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helpfile.540
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--
AAAAA SSSSS TTTTTTT RRRRRR OOOOO L OOOOO GGGGG
A A S S T R R O O L O O G G
A A S T R R O O L O O G
AAAAAAA SSSSS T RRRRRR O O L O O G GGGG
A A S T R R O O L O O G G
A A S S T R R O O L O O G G
A A SSSSS T R R OOOOO LLLLLLL OOOOO GGGGG
** VERSION 5.40 **
Helpfile for Astrolog version 5.40 (December 1998):
This file contains a complete list of all the features available
in Astrolog 5.40, and documentation on how to use each option. The
file is divided into eight sections:
1) A summary of all the main features which are accessed via command
line switches and parameters, along with the single key press
commands that can be given to an X Window or PC graphics screen to
change the display in various ways (assuming graphics are compiled
in) is listed.
2) The list of command switches and keys is repeated, but after each
option is given a full description of the details of the feature.
3) Details of default settings, in compile time options, and in the
default configuration file, are described, along with using Astrolog
files in general.
4) Descriptions of things that appear in Astrolog text displays are
described. This consists of describing how to enter chart information
into the program, and how to interpret what is seen in the standard
main display.
5) Next is a description of the different graphic chart displays and
how they are organized, and the X Windows features in general.
(Looking for a quick display to prove Astrolog was worth downloading
and/or compiling? With graphics try: "astrolog -Xn -XG"!)
6) Then are discussed the program's graphics features for PC's, how
to use them, the ways they are different from X Windows, and the best
way to use them if running the DOS version under Microsoft Windows.
7) Then is discussed Astrolog for Windows, and a description of the
easy to use menu and dialog interface it offers.
8) Finally is a section on compiling Astrolog if you have the source
code files, as opposed to an executable ready to run, as well as how
to compile and run Astrolog on the Macintosh.
--
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The graphics database and chart display routines
used in this program are Copyright (C) 1991-1998 by Walter D. Pullen
([email protected], http://www.magitech.com/~cruiser1/astrolog.htm).
Permission is granted to freely use and distribute these routines
provided one doesn't sell, restrict, or profit from them in any way.
Modification is allowed provided these notices remain with any
altered or edited versions of the program.
The main planetary calculation routines used in this program have
been Copyrighted and the core of this program is basically a
conversion to C of the routines created by James Neely as listed in
Michael Erlewine's 'Manual of Computer Programming for Astrologers',
available from Matrix Software. The copyright gives us permission to
use the routines for personal use but not to sell them or profit from
them in any way.
The PostScript code within the core graphics routines are programmed
and Copyright (C) 1992-1993 by Brian D. Willoughby. Conditions are
identical to those above.
The extended accurate ephemeris databases and formulas are from the
calculation routines in the program "Placalc" and are programmed and
Copyright (C) 1989,1991,1993 by Astrodienst AG and Alois Treindl
The use of that source code is subject to regulations made by
Astrodienst Zurich, and the code is not in the public domain. This
copyright notice must not be changed or removed by any user of this
program.
************************
LIST OF COMMAND SWITCHES
************************
Astrolog (version 5.40) command switches:
-H: Display this help list.
-Hc: Display program credits and copyrights.
-HC: Display names of zodiac signs and houses.
-HO: Display available planets and other celestial objects.
-HA: Display available aspects, their angles, and present orbs.
-HF: Display names of astronomical constellations.
-HS: Display information about planets in the solar system.
-HI: Display meanings of signs, houses, planets, and aspects.
-He: Display all info tables together (-Hc-H-Y-HX-HC-HO-HA-HF-HS-HI).
-Q: Prompt for more command switches after display finished.
-Q0: Like -Q but prompt for additional switches on startup.
-M <1-48>: Run the specified command switch macro.
-M0 <1-48> <string>: Define the specified command switch macro.
-Y: Display help list of less commonly used command switches.
Switches which determine the type of chart to display:
-v: Display list of object positions (chosen by default).
-v0: Like -v but express velocities relative to average speed.
-w [<rows>]: Display chart in a graphic house wheel format.
-w0 [..]: Like -w but reverse order of objects in houses 4..9.
-g: Display aspect and midpoint grid among planets.
-g0: Like -g but flag aspect configurations (e.g. Yod's) too.
-g0: For comparison charts, show midpoints instead of aspects.
-ga: Like -g but indicate applying instead of difference orbs.
-gp: Like -g but generate parallel and contraparallel aspects.
-a: Display list of all aspects ordered by influence.
-a0: Like -a but display aspect summary too.
-a[0]a: Like -a but indicate applying and separating orbs.
-a[0]p: Like -a but do parallel and contraparallel aspects.
-m: Display all object midpoints in sorted zodiac order.
-m0: Like -m but display midpoint summary too.
-ma: Like -m but show aspects from midpoints to planets as well.
-Z: Display planet locations with respect to the local horizon.
-Z0: Like -Z but express coordinates relative to polar center.
-Zd: Search day for object local rising and setting times.
-S: Display x,y,z coordinate positions of planets in space.
-l: Display Gauquelin sectors for each planet in chart.
-l0: Like -l but approximate sectors using Placidus cusps.
-j: Display astrological influences of each object in chart.
-j0: Like -j but include influences of each zodiac sign as well.
-L [<step>]: Display astro-graph locations of planetary angles.
-L0 [..]: Like -L but display list of latitude crossings too.
-K: Display a calendar for given month.
-Ky: Like -K but display a calendar for the entire year.
-d [<step>]: Print all aspects and changes occurring in a day.
-dm: Like -d but print all aspects for the entire month.
-dy: Like -d but print all aspects for the entire year.
-dY <years>: Like -d but search within a number of years.
-dp <month> <year>: Print aspects within progressed chart.
-dpy <year>: Like -dp but search for aspects within entire year.
-dpY <year> <years>: Like -dp but search within number of years.
-dp[y]n: Search for progressed aspects in current month/year.
-D: Like -d but display aspects by influence instead of time.
-E: Display planetary ephemeris for given month.
-Ey: Display planetary ephemeris for the entire year.
