSim as a DLL using the MinGW compiler (issue DLL linking fails with MinGW32 #719)
• Unit tests have been added for the following classes: FGRealValue, FGParameter, FGParameterValue, FGCondition.

[seanmcleod]

What's with the release date of 3 Dec 2022?

[bcoconni]

What's with the release date of 3 Dec 2022?

Nothing, I was just considering to write the changelog to prepare the release of version 1.2.1 but discovered in the process that the changelog of 1.1.14 had not been written. So I've written the changelog of 1.1.14 and updated this discussion accordingly (the first post always contains the last release and the previous release message is moved to the tail of the discussion thread, hence this new post about 1.1.13).

So the changelog of 1.2.1 remains to be written and I'll post a message to suggest the release of 1.2.1 to the community. I'll suggest to base version 1.2.1 on the commit b420d44 which is the last commit before the logging system revamp.

And before one asks, the changelog of 1.2.0 is not written either but this one will be more complex to prepare: the diff with respect to 1.1.14 need a more elaborate use of git (it is not a simple matter of reading the recent git history).

[seanmcleod]

Ah, I missed the latest 1.1.14 at the top. When I clicked on the Github link from the notification email it landed me at 1.1.13, and I scrolled briefly up to see 1.1.12 so assumed 1.1.13 was the latest, which made me question the old date. So all good 😉

[bcoconni]

Release 1.1.14

JSBSim version 1.1.14 is a maintenance release.
Release Date: Nov 04, 2023
Python version: 3.7 or higher

Changelog

User

• A planet XML definition file can now be loaded using FGFDMExec::LoadPlanet() or the argument --planet=<filename> of the JSBSim executable (PR Add a LoadPlanet method to FGFDMExec #913)
• The MSIS model of the Earth atmosphere can now be selected instead of the International Standard Atmosphere model (PR Enable the usage of the NRLMSIS00 atmospheric model. #941 and PR Update the FGMSIS class #916)
• Added the ability to specify external forces in the inertial frame (PR Adding capability to aim external forces in inertial frame; added exa… #962)
• Fixed a bug where the speed of sound could be used uninitialized in FGPropeller.
• Fixed a bug where number parsing silently failed due to the decimal separator being set to the comma , by the locale while the XML files are using the period . (PR Locale independent numbers parsing #799).
• Fixed a bug where the ambient pressure could reach 0.0 and make JSBSim crash (PR Avoid non physical values for the ambient pressure and temperature #836 and Clarify the code intent #839)
• Fixed a bug where the version of an initial conditions XML file could be reported as being infinite. As JSBSim behavior is to default the version to 1.0 when it is unspecified, the version is now set accordingly (PR Fix discovery of document version number #845)
• Fixed a bug where the initial value of the wind velocity in the down direction was not converted from knots to ft/sec (PR Fix wind initial conditions #855)
• Fixed a bug where the equivalent airspeed velocity (VEAS) was using the local air density instead of the standard sea level density (PR Correct VEAS to use standard day SL density #900 and PR Use standard day SL density for VEAS in FGInitialCondition. #909).
• Clarified the warning message issued for already defined properties (PR Avoid misleading messages about properties being already defined #864)
• The support of Ubuntu Bionic 18.04 has been dropped: JSBSim packages for this version of Ubuntu are no longer released.
• The Windows installer now installs JSBSim in the folder %LOCALAPPDATA% by default. In most cases %LOCALAPPDATA% resolves to C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local (see The python example has fdm.FGFDMExec twice, with different explanations #798 (comment) for details).

Distributed flight dynamics models

• New aircraft 787-8 and global5000 have been added to the models distributed with the Python module.
• The roll autopilot of c172x has been fixed

Python module

This is the last release of JSBSim that supports Python 3.7.
Python 3.7 has reached its end of life and is no longer supported by the Python Foundation (see PEP537). Please upgrade to Python 3.8 or higher.

• Python wheels for Python 3.12 are now available.

Aeromatic++

• Better handling of input errors or inconsistencies to avoid erroneous outputs such as negative point masses (PR Aeromatic fix inputs #860 and PR Fix a mistake in e1af7cea6ce6dfc35cad99a005df6cce66a0b328, no engines… #954)

Developer

• The year in copyright notices in files *.in that are distributed by the Python module are now automatically updated.
• The Python docs can now be generated even if the JSBSim module has been installed by pip rather than having been built locally.
• Fixed a debug message in FGActuator that reporting a pointer address rather than the name of the <lag> element.
• Removed the BASE flag from string_utilities.h (PR Remove the flag BASE from string_utilities.h #837)
• Fixed #include of expat.h (PR Better #include for expat.h #838) to avoid build failure for some compilers.
• Unit tests have been added for the following class: FGAtmosphere (PR Add a unit test for FGAtmosphere #857)
• Improved the build process of the Python module by avoiding mutual dependencies of the CMake process and the setup.py script (PR Updating the Python module build #866)
• Moved the Mach/VCAS conversion methods to FGAuxiliary (PR Move the Mach/VCAS conversion methods to FGAuxiliary #898).
• Simplified the class FGLGear by removing its inheritance from FGSurface (PR FGLGear doesn't need to inherit from FGSurface. #884) and removed dead code from FGSurface (PR Remove dead code from FGSurface #907) in the process.
• Python wheels are now uploaded to PyPI using a Trusted Publisher (i.e. our GitHub project) rather than the less reliable pair of password/username.
• FGAtmosphere properties can now be unbound to allow switching the atmospheric model (PR Unbind FGAtmosphere properties #902 and PR Do not store the result of FGFDMExec::GetAtmosphere(). #908)
• Some maintenance and minor changes (PR Maintenance / Minor changes #952)
• Fixed some bugs in the CMake files
  • C++ Source files were duplicated in the folder python/
  • Use choco install in replacement of cinst which is no longer recognized on recent Windows runners.