Changelog

[2.1.0] – 2026-04-24

show_vectors option in plot_real() to toggle display of basis vector arrows (default: True).
real_lattice_size and reciprocal_lattice_size properties in lattice, with validated setters and on-demand lattice regeneration.
tqdm_disable argument in matching functions of the ewald class to control progress bar visibility (False enables tqdm).
AI generated test for preparation.filters module.
New transform_stack_to_kxky() function for explicit and efficient transformation of image stacks into kx–ky space.

Legend is now hidden by default in plot_real().
Progress bars (tqdm) in match_alpha and match_scale are disabled by default.
Updated default space size parameters.
Updated mirror_symmetry behavior in ewald: when enabled, lattice points are generated using both positive and negative Ewald azimuthal rotations (± rotation angle relative to the image azimuth).
Introduced clearer and more descriptive azimuth-related properties in ewald:
- image_azimuthal_angle
- ewald_azimuthal_angle
- ewald_azimuthal_rotation
  These distinguish the RHEED image azimuthal orientation (typically defined with respect to high-symmetry directions such as [11-2]) from the Ewald construction rotation used for rotated lattices (e.g. √7×√7 reconstructions).
Improved line rendering and spot markers in plot_image().
Refactored kx–ky image transformations to use a shared frame-level helper function.
Allow to pass k_vect in transformations.
Rotation of images in kx–ky space is now applied only when the required azimuth/alpha information is available.
Removed unsafe dtype casting during rotation and improved NaN preservation.
Resolved type issues via explicit float32 casting.
Deprecated multi-image transformation via transform_image_to_kxky() in favor of explicit stack handling.
Updated example notebooks.
Renamed test_preparation.py to test_preparation_alignment.py.

Setting image_azimuthal_angle directly.
The image azimuth is now treated as an immutable experimental reference.
A deprecated setter is retained for backward compatibility when the image azimuth is scalar; assignments emit a DeprecationWarning and are interpreted as setting ewald_azimuthal_rotation.
Passing multi-image stacks to transform_image_to_kxky(); users should migrate to transform_stack_to_kxky().

Corrected FCC primitive vector generation in the lattice module.
Fixed azimuthal_angle property handling for single images in image stacks.
Resolved type issues via explicit float32 casting.
Fixed orientation arrows in geometry figures in the documentation to use single-headed arrows for indicating the positive angular direction.
Fixed xarray FutureWarning related to concatenation and coordinate handling.
Various minor bug fixes and internal refactors.

Improved documentation of the geometry convention to clarify angular definitions and rotation directions.
Refactored high-pass filter to use vectorized xarray operations and float-based computations in image filtering.

Added file_name and file_creation_time attributes to loaded images.
Added new example images for the 3D stacking notebook.
Added support for image stacks with alpha coordinates in conversion.image.transform_image_to_kxky.
Added full support for stack images in kinematics.Ewald.

Refactored and simplified data loading logic for maintainability.
Refactored RI accessors to support both 2D and 3D (stacked) images.
Improved profile plotting and representation to allow reduction along sx, sy, and other dimensions (including 3D stacks).
Updated ARHEED kx–ky transformation visuals with new example images.
Updated documentation for advanced kx–ky transformations using multiple (stack) images.
Standardized logging across core modules (module-level loggers, lazy-style messages).
Added documentation on logging usage and configuration (docs/source/logging.rst).
Updated preparation module functions for centering RHEED images and refining incident angle detection.

Breaking: Removed load_data_manual(). The unified load_data() now handles both automatic and manual loading (manual mode applies when no plugin is provided).
Breaking: Removed apply_image_center() from RI accessors.

Breaking: Renamed ewald_sphere_radius → ewald_radius in RI accessors for naming consistency.
Breaking: Replaced symbolic angle names beta and alpha with descriptive incident_angle and azimuthal_angle in the xrheed API (aliases preserved).

Breaking: Replaced apply_image_center() with two clearer functions: set_center_manual() and set_center_auto().

Expose load_data and load_data_manual at the package root (xrheed.load_data) for simpler imports
Update documentation and examples to reflect the new recommended loading approach
Adopt setuptools_scm for dynamic versioning from git tags
Expose __version__ in package root

Add load_data_manual() to load RHEED images when no plugin is available.
Refactor io.py → loaders.py
- Breaking change: code using from xrheed.io import ... must now use from xrheed.loaders import ...
- Resolves the naming conflict with Python’s standard library io and clarifies the module’s purpose (data loading only).
Documentation fixes and updates:
- Updated example notebook sections.
- Updated badges.
- Updated plugin and xarray_accessors references in the API documentation.

First stable release of xRHEED.

PyPI-ready release with automatic publishing via GitHub Actions.
Full Sphinx documentation with myst-nb and API reference.
Added .readthedocs.yaml for Read the Docs builds.
Updated docs/source/conf.py for autodoc, autosummary, and notebook support.
Updated CI workflow (ci.yml) to build docs, run tests, lint code, and publish releases.
Added CITATION.cff for formal citation and Zenodo DOI integration.

Refactored LoadRheedBase to use an abstract base class with init_subclass validation.
Enforced presence of required ATTRS keys in all plugins.
Added dsnp_arpes_bmp plugin to support BMP image loading via Pillow.
Implemented automatic plugin discovery in xrheed/init.py.
Refactored test suite to dynamically validate all supported plugins and file types.
Updated CONTRIBUTING.md

New argument: show_specular_spot available in plot_image
New example notebook showing how to search for lattice constant and azimuthal orientation for a given RHEED data.
A major update in the Ewald class including:
- Ewald matching functions rewritten
- Added decorator that saves the matching results to cache dill files
- New constants
- Type hints
- Better docstring

First working release with core functionality
Load and preprocess RHEED images
Generate and analyze intensity profiles
Overlay predicted diffraction spot positions (kinematic theory & Ewald construction)
Documentation with few example notebooks