--

Helpfile for Astrolog version 3.00 (March 1993):

This file contains a complete list of all the features available in
Astrolog version 3.00, and documentation on how to use each option.
The file is divided into six parts:

1) A summary list of all the main features which are accessed via
command line parameter switches, along with a list of single keypress
commands that can be given in an X window or to the screen (assuming
you have graphics) to change the display in various ways.

2) The list of command switches and keypresses is repeated, but after
each option is listed a more lengthy description of the details of
the feature.

3) Details of default parameters, in compile time options and in the
default parameter file, are described.

4) Descriptions of things that appear in the 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 main display.

5) Next to last 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 impressive display to prove Astrolog
was worth compiling? In Unix try: "astrolog -Xn -XG -Xw 400". :)

6) Finally are discussed the program's graphics features for PC's,
how to use them, and the few ways they are different from X windows.


************************
LIST OF COMMAND SWITCHES
************************

Astrolog command switches (version 3.00) (March 1993):
 -H: Display this help list.
 -H0: Display names of zodiac signs and houses.
 -O: Display available planets and other celestial objects.
 -O0: Like -O but ignore object restrictions.
 -A: Display available aspects, their angles, and present orbs.
 -I0: Display meanings of signs, houses, planets, and aspects.

Switches which determine the type of chart to display:
 -v: Display list of object positions (chosen by default).
 -v0: Like -v but express velocities as absolute degree 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.
 -m: Display all object midpoints in sorted zodiac order.
 -m0: Like -m but list aspects ordered by influence instead.
 -Z: Display planet locations with respect to the local horizon.
 -Z0: For graphics charts, like -Z but have a polar center.
 -S: Display x,y,z coordinate positions of planets in space.
 -j: Display astrological influences of each object in chart.
 -j0: Like -j but include influences of each sign as well.
 -L [<step>]: Display astro-graph locations of planetary angles.
 -L0 [..]: Like -L but display list of latitude crossings too.
 -d: Print all aspects and changes occurring in a day.
 -dm: Like -d but print all aspects for the entire month.
 -dp <month> <year>: Print aspects within progressed chart.
 -E: Display planetary ephemeris for given month.
 -Ey: Display planetary ephemeris for entire year.
 -e: Print all options for chart (i.e. -v-w-g0-m-Z-S-j0-L0-d-E).
 -T <month> <year>: Compute all transits to natal planets in month.
 -Tp <month> <year>: Compute progressions in month for chart.
 -T[p]y: <year>: Compute transits/progressions for entire year.
 -Tn[y]: Compute transits to natal planets for current time now.
 -I: 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.
 -a <month> <date> <year> <time> <zone> <long> <lat>:
     Compute chart automatically given specified data.
 -z: Assume Daylight time (change default zone appropriately).
 -z <zone>: Change the default time zone (for -d-q-T-E options).
 -l <long> <lat>: Change the default longitude & latitude.
 -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.
 -i <file>: Compute chart based on info in file.
 -o <file> [..]: Write parameters of current chart to file.
 -o0 <file> [..]: Like -o but output planet/house positions.

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.
 -R[C,u,U]: Restrict all minor cusps, all uranians, or stars.
 -RT[0,C,u,U] [..]: Restrict transiting planets in -T lists.
 -C: Include 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.

Switches which affect how a chart is computed:
 -c <value>: Select a different default system of houses.
     (0 = Placidus, 1 = Koch, 2 = Equal, 3 = Campanus,
     4 = Meridian, 5 = Regiomontanus, 6 = Porphry, 7 = Morinus,
     8 = Topocentric, 9 = None.)
 -s: Compute a sidereal instead of the normal tropical chart.
 -s0: Display locations as right ascension instead of 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: Display houses based on geographic location only.
 -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.

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.
 -rd <file1> <file2>: Print number of days between files' dates.
 -rb <file1> <file2>: Display biorhythm for file1 at time file2.
 -r0 <file1> <file2>: Keep the charts separate in comparison.
 -t <file>: Display current house transits for particular chart.
 -t[b,d] <file>: Print biorhythm/datediff for current time now.