-EY <years>: Display planetary ephemeris for a number of years.
-e: Print all charts together (i.e. -v-w-g0-a-m-Z-S-j0-L0-K-d-D-E).
-t <month> <year>: Compute all transits to natal planets in month.
-tp <month> <year>: Compute progressions to natal in month for chart.
-tr <month> <year>: Compute all returns in month for chart.
-t[p]y: <year>: Compute transits/progressions for entire year.
-t[p]Y: <year> <years>: Compute transits for a number of years.
-t[py]n: Compute transits to natal planets for current time now.
-T <month> <day> <year>: Display transits ordered by influence.
-Tp <month> <day> <year>: Print progressions instead of transits.
-T[p]n: Display transits ordered by influence for current date.
-P [<parts>]: Display list of Arabic parts and their positions.
-P0 [<parts>]: Like -P but display formulas with terms reversed.
-P[z,n,f]: Order parts by position, name, or formula.
-I [<columns>]: Print interpretation of selected charts.
Switches which affect how the chart parameters are obtained:
-n: Compute chart for this exact moment using current time.
-n[d,m,y]: Compute chart for start of current day, month, year.
-z [<zone>]: Change the default time zone (for -d-E-t-q options).
-z0 [<offset>]: Change the default daylight time setting.
-zl <long> <lat>: Change the default longitude & latitude.
-zt <time>: Set only the time of current chart.
-zd <date>: Set only the day of current chart.
-zm <month>: Set only the month of current chart.
-zy <year>: Set only the year of current chart.
-zi <name> <place>: Set name and place strings of current chart.
-q <month> <date> <year> <time>: Compute chart with defaults.
-qd <month> <date> <year>: Compute chart for noon on date.
-qm <month> <year>: Compute chart for first of month.
-qy <year>: Compute chart for first day of year.
-qa <month> <date> <year> <time> <zone> <long> <lat>:
Compute chart automatically given specified data.
-qb <month> <date> <year> <time> <daylight> <zone> <long> <lat>:
Like -qa but takes additional parameter for daylight offset.
-qj <day>: Compute chart for time of specified Julian day.
-i <file>: Compute chart based on info in file.
-i[2,3,4] <file>: Load chart info into chart slots 2, 3, or 4.
-o <file> [..]: Write parameters of current chart to file.
-o0 <file> [..]: Like -o but output planet/house positions.
-os <file>, > <file>: Redirect output of text charts to file.
Switches which affect what information is used in a chart:
-R [<obj1> [<obj2> ..]]: Restrict specific bodies from displays.
-R0 [<obj1> ..]: Like -R but restrict everything first.
-R1 [<obj1> ..]: Like -R0 but unrestrict and show all objects.
-R[C,u,U]: Restrict all minor cusps, all uranians, or stars.
-RT[0,1,C,u,U] [..]: Restrict transiting planets in -t lists.
-RA [<asp1> ..]: Restrict aspects by giving them negative orbs.
-C: Include angular and non-angular house cusps in charts.
-u: Include transneptunian/uranian bodies in charts.
-U: Include locations of fixed background stars in charts.
-U[z,l,n,b]: Order by azimuth, altitude, name, or brightness.
-A <0-18>: Specify the number of aspects to use in charts.
-Ao <aspect> <orb>: Specify maximum orb for an aspect.
-Am <planet> <orb>: Specify maximum orb allowed to a planet.
-Ad <planet> <orb>: Specify orb addition given to a planet.
-Aa <aspect> <angle>: Change the actual angle of an aspect.
Switches which affect how a chart is computed:
-b: Use ephemeris files for more accurate location computations.
-b0: Like -b but display locations to the nearest second too.
-c <value>: Select a different default system of houses.
(0 = Placidus, 1 = Koch, 2 = Equal, 3 = Campanus,
4 = Meridian, 5 = Regiomontanus, 6 = Porphyry, 7 = Morinus,
8 = Topocentric, 9 = Alcabitius, 10 = Equal (MC),
11 = Neo-Porphyry, 12 = Whole, 13 = Vedic, 14 = None.)
-s [..]: Compute a sidereal instead of the normal tropical chart.
-sr: Compute right ascension locations relative to equator.
-s[z,h,d]: Display locations as in zodiac, hours/minutes, or degrees.
-h [<objnum>]: Compute positions centered on specified object.
-p <month> <day> <year>: Cast 2ndary progressed chart for date.
-p0 <month> <day> <year>: Cast solar arc chart for date.
-p[0]n: Cast progressed chart based on current date now.
-pd <days>: Set no. of days to progress / day (default 365.25).
-x <1-360>: Cast harmonic chart based on specified factor.
-1 [<objnum>]: Cast chart with specified object on Ascendant.
-2 [<objnum>]: Cast chart with specified object on Midheaven.
-3: Display objects in their zodiac decan positions.
-f: Display houses as sign positions (flip them).
-G: Compute houses based on geographic location only.
-J: Display wheel charts in Vedic format.
-9: Display objects in their zodiac navamsa positions.
-F <objnum> <sign> <deg>: Force object's position to be value.
-+ [<days>]: Cast chart for specified no. of days in the future.
-- [<days>]: Cast chart for specified no. of days in the past.
-+[m,y] [<value>]: Cast chart for no. of months/years in future.
Switches for relationship and comparison charts:
-r <file1> <file2>: Compute a relationship synastry chart.
-rc <file1> <file2>: Compute a composite chart.
-rm <file1> <file2>: Compute a time space midpoint chart.
-r[c,m]0 <file1> <file2> <ratio1> <ratio2>: Weighted chart.
-rd <file1> <file2>: Print time span between files' dates.
-rb <file1> <file2>: Display biorhythm for file1 at time file2.
-r0 <file1> <file2>: Keep the charts separate in comparison.
-rp[0] <file1> <file2>: Like -r0 but do file1 progr. to file2.
-rt <file1> <file2>: Like -r0 but treat file2 as transiting.
-r[3,4]: Make graphics wheel chart tri-wheel or quad-wheel.
-y <file>: Display current house transits for particular chart.
