AstroMaster Usage

designed and programmed by Andreas Bunkahle

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AstroMaster is an astrological program to compute charts with transneptunian bodies (asteroids, planetoids, cubewanos, centaurs, SDOs, dwarf planets). This function is available in the dropdown menu in the toolbar at "TRANSNEPTUNIAN". If there is no reaction using the dropdown menu click on "Enter Data" (very first button in the toolbar) and confirm OK again in the data entry box. You can also print the horoscopes or export them as graphic or pdf file.
From version 2.23 there is also an aspect table and very different displays for horoscopes by different configuration files as well as loading the configuration files directly into an editor.

This little tool needs some time to load, so be patient. If you have an older computer it might take a minute so, newer computers work faster.

There are four ways to use this command line tool which will produce a window with a chart graphic:

0. With the input shell AstroMaster.exe. Start the input shell, which has been created by Bernd Westphal (programmer of http://www.astroprozessor.eu/ ) as freeware for AstroMaster (THANK YOU!). The input is quite self-explanatory or has help texts included. There is a prepared horoscope database AAF import, a place database and the possibility to save horoscopes.

1. Usage: As a commandline tool.
Enter into your windows shell:
chart.exe -name Your_Name -date DDMMYYYY -time HHMM -place Your_Place -coord LLLW/EMMSS-LLN/SMMSS

where the params are:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-name NAME -name Name of person or event
-date DATE -date Birthdate as DDMMYYYY
-time TIME -time Birth time in UT/GMT as 24h format e.g 1800 for 6 pm
-place PLACE -place Name of birth place
-coord COORD -coord Coordinates of birth place LLLW/EMMSS-LLN/SMMSS

so for example you could enter:
chart.exe -name Nicola_Tesla -date 10071856 -time 2259 -place Smiljan -coord 15e19-44n35

If you want spaces in between the name parts or the parts of the place name put underlines _ instead. They will be translated to spaces afterwards.

There are more params available:
-confg CONFG - here you can specify a different config file somewhere else on the system

-trans TRANS - here you can specify a different file somewhere else on the system which replaces transfer.txt in the same directory as chart.exe - see example below at 3.

-image IMAGE - here you can specify a different directory somewhere else on the system. Chart.exe will start, compute the data according to the given input and it will not display the chart in an window but save the chart as an image as chart.png and the data as chart.txt in the specified directory Example: chart.exe -image C:\MyDocuments will save chart.png and chart.txt in C:\MyDocuments\chart.png and C:\MyDocuments\chart.txt

-legend LEGEND - After this tag you can specify a fontsize larger than 10 pixels. The program will now also display the symbols of the planets besider their names and positions on the right side of the graphic. The fontsize needs to be adapted according to screen resolution. A good average is 15.

-size SIZE - here you can specify the size of the graphic in inch. This option is especially useful in combination with -image option.

-silent True - This starts the program but does not display any GUI (graphical user interface) but just acts as a commandline tool available. This makes sense if you want the program to run in the background and just perform computations and save the charts and texts to the disk. E.g. you can start it like: chart.exe -trans C:\ProgramData\Chart.info -image C:\ProgramData -size 30 -silent True This would read the input data from Chart.info, compute the chart as png file and write the chart image as well as the text file with the computed data to the same location (C:\ProgramData). The chart would have an extra large size of 30 inches. In the meantime you could modify Chart.info and it would update the chart.png and chart.txt in C:\ProgramData. Only if you deleted or moved Chart.info the program would stop in the background.

Examples:
chart.exe -trans C:\ProgramData\Chart.info -image C:\MyPictures -size 15
computes a chart according to the input data of Chart.info, but does not show it, but saves it in the files of C:\MyPictures\chart.png and C:\MyPictures\chart.txt as graphic and text. The horoscope is computed as 15 inch large graphic. The program sleeps in the background until the file C:\ProgramData\Chart.info is being deleted or renamed.

chart.exe -legend 13 -confg C:\myconfig.txt
starts the program, asks for the birth data unless we have a file called transfer.txt in the same directory and configures the planet display according to the file C:\myconfig.txt. The horoscope is displayed with a legend which includes symbols, planet names and positions. If you exit the image display, the program asks for new birth data. If don´t enter anything it stops.

2. Usage: Just start the program as chart.exe from the windows shell.
It will ask you after
Name: Type whatever you like or leave it empty
Birth data: Type the date of birth and the time of birth separated by a - (minus) sign, e.g.
10071856-2259
The time should be given in Univeral time/ Greenwich Mean Time (UT / GMT)
Place: Type the placename followed by - (minus) sign followed by the longitude followed by - (minus) sign followed by the latitude. Name, longitude and latitude can be given like this:
Smiljan-15e19-44n35
You can put spaces between the parts of the name or the place name here.