Switches to access graphics options:
 -k: Display text charts using Ansi characters and color.
 -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.
 -Xo <file>: Write output bitmap 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>]: Change the size of the chart graphic.
 -Xs <100,200,300>: Change the size of map or characters by n%.
 -Xi: Create chart graphic in slightly modified form.
 -XT: Inhibit display of chart info at bottom of graphic.
 -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.
 -XP: Create just the world map, but from a polar projection.
 -XG [<degrees>]: Display the image of the world as a globe.
 -Xn: Start up chart or globe display in animation mode.
Also, press 'H' while running for list of key press options.


Astrolog window keypress options (version 3.00):
 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 'T' to toggle header info on current chart on screen.
 Press 'i' to toggle status of the minor chart modification.
 Press 'l' to toggle labeling of object points in chart.
 Press 'v' to display current chart positions on text screen.
 Press 'R' to toggle restriction status of minor objects.
 Press 'C' to toggle restriction status of minor house cusps.
 Press 'u' to toggle restriction status of uranian planets.
 Press 'U' to toggle restriction status of fixed stars.
 Press 's', 'h', 'f', 'F' to toggle status of sidereal zodiac,
       heliocentric charts, domal charts, and decan charts.
 Press 'O' and 'o' to recall/store a previous chart from memory.
 Press 'B' to dump current window contents to root background.
 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 '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','L','A','Z','S','W','G','P' to switch to normal (-v),
       astro-graph (-L), grid (-g), local (-Z), space (-S),
       world (-XW), globe (-XG), and polar (-XP) modes.
 Press '0' to toggle between -Z & -Z0, and -XW & -XW0 modes.
 Press 'tab' to toggle between graphics resolutions.
 Press 'q' to terminate the window and program.

 Left   mouse button: Draw lines 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
**********************************

     Note: Astrolog allows command line parameter switches to be
invoked with either the leading dash ("-") standard to Unix users, or
a leading slash ("/") that many PC users are accustomed to. Not only
that, but the leading character is actually optional, and isn't
necessary at all! 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 "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 "-1" will be considered a number.)

     Note: Many switches 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.

----

Astrolog command switches (version 3.00) (March 1993):

-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
  still be displayed with the standard leading "-".)

-H0: Display names of zodiac signs and houses.

  The -H0 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 -O or -A, in that it displays lists of
  things (objects, aspects, or in this case the signs) that Astrolog
  uses in its charts.

-O: Display available planets and other celestial objects.

  Similar to the -A option below, the -O option will list all 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. (Note that when -O is encountered, it
  immediately executes and terminates the program, so any modifying
  switches must be before it.)

-O0: Like -O but ignore object restrictions.

  The -O switch above simply displays a list of all the objects, cusps,
  uranians, and stars, along with their index numbers. This list can be
  affected by the -R restrictions, and the -C, -u, and -U switches must
  be included in order for all of Astrolog's objects to get listed. In
  order to make it easier to simply display a list of all 78 objects
  Astrolog recognizes, the -O0 option is just like -O by itself (and is
  equivalent to "-C -u -U -O") except that it will ignore all
  restrictions and always list every object. Stars are printed in the
  list along with their azimuth, altitude, and brightness values.

-A: Display available aspects, their angles, and present orbs.

  The -A 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 already there (e.g. conjunct = 1, opposition = 2, etc.)
  so one can easily figure out what exact number to pass to the -A
  option when changing the number of aspects used (see below). Finally,
  it will display a brief verbal description of what each aspect glyph
  look like. This is in case one doesn't know what aspects the weird
  symbols in the -g -X graphic displays are referring to.

-I0 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 -I
  switch charts later).

----

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 as absolute degree speed.

  This switch is just like -v except that it modifies the planet
  velocities slightly. (See later for a description of these velocity
  fields.) The -v switch normally divides 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. The -v0 switch will change these velocity values to be
  expressed as an *absolute* quantity in degrees per day that the object
  appears to have moved through the zodiac. This will be similar to
  that in -v, except 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.

-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.