-y[b,d,p,t] <file>: Like -r0 but compare to current time now.
Switches to access graphics options:
-k: Display text charts using Ansi characters and color.
-k0: Like -k but only use special characters, not Ansi color.
-V <25,43,50>: Start up with text mode set to number of rows.
-X: Create a graphics chart instead of displaying it as text.
-Xb: Create bitmap file instead of putting graphics on screen.
-Xb[n,c,v,a,b]: Set bitmap file output mode to X11 normal,
compacted, very compact, Ascii (bmtoa), or Windows bmp.
-Xp: Create PostScript stroke graphic instead of bitmap file.
-Xp0: Like -Xp but create complete instead of encapsulated file.
-XM[0]: Create Windows metafile stroke graphic instead of bitmap.
-Xo <file>: Write output bitmap or graphic to specified file.
-XB: Display X chart on root instead of in a separate window.
-Xm: Create monochrome graphic instead of one in color.
-Xr: Create chart graphic in reversed colors (white background).
-Xw <hor> [<ver>], -ge[..]: Change the size of chart graphic.
-Xs <100,200,300,400>: Change the size of map or characters by %.
-Xi: Create chart graphic in slightly modified form.
-Xt: Inhibit display of chart info at bottom of graphic.
-Xu: Inhibit display of a border around graphic.
-Xl: Inhibit labeling of object points in chart graphic.
-Xj: Don't clear screen between chart updates, drawing trails.
-X1 <object>: Rotate wheel charts so object is at left edge.
-X2 <object>: Rotate wheel charts so object is at top edge.
-Xd <name>, -di[..] <name>: Open X window on specified display.
-XW: Simply create an image of the world map.
-XW0: Like -XW but do a non-rectangular Mollewide projection.
-XG [<degrees>]: Display the image of the world as a globe.
-XP: Like -XG but create the globe from a polar projection.
-XF: Display maps as constellations on the celestial sphere.
-Xn [<mode>]: Start up chart or globe display in animation mode.
-HX: Display list of key press options for screen graphics.
-W <value>: Run given Windows menu command internally.
-WN <1-32000>: Set animation update delay in milliseconds.
-WM <1-48> <text>: Set Windows menu text for macro command.
-Wn: Don't redraw screen until user forces update.
--
Astrolog (version 5.40) obscure command switches:
-Y: Display this help list.
-Yn: Compute location of true instead of mean node.
-Yd: Display dates in D/M/Y instead of M/D/Y format.
-Yt: Display times in 24 hour instead of am/pm format.
-YC: Automatically ignore insignificant house cusp aspects.
-Y8: Clip text charts at the rightmost (e.g. 80th) column.
-YQ <rows>: Pause text scrolling after a page full has printed.
-Yo: Output chart info and position files in old style format.
-Yc: Angular cusp objects are house positions instead of angles.
-Yz <min>: Forward clock by amount for current moment charts.
-Yl <1-36>: Toggle plus zone status of sector for sector chart.
-YP <-1,0,1>: Set how Arabic parts are computed for night charts.
-Yb <days>: Set number of days to span for biorhythm chart.
-YE <obj> <semi-major axis> <eccentricity (3)> <inclination (3)>
<perihelion (3)> <ascending node (3)> <time offset (3)>
Change orbit of object to be the given elements.
-YR <obj1> <obj2> <flag1>..<flag2>: Set restrictions for object range.
-YRT <obj1> <obj2> <flag1>..<flag2>: Transit restrictions for range.
-YR0 <flag1> <flag2>: Set restrictions for sign, direction changes.
-YRZ <rise> <zenith> <set> <nadir>: Set restrictions for -Zd chart.
-YAo <asp1> <asp2> <orb1>..<orb2>: Set aspect orbs for range.
-YAm <obj1> <obj2> <orb1>..<orb2>: Set max planet orbs for range.
-YAd <obj1> <obj2> <orb1>..<orb2>: Set planet orb additions for range.
-YAa <asp1> <asp2> <ang1>..<ang2>: Set planet aspect angles for range.
-Yj <obj1> <obj2> <inf1>..<inf2>: Set influences for object range.
-YjC <cusp1> <cusp2> <inf1>..<inf2>: Set influences for house cusps.
-YjA <asp1> <asp2> <inf1>..<inf2>: Set influences for aspect range.
-YjT <obj1> <obj2> <inf1>..<inf2>: Set transit influences for range.
-Yj0 <inf1> <inf2> <inf3> <inf4>: Set influences given to planets
in ruling sign, exalted sign, ruling house, exalted house.
-YJ <obj> <sign> <cosign>: Set sign planet rules and co-rules.
-YJ0 <obj> <sign>: Set zodiac sign given planet exalts in.
-YI <obj> <string>: Customize interpretation for object.
-YIa <sign> <string>: Customize interpretation adjective for sign.
-YIv <sign> <string>: Customize interpretation verb for sign.
-YIC <house> <string>: Customize interpretation for house.
-YIA <asp> <string>: Customize interpretation for aspect.
-YIA0 <asp> <string>: Customize aspect interpretation statement.
-YkC <fir> <ear> <air> <wat>: Customize element colors.
-YkA <asp1> <asp2> <col1>..<col2>: Customize aspect colors.
-Yk0 <1..7> <1..7> <col1>..<col2>: Customize 'rainbow' colors.
-Yk <0..8> <0..8> <col1>..<col2>: Customize 'general' colors.
-YXG <0-2><0-2><0-2><0-3>: Select among different graphic glyphs
for Capricorn, Uranus, Pluto, and Lilith.
-YXg <cells>: Set number of cells for graphic aspect grid.
-YXf <val>: Set usage of actual system fonts in graphic file.
-YXp <-1,0,1>: Set paper orientation for PostScript files.
-YXp0 <hor> <ver>: Set paper size for PostScript files.
-YX <hi-res> <lo-res>: Set modes to use for PC screen graphics.
-0[o,i,q,X]: Disallow file output, input, exiting, and graphics.
-;: Ignore rest of command line and treat it as a comment.
--
Astrolog graphics screen key press options (version 5.40):
Press 'H' or '?' to display this list of key options.
