Changelog

Version 0.7.0 (2 Mar 2014)

New Features:

• new feature in testsuite: Font viewer
• new extra stimulus: stimuli.extras.RandomDotKinematogram
• new timer and experiment clock to ensure monotonic timing
• Clock: new method (static) monotonic_time (this time should be always used)
• data_preprocessing: new exclusion rule, which allows removing trials depending on their deviation (std) from mean (e.g., ‘RT > 1.5*std’)
• improvements for OS X in get_system_info()
• proper unicode handling: use unicode strings whenever unicode characters are needed
• files: the character encoding is now written to files and used when opening them
• FreeFonts are now part of the Expyriment distribution to guarantee the same fonts across platforms
• new io class: TouchScreenButtonBox
• new options for control.start(): skip_ready_screen and subject_id to start with predefined subject id
• experiments now also have a global mouse object: experiment.mouse
• new property for io.Mouse: is_visible
• Secure hashes for experiments help to ensure that the correct version is running in the lab. Secure hashes will be displayed at the start and printed in all output files as well as in the command line output.

Fixed:

• experiment clock now with monotonic timing
• bug in extras.CedrusResponseDevice
• several bugs in documentation
• incompatibility with multiprocessing.Pool
• bug in Visual.add_noise()
• bug in io.SerialPort.read_line()
• bugfix: stimuli.shapes can now be used as background stimuli for io.TextInput & io.TextMenu

Changed:

• several Android related changes (have no impact for normal use of Expyriment)
• overlapping methods of stimuli now work on absolute_position by default

Version 0.6.4 (5 Aug 2013)

New Features:

• log levels can be changed while running experiment via the method Experiment.set_logging. Access current via Experiment.loglevel
• Modification the logging of individual objects while runtime. Most classes have now the method set_logging(onoff), to switch on or off the logging.
• design.randomize.rand_element returns a random element from a list
• blocks and trails have the property ‘factor_dict’, which is a dictionary with with all factors
• experimental Android support

Fixed:

• incorrect background colour for TextInput
• Font in TextScreen
• several fixed in documentation
• switching off logging via “expyriment.control.defaults.event_logging = 0” not now working
• “numpy version bug” in data.preprocessing
• unicode bug for picture, audio and video filenames
• polling of parallel port
• io.TextMenu font was hardcoded

Version 0.6.3 (14 Apr 2013)

New Features:

• misc.geometry contains function to convert between pixel and degrees of visual angle: position2visual_angle & visual_angle2position
• io.TextInput has now a position and can be plotted on a background stimulus
• misc.find_font
• misc.list_fonts

Fixed:

• Initializing experiments in the IDLE shell
• TextInput user_text_font and user_text_bold can now be changed
• bugs in font selection
• API reference tool should now also open when there are whitespaces in Python executable path

Changed:

• renamed TextInput.user_colour –> user_text_colour
• FixCross.cross_size has been renamed to FixCross.size. FixCross.size is now a tuple (int, int) and defines both dimensions (x, y) separately.
• Expyriment is checking also the version of all required packages and dependencies
• all doc string are now in line with the numpy-doc conventions

Version 0.6.2 (12 Dec 2012)

New Features:

• new stimuli.extras.PolygonLine class

Fixed:

• Expyriment could not be imported on Windows 7 64
• misc.geometry.position2coordinate bug
• io.Mouse.self_test bug is fixed

Changed:

• stimuli.Line was rewritten to not depend on PolygonRectangle anymore; the old Line stimulus is now stimuli.extras.PolygonLine

Version 0.6.1 (9 Dec 2012)

Fixed:

• Testsuite wouldn’t start anymore
• API reference tool would not start on Windows XP in some cases

Version 0.6.0 (4 Dec 2012)

New Features:

• new stimuli.Circle class
• new stimuli.Ellipse class
• new stimuli.extra.PolygonDot class
• new stimuli.extra.PolygonEllipse class
• new stimuli.extra.PolygonRectangle class
• new method: stimuli.Shape.add_vertices to add multiple vertices at once
• an additional suffix for the main data and event files can be set when creating an Experiment
• Unfilled Shapes by setting a line_width, when creating a shape
• Shape: new property line_width

Fixed:

• stimuli.Shape: several fixes, related to surface creation and xy point calculation
• Logging of unicode text in TextLine stimulus
• stimuli.TextLine and stimuli.TextBox can now also receive a font file as text_font argument
• stimuli.TextLine.copy()
• Bug fixes in self tester of stimuli
• Fixed segmentation fault when repeatedly initalizing and ending an experiment
• Fixed surface size shapes
• Fixed incorrect line_width plotting for scaled shapes
• Copying preloaded stimuli in OpenGL mode
• Bug fixed in io.InputFile.get_line()

Changed:

