VisibleTesla Release Notes

VisibleTesla 0.29.00 [08-30-2014] - EXPERIMENTAL

User-Visible Changes
- General
  - Note: If you're using an old version of VisibleTesla (older than 0.27.03) AND you have overriden the advanced option describing where to store application files, you'll need to be careful about upgrading. Upgrade to verion 0.27.03 manually and then you can upgrade to the latst version.
  - Addition: The Options→Simulate menu has been replaced by a new and more general Overrides mechanism.
    - The simulate menu gave you the ability to see variations of your car during a specific run of VisibleTesla. The new Overrides capability gives you to simulate an option and remember that state across sessions. There are cases where the information reported by Tesla's servers to VisibleTesla does not reflect the actual state of the car. This is usually the result of a change to the car after it was initially delivered.
    - For example, you may have ordered your car with 21" wheels but later decided to switch to 19's. In fact, some people keep both types and switch during the year based on weather. Today, VisibleTesla has no way to track those changes.
    - With this new feature, you can manually override the wheel setting when you change the actual wheels. For details of the UI, please refer to the documentation of the Overrides section of the Prefs Tab.
  - Refinement: Added the variable {{HT_CARVIEW}} for for use in message templates. For details, please refer to the documention on the Notify Tab. This variable generates an HTML canvas representing the current state of the doors, trunks, and roof. It's similar to the car view that is displayed by the Overview Tab. This variable is for use in HTML pages only, not in notification messages.
  - Refinement: Improvements to the way various wheel types are detected to handle some unusual cases.
- Login
  - Refinement: In principle there should be no user visible changes to the Login Tab. In practice, there were quite a few code changes. Hopefully I did not introduce any bugs into this area, but please let me know if I did.
- Overview
  - Addition: The range is now displayed on the Overview Tab. You can select which type of range is displayed using the preferences. it can be either Rated, Ideal, or Estimated.
  - Addition: The shift state is now displayed. It is either P (park), N (neutral), D (drive), or R (reverse). There are times when the car may not respond with an accurate drive state. In this case a "P" will be displayed.
  - Refinement: The Honk, Flash, and Wakeup buttons have been moved to the Options→Activity menu.
- HVAC
- Location
- Charge
- Graphs
- Trips
  - Fix: When a trip is selected, an estimate of the kWh consumed is displayed. It was previously mislabeled as Power. It has been changed to Energy.
- Scheduler
- Notify
  - Addition: You may now request to be notified a charge anomaly occurs. At the moment, the only anomaly that is detected is if your charging current or pilot current drops by 20% or more during a charging cycle. This feature is highly experimental since I have no way to safelt recreate such a charge anomaly.
  - Refinement: Sometimes certain readings can fluctuate enough that a notification like SOC Hits or Exceeds may be triggered multiple times in a short period. VisibleTesla now avoids sending you multiple notifications in these circumstances.
- Prefs
  - Addition: There is a new option in the General/Basic preferences. It controls which type of range is displayed on the Overview Tab. It can be either Rated, Estimated, or Ideal.
  - Refinement: Removed the option to store application data files with the app. I've been phasing this out for a few releases and the option is now completely removed. There were a number of logistical problems maintaining this option. If you used this option in past and are upgrading from a version before 0.27.03, please follow the process listed at the very top of the release notes.
Under-the-covers
- Moved to a fully observer-based model for state updates.
- Changed the way commands are issued to Tesla's servers. There is now one background thread to issue commands rather than threads spawning and completing per command. Removed some dead code.
- Fairly massive code refactoring to make the code more manageable. Lots more could be done, but that will happen over time. The extent of these changes is in large part the reason that this release is experimental.
Known problems

VisibleTesla 0.28.01 [07-18-2014]