Press 'p' to toggle pause status on or off.
Press 'x' to toggle fg/bg colors on screen.
Press 'm' to toggle color/monochrome display on screen.
Press 'i' to toggle status of the minor chart modification.
Press 't' to toggle header info on current chart on screen.
Press 'b' to toggle drawing of a border around the chart.
Press 'l' to toggle labeling of object points in chart.
Press 'j' to toggle not clearing screen between chart updates.
Press 'v' to display current chart positions on text screen.
Press 'R', 'C', 'u', 'U' to toggle restriction status of minor
objects, minor house cusps, uranian planets, and stars.
Press 'c' to toggle relationship comparison chart mode.
Press 's', 'h', 'f', 'g', 'z', 'y' to toggle status of sidereal
zodiac, heliocentric charts, domal charts, decan charts,
vedic format wheel charts, and navamsa charts.
Press 'O' and 'o' to recall/store a previous chart from memory.
Press 'B' to dump current window contents to root background.
Press 'B' to resize chart display to full size of screen.
Press 'Q' to resize chart display to a square.
Press '<' and '>' to decrease/increase the scale size of the
glyphs and the size of world map.
Press '[' and ']' to decrease/increase tilt in globe display.
Press '+' and '-' to add/subtract a day from current chart.
Press 'n' to set chart information to current time now.
Press 'N' to toggle animation status on or off. Charts will
be updated to current status and globe will rotate.
Press '!'-'(' to begin updating current chart by adding times.
!: seconds, @: minutes, #: hours, $: days, %: months,
^: years, &: years*10, *: years*100, (: years*1000.
Press 'r' to reverse direction of time-lapse or animation.
Press '1'-'9' to set rate of animation to 'n' degrees, etc.
Press '1'-'9' to determine section of chart to show if clipped.
Press 'V','A','Z','S','M','K','J','L','E','W','G','P' to switch to
normal (-v), grid (-g), local (-Z), space (-S), sector (-l),
calendar (-K), dispositor (-j), astro-graph (-L), ephemeris
(-E), world map (-XW), globe (-XG), and polar (-XP) modes.
Press 'Y' to switch to biorhythm relation chart mode.
Press '0' to toggle between -Z,-Z0 & -XW,-XW0 & -E,-Ey modes.
Press 'F' to toggle between world and constellation map modes.
Press 'F1'..'F12' [plus Shift,Ctrl,Alt] to run macros 1..48.
Press 'space' to force redraw of current graphics display.
Press 'del' to clear the graphics screen and not redraw.
Press 'tab' to toggle between graphics resolutions.
Press 'enter' to input a command line of general switches.
Press 'q' to terminate graphics and the program.
Left mouse button: Draw line strokes on chart in window.
Middle mouse button: Print coordinates of pointer on world map.
Right mouse button: Terminate the window and program.
**********************************
DESCRIPTION OF EACH COMMAND SWITCH
**********************************
Astrolog allows command line switches to be invoked with either
the leading dash ("-") standard to Unix users, or a leading slash
("/") that PC users are more accustomed to. Not only that, but the
leading character is actually optional. For example, the command
"astrolog -i chartfile -R -u -U -Z -Xs 300 -Xi -XB" can be done as
"astrolog /i chartfile /r /u /U /Z /Xs 300", or can be abbreviated as
just "astrolog i chartfile R u U Z Xs 300 Xi XB". (This is subject to
a couple of minor limitations, in that one can't have the -1 or -3
option follow a -R restriction list of numbers, since the "-1" will
be considered a number.)
Many switches in their standard form are technically a "toggle"
instead of a "set" for the particular feature in question. For
example, "astrolog -v -g -g" will only result in the -v chart being
printed; an aspect grid won't, because the first -g turned it on
while the second -g turned it off again. This can be useful, in say
the -e everything switch. If you want all of Astrolog's charts except
the astro-graph, you can do "astrolog -e -L", where the -e turns
everything on and the -L turns the astro-graph chart, already on
because of -e, off. In another example, to get a chart with only the
stars in it, one can do "astrolog -R0 -RU", where the -R0 restricts
everything, and the -RU unrestricts all the stars. The various -X
switches which set a mode in graphics are also toggles - a
combination like "-Xr -Xr" which with one instance will just go into
reverse video mode, will remain out of it because the first -Xr put
you in and the second toggled you back out.
Command switch flags may actually be forced on or off regardless
of their current setting with special character prefixes. Many
switches (such as -s) represent on/off flags and their setting is
toggled when the switch is encountered. However this alone doesn't
allow one to force the setting to be a value, as we don't know if it
needs to be toggled or not. Prefixing any flag switch with '_' will
reset its state even if already off, while prefixing with '=' will
always make it on. For example, putting "_s" on a command line will
always set tropical zodiac, while "=s" will always set sidereal. The
standard '-' and '/' prefixes, along with no prefix at all, always
toggle the current setting. This is useful for configuration files
where we want to set various flags to particular values. There's one
more obscure switch prefix which is ':', which doesn't affect the
setting at all, but still affects any subsetting parameters. For
example, ":I 80" won't affect the interpretation setting at all, but
will still set the default screen width to 80 columns. This is
slightly simpler than the "-I 80 -I" double toggle hack that would
have to be done to do such a thing otherwise.
The various static help listings that may be generated, such as
the lists from -H, -HO, -HI, and so on, may be combined with each
other and even the actual charts. For convenience the program will
terminate right away and not prompt for chart info if the only thing
specified is one of the tables, e.g. just "-H" will print the help
list and exit, but "-H -i file -g" will print the help list followed
by an aspect grid chart.
In the command list below, greater than/less than symbols ('<'
and '>') are used to denote a command switch parameter to be replaced
by the appropriate value, brackets ('[' and ']') are used to denote
an optional parameter, and commas are used to separate either/or
choices. For example, the specification of the -I switch is "-I
[<columns>]", meaning that one can specify the -I switch, followed a
parameter for the number of screen columns, but that this extra
parameter is optional. The specification of the -Xs switch is "-Xs
<100,200,300,400>", meaning it can be used as either "-Xs 100", "-Xs
200", "-Xs 300", or "-Xs 400". An ellipsis ('..') generally refers to
a variable length list of values or an abbreviation for something
already indicated in related switches.
