Release Notes for FreeFlyer 6.9

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New Features in FreeFlyer 6.9


64-Bit Build of FreeFlyer and FF.exe

Interfaces with 64-bit MATLAB, 64-Bit Database Drivers, 64-Bit Extensions

Can utilize up to 192 GB of memory

Includes performance optimizations

 

New Propagation and Modeling Capabilities

Ability to use GroundStations with the Time of Closest Approach (TCA) and Close Approach Range methods

Ability to get Acceleration values instantaneously (without propagation)

oAll component accelerations are broken out individually

oIncludes CustomForce Extensions

Fixed issue with the Spacecraft.GHA property, see the Migrating to FreeFlyer 6.9 section below for more information

 

Ephemeris Improvements

Added version 2 of the FreeFlyer ephemeris format

oAbility to add columns of user-defined data

oAbility to specify different interpolation algorithms for each column of data

oAbility to handle discontinuities with Ephemeris segments

oAbility to use custom column delimiters

oAbility to step backwards to Ephemeris points

Automatic reduction of interpolation to handle segments with few points

 

Plotting Enhancements

Ability to change ALL plot properties via FreeForm scripting

Ability to create Lists of PlotWindows

Ability to dynamically add/remove data series from PlotWindows

Ability to plot polynomials based on coefficients

Ability to plot independent X/Y data series on the same Plot

Ability to plot entire datasets at once

Added batch updating to FreeFlyer PlotWindows, ViewWindows, WatchWindows, and DataTableWindows

 

Output Enhancements

Ability to pop Output Windows in/out of the FreeFlyer Workspace

oBoth through user interaction and through FreeForm script

 

FreeForm Script Improvements

Added support for more standard syntax operators

oFor example: +=, -=, *=, /=, ++, --, etc.

oBoolean operator ! (not operator; e.g. If (!Spacecraft1.Contact(GroundStation1)) )

Added the ability to use environment variables with the Include command

 

Enhanced User Support

New Sample Mission Plans

New syntax examples throughout Help File

Improved support for Extensions built with the .NET 4.0 framework

Ability to return borrowed Network licenses early

 

Important Notes

The deprecated Orbit Determination system will not be available in versions of FreeFlyer 6.10 and higher. For the information on the new system available since FreeFlyer 6.6, see the Orbit Determination Guide.

Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 3 (SP3) is a minimum system requirement for versions of FreeFlyer 6.9 and higher

 

 

Migrating to FreeFlyer 6.9


While we always strive to maintain 100% backwards compatibility in our new releases, our efforts to make FreeFlyer more flexible and consistent in FreeFlyer 6.9 and higher have necessitated a few changes which may require user intervention when migrating your existing Mission Plans. These changes are outlined below.

 

Various Objects, Properties, Methods, and Functions have been deprecated

oDeprecated Objects, Properties, Methods, and Functions are elements of FreeFlyer which are no longer recommended for use. The description of each deprecated element indicates the new recommended way to achieve the functionality of that element. The complete list of affected elements is given on the Deprecated Objects, Properties, Methods, and Functions page.

 

With the additional OrbitNumber properties to improve the orbit number calculation of the Spacecraft Object, the deprecated property ScOrbitNumber was updated to be initialized as 1 in both the Spacecraft GUI and if the Spacecraft object is initialized in FreeForm Script

 

With the Report command, the carriage return expression "\n" will only be evaluated as a carriage return if the special @ character is used to scan the string for escape sequences. See the Scanning Literal Strings section of the Parsing Arbitrary String Data page for more information.

 

The Spacecraft.EVector property generates a vector with respect to the Spacecraft central body. In previous versions, this property was always referenced to the Earth.

 

The Spacecraft.GHA (Greenwich Hour Angle) property is now calculated with respect to the MJ2000 x-axis. In previous versions, this property was erroneously calculated with respect to the TOD x-axis.
 

With the addition of 64-bit FreeFlyer, it can now only interface with MATLAB version 7.3 or higher.

 

 

See Also


Release History