  In addition to the normal chart information in the middle of the
  wheel, this display includes the day of the week that the date falls
  on. This may seem minor, but it is a way to calculate the day of the
  week for any date. If you forgot what day of the week you were born
  on, display your chart with the -w switch, and ignore the chart and
  just check the day of the week in the header information. Similarly,
  one could use this to make a calendar for any particular month by
  casting a -w chart for the 1st of the month in question, and building
  the calendar from that starting point.

  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 79 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.) 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.)

-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. 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 list aspects ordered by influence instead.

  Aspects too may be displayed in a nice ordered list, instead of only
  in the -g aspect grid. Invoke the above switch as -m0 instead of just
  -m 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 below) 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 -m0 chart and
  find out at least what Astrolog's opinion is.

-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: For graphics charts, like -Z but have a polar center.

  See section on the graphics charts for description of this option.
  This switch will be available only if the graphics are compiled in.

-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
  always about 1.0 AU from each other.) The Moon circles the Earth and
  isn't a part of the solar system proper; therefore, it is never in
  these charts. The -e everything option will include this chart in its
  listing of all the chart displays.

-j: Display astrological influences of each object in chart.

  Another chart type is available - interpretation of influences. This
  is the beginnings of the general interpretation ability of the program,
  although all it does now is calculate the relative "power" of each
  planet's placement, giving a general idea of the prominent areas of a
  chart. When such a chart is printed, each planet is given a point
  value, larger numbers indicating more strength. Each planet's strength
  is divided between two fields: the positioning in and of itself, and
  the power of the aspects it makes with the other planets. In addition
  to each field, the total of these two areas is printed, as well as the
  relative percentage of the planet in question with respect to all the
  planets combined. Each planet gets a ranking for its positioning,
  aspects, and total power as well, with the strongest getting #1, the
  next strongest #2, etc. The -e option will include this chart along
  with all the others as well in it's listing of all the chart displays.

  To determine the strength of the positioning of a planet, various
  things are taken into account: 1) The power of a planet in and of
  itself, e.g. the Sun and Moon are more powerful then the other
  planets. 2) The house placement of a planet, e.g. a planet in the 1st
  house is more powerful than one in the 2nd. 3) Whether a planet is in
  the sign it rules or is exalted in, e.g. Jupiter in Sag results in
  more power to Jupiter. 4) Whether a planet is in the house
  corresponding to the sign it rules or is exalted in, e.g. Jupiter in
  the 9th house. 5) Planets get more power if the signs they rule are
  occupied, e.g. a bunch of stuff in Aquarius gives more power to
  Uranus. 6) Planets get more power if the houses they rule are
  occupied, e.g. a bunch of stuff in the 11th house gives power to
  Uranus. 7) Finally, planets get power according to what houses the
  cusps of which fall in the signs they rule, i.e. the ruler of the
  Ascendant (and to less extent the Midheaven, and so on) gets lots of
  influence. Determining the strength of a planet's aspects is much
  easier, and is basically composed of the sum of the strength of each
  aspect the planet makes. Taken into account are: 1) The influence of
  the planet being aspected to, e.g. Sun conjunct Jupiter gives more
  influence to Jupiter than Mercury conjunct Jupiter would. The
  planet's placement as described above plays a role, too, e.g. Venus
  opposition Mars in Aries gives more influence to Venus that it would
  be if Mars were in Taurus. 2) The influence of the aspect itself,
  e.g. Oppositions are more powerful then Sextiles. 3) Finally the orb
  of the aspect, i.e. exact aspects are more powerful than wide ones.
  (The influence of the orb varies linearly from max power at exact to
  zero power at the limit of the orb - sorry Maggie M. and Mark K. - no
  complex aspect wave functions, at least for this version :)

  Special thanks goes to Mark K. who initially presented this idea of
  interpreting overall influences to me. I basically just took his
  ideas, polished them a bit, and put it into the code. Interestingly,
  while programming this feature, I had a dream about him, in which he
  elaborated upon some of the ideas and even gave me suggestions for
  some of the planets' default power values (astral visitation?) And,
  while on the subject, I've had a couple of other Astrolog dreams; I
  had one neat one while working on the -h feature (described later)
  about a far distant future version of Astrolog that could actually
  teleport one to the places which they cast charts for :)

-j0: Like -j but include influences of each sign as well.

