Work on Aurora Sector Studio 0.4.7-alpha4 has grown into a substantial update to everyday sector-project maintenance. The changes cover organising files, checking edits on the map, handling more of Aurora's sector-file formats, and preparing an update for distribution.
The implementation is now on the release branch. This is a development preview: final application checks and packaging are still underway.
Manage project files inside Sector Studio
The File Explorer now has a context menu with familiar actions: create files and folders, cut, copy, paste, rename, move, and delete. These actions are also available through the File menu, and deleted project files go to the Windows Recycle Bin.
Drag and drop lets you move files or folders within the project; holding Ctrl copies them instead. The project refreshes after additions, deletions, and moves, so its file list, Problems panel, and map can reflect the new structure without reopening the sector file.
Moving a referenced file is also easier. When a move is performed in Sector Studio, supported explicit include references are updated to the new location. If a reference cannot be resolved safely, the move is stopped for review. Moves performed outside the application are detected, but their include references still need to be updated manually.
See the effect of edits while you work
The Problems panel and map now refresh from unsaved editor changes after a short pause in typing. That makes it easier to correct a coordinate, adjust a polygon, or fix an include and see the result without repeatedly reloading the sector file.
This also works with detached editor windows. Saved changes from other applications trigger a project refresh, while open documents with unsaved edits retain their reload confirmation.
The preview keeps the current map view and layer choices. It does not save your work automatically: exports still use saved files, so save the changes you want to include before preparing an update.
More of the sector file on the map
This version adds high and low airways, including labels and track breaks, together with ARTCC, high, and low airspace boundaries and labels.
Filled polygons are now parsed and rendered from both .tfl and the legacy .fcl extension. Support includes airport-named files, colour definitions from [DEFINE], and the fill, stroke, and opacity settings. Static polygons are displayed normally. Dynamic polygons can be inspected using Preview dynamic TFL; Sector Studio does not currently receive the online ATC station feed that Aurora uses to control their visibility.
Referenced .atis files also have a structure preview in the Explorer. It shows the template and its placeholders without substituting live weather or controller information.
Preserve the details already in your files
Coordinate pairs and named FIX, VOR, and NDB references are handled more consistently across the supported formats. Explicit includes, implicit file discovery, and airport attachments have also been brought into closer agreement.
Structured edits preserve optional FIX, VOR, NDB, SID, and STAR fields, along with unrelated source text. This helps keep existing sector data intact when making a focused edit.
There are smaller interface fixes too: map layer controls show their names alongside their counts, and Explorer text and hover colours have been corrected in both themes.
Prepare sector updates and deletion lists
Sector-project release snapshots provide a saved baseline for comparing changes. Sector Studio can produce a changelog draft for review before export.
The update workflow also generates delete.upd entries for removed files. A moved file contributes its old path to the deletion list and its new path to the update. Export checks exclude files that are present in the new package, because Aurora applies deletions after extracting the update.
The deletion-list implementation matches the confirmed Aurora behaviour: entries omit the Include\ prefix, so Include\Denmark\old.tfl is listed as Denmark\old.tfl. Aurora also ignores an empty delete.upd.
What remains before release
The Release test suite currently passes 446 tests, and the desktop Release build completes with zero warnings or errors. The release candidate also retains the recent installed-application startup fixes.
The remaining work is to check representative projects in the packaged application, verify installer and updater behaviour, and check an exported sector update in Aurora. There is no release date to announce yet.
Holdings, MVA, VFR, elevation, and symbols remain on the roadmap. Graphical SID/STAR authoring is still planned for Alpha 5.
Once those checks are complete, a separate release post will cover the final changes and download details.