Version-1.26.0

Release Date : XX/XX/2025

Major Features

Image Viewer Architecture Refactoring

  • New Widget System: Introduced reusable UI component architecture

    • ImageViewerWidget: Enhanced image display with integrated tool support

    • DisplayOptionsPanel: Centralized display controls for brightness, contrast, and zoom

    • DoubleZoomWidget & ZoomHandler: Advanced zoom functionality with dual-view capability

    • NavigationControls: Unified navigation widget across all GUIs (EquatorWindow, QuadrantFoldingGUI, XRayViewerGUI)

  • Interactive Tool System: New musclex/ui/tools/ package with modular tools

    • CenterRotateTool: Quick center and rotation angle setting simultaneously

    • ChordsCenterTool & PerpendicularsCenterTool: Advanced geometric center-finding methods

    • RotationTool: Dedicated rotation adjustment with visual feedback

    • ZoomRectangleTool: Interactive rectangular zoom regions

    • ToolManager: Coordinated tool interaction and mode switching

Multiprocessing & Performance

  • Parallel Image Processing: New multiprocessing support for batch operations

    • Significantly improved processing speed in EquatorWindow

    • Task management system with cancellation support

    • Progress tracking for HDF5 and folder processing

    • Stop process functionality with real-time feedback

  • Enhanced File Management: Major FileManager improvements

    • Full HDF5 file processing support across all GUIs

    • Cached directory scanning with disk caching for faster loading

    • Asynchronous directory scanning with provisional file selection

    • Two-phase loading (synchronous + background) for improved responsiveness

    • Better memory management with automatic cleanup

Quadrant Folding Enhancements

  • New Interactive Dialogs:

    • SetCentDialog: Manual center setting with live image preview and zoom support

    • SetAngleDialog: Interactive rotation angle adjustment

    • ImageBlankDialog: Blank image subtraction with preview

    • ImageMaskDialog: Advanced image masking functionality

  • Improved Center & Rotation Management:

    • Refactored center handling with configuration fingerprinting

    • Cache validation system to ensure consistency

    • “Quick Center and Rotation Angle” tool for efficient calibration

    • Center and rotation mode indicators for better visibility

    • Restore auto center/rotation with option to apply to current image or all images

    • Preserved manual settings during cache operations

UI/UX Improvements

Visual Enhancements

  • Bold fonts for group boxes across all GUIs for better visual hierarchy

  • Green labels for improved visibility of important information

  • Enhanced button styling and consistent appearance

  • Improved status bar with file indices and processing information

Progress & Feedback

  • HDF5 processing progress display in all GUIs

  • Enhanced progress bar formatting with detailed status

  • Real-time task completion indicators

  • Confirmation dialog when closing windows with running tasks

  • “Play Current Folder” button for clearer batch processing control

User Controls

  • Persist intensity value feature across processing sessions

  • Removed range restrictions on QDoubleSpinBox components (allow any value)

  • Allow negative input for rotation angle dialog

  • Better navigation button text for clarity

  • Window stays on top hint for critical dialogs

Bug Fixes

Data & Processing

  • Fixed pandas.errors.InvalidIndexError by removing duplicate “Meridian Sigma” column

UI Issues

  • Fixed double zoom handling in multiple dialogs

  • Fixed musclex.desktop launcher to properly start GUI

Code Quality & Architecture

Refactoring

  • Reorganized file structure: ui_widgets → ui/widgets following Python conventions

  • Removed obsolete code and unused attributes (centerizeImage, center_before_rotation, etc.)

  • Removed redundant center-related code from info dictionary

  • Simplified blank image and mask handling logic

  • Better separation of concerns across modules

Configuration & Cache Management

  • Configuration fingerprinting for reliable cache validation

  • Automatic cache invalidation when settings change

  • Improved state management in QuadrantFolder

  • Better handling of manual vs automatic settings

Development & Build

Documentation

  • Added comprehensive guide for building Linux DEB packages (dev_docs/DevGuide/build_linux_deb.md)

  • Updated environment tester with latest Python and package versions

Packaging

  • Updated musclex_linux.spec with sklearn data files and PySide6 hidden imports

  • Updated musclex_mac.spec with sklearn data files collection

  • Fixed musclex.desktop to launch GUI properly

  • Added VSCode launch configuration for debugging

Project Maintenance

  • Updated .gitignore to include venv, .idea, temp_files, docs/_build directories

  • Removed musclex.egg-info folder from version control

  • Version bumped to 1.26.0 in meta.yaml and init.py

Testing & Environment

.. note:: Version tested on Python 3.10 and Python 3.8 - on Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04, macOS 12.6, Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Known Issues & Future Work

  • Additional documentation needed for background removal algorithms

  • Continue performance optimization for very large HDF5 files

Total Changes: 59 files changed, 10,174 insertions(+), 4,294 deletions