3. Usage: If you save a text file in UTF-8 format called transfer.txt in the same directory as chart.exe this file will be read by the program. This file is made up out of 8 lines:
1. line: Name
2. line: Place of birth
3. line: Day of birth
4. line: Month of birth
5. line: Year of birth
6. line: Time of birth (UT)
7. line: Longitude in decimal notation so e.g. for 15e19 it is 15.31, for 44w30 it is -44.50
8. line: Latitude in decimal notation so e.g. for 44n35 it is 44.58, for 26s10 it is -26.16


You can now directly import AAF exchange files into the following lines of your transfer.txt file. New in Version 2.10:
09. line: #A93:Blair,Anthony C.L.,*, 6. 5.1953, 6:10:00,Edinburgh,GBE
10. line: #B93:2434503.71528,55N57:00,03W11:00, 1hE00:00,*
11. line: #ZNAM:WES

If you attach these three AAF format lines they will override the first 8 lines.

You can get more information on the AAF exchange format at:
http://astrowissen.de/aaf/eng/lib/aafspecs.htm

if you specify another param like:
-trans TRANS - here you can specify a different file somewhere else on the system which replaces transfer.txt in the same directory as chart.exe
Example: chart.exe -trans C:\mytransferfile.txt reads the transfer data from C:\mytransferfile.txt

The program will run and display the chart in a window. You can save the chart as png file by clicking onto the disc ("save figure"). If you close the program with the X button of the window the window will close unless you have started the program with the transfer.txt file available in the same directory as chart.exe. Then it will sleep and check each second if the file transfer.txt has been changed. If there is any change it will immediately read the file and its contents again and display the data according to the contents of the file transfer.txt. Only when you delete the file transfer.txt the program will notice this and then it will stop working and be finished.
If you start like in the 2nd usage it will ask you if you want to enter another horoscope to display it.
Enter Y if you want to continue otherwise N or anything else and the program stops.

You can edit the file chart.cfg and all other config file (extension *.cfg) in the folder cfg according to your needs. You can edit all kind of options for displaying the horoscopes like your standard place, your preferred house system and all the bodies you want to display on the chart in the inner or outer circle. If you put one line to inactive it will be not read or be active, if it is active it will be considered by the program. If you have a planet you can decide if you want to put the planet inside or outside of the chart. You can also add any planets or bodies whatsoever in case you have the orbital elements for this body. You will find almost every orbital element data in this site for download:

ftp://ftp.astro.com/pub/swisseph/ephe/

Download the desired orbital elements and save them to the directory swisseph in the root directory of AstroMaster. Then include another line in chart.cfg for the new body.
Each new line for each new body should include (separated by commas)
1. element: "active" or "inactive" - if inactive you will not see the body
2. element: "inner" or "outer" - decide where you want the body to be displayed - inner or outer circle
3. element: "number of the body" - this must be same number as the body file you have downloaded. So e.g. if you have downloaded the file se50000.se1 you need to put "50000" here for the program to find the appropriate file
4. element: the "ENGLISH NAME of the body"
5. element: the "name in your language of the body"
6. element: the "number or MPC name of the body"
7. element: the "kind of planet - asteroid, dwarf planet, centaur, etc."
8. element: "description in English language of the attributes of the body"
9. element: "description in your language of the attributes of the body"
10. element: the name of the png file in the directory symbols for displaying in the chart. If you don´t like the symbols of AstroMaster you can change and replace them easily here by editing the symbol name

The chart is especially designed to work with the decans and the nakshatras which I think have a special meaning to the planetoids. The little bodies have a very special resonance to certain areas of the zodiac. If this area holds the ascendant, the meridian or the sun watch out for its ruler by nakshatra or decan. You will find that this body has a very strong influence on AC, MC and sun or moon.

Here are some suggestions to work with:

1. Decan ARIES: MakeMake
2. Decan ARIES: 2002 MS4 - project name Brahma
3. Decan ARIES: Haumea
1. Decan TAURUS: Juno
2. Decan TAURUS: Sedna
3. Decan TAURUS: Vesta
1. Decan Zwilling: Quaoar
2. Decan Zwilling: Ceres
3. Decan Zwilling: Logos
1. Decan CANCER: Rhadamanthus
2. Decan CANCER: Chaos
3. Decan CANCER: Chariklo
1. Decan LEO: Varuna
2. Decan LEO:
3. Decan LEO: Sila-Nunam
1. Decan VIRGO: Chiron
2. Decan VIRGO: Huya
3. Decan VIRGO: Neptune
1. Decan LIBRA: Manwe
2. Decan LIBRA: Varda
3. Decan LIBRA: Eris
1. Decan SCORPIO: Borasisi
2. Decan SCORPIO: Deucalion
3. Decan SCORPIO: Typhon
1. Decan SAGITTARIUS: Pallas
2. Decan SAGITTARIUS: Pluto
3. Decan SAGITTARIUS: Altjira
1. Decan CAPRICORNUS: 2002 TC302 project name Melodia
2. Decan CAPRICORNUS: Ixion
3. Decan CAPRICORNUS:
1. Decan AQUARIUS: Uranus
2. Decan AQUARIUS: Teharonhiawako
3. Decan AQUARIUS: Salacia
1. Decan PISCES: Snow White/ project name Magi (2007 OR10)
2. Decan PISCES: Orcus
3. Decan PISCES: Ceto