Correct parsing of strings is done on the command line (and in
files since they are technically command lines) in addition to when
the user is being prompted for data within the program. For example,
to do the natal chart for the alt.astrology newsgroup using the -qa
switch, one may enter the intuitive "-qa Jul 29 1991ad 6:23pm -10
151e13 33s52". The items may be entered in other standard and
simpler forms as well, such as just "-qa 7 29 1991 18.23 -10 -151.13
-33.52".
Any command switch that takes an index number as a parameter may
have it specified by its actual name instead of a hard to remember
value. For example, the switch sequence "-c 1 -R 6 -A 5 -F 7 10 0"
may also be entered as the more understandable "-c Koch -R Jupiter -A
Sextile -F Saturn Capricorn 0". Any string may be abbreviated to its
first three characters. Aspects should be based on their formal
abbreviations, e.g. "ssx" instead of "sem" for Semisextile.
(Presently only the first three characters are ever looked at, so
some star objects may still need to be specified as a number since
they have the same first three letters.)
--
Astrolog (version 5.40) command switches:
-H: Display this help list.
This option displays a list exactly like the one given above on the
screen. Note: Concerning the list itself, PC users are accustomed to
seeing command switches with a leading slash "/" instead of a dash
"-". To accommodate this, this list of options available does, if the
program has been compiled for a PC, display all the switches with a
leading "/" instead of a "-". (On Unix and other systems they will
be displayed with the standard leading "-".)
-Hc: Display program credits and copyrights.
This help switch displays a full page of credits, listing the names
of those who programmed Astrolog or parts of it, and important
copyright information and other legal items. Every time the program
is invoked, the -Hc switch is mentioned to use to see this info.
-HC: Display names of zodiac signs and houses.
The -HC switch will display a list of the 12 signs of the zodiac, and
the 12 houses, listing their standard and traditional names. This is
similar to switches like -HO or -HA below, in that it displays lists
of things (objects, aspects, or in this case the signs) that Astrolog
uses in its charts.
-HO: Display available planets and other celestial objects.
Similar to the -HA option below, the -HO option will list the planets
and other celestial objects used by the program, and their numbers as
recognized by the -R restrictions (mentioned later). This list will
also show the zodiac signs that planets rule, fall in, are exalted
in, and debilitated in. Stars are printed in the list along with
their azimuth, altitude, and brightness values. Note that this list
shows only those items that aren't restricted when its displayed; if
you want to show all 87 objects regardless of restriction status,
just use the -R1 switch to activate them all and combine it with -HO.
Concerning objects the program can do, Astrolog can do the position
of Lilith, often called the "Dark Moon". This Lilith is the point in
space of one focus of the Moon's elliptical orbit around the Earth
(Earth itself being in the other of the two), and not the asteroid or
hypothetical planet by the same name. Lilith is object number 17 in
Astrolog, and in graphics charts its glyph is a small circle with a
forward slash through it. If preferred, one can use the -YXG glyph
selection switch (described later) to choose the "European" version
of the glyph which is like the glyph for the Moon but smaller and
flipped horizontally.
Astrolog computes the position of Lilith as provided by the accurate
Placalc formula set. This means that the -b ephemeris switch (covered
later) needs to be in effect to get Lilith's positions. When the -b
setting is off, Astrolog will display the position of the South Node
for object 17 instead. We tweak the name of the object to be
"S.Node", change its rulerships and interpretation string
appropriately, and change the graphics glyph to be the standard
"upside down horseshoe" (a third glyph selectable via -YXG), although
we won't automatically update everything again if you toggle the -b
flag while the program is running.
Astrolog can do the position of the East Point as well, which is
technically the same as the position of the Ascendant at the equator
for whatever time. This is object number 20 in Astrolog, and its
graphics glyph is a simple "EP" abbreviation.
-HA: Display available aspects, their angles, and present orbs.
The -HA command switch gives a list of all 18 supported aspects,
their abbreviations as used in the aspect grids, their angles, and
their orbs. It will list the number of each aspect in addition to all
the other info (e.g. conjunct = 1, opposition = 2, etc.) so one can
see what number to pass to the -A switch when changing the number of
aspects used (see later). Finally, it will print a brief description
of what each aspect glyph looks like. This is in case one doesn't
know what aspects the weird symbols in the -g -X graphic displays are
referring to.
-HF: Display names of astronomical constellations.
This will display a text table of all the constellations, listing
their traditional names, their astronomical abbreviations as used in
the graphics above, their English meanings, and even their genitive
or possessive form (e.g. "Lyra" is the name of the constellation, but
the star Vega in it is called Alpha "Lyrae").
-HS: Display information about planets in the solar system.
This is a another static table which will display some astronomical
information about the main planets (and Earth's Moon) in a simple
form. For each planet is shown its distance from the Sun (or Earth)
in Astronomical Units (AU), its orbital period in Earth years, its
diameter relative to the Earth (Earth being 1), its rotational period
(i.e. day) in hours, its mass relative to the Earth (Earth being 1),
its average density with respect to water (water being 1), the tilt
of its axis with respect to its orbit, and finally the number of
known moons or satellites it has. This table also includes Chiron
and the four asteroids, at least for the distance from Sun, length of
year, and diameter fields.
-HI: Display meanings of signs, houses, planets, and aspects.
This will display the general meanings of each sign, each house, each
planet, and each aspect, on the screen. This shows more or less the
database the program uses to base its interpretations on (see the -I
switch setting for charts later).
-He: Display all info tables together (-Hc-H-Y-HX-HC-HO-HA-HF-HS-HI).
This switch will print out all ten of Astrolog's static table help
listings, like what -e does for actual charts. Specifically, this
will show the -Hc copyright screen, the -H switch list, the -Y
obscure switch list, the -HX graphics key press list, the -HC sign
and house list, the -HO object list, the -HA aspect list, the -HF
constellation list, the -HS planet information list, and the -HI core
interpretation list, for over 500 lines of informational output.
