new CIOMSClientFactory.destroy_instance to consistently destroy the
created instances; in particular this allows to deactivate the embedded
simulator (then that's the case) in a transparent way for client code
merge upstream/master
merge upstream/master
initial set-up to launch instruments from platforms,
test: test_single_platform_with_an_instrument.  Instrument is launched but
not yet initialized -- next for the test is to prepare the required
environment for the instrument to get initialized properly.
simplified agent launcher now based on ion.util.agent_launcher.AgentLauncher
test_single_platform_with_an_instrument: now the instrument also goes through a series of commands (and corresp state transitions) as commanded by
the platform agent .  base_test_platgorm_agent_with_rsn includes the prior
launching of the port agent to support the proper initialization of the
instrument agent.
removed workaround re bug about "aparam_alert_config" in instrument_agent,
which is now fixed.
adjust operation to retrieve attribute values so it is better defined and more consistent: from_time parameter now per-attribute instead of a single from_time for all requested attributes
merge upstream/master
Merge pull request #762 from carueda/platform_instrument_coordination

Platform instrument coordination