The Nakshatras:
1. 00AR00-13AR20 Ashvini: MakeMake, star constellation Draco
2. 13AR20-26AR40 Bharani: Brahma bzw. 2002 MS4, star constellation Hercules
3. 26AR40-10TA00 Krttika: Haumea, star constellation Cassiopeia
4. 10TA00-23TA20 Rohini: Sedna, star constellation Cepheus
5. 23TA40-06GE40 Mrigasiras: Quaoar, star constellation Bootes
6. 06GE40-20GE00 Ardra: Ceres, star constellation Auriga
7. 20GE00-03CA20 Punarvasu: Chaos, star constellation Ursa major
8. 03CA20-16CA40 Pusya: Rhadamanthus, star constellation Perseus
9. 16CA40-30CA00 Aslesha: Chariklo, star constellation Cygnus
10. 00LE00-13LE20 Magha: Varuna, star constellation Ursa minor
11. 13LE20-26LE40 Purva Phalguni, Moon, star constellation Canis minor (Cancer)
12. 26LE40-10VI00 Uttars Phalguni, Sun, star constellation Argo (Leo)
13. 10VI00-23VI20 Hasta, Chiron, star constellation Crater (Virgo)
14. 23VI20-06LI40 Citra, Uranus star constellation Equuleus (Aquarius)
15. 06LI40-20LI00 Svati, Neptune, star constellation Cetus (Pisces)
16. 20LI00-03SC20 Visakha, Pluto, star constellation Ophiuchius (Skorpius)
17. 03SC20-16SC40 Anuradha, Venus, star constellation Canis major (Taurus)
18. 16SC40-30SC00 Jyestha, Eris, star constellation Serpens
19. 00SG00-13SG20 Mula, Mars, star constellation Triangulum (Aries)
20. 13SG20-26SG40 Purvasadha, moon nodes, star constellation Corona borealis (Libra)
21. 26SG40-10CP00 Uttarasadha, Jupiter, star constellation Sagitta (Sagittarius)
22. 10CP00-23CP20 Sravana bzw. Abhijit, Ixion, star constellation Aquila
23. 23CP20-06AQ40 Shravishtha, Saturn, star constellation Delphinus
24. 06AQ40-20AQ00 Shatabhisha, Mercury, star constellation Lyra (Gemini)
25. 20AQ00-03PI20 Purva Bhadrapada, Salacia, star constellation Orion
26. 03PI20-16PI40 Uttar Bhadrapada, Magi/Snow White/2007 OR10, star constellation Pegasus
27. 16PI40-30PI00 Revati, Orcus, star constellation Andromeda.

The program may be freely copied and used but it is not allowed to modify it or sell it unless you have the written permission of the author Andreas Bunkahle (www.bunkahle.com). Contact me also by email::
webmaster@bunkahle.com

Revision list:

