help
the planets version 2.02

sorry,  i have rushed to get this new version out as quick as i could, and have not put together a full "help-page"

i will write a full help page shortly. most of the functions operate in exactly the same was as version1. 

however,  this version contains a major new enhancement:

the facility to save your default settings!

in the package which you downloaded, there is a file called "location. at"

this file contains the system ii longitude of jupiter's great red spot and also the list of cities which are displayed in the "drop-down" menu. if you know your own home coordinates, you can customize it so that your home location always appears at the top of the list. the " location.dat " file is a plain text file which can be edited using a suitable text editor (e.g. notepad).

the 1st line of this file is the system ii longitude of jupiter's great red spot (in degrees).   its a good idea to check this value against other sources (e.g. sky and telescope magazine).  i will try to quote an updated value on the castle point astronomy club website.  over recent years, the grs longitude as drifted a few degrees every year.  one degree difference between the actual value and the value in this file will give an error of 1.6 minutes in the calculations.

the 2nd line of this file is the new "configuration" line consisting of 10 characters.  each character controls a different feature.

character options default value
1st char = startup screen 0=skymap
1=jupiter
2=saturn
3=solar system
4=ecliptic circle 
5=locationinput
5 (location input)
2nd char = summertime y=yes
n=no
n (no)
3rd char = flip n/s y=yes
n=no
n (no)
4th char = flip e/w y=yes
n=no
n (no)
5th char = show names y=yes
n=no
y (yes)
6th char = galilean prediction period 0=24 hour
1=7 days
2=1 month
1 (7day)
7th char = galilean timezone 0=universal time
1=local time
1 (local time)
8th char = galilean shortlist y=ignore invisible events 
n=list all events
y (events when jupiter is down
 or sun is up are ignored)
9th char = saturn pointers y=yes
n=no
y (yes)
10th char = track real time y=yes
n=no
y (track real-time on startup)

to make this information clearer, the following chart may also help.   

+---------1st char: startup-screen.
|         (0=skymap, 1=jupiter, 2=saturn, 3=solar system
|         4=ecliptic circle, 5=location-input)
|
|+--------2nd char: summertime.
||        (y=yes, n=no)
||
||+-------3rd char: flip n/s.
|||       (y=yes, n=no)
|||
|||+------4th char: flip e/w.
||||      (y=yes, n=no)
||||
||||+-----5th char: show names.
|||||     (y=yes, n=no)
|||||
|||||+----6th char: galilean prediction period.
||||||    (0=24-hour, 1=7-day, 2=1-month)
||||||
||||||+---7th char: galilean prediction timezone.
|||||||   (0=universal time, 1=local time)
|||||||
|||||||+--8th char: galilean prediction short-list.
||||||||  (y=visible events only, n=all events)
||||||||         
||||||||+-9th char: saturn's moons pointers.
||||||||| (y=yes, n=no)
|||||||||
|||||||||+10th char: track real time.
||||||||||(y=yes, n=no)
||||||||||
||||||||||
5nnny11yyy


the remainder of the file is the list of cities which are displayed in the "drop-down" menu. if you know your own home coordinates, you can customize it so that your home location always appears at the top of the list. each line must be in the following format:

town and region
[tab] country [tab] latitude [tab] longitude [tab] timezone

where latitude is in decimal degrees from -90 to 90 (negative for southern hemisphere)
longitude is in decimal degrees from 0 to 360 (increasing as you go west)
timezone is the hour difference from greenwich mean time (negative values as you go west)


i hope to have a more in-depth help file available very soon.  i designed my application to be as self-explanatory as possible.  if, however, you do have any problems getting the application to work, then please contact me.

brendan murphy
brendan@cpac.org.uk
visit  www.cpac.org.uk to see if i have updated the program.