I downloaded the trial version of AutoPilot to test it out. Installed fine; when it came up, it did an update of the executable and the help file.

I started trying the program, using theSky6 and CCDSoft. Both of these are using simulators.

Things worked fine for awhile. Then, Autopilot got an exception and crashed. It gave me the option of trying to continue, but nothing would work.

Now, whenever I try and load a target it gets the exception and crashes. I try just doing the "Get" to get the FOV coordinates from theSky, or using a named object. Either way, the program immediately crashes when I try and add a target.

It connects to the various programs fine (theSky, CCDSoft, FocusMax).

I rebooted, and the same thing happens.

I ran the Autopilot Reset program, but that didn't help either. Not sure what it does, but I thought it might clear initialization files or registry settings or something.

I am running Vista Ultimate on a lpatop. CCDSoft and theSky are recent updates.

Any suggestions? I like the appearance and features of the program, but obviously if it crashes it doesn't do me much good.

Thanks,
robert brewington

Robert,

What is the specific error message that you are seeing? I need to know the text. Also, did you specify CFWAPI for the color filter wheel? Did you try turning off UAC?

The error appears just after the target information is (apparently correctly) put into the target list. The error is

Unhandled exception has occurred in your application. If you click Continue, the application will ignore this error and attempt to continue. If you click quit, the application will close immediately.

Illegal characters in path.

When I click on Details button, I get the stuff shown in the attached file.

I do not have a filter wheel selected, since I am using the camera simulator. I don't know what the CFWAPI is (I assume this is another model of filter wheel?). I tried it along with the simulator, and still get the same result.

I do not have UAC turned off; I have some other applications that seem to need it turned on.

It sure feels like I have something corrupted...

Thanks for your help,
brew

AutopilotError.txt (5 KB, 83 downloads) Debug info

Brew,

It sounds like you entered a bad (from a Windows perspective) target name. Exactly what target name did you enter?

I tried a couple of things -

Do the Get without anything in the field, so it gets the FOV position in the sky.

I also tried specific target names - M1 and mirach.

As I indicated, this all worked for awhile.

The dump sounds like the program is building a path name, and somehow getting a strange character in the path.

Thanks,
brew

Brew,

Yes, that is what I'm thinking as well. Did you put anything in the description field for light frames or dark frames?

Aha - that's it. I had a comment of

One second?

in the light exposure. I see now that the comment is not really a comment, it is used to build the file name.

A suggestion - The software should check for valid file names in the comment field

Good catch!

Thanks,
brew

quote:

A suggestion - The software should check for valid file names in the comment field

Hit Update Now in CCDAP to get version 3.41.8, which does this

It is also my experience that the software is critical in use. Typing in ".5" instead of "0.5" will generate a crash. If corrected into "0.5" the application will run past this point. John: if you do have the time, it would be nice if you could try to catch most of these exceptions in the software itself and while filling in the blancs use it to notify users if they fill in the details the wrong way. Other than that, the software is nice.

Where specifically did this "crash" occur - what entry field? What was the error message?

Well, change the Guide rate on the settings tab to e.g. ".5" instead of "0.5". Save the settings and connect. The application will crash with the following error message:

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.InvalidCastException: Conversion from string ".5" to type 'Double' is not valid. ---> System.FormatException: Input string was not in a correct format.
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Conversions.ParseDouble(String Value, NumberFormatInfo NumberFormat)
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Conversions.ToDouble(String Value, NumberFormatInfo NumberFormat)
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Conversions.ToDouble(String Value, NumberFormatInfo NumberFormat)
at Microsoft.VisualBasic.CompilerServices.Conversions.ToDouble(String Value)
at m.a()
at m.fj(Object A_0, EventArgs A_1)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.832 (QFE.050727-8300)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
CCDAutoPilot
Assembly Version: 3.42.2.0
Win32 Version: 3.42.2.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/CCDWare/CCDAutoPilot3/CCDAutoPilot.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.832 (QFE.050727-8300)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.832 (QFE.050727-8300)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.832 (QFE.050727-8300)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.VisualBasic
Assembly Version: 8.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 8.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Microsoft.VisualBasic/8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll
----------------------------------------
RestoreState
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/CCDWare/CCDAutoPilot3/RestoreState.DLL
----------------------------------------
SyD.Shareware.Registration
Assembly Version: 2.3.2007.1
Win32 Version: 2.3.2007.1
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/SyD.Shareware.Registration/2.3.2007.1__4a5d6e6bca524051/SyD.Shareware.Registration.dll
----------------------------------------
OutlookPanes
Assembly Version: 1.0.4.0
Win32 Version: 1.0.4.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/CCDWare/CCDAutoPilot3/OutlookPanes.DLL
----------------------------------------
Accessibility
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Accessibility/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Accessibility.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap.dll
----------------------------------------
Interop.PinPoint
Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/CCDWare/CCDAutoPilot3/Interop.PinPoint.DLL
----------------------------------------
Interop.Kepler
Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/CCDWare/CCDAutoPilot3/Interop.Kepler.DLL
----------------------------------------
Interop.NOVAS
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/CCDWare/CCDAutoPilot3/Interop.NOVAS.DLL
----------------------------------------
DBComm
Assembly Version: 1.1.2393.24930
Win32 Version: 1.1.2393.24930
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/CCDWare/CCDAutoPilot3/DBComm.DLL
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

This error occurs when the entered decimal point character is different than that defined for your regional setting. For example, if I enter ",9" for the pixel size with the US ENglish regional setting, and hit the Calculate button, the error is thrown. This is endemic with Windows/.NET applications. I have a modest catch routine that properly handles "0,9" for example.

I will probably make some changes in the next version of CCDAP to preclude even this eventuality.

I suspect your solution is to keep your decimal point entry character consistent with your regional settings.

Hi John, please note that I did not change the decimal character from , to . but only that I omitted the 0. So instead of 0.5 I typed in .5 and left out the 0.

Unfortunately I can not reproduce that behavior here. 0.5 or .5 go in without incident.

Strange. My Windows XP Pro version is the English version and the behavior is the same if I set the regional settings to English (US) or Dutch (which switches comma´s and periods). As soon as I take away the zero from the "Guide rate" from the guider part on the settings page and connect again (or disconnect then connect), I get the error message as posted above. In the error message you can see clearly the link to the incorrect input string which was not catched. (Conversion from string ".5" to type 'Double' is not valid. ---> System.FormatException: Input string was not in a correct format.)

Anyway, now I know it has to be "0.5" I do not get the crash here, but do get it when importing Target Lists from Starry Night which are seemingly incorrect in format.

Somehow for whatever reason, the application crashes in these cases.