Qcodes

===========================

The October 2020 release of QCoDeS.


Breaking Changes:
_________________

- A number of long deprecated drivers have been removed:

* ``Keysight_344xxA`` drivers: Use ``Keysight_344xxA_submodules`` drivers (2325)
* ``QDac`` driver: Use ``QDac_channels`` driver as an alternative (2314)
* ``keithley_2600``: Use ``keithley_2600_channels`` as an alternative (2315)

- In the ``QDac_channels`` driver a deprecated parameter (``fast_voltage_set``)
and a deprecated method (``read_state``) has been removed (2314)


New:
____

- Add optional shape metadata to dataset (2145)
- Allow string and time/datetime data to be storred in array measurements (2313)
- ``KeysightB1511B`` SMU driver has been added for support with the B1500 (2278)
- Notebook: Example of how buffered sweep could be done on param with setpoints (2263)
- Add ``allow_changes`` option to ``set_to`` method of ``Parameter``, and
add another context manager for restoring current value (2220)


Improved:
_________

- Station: Take verbose error message when validating station yaml against
schema (2282)
- Fix ``Sequence`` validator ``sorted`` check to work correctly with sequence
types other than list (2271)
- Experiemnt widget: sort ``None`` timestamps as oldest (2275)
- Use predefined mock instruments in docs (2190)
- Support pyvisa 1.11 (2304)


New drivers:
____________

- Alazar ATS9440 card (2258)


Improved drivers:
_________________

- AMI430: ``has_current_rating`` has been removed in the driver to work with the new
firmware version (2291, 2312)
- Small typo fix in alazer drivers (2296)
- Yokogawa GS200: ``source_mode`` bug fix (2143) and update its example notebook (2197)
- Keysight B1517A: Improvments for valid voltage and current output ranges (2278)
- Keithley 3706A: improvements / warnings cleanup (2318)
- Yokogawa GS200: Add trigger, and program features (2138)
- Keithley 7510: Add digitizer feature (2138)

Under the hood:
_______________

- Filter out telemetry messages in console handler (2322)
- Docs: add title to home page, and make version bar appear (2323)
- Small improvements in legacy data notebook (2295)
- Station example doc: update update_config_schema example to refer to
qcodes_contrib_drivers (2272)
- Fix header levels in example notebooks (2265)
- Fix legacy imports in driver examples (2249)
- rework 2d tests to sweep over two separate parameters (2187)
- Update test for ``get_data`` method (2196)
- Fix some of the warnings triggered by numpy 1.19 (2239)
- Pylint and it's dependencies removed from test_requirements (2297)
- Expand documentation requirments.txt (2289)
- Move tests related to qcodes.data loop etc to a legacy folder (2238)
- Legacy: ensure that datasets have unique names to avoid potential race
condition (2276)
- Don't exclude instrument drivers from codecov (2326)


Dependencies:
_____________

Please note that these dependencies are only related to `requirements.txt`

- Update lxml requirement from ~=4.5.1 to ~=6.0.0 (2300)
- Update traitlets requirement from ~=5.0.4 to ~=5.0.5 (2298)
- Update nbclient requirement from ~=0.5.0 to ~=0.5.1 (2299)
- Update zipp requirement from ~=3.3.0 to ~=3.3.1 (2294)
- Update hypothesis requirement from ~=5.37.1 to ~= 5.37.3 (2287)
- Update pillow requirement from ~=7.2.0 to ~=8.0.0 (2286)
- Update nbformat requirement from ~=5.0.7 to ~=5.0.8 (2288)
- Update iniconfig requirement from ~=1.0.1 to ~=1.1.1 (2283)
- Update opencensus-ext-azure requirement from ~=1.0.4 to ~=1.0.5 (2279)
- Update opencensus-context requirement from ~=0.1.1 to ~=0.1.2 (2167)
- Update opencensus requirement from ~=0.7.10 to ~=0.7.11 (2280)
- Update prompt-toolkit requirement from ~=3.0.7 to ~=3.0.8 (2273)
- Update colorama requirement from ~=0.4.3 to ~=0.4.4 (2274)
- Update codecov requirement from ~=2.1.9 to ~=2.1.10 (2267)
- Update sphinx-jsonschema requirement from ~=1.16.4 to ~=1.16.5 (2266)
- Update tqdm requirement from ~=4.50.1 to ~=4.50.2 (2260)
- Update google-api-core requirement from ~=1.22.3 to ~=1.22.4 (2246)
- Update pandas requirement from ~=1.1.2 to ~=1.1.3 (2248)
- Update google-auth requirement from ~=1.22.0 to ~=1.22.1 (2245)
- Update sphinx-jsonschema requirement from ~=1.16.3 to ~=1.16.4 (2247)
- Update pytest requirement from ~=6.1.0 to ~=6.1.1 (2241)
- Update gitpython requirement from ~=3.1.8 to ~=3.1.9 (2229)
- Update jupyterlab-pygments requirement from ~=0.1.1 to ~=0.1.2 (2226)
- Update nest-asyncio requirement from ~=1.4.0 to ~=1.4.1 (2224)
- Update tqdm requirement from ~=4.49.0 to ~=4.50.0 (2219)