User-Visible Changes
- General
  - Addition: On the Mac you can now use ⌘-H to hide a window just like you can with other Mac apps. Note that unlike other Mac applications, you won't see this shortcut listed in the application menu. This is a deficiency with JavaFX on the Mac. Using ⌘-H is the same as pressing the yellow minimize icon. On Windows 7 you and beyond you can use +↓ to minimize the VisibleTesla window. This has always been there.
  - Refinement: For advanced users only - EXPERIMENTAL.You may now set an advanced preference that specifies a URL that holds custom pages that can be served up by the built-in web server. Use template variables to customize the pages. See the Prefs Tab and Web Services for details.
  - Fix: The Help->What's New menu item works again.
  - Fix: Fixed a minor issue with login to the web services which only affected those who are using this experimental feature.
- Login
- Overview
- HVAC
- Location
- Charge
- Graphs
- Trips
  - Addition: There is a new row in the Trip property table. In addition to displaying the starting and ending value for Range, SOC, and Odometer, it now displays an estimate of the power consumed in the selected trip (or trips). This is purely an estimate. It is not a value reported by the car, but rather a rough integration of area under the power curve that you see plotted in the Graphs Tab.
- Scheduler
- Notify
  - Refinement: The target email address specified for a notification may now be a comma-separated list of email addressses. This functionality has actually been there for some time, but it has now been tested.
  - Refinement: Added the variable {{HT_SPEEDO}} and {{HT_LOC}} for for use in message templates. For details, please refer to the documention on the Notify Tab.
  - Refinement: The {{HT_SOC_G}} variable now more accurately represents the charge state.
- Prefs
Under-the-covers
- VisibleTesla is using HTML5 Canvas to render the {{HT_SOC_G}} and {{HT_SPEEDO}} elements.
Known problems
- There are situations where VisibleTesla will stop recording data from the car. This can result in gaps in the Graphs and missing Trips. Debugging and testing is ongoing to address this problem.

VisibleTesla 0.28.00 [07-05-2014] - [EXPERIMENTAL]

Important note for Windows users: Windows users should not use the built-in Update feature to download this version of VisibleTesla. Please download it directly by clicking here and then install as usual. This is a one-time change based on the new packaging of the Windows version (see below).

User-Visible Changes
- General
  - Addition: Starting with this release, there is now a Windows-specific zip file. It contains a complete Java Virtual Machine that is known to work with VisibleTesla. This should reduce the number of installation headaches that arise for Windows users. There is still a generic zip file which is primarily for use on Linux. It is recommended only for users who are familiar with installing and using Java applications.
  - Refinement: The Mac bundled application is now signed! That means you can be assured that the application you're running hasn't been tampered with since it left the hands of the identified developer (me). There is more about this in the FAQ.
  - Refinement: Added additional fields to the web-based status page including the graphical battery gauge and odometer.
  - Refinement: The Help→Documentation menu item now brings up the online documentation rather than a local copy.
  - Refinement: The documentation has been updated to reflect the changes to the install process for Windows.
- Login
- Overview
- HVAC
- Location
- Charge
- Graphs
- Trips
  - Refinement: There are situations where VisibleTesla will stop recording data from the car. This can result in gaps in the Graphs and missing Trips. It can also, in some cases, lead to VisibleTesla not quitting cleanly. I found one case in which an error returned by Tesla's servers can cause this to happen. I've put in a tentative fix for that case, but there may be more circumstances like this lurking out there. As a result, I've listed this as a refinement rather than a fix. After getting more feedback from users who experience this problem regularly, I'll know whether it addressed all, none, or some of the issue.
- Scheduler
- Notify
  - Fix: A bug crept back into notification messages that caused speed to be reported in the wrong units in some cases. That has been addressed.
  - Refinement: Added new variables for custom messages: {{HT_SOC_G}}, {{HT_ODO}}, and {{ODO}}. For details, please refer to the documention on the Notify Tab.
- Prefs
Under-the-covers
- Removed the "stub" Mac application.
- Changes to the build scripts:
  - Added a build target (package-win) for a Windows-specific zip file.
  - Added a build target (package-generic) for a generic zip file suitable for use on Linux.
  - Added a build target (package-mac) that builds the Mac bundled application and then creates a zip file from it. This is used in preparing releases.
Known problems
- There are situations where VisibleTesla will stop recording data from the car. This can result in gaps in the Graphs and missing Trips. Debugging and testing is ongoing to address this problem.
- The Help->What's New menu item is broken. For the time being please use the Help->Documentation menu item and then click on Release Notes. Alternatively, you click here.