  The -j planet influences in a chart feature can be expanded to
  include signs as well. Invoke it as -j0 instead of just -j, and in
  addition to getting the influence of each planet in a chart, one will
  get the influence of each sign in the chart as well. To determine
  sign influence, we use the planet powers already determined; a sign
  gets influence if: (1) There is a planet in it, (2) there is a planet
  in the house it corresponds to, and (3) if any planet that rules or
  co-rules it is in the chart. For example, with my 11th house Venus in
  Sagittarius, for me: (1) Sagittarius gets more power because Venus is
  in it, (2) Aquarius gets more power because Venus is in the 11th, and
  (3) Libra and Taurus get power because Venus itself rules these
  signs. The exact power given is based on the total influence of Venus
  already determined. Any sign that has over about 175 points or 20% of
  the total is a really powerful and fundamental part of the psyche. We
  also sum up the influences of all the signs, displaying the influence
  of each element as well, which is perhaps a more accurate version of
  the element table in the -v chart.

-L [<step>]: Display astro-graph locations of planetary angles.

  The '-L' option will take the standard chart information and generate
  the astro-graph positions of the planets. In other words, this does
  the exact same thing that Jim Lewis' Astro*Carto*Graphy maps do. It
  will display the longitude of where on the Earth at the time in
  question each object was on the midheaven and on the nadir, and the
  latitude of where the planets actually appeared at zenith. Also, for
  latitude increments of 5 degrees, the longitude of where the objects
  appeared on the ascendant and descendant is displayed. For text
  screens, one can pass an optional parameter to this -L (or -L0) option
  to change the default latitude step rate at which the Ascendant and
  Descendant lines are computed. Again, this value is by default 5
  degrees, although one can may increase or decrease it to any integer
  (subject to the restriction that the number 160 is divisible by it.)

-L0 [..]: Like -L but display list of latitude crossings too.

  Determination of latitude crossing points is included in the
  astro-graph routines! The -L0 option will do the same thing as the -L
  option, except that after displaying the longitude and latitude
  locations of the Asc/Desc/MC/IC lines, it will then search among the
  lines and display (in order from farthest North to farthest South) the
  latitude of any points where lines cross each other. This includes the
  curvy Asc/Desc lines crossing the straight MC/IC lines as well as
  cases where different Asc/Desc lines cross themselves. And unlike Jim
  Lewis' Astro*Carto*Graphy, Astrolog will also display the longitude of
  the crossing (useful for Asc/Desc crossings) in addition to the
  latitude (as well allowing more planetary bodies to be included in the
  scan, and going farther North and South than Jim Lewis' printouts go.)
  Note however, that there is presently a small (very rare) minor
  omission glitch in the code, where if a crossing is within a couple of
  degrees of 180 deg W/E, it may not be displayed.

-d: Print all aspects and changes occurring in a day.

  The '-d' option will take the standard chart information, and for the
  day in question, display the exact times of all aspects that occur.
  This is just like the aspects-per-day as displayed in Jim Maynard's
  Celestial Guide books. (Displayed in local time as defined by the
  default zone, with accuracy to within a couple minutes.) This will
  tell any time two planets make aspects with each other, a planet
  changes its sign, or a planet goes retrograde or direct. Both the -d
  (and -T listed later) options will display the signs that any planets
  aspecting each other are in, in addition to the aspect itself (e.g.
  instead of just "Jupiter Tri Uranus", we have "Jupiter (Vir) Tri (Cap)
  Uranus". If a particular object is going retrograde, then its sign
  will be displayed in brackets instead of parentheses, and if a
  particular object is about to or has just gone retrograde or direct,
  then its sign will be in <>'s.

-dm: Like -d but print all aspects for the entire month.

  The -d option can search the entire month for aspects between planets
  if one so desires. Specifying it as -dm instead of just -d will go
  through the entire month instead of just the current day. (Combining
  this one with -R allows searching for important aspects, sign
  changes, etc.)

-dp <month> <year>: Print aspects within progressed chart.