Fix package building

What's Changed
* Add QDAC1 notebook from QCoDeS by jenshnielsen in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/198
* add driver for HP8594E by RasmusBC59 in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/191
* support qcodes 0.37 by jenshnielsen in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/200
* Bump ipython from 8.8.0 to 8.9.0 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/199
* Cleanup example imports by jenshnielsen in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/201
* cancel old github actions jobs by jenshnielsen in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/202
* New driver for Rigol DSG3136B by EdwardLaird1 in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/197
* upgrade mypy to 1.0.0 by jenshnielsen in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/203
* Update ipython requirement from ~=8.9.0 to ~=8.10.0 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/204
* Update ipython requirement from ~=8.10.0 to ~=8.11.0 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/205
* BlueFors: update datetime parsing to be compatibe with v2.2 bluefors software by ptar543 in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/206
* Update mypy requirement from ~=1.0.0 to ~= 1.1.1 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/207
* Bump actions/checkout from 3.3.0 to 3.4.0 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/208
* Update ipython requirement from ~=8.11.0 to ~=8.12.0 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/212
* Sr844 by RasmusBC59 in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/210
* QDAC1: Allow slopes greater than 10V by jpsecher in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/209
* Update mypy requirement from ~=1.1.1 to >=1.1.1,<1.3.0 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/213
* Bump codecov/codecov-action from 3.1.1 to 3.1.2 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/214
* Bump actions/checkout from 3.4.0 to 3.5.0 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/211
* Bump actions/checkout from 3.5.0 to 3.5.1 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/215
* Bump actions/checkout from 3.5.1 to 3.5.2 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/216
* Bump codecov/codecov-action from 3.1.2 to 3.1.3 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/218
* Bump actions/setup-python from 4.5.0 to 4.6.0 by dependabot in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/217
* Switch publish to official pypi action by jenshnielsen in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/219

New Contributors
* RasmusBC59 made their first contribution in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/191
* EdwardLaird1 made their first contribution in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/197
* ptar543 made their first contribution in https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/pull/206

**Full Changelog**: https://github.com/QCoDeS/Qcodes_contrib_drivers/compare/v0.18.0...v0.19.0rc1

The September 2020 release of QCoDeS.

Breaking Changes:

There are no breaking changes in this release of QCoDeS.

New:

- Support nested ``Measurement`` context managers; in particular, only create
one background writer thread for multiple datasets (2124)
- Interactive widget to explore datasets in Jupyter Notebooks (1967, 2163)

Improved:

- Jump to value when trying to set a parameter that cannot be set in steps
(can't be swept) (2128)
- Raise exception if ``get_cmd`` is not defined in a ``Group`` of
``GroupParameter`` s (2133)
- Add new ``set_parameters`` method to ``Group`` and remove the old deprecated
``set`` method (2137)
- Update ArrayParameter Docs (2126)
- Add a docs page listing projects to QCoDeS project (2142)

Improved drivers:

- Keysight B1500: fix measure range bug, ``measure_config`` method is deprecated (2150)
- Remove warning about complex numbers in R&S ZNB driver (2140)

Under the hood:

- Simplify instrument destructor (2132)
- Add types to ``RunDescriber`` dict representations (2134)
- Rework ``RunDescriber`` and update to version 2 (2135)
- Allow ``from_dict_to_current`` to deserialize ``RunDescriber`` from new versions (2144)
- Add ``python_requires`` as key to ``setup.py`` (2123)


Dependencies:

