[1.3.53] 2025-10-10

- The visualizer can now render images with a transparent background. This is enabled with `Visualizer::setBackgroundTransparent`
- `Visualizer::printWindow` can now write images in PNG format (necessary for transparent backgrounds)
- Added navigation gizmo to visualizer window to make it easier to orient the view. This can be disabled with `Visualizer::hideNavigationGizmo()`.
- The line width argument to `Visualizer::addLine()` now works properly on all platforms.
- Fixed a bug where rectangle vertices were not returning the correct values when queried due to improper application of transformations.
- By default, the visualizer now uses a gradient background texture image. The user can also manually set their own using `Visualizer::setBackgroundImage()`.
- Added `Visualizer::setBackgroundSkyTexture()` to add a skybox background that automatically scales with the scene size.
- Deprecated `Visualizer::addSkyDomeByCenter()` in favor of `Visualizer::setBackgroundSkyTexture()`.
- Implemented Heckbert's "Nice Numbers" algorithm that generates clean, evenly-spaced tick values for the colorbar.

- Implemented more efficient setting of optional object data `age`, which yields a huge speedup when setting age for many thousands of compound objects.

Author: bnbailey-psl

core/src/global.cpp

@@ -1053,7 +1053,7 @@ bool helios::open_xml_file(const std::string &xml_file, pugi::xml_document &xmld
         error_string = std::string(e.what());
         return false;
     }
-    
+
     // load file
     pugi::xml_parse_result load_result = xmldoc.load_file(resolvedPath.string().c_str());
 
@@ -2597,7 +2597,7 @@ bool helios::isDirectoryPath(const std::string &path) {
 
         // Handle special cases: dotfiles are usually files, not directories
         if (filename.front() == '.' && filename != "." && filename != "..") {
-            return false;  // .bashrc, .gitignore, .hidden files, etc.
+            return false; // .bashrc, .gitignore, .hidden files, etc.
         }
 
         // For other cases without extension, assume it's a directory

core/tests/Test_OBJ.h

@@ -701,7 +701,7 @@ TEST_CASE("OBJ File I/O - Correctness Validation") {
 
         // Load the written file
         std::vector<uint> roundtrip_uuids;
-        DOCTEST_CHECK_NOTHROW(roundtrip_uuids = ctx2.loadOBJ(intermediate_file.c_str(),  true));
+        DOCTEST_CHECK_NOTHROW(roundtrip_uuids = ctx2.loadOBJ(intermediate_file.c_str(), true));
 
         // Write again
         std::string final_file = "lib/models/test_roundtrip2.obj";
@@ -1227,7 +1227,7 @@ map_d lib/images/solid.jpg
         // Load the OBJ file with a default color (green) to ensure materials override it properly
         std::vector<uint> UUIDs;
         RGBcolor default_color = RGB::green;
-        DOCTEST_CHECK_NOTHROW(UUIDs = ctx.loadOBJ("lib/models/test_material_color.obj", make_vec3(0,0,0), make_vec3(1,1,1), nullrotation, default_color, "ZUP", true));
+        DOCTEST_CHECK_NOTHROW(UUIDs = ctx.loadOBJ("lib/models/test_material_color.obj", make_vec3(0, 0, 0), make_vec3(1, 1, 1), nullrotation, default_color, "ZUP", true));
         DOCTEST_CHECK(UUIDs.size() == 1);
 
         // Verify that the triangle was loaded

core/tests/Test_context.h

@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@ TEST_CASE("Object Management") {
         Context ctx;
 
         // Create a tile with texture
-        std::vector<uint> UUIDs = ctx.addTile(nullorigin, make_vec2(1,1), nullrotation, make_int2(2,2), "lib/images/disk_texture.png");
+        std::vector<uint> UUIDs = ctx.addTile(nullorigin, make_vec2(1, 1), nullrotation, make_int2(2, 2), "lib/images/disk_texture.png");
 
         // Set color and override texture
         RGBcolor green_color = make_RGBcolor(0, 1, 0);
@@ -674,8 +674,7 @@ TEST_CASE("Object Management") {
         DOCTEST_CHECK(ctx.isPrimitiveTextureColorOverridden(UUIDs_copy[0]));
 
         // Test with Triangle as well
-        uint triangle = ctx.addTriangle(make_vec3(0,0,0), make_vec3(1,0,0), make_vec3(0,1,0), "lib/images/disk_texture.png",
-                                      make_vec2(0,0), make_vec2(1,0), make_vec2(0,1));
+        uint triangle = ctx.addTriangle(make_vec3(0, 0, 0), make_vec3(1, 0, 0), make_vec3(0, 1, 0), "lib/images/disk_texture.png", make_vec2(0, 0), make_vec2(1, 0), make_vec2(0, 1));
         RGBcolor blue_color = make_RGBcolor(0, 0, 1);
         ctx.setPrimitiveColor(triangle, blue_color);
         ctx.overridePrimitiveTextureColor(triangle);

core/tests/Test_functions.h

@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ TEST_CASE("String, File Path, and Parsing Utilities") {
     }
     SUBCASE("Directory path detection") {
         // Test cases that should be detected as directories
-        DOCTEST_CHECK(isDirectoryPath("./annotations") == true);  // The bug case
+        DOCTEST_CHECK(isDirectoryPath("./annotations") == true); // The bug case
         DOCTEST_CHECK(isDirectoryPath("./output") == true);
         DOCTEST_CHECK(isDirectoryPath("results") == true);
         DOCTEST_CHECK(isDirectoryPath("data/") == true);
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ TEST_CASE("String, File Path, and Parsing Utilities") {
         DOCTEST_CHECK(isDirectoryPath(".bashrc") == false);
 
         // Edge cases
-        DOCTEST_CHECK(isDirectoryPath("") == false);  // empty path
+        DOCTEST_CHECK(isDirectoryPath("") == false); // empty path
 
         // Test with existing directories if they exist
         if (std::filesystem::exists("core/tests")) {

doc/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,21 @@
 # Changelog
 
+# [1.3.53] 2025-10-10
+
+# Visualizer
+- The visualizer can now render images with a transparent background. This is enabled with `Visualizer::setBackgroundTransparent`
+- `Visualizer::printWindow` can now write images in PNG format (necessary for transparent backgrounds)
+- Added navigation gizmo to visualizer window to make it easier to orient the view. This can be disabled with `Visualizer::hideNavigationGizmo()`.
+- The line width argument to `Visualizer::addLine()` now works properly on all platforms.
+- Fixed a bug where rectangle vertices were not returning the correct values when queried due to improper application of transformations.
+- By default, the visualizer now uses a gradient background texture image. The user can also manually set their own using `Visualizer::setBackgroundImage()`.
+- Added `Visualizer::setBackgroundSkyTexture()` to add a skybox background that automatically scales with the scene size.
+- Deprecated `Visualizer::addSkyDomeByCenter()` in favor of `Visualizer::setBackgroundSkyTexture()`.
+- Implemented Heckbert's "Nice Numbers" algorithm that generates clean, evenly-spaced tick values for the colorbar.
+
+## Plant Architecture
+- Implemented more efficient setting of optional object data `age`, which yields a huge speedup when setting age for many thousands of compound objects.
+
 # [1.3.52] 2025-10-02
 
 ## Plant Architecture