  Another progression feature allows determining aspect times of
  progressed planets among themselves. The -dp <month> <year> switch
  will, like the -d option, display times of aspects and sign changes,
  for the time around the chart in question, except that they will be
  progressed throughout the month specified. Progressed planets move
  very slowly ("year for a day") so therefore there will usually be, if
  any, only a couple of aspects in a given month. Instead, one might
  want to scan the whole year; to do this, specify '0' for the month.
  Also, since they move so slow, the accuracy is cut down, do the dates
  given are probably only accurate to the nearest day, in spite of the
  times given to the minute. Note that Astrolog can scan for aspects
  of: transiting planets among themselves (-d switch), transiting
  planets to natal planets (-T switch), progressed planets to natal
  planets (-Tp), and progressed planets among themselves (-dp). Only
  thing Astrolog can't do is do progressed planets to transiting
  planets, although that may change in the next version :)

-E: Display planetary ephemeris for given month.

  The -E option will generate a quick ephemeris of the planet positions
  for the month indicated in the given chart, as taken from the
  standard interface. This is useful if you just want to see an
  overview of what's happening some month in the sky. It is displayed
  daily for midnight, in the default time zone. Any dots after a planet
  location in the list indicate the planet was retrograde at the time
  that day. For example, to see the ephemeris for someone's birth
  month, one can do the convenient "-i chartfile -E", or to see the
  ephemeris for this month, do "-n -E" (see -i and -n options later).

-Ey: Display planetary ephemeris for entire year.

  To display an ephemeris for all twelve months in an entire year,
  invoke the -E switch as -Ey. For example, to get an ephemeris for
  all of last year, one can do "-qy 1992 -Ey" (see -qy and -qm options
  below).

-e: Print all options for chart (i.e. -v-w-g0-m-Z-S-j0-L0-d-E).

  There are ten main different formats of chart display available: The
  standard listing of planet positions, which you get without any
  switches or with the -v option; the aspect/midpoint grid you get with
  -g, the house wheel you get with -w, and the charts generated with
  the -m, -Z, -S, -j, -L, -d, and -E options. The -e "everything"
  option will display the chart in all ten of these formats for about
  900 lines of text! Note that one can even include the -T transit
  option below and include yet another chart format in the list,
  however transits require a time parameter to do transits for so it
  isn't really a single chart display and hence isn't included in -e by
  default.

-T <month> <year>: Compute all transits to natal planets in month.

  The '-T <month> <year>' option will scan the entire month specified,
  and print out any transits that happen, in that month, to the planet
  positions as listed in the current chart, as taken from the standard
  interface. There will be quite a few, even though fast moving objects
  like the Moon aren't looked at by default, so you might want to use
  this with the -R option to limit this to just certain planets. (The
  times are displayed in the local time zone, and are generally
  accurate to within a half hour or so; Try doing it for your birth
  month and your own chart - All planets should conjunct their natal
  positions at about the time of your birth.) To determine transits to
  natal house cusps other than the Asc and MC, i.e. when does a planet
  change house in your natal chart, include the -C switch described
  later. See the -RT option, as well as the "smart cusps" default,
  described later, for options which directly affect this feature.

-Tp <month> <year>: Compute progressions in month for chart.

  Determining dates of transits of progressed planets to natal planets
  can be done with the -Tp <month> <year> option. This is just like the
  -T option, except that the exact aspects of progressed planets
  (rather than transiting planets) to the planets in the chart are
  displayed. Progressions occur much less often than transits, and
  there will only be a few, if any, in a given month, so one might to
  invoke this as -Tpy, as described below.

-T[p]y: <year>: Compute transits/progressions for entire year.

  To display transits for an entire year, invoke the -T switch as -Ty
  (-Tpy for progressions), which only takes one parameter, the year.
  For example, "-i chartfile -Ty 1993".

-Tn[y]: Compute transits to natal planets for current time now.

  This feature is a quick shorthand way to generate transits for the
  current month. For example, instead of "astrolog -i chartfile -T 3
  1993", one can do "astrolog -i chartfile -Tn". To do transits for the
  entire current year, invoke it as "-Tny".

-I: Print interpretation of selected charts.