• io.DataFile: variable “Subject” is now called “subject_id”
• io.Screen.update() should be even more accurate now (about 0.5 milliseconds)
• misc.data_preprocessing: argument and property “experiment_name” in all objects is now called “file_name”
• misc.data_preprocessing.Aggregator can handle files with different suffixes: see __inti__ and reset
• stimuli.Dot: is_center_inside, is_overlapping and is_inside are deprecated now
• stimuli.Dot is deprecated now, use stimuli.Circle instead
• stimuli.Shape: is_point_inside and is_shape_overlapping are deprecated now
• stimuli.Shape.native_scaling does now optionally scale also the line_width
• stimuli.Frame: property line_width is now renmes to frame_line_width. Since line_width is a property the underlying shape and always 0 (filled shapes)
• stimuli.Frame is deprecated now, use stimuli.Rectangle with line_width > 0
• stimuli.Rectangle was rewritten and is not inherited from Shape anymore; the old Rectangle stimulus is now knwon as stimuli.extras.PolygonRectangle

Version 0.5.2 (13 Jun 2012)

New Features:

• data_preprocessing.print_n_trials(variables)
• data_preporcessing.get_variable_data: get data as numpy arrays.
• data_preporcessing.add_variable: add data from numpy.
• read trials from csv file into a block design.block.add_trials_from_csv_file
• block.read_design (counterpart to save_design)
• the main event_file logs now also the standard output and Python errors
• statistic functions are now robust against type violations (like nan_mean)
• design will be automatically saved to event file when experiment starts
• functions to check if IDLE of IPython are running (in control)
• several further new minor features

Fixed:

• Serial Port test can now be quit without quitting the test suite
• FixCross, width vertical line
• Serial Port will be closed when script crashes in IDLE
• Fix for stimuli.extras.VisualMask
• Fix for io.TextInput
• Fixes and adjustments for default logging
• API browser now works on OS X
• API browser fonts on Windows
• several bug fixes in data_preporcessing

Version 0.5.1 (07 Mar 2012)

Fixed:

• Bug in Serial Port test when no input is received
• Bug for get_verrsion() under Python 2.6 under OS X

Changed:

• Text colour for API HTML reference

Version 0.5.0 (06 Mar 2012)

New Features:

• new io class: TextMenu
• new function: expyriment.get_system_info()
• new function in control: get_defaults()
• new method in ButtonBox: check()
• new methods in io.Mouse: wait_event, wait_motion
• new misc modules: geometry and statistics
• new Cedrus Response Devices support in io.extras
• new test suite:
  • new method in control: run_testsuite()
  • the testsuite can write a protocol with all results and information about the system
• folder for settings and extra plugins: $HOME/.expyriment/ or $HOME/~expyriment/
  • if the file post_import.py exist in this folder it will be executed automatically after the import of expyriment
  • extra plugins can be now also included in the folder $HOME/.expyriment/<module_name>/ (or ~expyriment)
• command line interface:
  • see “python -m expyriment.cli -h” for help
• better on- and offline documentation:
  • new function: expyriment.show_documentation()
  • new Api Reference Tool (API browse and search GUI)
• new function in misc.data_preprocessing: write_concatenated_data
• ButtonBox and TriggerInput work now optional with bitwise comparisons
• SerialPort and ParallelPort have a get_available_ports() method
• wait callback functions can now also be registered via the experiment
• some new constants

Changed:

• ButtonBox has been replaced by StreamingButtonBox and EventButtonBox
• the experiment is now THE central structure in the framework. Importantly, start does not require an experiment anymore and starts instead the currently initialized experiment.
• textinput.filter is rename to textinput.ascii_filter
• stimuli.TextBox: Size is now a mandatory parameter
• ending expyriment will now only optionally call sys.exti()
• stimuli.Audio.is_playing() and Audio.wait_end() are replaced by control.get_audiosystem_is_playing() and control.wait_end_audiosystem()
• stimuli.Audio.play() now returns a pygame.mixer.Channel object
• control.run_in_develop_mode() is renamed to control.set_develop_mode()
• no config files will be supported anymore

Fixed:

• the Windows installer will now remove all files from an old installation before installing
• IDLE will not freeze anymore, when a script crashes
• several attributes/properties were did not appear in the API reference
• major bug in keyboard.check()
• (possibly) fixed is_playing() method in Audio
• ordering of serial ports in SerialPort.get_available_ports()
• visual problems when graphics card is set to do flipping with tripple buffer

Version 0.4.0 (22 Nov 2011)

New Features:

• saving and loading designs, new functions in experiment class (save_design and load_design)
• new module: expyriment.misc.data_preprocessing with functions for data handling and a new tool to preprocess and aggregate expyriment data (class Aggregator). Note: Preliminary version. Use with caution.
• new extra stimulus class: visual mask (depends on PIL)
• new extra io class: Webcam (depends in PIL and OpenCV)
• new extra io class: MidiIn
• new extra io class: MidiOut
• the repository and the expyriment source code zip file contain examples
• ‘setup.py install’ removes old installation
• new function: block.save_trials

Changed:

• Extra modules are now hidden
• skipped function experiment.save_trial_list (please use the new experiment.save_design instead)
• rename property block.all_factors_as_text –> block.factors_as_text
• rename property experiment.trials_as_text –> experiment.design_as_text
• rename experiment.bws_factor_permutation_randomize –> experiment.bws_factor_randomized
• Factor conditions/levels have to be a number (int, float) or a string. No other data types are allowed.