2.50: Paypal-Donate button integrated
2.48: Bugfix Chart printout would exceed the borders
2.47: Bugfix Chart.png would be saved with broken alpha channel
2.46: bugfix for input years<1000
2.45: AAF import bugfix
2.44: bugfix GMT times < 0h00 >24h00
2.43: Bug fix for incompletely written transfer files
2.42: Bug fix silent option would not stop the program when transfer file was deleted
2.41: Bug fix command line entry
2.40: Bug fix unicode decode error if text of transfer file contains any special chars
2.39: Text labels with the planets are now possible
2.38: Color the background of the aspect circle
2.37: Color the degree circles as well as the zodiac, planet and house circles and zodiac borders
2.36: Many new options for the houses were added in chart.cfg: house-cusps (choose which house cusps you want to display) house-cusps-label (set the label for the housecusps as well as height, color and degrees:sign:minutes), house-attributes (set color and linewidth of each house and the line heights to draw) 2.35: Many new options for the zodiac were added in chart.cfg: xborder, yborder, visibility of inner and outer zodiac
border, background color of the signs, sign-images, texts, inner and outer planetsize, deviation, aspect height, external graphics to paste into the chart, attributes of zodiac signs (stretched, rotated, none)
2.29: The house name is displayed above the house cusps in the datatable
2.28: The config files can now be edited by clicking on the button Edit Configuration in the toolbar We have included the little editor Sublime Text 2 (portable) in the setup. Please register if you want to use it on permanent basis. Otherwise you can delete it and define the location of your own personal favourite editor in the config file in the section EDITOR
2.27: There is a Reload Configuration button on the screen to see the changes in the configuration file immediately
2.26: You can define your own circles with degrees in the chart
2.25: You can switch the nakshatra circle on and off and define its characteristics
2.24: There are several configuration files (*.cfg) saved in the directory cfg which can be chosen via the dropdown menu in the toolbar
2.23: Aspect button now toggles between no aspects at all, inner aspects and aspects between inner and outer planets
2.22: Harmonics can be defined in arabic part formula language
2.21: More or less than 8 houses can be displayed, houses can be counted clockwise
2.20: Ayanamsa and heliocentric positions implemented
2.19: the attributes inner and outer have been extended to inner, outer, innerouter
2.18: Swiss ephemeris files location can be determined in the config file
2.17: You can specify which degree is located at 9 o'clock of the horoscope: AC, MC + 90.0, first house, 0 AR, 0 CN or any degree other degree
2.16: fixed stars can be displayed (a lot of additions have been added to chart.cfg see there for explanations)
2.15: retrograde display in the data table
2.14: display of different languages in the datatable is possible
2.13: arabic parts, zodiac degrees and house cusps can be shown in the chart and in the data table
2.12: Aspect button implemented - you can now switch on and off the aspectarium and aspects
2.11: dislay of chart data and chart circle can be exchanged by setting the orientation value to left or right in chart.cfg
2.10: external AAF import data lpos, hpos, bpos, zpos, gval, com, cword, src, via, znam data is now possible at the end of transfer.txt / uebergabe.txt, overrides the planet/house computation of the first 8 lines if you don't specify anything at all in the first 8 lines (empty lines) but give at least one line with #A93: data and one line with #B93: data it is still possible to compute the chart. Comments from #COM: #CWORD: #VIA #SRC are showed underneath the houses if aspectarium is not visible.
if you specify #HPOS:*,*,*,*,*,*,* in the transfer file you can switch off all houses in the chart display or only show AC and MC if you additionally specify something like #LPOS:AC03SC34:16,MC11LE14:34
2.09: external a93 and b93 can be put into transfer.txt / uebergabe.txt, overrides the planet computation
2.08: Declination aspects are now computed and shown in the chart and can be switched off as well as the declination data
2.07: Chart.cfg can be read repeatedly by calling cfg_read(filname)
2.06: apects and "aspectarium" included in the table and in the graphics
2.05: display problem solved when many planets were set to inactive
2.04: on the left side of the legend are now all inner planets while the outer planets are on the right side
2.03: added moon perigee Priapus and its symbol as well as semi-mirror aspect and its symbol to chart.cfg
2.02: New option: chart.exe -silent True (default: None) doesn't open a GUI window but works silently in the background 2.01: Resize / Repaint function on redrawing
2.00: Migration to cv2 graphics and improved graphics with anti collision test for planets
1.95: Print function for the chart
1.90: Export chart as image file
1.80: Export PDF files
1.70: Bug fix when transfer.txt or uebergabe.txt contained garbage program would crash
1.60: Bug fix wrong house numbering sometimes
1.52: linewidths have been adapted for larger graphics
1.51: changed graphic in different resolutions for better golden schnitt
1.50: you can specify the size in inches for the horoscope wheel with -size (7-18)
1.42: bug fix house limits were not closed to the inner edge
1.40: legend with symbols for dwarf planets could be specified, legend gives the letter size for the legend
1.31: uses AstroMaster icon for the window
1.30: you can specify -image filedirectory for just saving the chart as image into this filedirectory as chart.png and chart.txt which includes the chart data as text
1.25: you can specify -confg filelocation a different file location for chart.cfg e.g. in case you cannot write or change any config file in the root directory because of security issues of Windows The same goes for uebergabe.txt and transfer.txt - change the file location with -ueber dateiort or -trans filelocation
1.23: Hours >23 and <0 possible when time zones are shifting the time
1.22: Julian dates possible by entering J or j directy after the year
1.21: Bugfix bei der Zeituebergabe durch uebergabe.txt
1.20: Some more suggestions from Bernd Westphal built in:
Time now possible as HHMMSS and not only HHMM
Year before Christ possible
Place coordinates appear in the title
negative UT time possible
Chart window is now non-blocking i.e. if you change the transfer file in the background the windows is closing and updating itself
1.10: some suggestions from Bernd Westphal implemented: Command line call transfer data in the file uebergabe.txt or transfer.txt to the program
1.00: First release dada!