VisibleTesla 0.27.03 [06-22-2014]

User-Visible Changes
- General
  - Refinement: Log files are now stored in the same location as other program data files. You should never need to know or think about this unless you are reporting a bug.
- Login
- Overview
- HVAC
- Location
- Charge
- Graphs
  - Fix: The Ignore Gaps preference that was introduced in the last release was a little overzealous. The graph would ignore gaps in data even if this preference was turned off. That is fixed now and changes to the preference are recognized immediately.
- Trips
- Scheduler
- Notify
  - Refinement: Added new variables for custom messages including {{TIME_TO_FULL}}, {{C_RATE}}, {{C_AMP}}, {{C_VLT}}, {{C_PWR}}. For details, please refer to the documention on the Notify Tab.
- Prefs
  - Refinement: The advanced preference that allowed you to keep program data files in the application folder has been removed. App files (including logs) are now always kept in the user folder. There is still a button which allows you to display the subfolder where these files are kept. Now instead of just popping up a dialog with the name of the folder, it actually opens the folder in Finder or Explorer.
Under-the-covers
Known problems

VisibleTesla 0.27.02 [06-15-2014]

User-Visible Changes
- General
  - Refinement: For advanced users only - EXPERIMENTAL.Changes and additions to the web services provided by the app. There is now a status page in addition to the inactivity options page and commands. Please refer to the description of these services within the Other Topics page.
- Login
- Overview
- HVAC
- Location
- Charge
- Graphs
  - Addition: The Graph can now handle gaps in the data in a new way. Let's say you have a gap in your data because the car was sleeping, in a dead zone, or VisibleTesla was not running. Rather than display a line between two points that are far apart and for which there is no new data, the graph can be configured to not connect the points with a line. This is similar to Display Only Markers mode, but it does present lines for periods where there is good data. You can configure how big the gap needs to be using the Graphs section of the Prefs Tab.
- Trips
- Scheduler
  - Addition: Added a new command called Message. This command simply sends an email at the designated time. What makes this useful is that the email (and the subject) can contain any vehicle state you'd like such as SOC or current location. These messages use the same format as the new notification messages discussed below. For details, please refer to the documention on the Notify Tab. To provide a custom message template, press the + button that appears next to the command name.
- Notify
  - Addition: Notification messages and subjects can now be customized to include whatever text and vehicle state is desired for each type of notification. For details, please refer to the documention on the Notify Tab.
  - Fix: Minor fix for a user interface layout problem in the "Choose Location" dialog box.
- Prefs
  - Addition: See the description of the Ignore Gaps feature of the Graphs Tab. The Prefs Tab has been expanded to provide an option to enable this behavior and to set the length of time that is considered a gap. Please refer to the documentation of the Prefs Tab.
Under-the-covers
- Refinement: Minor tweak to the Mac Bundled application to adjust a parameter to the Java VM. This may result in better performance in some cases. In other cases it may avoid the app becoming unresponsive. For most people there will be no impact whatsoever.
Known problems

VisibleTesla 0.27.01 [05-26-2014]