Fixed:

• Bug in testing function of visual extra stimuli
• Bug fix, unbalanced between subject factor permutation for hierarchical designs by subject_ID
• Bug fix, playing short tones (duration<1 sec.)

Version 0.3.3 (19 Oct 2011)

New Features:

• stimuli.Video.wait_frame() stops playback and screen updating after the given frame

Fixed:

• Printing experiments with no block factors defined will work now

Version 0.3.2 (12 Oct 2011)

New Features:

• stimuli.Audio: wait_end(), is_playing

Changed:

• stimuli.Video: present() will now block until the first frame is presented.
• stimuli.Video: play() will not render anything anymore
• stimuli.Tone and stimuli.extras.NoiseTone: duration is now set in ms
• design.Block.get_a_random_trial() is now called get_random_trial()

Fixed:

• Visual stimuli: picture() method works now
• Visual stimuli: copy() method was erroneous
• design.Block.get_summary(): Ordering of trial factors
• design.Block and design.Trial: Factor values can now be dictionaries as well
• stimuli.Tone and stimuli.extras.NoiseTone: Works correctly on Windows now
• design.Block.get_random_trial(): Could crash in some occasions
• Fix underscore at the end of filenames

Version 0.3.1 (8 Sep 2011)

Changed:

• SerialPort: byte_buffer is now input_history
• ParallelPort: byte_buffer removed (just did not make any sense)
• ButtonBox: buffer and has_buffer attributes are gone
• Buttons of Mouse and GamePad now start from 0
• register_wait_function renamed to register_wait_callback_function

Fixed:

• Critical bug on Windows about parsing of expyriment installation folder
• Critical bug in Block.copy() which would destroy Pygame surface
• Mouse.check_button_pressed(): Mismatch in button numbering
• Dot: Fixed calculation for setting polar coordinates
• ParallelPort: Sending data
• MarkerOutput: Duration computation

Version 0.3.0 (31 Aug 2011)

New Features:

• expyriment.control.register_wait_function(): A function registered here will be called in each wait method in the framework at least once
• expyriment.control.run_in_develop_mode(): Automatically sets some defaults (window_mode=True, open_gl=False, fast_quit=True)
• SerialPort: read_line() will wait for and return full lines
• SerialPort: os_buffer_size attribute will affect the warning behaviour of the byte buffer
• ByteBuffer: add_events() can be used to add multiple events at once

Changed:

• defaults, constants as well as initialize(), start(), pause() and end() will no longer be available via expyriment but only via expyriment.control
• SerialPort: Updating the byte_buffer is now faster and warnings are more precise

Fixed:

• GamePad.wait_press(): Can now also check for first button (button 0)

Version 0.2.1 (19 Aug 2011)

New Features:

• MarkerOutput can now send with a specified duration (needed for EEG systems connected via parallel port)
• Advanced trial shuffling

Fixed:

• Critical bug in Trial.copy() which leads to broken surfaces
• Blocking mode for serial port
• Unicode in TextBox? and TextScreen?
• wait_press() in GamePad does now check for more than one button

Version 0.2.0 (26 May 2011)

New Features:

• Overall structure has changed quite a bit. There are now only 5 submodules (control, design, io, stimuli, misc). Things like initialize() and start() are now in control. Constants are now in misc. Each module has its own defaults now.

Changed:

• Adding blocks and trexpyrimentials will always add a copy. There is no option for adding a reference anymore.
• Block and Trial IDs are now relative to where they are added. For instance, two blocks can contain 10 unique trials each, but for both blocks the trial IDs will go from 0 to 9.
• Adding stimuli will always add a reference!
• Stimuli have still an absolute unique ID

Fixed:

• A variety of small bugs have been fixed

Version 0.1.4 (22 May 2011)

Fixed:

• Getting a picture from a stimulus was broken

Version 0.1.3 (12 May 2011)

Fixed:

• Tempfiles of surfaces are now closed after creation (critical on Windows!)

Version 0.1.2 (11 May 2011)

Changed:

• expyriment version now printed on import, not on Experiment creation anymore

Fixed:

• Setup script will not try to check mercurial information by default anymore

Version 0.1.1 (11 May 2011)

New Features:

• Throws a usefull exception on old or integrated Intel graphics cards that do not support OpenGL properly

Fixed:

• Experiment.permute_blocks() will not destroy the surfaces of the stimuli anymore

Version 0.1.0 (10 May 2011)

First public release