-Q: Prompt for more command switches after display finished.
Usually when Astrolog finishes printing the specified chart or
charts, or when we leave a graphics screen mode, the program will
terminate. However, sometimes one wants to display or work with lots
of charts or options, which would normally cause them to have to
invoke the program over and over again from their shell, using many
processes, and can be slow loading over and over from a slow disk.
Auto-termination is also bad when automatically starting up the
program in an X window or DOS box - once the program finishes, the
container will exit right away too, not allowing reading of the text
charts. The -Q switch causes the program to enter a looping mode
environment where (after the first chart is displayed) the user will
automatically be prompted to enter a new set of command switches
(using the no SWITCHES interface described later) which will be
processed. This will go on and the program will run until you enter
"." on a line for the switches to really terminate it.
Program errors which normally cause Astrolog to exit right away, will
(unless "fatal" errors) return the user back to this outer loop.
What's more is that being in the loop doesn't cause all the minor
program variables to be reset every time. The main things like what
info to use and what charts to display must be specified each time,
but minor modes (such as the present -x harmonic factor) won't, so
say specify -x 5 once, and you will be casting fifth harmonic charts
until you specify otherwise or exit the loop, not having to include
-x each time.
-Q0: Like -Q but prompt for additional switches on startup.
This is just like -Q above except that the user will first be
prompted for command switches right upon entering the program. Note
that these will be in addition to whatever else was on the command
line where the -Q0 itself was specified. This is mostly useful when
running on a Windows system (see later) where one can have -Q0 as a
default switch to pass to the program. Upon activation, the user will
be in a loop with Astrolog asking for switches right away before
proceeding to generate or prompt for any chart information.
-M <1-48>: Run the specified command switch macro.
-M0 <1-48> <string>: Define the specified command switch macro.
Astrolog has a feature to run "switch macros", or a whole command
line with one small switch. The -M switch takes one parameter, which
is the number of the macro to run. When encountered, the switches it
represents will be processed. This is similar to loading in a generic
command file with -i, except macros are limited to one command line.
Macros however don't require separate files, and may even call
command files themselves with -i.
The switch -M0 is the option that defines a macro. It takes two
parameters: the index of the macro to define, and a string
representing the command line to assign to it. (The command string
probably needs to be in quotes to ensure it's treated as one
parameter to -M0, instead of many items which will get processed
right away.) There are 48 macro slots available to define or run.
Macros may do anything and even call or define other macros. It's
possible to get in a infinite loop if you make a macro (or command
file) call or load itself; such cases aren't detected and will make
the program terminate with some unusual error.
Macros are very powerful and their uses are nearly endless. A bunch
can be defined in the astrolog.dat config file for your most common
switch sequences, hopefully preventing things such as batch files
that would have to be created otherwise. Suppose you often want to
see the transits of outer planets only to the house cusps in your
natal chart for the current month. The command line for this is "-i
yourchart -tn -RT0 6 7 8 9 10 -R0 -RC -C". You can assign this to the
tenth macro slot with: -M0 10 "-i yourchart -tn -RT0 jup sat ura nep
plu -R0 -RC -C". That line can be put in your astrolog.dat and you
can do this month's transits by just typing "astrolog -M 10". Here's
another example: Suppose you want a feature to bring up the chart of
the spouse of whoever's chart you are viewing at any time. You can
define a special macro, say in slot 5, in each of your chart info
files which does a -i on the file of their spouse, or does nothing if
they're unmarried. Now when in graphics mode, you can press 'F5'
anytime and Astrolog will bring up the spouse's chart! You could
define a bunch of macros to set various color sets or aspect orbs and
switch among them quickly using the function keys. You could even
make a simple chart database by having each chart file load the next
one in sequence in some macro, and then cycle through your charts by
running that macro in a -Q loop or from the graphics screen.
-Y: Display help list of less commonly used command switches.
This displays a list of available command switches, like the -H
option but showing only "less common" switches that would clutter
things up if they were in the main list, and are usually only
specified in configuration files. Hence almost all of those switches
begin with 'Y'.
--
Switches which determine the type of chart to display:
-v: Display list of object positions (chosen by default).
This is just a formal specification for the standard chart listing of
the planetary positions. One will get this chart by default if they
don't specify any other chart types, and they will get it along with
everything else in the -e option (see below). Although it isn't
necessary, it must be included if one wants this type of chart to be
displayed along with some of the other chart types described below.
-v0: Like -v but express velocities relative to average speed.
This switch is just like -v except that it modifies the planet
velocities fields slightly. (See later for a description of these
velocity fields.) The -v switch normally expresses velocity values
as an *absolute* quantity in degrees per day that the object appears
to have moved through the zodiac. This means that outer planets will
generally always have lower values, e.g. although a velocity of 0.010
degrees/day for fast moving Mercury means it's about to turn
retrograde, the same velocity value is normal for slow moving Pluto.
As it is useful to know when a planet is about to change direction,
the -v0 switch will divide the actual velocity values by how fast
each planet moves with respect to the Sun, meaning that all planets
will have an average *relative* velocity value of 1.000, and in all
cases, a velocity of 2.000 means the planet is moving twice as fast
as normal, and one of 0.010 means the planet is about to turn
retrograde.
Note: The -v0 switch which expresses planetary velocities relative to
average speed has a known incompatibility will cause some applying
vs. separating aspect orbs to be inverted, i.e. displayed as
applying when the reverse is true or vice versa. This affects app/sep
aspect grids and aspect lists (-ga, -ma, and -D charts, but not the
-T transit influence charts). This is because the velocities are used
to determine applying vs. separating to see if one planet is
overtaking another. The bug comes with the program thinking that, for
example, Pluto moving 2 times faster than normal, will soon overtake
Mars, slightly ahead of it in the zodiac, moving half normal speed.
When the values are expressed as absolute speed, it's apparent that
the outer planet Pluto always moves much slower than the more inner
planet Mars even when Mars is moving half normal speed. This problem
is at least not likely to come up much since only explicitly
combining -v0 with -ga, -ma, or -D will cause a problem.
