JSAMP v1.3-4

[Mark Taylor]

Hi all,

this announces the release of JSAMP v1.3-4.

Short story:

  - site and code have moved
  - changes are fairly minor, 
  - but hub deployers (e.g. authors of tools which may run the JSAMP hub) 
    should upgrade

More detail follows.

Hosting:
--------

Since AstroGrid, whose servers formerly hosted the codebase and
documentation, doesn't really exist any more, and those servers
are at risk, the hosting arrangements have changed.

The code is now hosted on github here:

   https://github.com/mbtaylor/jsamp

I extracted it from the AstroGrid SVN repository as a single item;
history is preserved.

The website containing documentation, downloads etc can now be found
here:

   http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/jsamp/

Changes:
--------

Full details on the version history page here:

   http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/jsamp/history.html

The most important thing is that the Web Profile hub no longer blocks
access to HTTPS-based web pages.  It used to do so, and I don't really
know why, probably excessive paranoia or an oversight by my younger self.
You may think this doesn't affect you, and you may be right, but if
you deploy JSAMP in such a way that the hub can be run (for instance,
if you distribute an application which allows the user to start a
JSAMP hub), then using the older version means anybody using that hub
will not be able to communicate with HTTPS-based web SAMP applications.
You are encouraged to distribute the new version so that HTTPS web
pages can play SAMP alongside HTTP ones.

There is also a new system parameter jsamp.web.extrahosts to support
access from (e.g.) mobile devices, facilitating for instance the
sort of thing developed by Maxime Heckel with Andre Schaaf "SkyTouch",
reported here:

   http://wiki.ivoa.net/internal/IVOA/InterOpSep2013Applications/IVOASept2013-GWS-SkyTouch.pdf

Any feedback, bugs reports etc welcome.

Mark

--
Mark Taylor   Astronomical Programmer   Physics, Bristol University, UK
m.b.taylor at bris.ac.uk +44-117-9288776  http://www.star.bris.ac.uk/~mbt/