- Constrain all requirements and their dependencies in requirements.txt (2164)
- Use ``pip`` s new resolver when installing dependencies (2168)
- Fix docs and test requirements to minor version (2148)
- Restrict pyvisa to less than 1.11 (2162)
- Install pyqt for python 3.8 (2157)
- Require latest opencensus packages (2141)
- Remove no longer needed apt dependecies from travis (1843)
- Update nbconvert requirement from 5.6.1 to ~=6.0.3 (2146, 2152, 2160)
- Update pytest requirement from ~=6.0.1 to ~=6.0.2 (2151)
- Update coverage requirement from ~=5.2.1 to ~=5.3 (2154)
- Update sphinx-jsonschema requirement from ~=1.16.1 to ~=1.16.2 (2155)
- Update hypothesis requirement from ~=5.5.5 to ~=5.35.3 (2158)

===========================

The August 2020 release of QCoDeS.

Note: QCoDeS no longer officially supports Python ``3.6``.


Breaking Changes:
_________________

There are no breaking changes in this release of QCoDeS.


New:
____

- Add in-memory cache representation for data of ``DataSet`` (2062)


Improved drivers:
_________________

- Keithley 2600: Add linefreq to pyvisa-sim yml file (2100)
- Keysight B1500: convert dummy values to NaN for spot measurement (2108)


Improved:
_________

- Station: Pass name as kwarg so that its order in instrument class is not relevant (2099)
- Add support for matplotlib 3.3 (2101)
- fix matplotlib deprecation warning (2120)
- Docs: update qcodes usage link (2091)
- Docs: Python version 3.6 is updated to 3.7 in ``Getting Started->Requirements`` (2107)
- Docs: Updating the broken link for conda-environment-update in Qcodes documentation (2111)
- Update error message for instruments pickling (2094)
- Fix: convert spyder kernels site print statement to logging message (2097)


Under the hood:
_______________

- Move write cache to from ``DataSaver`` to ``DataSet`` (2112, 2114)
- remove conda ruamel package to fix pipelines build (2104)
- Add Codacy and PyPi badges to readme (2110)
- Add supported python versions badge (2113)
- Bump sphinx from 3.1.2 to 3.2.1 (2117)

==============================================

The July 2020 release of QCoDeS.

Note: this will be the **last** QCoDeS release to support python 3.6


Breaking Changes:
_________________

* ``math`` has been renamed to ``math_utils`` (2040).
* The deprecated `default_measurement` of the `Station` is now removed (2058)
* The deprecated methods `get_data` and `get_values` of the `DataSet` have now been removed (2067)
* The `get_setpoints` method of the `DataSet` has been deprecated (2068)


New drivers:
____________


Improved drivers:
_________________
* The Keithley 2450 driver got a bunch of new parameters and methods (1970, 2052)
* The Keysight B1500 driver now checks errors after setting each parameter (2041) and outputs `NaN` instead of `199.999e99` when compliance is reached (2074)
* The Keysight B1520A driver saw a bunch of improvements:
* sweep API was restructured more logically (2044)
* the driver now supports all possible impedance models (2047)
* the measurement status is retrieved after each sweep (2050)
* added `get_cmds` for `sweep_auto_abort` and `post_sweep_auto_abort` (2049)
* The Keysight B1517A driver had the following improvements:
* the measurement status is retrieved after each sweep (2050).
* added `get_cmds` for `sweep_auto_abort` and `post_sweep_auto_abort` (2049)
* added measurement status to current/voltage parameters (2051)

Improved:
_________
* All master-slave references from drivers have been removed or deprecated (2066)
* QCoDeS now comes with a code of conduct (2078)

Under the hood:
_______________

* Better execution of the test suite and hardening of tests (2016, 2037, 2038, 2039, 2040, 2042, 2045, 2056, 2057, 2063, 2064, 2070, 2073, 2077, 2076). Special highlights from this massive work:
* The test suite now runs in parallel, a major win for all developers
* Much better handling of the QCoDeS config system as a result
* Update of dependencies to `mypy` 0.782 (2034, 2075) and `pyqtgraph` 0.11.0 (2036)
* The `measurements.py` module is now slightly better type-annotated (2065)
* Documentation is built with Spinx 3.1.2 (2069, 2072)
* Added support for (upcoming) `pytest` 6 and explicit dependency on `packaging` (2076)