Updates for 2.23.0 release

[dbenn]

• VeLa.g4 comment removals with issues created
• version change
• user manual check and revision table
• remove deprecated applet UI class to avoid build warnings, especially since applets are not "a thing" now
• add CFF file
• change user manual link (see #298)
• update About box
• Change log

[dbenn]

@mpyat2, go to this branch and note the addition of a citation item via CFF file:

[mpyat2]

Ok, got it

[mpyat2]

Hi @dbenn ,

Imagine someone wanting to cite VStar using BibTex format.

Would it be correct (a .bib file entry):

@misc{benn23,
        author = {{Benn}, David and
                  {Beck}, Sara and
                  {Pyatnytskyy}, Maksym and
                  {Kotnik}, Cliff and
                  {Lee}, Sam and
                  {Weber}, Adam and
                  {Dadighat}, Michelle and
                  {Camargo}, Nico},
        title = {AAVSO VStar},
        year = {2023},
        abstract = {VStar is a multi-platform, free, open source application
                    for visualizing and analyzing time-series data. It is
                    primarily intended for use with variable star
                    observations, permitting light curves and phase plots to
                    be created, viewed in tabular form, filtered, and
                    analyzed. Period search, model creation, and
                    time-frequency analysis are supported. Data can be loaded
                    from the AAVSO International Database and various other
                    sources. VStar's feature set can be expanded via plug-ins,
                    for example, to read Kepler or Gaia mission data.},
        URL = {https://www.aavso.org/vstar},
        keywords = {variable stars, period search, period analysis, time-frequency analysis,
                    discrete Fourier transform, weighted wavelet z-transform,
                    Fourier models,
                    polynomial fits,
                    plug-in,
                    light curve,
                    phase plot},
        note = {license AGPL-3.0}
}

This gives something like this (this is an AAS example with the AASTeX style):

[dbenn]

What I see from the GitHub citation in BibTex format is:

@software{Benn_VStar,
author = {Benn, David and Beck, Sara and Pyatnytskyy, Maksym and Kotnik, Cliff and Lee, Sam and Weber, Adam and Dadighat, Michelle and Camargo, Nico},
license = {AGPL-3.0},
title = {{VStar}},
url = {https://github.com/AAVSO/VStar}
}

and for APA format I see:

Benn, D., Beck, S., Pyatnytskyy, M., Kotnik, C., Lee, S., Weber, A., Dadighat, M., & Camargo, N. VStar [Computer software]. https://github.com/AAVSO/VStar

So, those are different from what you show above.

[mpyat2]

I've just tried your example. Essentially, it gives the same result (with the latest AASTeX v6.3.1 style [note that this style is recommended by JAAVSO: https://www.aavso.org/jaavso-information-authors]) However, it seems that the 'year' entry is required, if the 'year' is not defined, we have got '????' in the citation text.

[dbenn]

Thanks for picking this up Max. I should have noticed.

There's a date-released field (YYYY-MM-DD format) in CFF and others can be added, such as version. I've just added/committed that.

I think date-released will work, because they give an example like that here: https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-citation-files

[mpyat2]

@dbenn , Shame on me. When I read the first comment (about citation prompt) I completely missed it (the citation prompt itself) and made the bibtex variant manually. Indeed, the Citation prompt creates it automatically. Oops... Probably the sun overheated me today :)

[dbenn]

No worries Max. :)

Hope you enjoyed the Sun. I did this weekend as well.

[dbenn]

In any case, the auto-generated output includes the date now, which it didn't before the last change.

Benn, D., Beck, S., Pyatnytskyy, M., Kotnik, C., Lee, S., Weber, A., Dadighat, M., & Camargo, N. (2023). VStar (Version 2.23.0) [Computer software]. https://github.com/AAVSO/VStar 

@software{Benn_VStar_2023,
author = {Benn, David and Beck, Sara and Pyatnytskyy, Maksym and Kotnik, Cliff and Lee, Sam and Weber, Adam and Dadighat, Michelle and Camargo, Nico},
license = {AGPL-3.0},
month = aug,
title = {{VStar}},
url = {https://github.com/AAVSO/VStar},
version = {2.23.0},
year = {2023}

Not sure whether I'll leave the version in there though since it means the citation changes a bit between releases.

For that matter, should the year always be the year of initial release or updated for each release? If we're going to change the year for releases, the version could be changed as well. Indeed, from a scientific reproducibility viewpoint, it should change, so that when someone cites it in a paper, the version (bugs and all) is stated.

Something else I wonder about is whether others should be added to the list. Everyone there has contributed something to the codebase. But there are other contributions, like those who got the ball rolling on the whole VStar project, e.g. see the About Box. Or does such additional credit belong in the About Box? Thoughts?