-w [<rows>]: Display chart in a graphic house wheel format.
Display of the chart in a nice wheel format is supported using the -w
switch. (If one of the houses gets too "full" of planets, the planet
will be put at the beginning of the next house.) The same chart
header information as is at the top of the standard -v chart is
printed in the middle of the wheel. Some information in addition to
this is shown, which is: (1) the day of the week that the date falls
on, (2) the Universal Time (UT) of the time of the chart being cast
(like GMT in the 24 hour clock), (3) the sidereal time for the chart
cast, where sidereal time is vaguely similar to UT except 0:00 for it
is approximately when 0 Aries crosses the meridian, as opposed to
when the Sun crosses the Nadir for UT, (4) whether the zodiac system
is set to tropical or sidereal, and whether the planetary positions
are geocentric, heliocentric, or centered around some other body, and
(5) the Julian day corresponding to the date and time of the chart.
This chart will automatically exclude a house object from being
listed if its position is the same as the cusp composing the wheel.
Note that this switch takes an optional parameter to specify the size
in text rows of each house printed. By default this is four, but one
may increase (realize this will make the chart require more than 24
lines to print) or decrease (don't know why you would want to, but
you can) this value to their preference. The parameter may range from
1 to 10, and with this you can nicely generate a text wheel chart
with all 87 objects in it, without overflowing all the houses.
-w0 [..]: Like -w but reverse order of objects in houses 4..9.
In the -w text wheel option, the objects in each house are printed
from top to bottom in order from earliest in the house to latest. This
looks good except for in houses 5..8 where this would appear backwards
(e.g. a planet having just entered the 6th house from the 5th would be
displayed right under the Descendant.) Therefore the objects from
houses 4 through 9 are reversed and printed in order from bottom to
top, making a more flowing looking wheel chart. If however, one always
wants each house to be filled from its top to bottom regardless of
which house, replace the -w with the -w0 switch
-g: Display aspect and midpoint grid among planets.
Aspects and midpoint display are supported: Invoke as astrolog -g and
a rectangular grid showing the midpoint locations for each planet,
and showing if any aspects are present and how accurate they are, is
displayed. The planets are labeled down the main diagonal of the
grid, with the aspects to the lower left and the midpoints in the
upper right. This is of course often used along with the -A*
switches. Both the aspect orbs and midpoints are displayed to the
nearest minute, and on the main diagonal (or edges if a relationship
aspect grid) is displayed the sign and degree of the planet in
question in addition to the planet name itself.
-g0: Like -g but flag aspect configurations (e.g. Yod's) too.
Search through the aspect grid for major aspect configurations,
including Grand Trines, T-Squares, Grand Crosses, Yod's, Cradles, and
Stelliums, with the -g0 option. (In a Stellium, three objects must all
be conjunct with each other; while in a Cradle, four objects form
three sextiles forming a chain of sextiles half way around the
zodiac.) This option will produce the same aspect grid that -g
displays, but afterwards will go through the grid and list any of
these aspect configurations and what objects are forming them. (Of
course, to see any Yod's, one has to -A 6 or more so that Inconjuncts
will be included in the aspect grid.)
-g0: For comparison charts, show midpoints instead of aspects.
For relationship aspect grids, the -g0 switch will display a midpoint
grid instead of an aspect grid between the planets in the two charts
e.g. "-r0 chart1 chart2 -g0". (See later for descriptions of the
relationship charts.)
-ga: Like -g but indicate applying instead of difference orbs.
Ability to determine whether an aspect is applying or separating (is
about to happen or just happened) is included in the -g option.
Normally the aspect orbs are flagged as being '+' or '-' based on
whether they are greater or less than the exact amount (e.g. a 91
degree Square has a +1 degree orb while a 89 degree one a -1 orb.) If
one, however, invokes the -g option as -ga instead, an orb printed as
'a' will indicate an applying aspect while an orb with 's' a
separating one. (To estimate applying vs. separating, the program
examines the planetary positions and their relative velocities at the
time in question.)
-gp: Like -g but generate parallel and contraparallel aspects.
Astrolog can do parallel and contraparallel aspects. Two planets are
parallel when they have the same declination with respect to the
equator, and are contraparallel when their declinations are the same
amount but on opposite sides of the equatorial plane. The -gp switch
will turn on the aspect grid just like the -g option, but will also
set it so the grid contains parallel and contraparallel instead of
normal aspects. This feature works for the -g aspect and relationship
aspect grids, and the graphics versions of them. The graphic glyph
for the parallel aspect is two vertical parallel lines, while the
glyph for contraparallel are two sets of two lines crossing each
other, like a tic-tac-toe grid. In -gp affected charts, the parallel
takes the place of conjunction, and contraparallel the place of
opposition; all aspect orb settings affecting conjunction and
opposition will affect the -gp aspects in the same way. (Note that
the best orb for parallel aspects is only a degree or so, hence the
default conjunction orb will likely be too high, and should be
decreased with the -Ao switch for -gp grids.) The -A and -RA aspect
selection switches will also affect -gp, but all aspects beyond the
first two are ignored as only the parallel and the contraparallel
aspect are considered.
-a: Display list of all aspects ordered by influence.
Aspects may be displayed in a nice ordered list, instead of only in
the -g aspect grid. Use the -a switch and get a list of every aspect
from the aspect grid printed out one per line. The order in which
they are printed is based on the total "power" in the aspect, i.e.
the influence of the two planets in question, the aspect in question,
and the orb. The same info and data from the -j influence charts (see
later) are used here, so changing any default influences there will
affect this ordering. The two planets are printed, the aspect they
make, their orb, and then the power of the aspect used in ordering.
Any power number more than 10 is a very major aspect. An exact Sun
Moon conjunction can exceed 25. So, if you want to know, say, if that
exact Mars Jupiter conjunction is more powerful than that wide Sun
Moon sextile, try a -a chart and find out what Astrolog's opinion is.
-a0: Like -a but display aspect summary too.