User-Visible Changes
- General
  - Addition: For advanced users only - EXPERIMENTAL. VisibleTesla now includes the ability to accept a *very* limited set of commands via HTTP. At the moment, the only thing it can do is set the inactivity mode. This support is off by default and should only be used by people who are comfortable with direct access to web services. If you do enable the service, it is protected via HTTP Basic Authentication. To use this feature, read more about the settings in the Prefs Tab and under Other Topics.
  - Refinement: The Sequence chart of the Vampire Loss dialog now shows each marker circle with a size proportional to the duration of the rest period. That allows you to more easily determine the contribution of each period to the overall average. Roughly speaking, the amount of loss contributed by a given data point is related to the size of the marker and its position on the chart. A big circle high on the chart indicates the most loss, while a small circle lower on the chart indicates the least loss.
    Also, the X axis now shows dates rather than sequence numbers.
  - Refinement: The X axis of the Sequence chart now shows dates rather than sequence numbers.
  - Refinement: Updates to the Documentation.
- Login
- Overview
- HVAC
- Location
  - Refinement: The power side of the speed / power gauge now displays using a logarithmic scale.
  - Fix: The speed side of the speed / power gauge now uses the appropriate units. It used to always show mph.
- Charge
- Graphs
  - Fix: There were rare occasions in which the Graph Tab would fail to load. This has been addressed.
- Trips
  - Fix: The following scenario is fixed: Start the app, take a trip, then show that Trip in the Trips Tab. Quit the app and restart. Then show the same trip in the Trips Tab. The first map will include too many markers. It disregards the Prefs setting for this.
- Scheduler
  - Fix: There were circumstances under which logged messages could have spurious data in them. This has been addressed.
- Notify
  - Addition: For advanced users only - EXPERIMENTAL. Added the ability to perform a HTTP GET on a URL in the event of a notification instead of sending an email. You may set the notification email in any custom notification setting to a URL rather than an email address. The URL must begin with http:// or https://. It must be a fully formed URL with any special characters URL-encoded. If VisibleTesla sees a URL rather than an email, it will perform an HTTP GET on that URL. It will not check error codes returned from the server nor process any returned data. The custom subject field will be ignored. This mechanism allows notifications to trigger web services for home automation or other purposes.
  - Refinement: The user interface for defining a location for geofencing notifications has been completely revamped and is much more interactive and visual. See the documentation for details. As a result of this change, the upper limit on radius has been lifted. The lower limit is 15 meters.
  - Refinement: When a notification is sent for the Charge State Becomes trigger, it will now include the current SOC and estimated range (in appropriate units).
  - Fix: In certain circumstances, Notifications regarding Scheduled Events may not be sent. This has been addressed.
- Prefs
Under-the-covers
Known problems

VisibleTesla 0.27.00 [05-04-2014] - [EXPERIMENTAL]

User-Visible Changes
- General
  - Refinement: Starting with this release a fully packaged Mac app available as a separate download. When you use the Help→Check for Updates menu item or an auto-update is performed, you'll be presented with a link that allows you to download the bundled app rather than the generic package. The underpinnings are there to add a bundled app for Windows and Linux too, but those aren't on the task list yet.
    TMC.com user araxara has been graciously building and host a bundled Mac app for quite a while and this bundled version is no different except that it supports the updating feature and uses a new icon (which can be changed either at build time or by updating the package).
  - Refinement: Refined the logic in calculating Vampire Loss statistics. The code makes better guesses about what to do in the facing of missing data.
  - Fixed: The update mechanism would fail silently with certain errors and the user would have no indication of what happened. That has been improved.
- Login
- Overview
- HVAC
- Location
  - Fixed: Major revision to the way streaming data works. There should be very few user visible changes other than bugs going away. In particular, some users noticed that data would stop streaming at random points while the Location Tab was in use.
- Charge
- Graphs
  - Refinement: In some cases you will see more data samples for speed and power if you select the Stream when possible option in the Prefs Tab. See below.
- Trips
- Scheduler
- Notify
- Prefs
  - Refinement: In the Location section of the Prefs Tab there is a new checkbox labeled Stream when possible. If checked, this tells VisibleTesla to stream location data opportunistically even when not on the Location Tab. When the car is not moving this will have no net effect, when the car is moving, more streaming location data will be captured. The exception is very short trips (less than 2 minutes).
Under-the-covers
- Fixed: Fairly significant overhaul to the way the app coordinates use of the streaming data api. This manifests in the ways listed above under Location, Graphs, and Prefs.
- Refinement: Modified the Mac app bundling task to remove a duplicate library, which decreased the download size by about 10%.
Known problems