Hi,
I downloaded this version just now on my MacOS M1 and the feature for “Custom views” (Akarsh Simha introduced the ability to orient the sky map to match the view through any instrument) is not showing in the menus. Do I need to do anything special to activate this?
Hi!
Could you provide a bit more information about what feature exactly it is you are looking for. KStars/EKOS has a number of settings for views/colors/etc.
Best,
Fred
I’m not the OP but I assume he is referring to this from the release notes:
[i]Custom Views
Akarsh Simha introduced the ability to orient the sky map to match the view through any instrument.
A view is a collection of settings: the orientation of the sky map, how the orientation changes as the sky map is panned, whether it is mirrored or not, and optionally the field-of-view to set the map to.
If no views are defined, KStars introduces a set of standard / “demo” views by default. Existing views can be edited and new views can be added using the “Edit Views…” interface. They can also be re-ordered in the interface. The ordering of the views in the “Edit Views…” dialog defines the order in which views will be cycled through using the keyboard shortcuts Shift + Page Up and Shift + Page Down. Thus, you can set up the views for easily switching between naked eye / finder scope / telescope views for easy star-hopping.
Furthermore, there is a new option in the View menu that enables mirroring the sky map so as to be able to match the view through an erecting prism used for example on a Schmidt-Cassegrain or Refracting type telescope.
The rotation feature overlay now also marks East in addition to north and zenith, so as to know easily whether the display is mirrored or not.[/i]
I also was not able to find it on Mac although I did not look as thoroughly as I might.
I checked on Linux and the Views Menu option is available. So something is amiss with the MacOS build
The menu entry is called “Views” and not “Custom Views” although we’ve referred to the feature as “Custom Views”. Please check if there is a menu item titled
“Views” in the “View” menu, screenshot from my Linux machine attached. I’ve tested the build on MacOS and at least on my custom builds, it showed up fine.
Clear Skies,
Akarsh
[attachment: shot.jpg]
Hi Akarsh,
This is what it looks like on the Mac (Macbook Pro M1 running Sonoma 14.4.1). It works perfectly on my Linux machine.
[attachment: Screenshot 2024-04-19 at 09.14.04.png]
Interesting. I have no idea what might be causing this.
If you are building from source, have you run make install? Generally speaking, KDE uses an .xml file to define the menu items, and you need to run the full build process to install this properly.
In my attempt to build it on MacOS, it worked fine. Perhaps someone who is more familiar with MacOS build toolchain knows what the issue is, maybe Robert Lancaster?
I installed the pre-built dmg available in the downloads area.
Hmm,
I downloaded the 3.7.0 stable DMG on my Mac with a build date of Build: 2024-04-04T05:15:20Z
and I see the Views sub-menu.
I have the exact same build on my Mac and I don’t see it. What macOS are you running? I have the most recent Sonoma 14.4.1 on an Intel iMac. Here is what the View menu looks like:
[attachment: View_Menu.jpg]
Apple Silicon Mac Studio M1 Ultra 14.4.1
[attachment: Screenshot 2024-04-26 at 11.15.47 PM.png]
Ah! I bet there was some compile flag that controls this feature. Maybe it was set for the Apple silicon builds but not for Intel.
Is the original poster also on Intel?
I am on the M1 pro chip
Well, I guess it is not an M1/Intel thing then. I dunno.
So several people seem to have this issue and I’m not sure what’s causing it. There was also a post on the Facebook group saying that the installer doesn’t work on MacOS < 12.0 – that’s a KDE craft buildsystem issue where the pre-compiled libraries assume MacOS >= 12.0
I’d cut a custom .dmg for you but my Mac Mini is having problems booting. Once I get that fixed (may take a while), I should be able to build a custom dmg. Until then I have a DMG that I made for beta-testing the views feature from a little before the 3.7.0 cut, so it would be missing some of the features that were merged into 3.7.0 but it does have Views:
https://asimha.net/kstars-3.6.9.dmg
SHAsum: b5d3dae0a71d5cad9579987abb1f7431b87d3545
Thanks Akarsh. Appreciated. There is no urgency atleast for me as the UK weather hasnt been very cooperative and the forecast is definitely bleak for a while.
I will download the version you have posted, try it out and provide feedback
I downloaded this version and it has the same issue. 
[attachment: Screenshot 2024-05-03 at 10.47.28.png][attachment: Screenshot 2024-05-03 at 10.48.22.png]
The exact same .dmg has worked for other people. This may be some deep MacOS issue that I don’t have insight into. Does the same thing happen if you move the KStars.app to the Applications folder and run, instead of out of the .dmg? At least in the build process, the menus are stored in a separate .xml file. I wonder if that .xml file got substituted for an older one.
Okay, some really bizarre ideas:
The new KStars is picking up the wrong .xml file for the UI from some other folder
There is some user-customizability in the menus (I see none of your menus match!), that causes a modified .xml file to be stored somewhere in the user’s setting list. This is not overwritten / the new menu items are not added to this when a new version of KStars drops. (Possible, although I don’t know of any menu customization in KStars; that being said even some of us developers hardly know 20% of the features)
It has something to do with the theme: dark mode vs. light mode. (Very unlikely)
I was today years old when I learned that KStars allows you to customize the toolbars. This may have something to do with the issue on hand. Are the people who have issues with the “Views” option showing up people who have customized their toolbars before the 3.7.0 drop?