This is just like the -a aspect list ordered by influence chart,
except that summary information will be displayed afterward. The sum
of all the aspect powers and their average is printed, the total
number of aspects of each type is printed, and the total number of
aspects to each planet is printed.
-a[0]a: Like -a but indicate applying and separating orbs.
This is a shorthand way to bring up the -a or -a0 sorted aspect
chart, with the aspect orbs shown as applying or separating, instead
of positive or negative offsets to the exact aspect size. This is
like how -ga does the same thing with the -g aspect grid switch. (To
get the functionality of -aa without this, one can use the -ga switch
itself along with -a, and then include -g by itself again, e.g. "-a
-ga -g", to toggle the aspect grid back off but leave the applying
vs. separating setting on!)
-a[0]p: Like -a but do parallel and contraparallel aspects.
The -a aspect list can be made to list all parallel and
contraparallel aspects if invoked as -ap or -a0p, turning on the same
flag as the -gp switch above. When in effect, the parallel aspect
setting will also affect -D and -T transit influence charts, having
them show their aspects in parallel too.
-m: Display all object midpoints in sorted zodiac order.
True midpoint charts are supported in addition to the midpoints that
can be seen in the -g aspect grid. Use the -m switch and get a list
of all midpoints printed out sorted in zodiac order. This will show
both the actual midpoint location, as well as the angular difference
between the two objects displayed to the nearest minute. So if you
want to see, say, if any important midpoint is close to your Sun,
this is a much easier chart to use than scrutinizing the
midpoint/aspect grid.
-m0: Like -m but display midpoint summary too.
This is just like the -m midpoint list ordered by zodiac position
chart, except that summary information for it will be displayed
afterward. The average number of degrees spanned between each planet
pair is printed, and the total number of midpoints in each zodiac
sign is printed.
-ma: Like -m but show aspects from midpoints to planets as well.
Aspects to midpoints are supported with the -ma switch. This feature
will do the same as the -m midpoint list chart, except in addition to
listing each midpoint, a sublist of each aspect in effect from a
natal planet to the position of that midpoint, will be shown after
it. The orb of the aspect will be printed too, where the orb will be
shown as either wide or narrow, or applying or separating, based on
the value of the -ga or -aa applying aspects setting.
-Z: Display planet locations with respect to the local horizon.
The text display switch -Z prints out where each object is on the
local horizon in terms of altitude and azimuth. For each object, the
following is displayed: Its altitude on the local horizon from +90
degrees (straight up) to -90 degrees (straight down), and its azimuth
from 0..360 degrees, where 0 = due east, 90 = north, 180 = west, 270 =
south. To make visualizing the azimuth easier, an "azimuth vector"
with a N/S component and a W/E component is displayed, e.g. (1.00s
0.33w) means that the object is mainly south, with its true angle
being formed by an vector component west that's 1/3 the strength of
the south component, i.e. the object is about 18 degrees west of
south. This along with the altitude should make it easy to physically
point to where any planet is at any moment, making it easy to locate
planets in the night sky. This feature can also be used to determine
the times that a planet rises and sets. Also displayed are altitude
and azimuth differences between each object and the Sun and Moon,
first showing the number of degrees that the Sun/Moon is "ahead" (or
farther east in the zodiac) of the object in question, and then the
number of degrees that the Sun/Moon is above the object in question.
This feature can be used to roughly predict eclipses! Both the Sun and
Moon span about 0.5 degrees in the sky, therefore if both the azimuth
and altitude differences are < 0.5 (or 1.0 if the difference is
between the Sun and Moon themselves) then the object in question is
probably being occulted somewhat by the Sun/Moon. Note that there are
three types of planetary position displays: Right ascension and
declination showing the object's position with respect to the stars,
longitude and latitude showing where on the Earth the object is
straight up (as in the astro-graph zenith locations), and finally
azimuth and altitude showing the positions of the object relative to
the local horizon.
-Z0: Like -Z but express coordinates relative to polar center.
This will do a text chart just like the -Z local horizon switch above
except that it will print the location of each planet in prime
vertical coordinates, instead of altitude and azimuth. Prime vertical
coordinates are measured with its "azimuth" around the 360 degree
circle, with 0 degrees due east on the local horizon, going down with
90 degrees straight down, 180 degrees due west and so on; declination
"altitudes" are measured with positive values toward the north and
negative toward the south.
-Zd: Search day for object local rising and setting times.
One can display the rising and setting times of the Sun, Moon, and
planets with this feature. Specifically, when this switch is
included, the program will, for the entire day specified in the chart
information, display whenever a planet rises (specifically conjuncts
the local horizon while in the eastern hemisphere), sets (conjuncts
horizon in west), reaches its zenith point (or specifically conjuncts
the meridian while in the southern hemisphere, i.e. is due south from
the observer), and reaches its nadir point (conjuncts meridian in
north). Note that some stars may be high or low enough that they will
never rise or set, but instead will just "zenith" or "nadir" twice in
a day as they spin around the pole.
-S: Display x,y,z coordinate positions of planets in space.
Solar system space based charts are available with the -S switch,
which give the astronomical positions of each planet in terms of x, y,
and z coordinates. Although not directly useful astrologically, it
does give one a good view of how the planets actually were positioned
at the time in question. For example, normal astrology doesn't make
the distinction between the four different "forms" of say, a Mercury
Venus Conjunction, i.e. they can either be Conjunct on the near side
of the Sun, Conjunct on the far side of the Sun, or one can be on one
side and the other on the other side. When the chart is actually
displayed, for each body the following information is printed: The
relative angle of the planet with respect to the central body, i.e.
its zodiac position converted to the appropriate number from 0..360.
This is followed by the x, y, and z coordinate positions of the
object, in astronomical units from the central body. The x-axis
increases in the direction of 0 degrees Aries (tropical zodiac), the
y-axis increases in the direction of 0 degrees Cancer, and the z-axis
is with respect to the Earth's orbit (meaning that the Sun and Earth
always have a z-axis value of 0.0). Finally the overall length from
the central body in AU is printed, which is just the diagonal as
indicated by the x, y, z vectors. (The Earth and Sun are of course