  The -I display an interpretation option is a powerful, expansive
  feature to generate interpretations of many of Astrolog's charts.
  Simply include the -I switch to get an interpretation of any
  particular type of chart that the program would display otherwise.
  If Astrolog doesn't support interpretations for it, the normal chart
  will be shown instead.

  For example, A brief interpretation of the meaning of the positioning
  of each planet in its sign and house is supported when the -I switch
  is invoked with -v (or by itself since -v is the default). If one
  does this, then instead of the standard -v listing of planet
  positions, the positions will be listed with a brief interpretation
  of what they mean. I have to say that this is a pretty limited
  version of interpretation, being nothing more than a combining of
  phrases representing the planet, sign, and house in question;
  nevertheless, people who don't know how to interpret charts might
  find this to be of use (or at least amusing. :)

  Another common interpretation one would want is the ability to give a
  brief interpretation of each aspect in the aspect grid. When the -I
  switch is combined with -g, the standard -g aspect grid will be
  replaced with a list of each aspect occurring and a brief listing of
  what it means. Again, this is mainly just a lookup of the general
  meanings of each planet and the aspect in question, but still might
  be found of interest by some. (Note: only the first 11 aspects, out
  to the Bi-Quintile, can be considered.)

  Five more interpretations just as useful can be done: "-r0 person1
  person2 -g -I" is a legal combination, and will display meanings of
  aspects between planets in two charts in a relationship aspect grid.
  "-i person -m0 -I" is legal, and will display the meanings of aspects
  in a chart; this is like -g -I, but the aspect meanings are printed
  in sorted order based on how powerful Astrolog thinks each aspect is,
  so this is probably preferred. "-r0 person1 person2 -m0 -I" is legal,
  and will display the meanings of aspects in a relationship aspect
  list, like -r0 -g -I, but in the improved sorted order. "-d -I" is
  legal, and will display the meanings of aspects among transiting
  planets occurring during a day, as well as of sign and direction
  changes. "-T -I" is legal, and will display the meanings of aspects
  from transiting planets to natal ones.

----

Switches which affect how the chart parameters are obtained:

-n: Compute chart for this exact moment using current time.

  For those with systems who can handle time calls (If your system
  pukes on trying to compile them, simply comment out the #define TIME
  line at the beginning), the program supports displaying the chart for
  the time at the current moment! In other words, invoke as astrolog -n
  and see where the planets are right now. (This is fun - the house
  cusps change 1 minute about every 4 seconds!) You will need to change
  the #defines for the default longitude and latitude in astrolog.h, or
  else specify where you are explicitly by using the -l switch to
  change the default location. To figure out the time zone, the program
  uses the default value in the astrolog.dat file or as defined in the
  DEFAULT_ZONE constant set at compile time.

-n[d,m,y]: Compute chart for start of current day, month, year.

  These switches are like the -n generate chart for current moment now
  feature, except that they will respectively generate charts for the
  midnight on the current day, midnight on the first of the current
  month, and midnight on the first day of the current year. 

-a <month> <date> <year> <time> <zone> <long> <lat>:
Compute chart automatically given specified data.

  Normally one generates a chart by entering the seven data coordinates
  manually. A fast typist familiar with the program might prefer to give
  all the data at once, which can be done with this option. Simply list
  the seven parameters above, in the exact format as they would be given
  to the program were the user being prompted for them.

-z: Assume Daylight time (change default zone appropriately).

  Normally the -z option takes an argument which will then become the
  default time zone. If one, however, invokes it by itself, it will
  subtract one hour from whatever the default time zone presently is.
  This is useful since it is equivalent to adjusting any times printed
  to Daylight time, i.e. it will add one hour to any times displayed.
  (When entering the birth time for charts, one is supposed to subtract
  one hour if Daylight time was in effect; note that subtracting one
  hour from the time zone will do the same thing.) For example, over
  here on the West Coast, I have my default time zone compiled to be
  "8"; now that Daylight time is in effect here, I can do -z 7 or just
  -z to decrease the default time zone when I make a -T transit list,
  which will in effect add one hour to the local times displayed, or in
  effect "Spring ahead" the clock for me. (For a better way of adjusting
  Astrolog for Daylight time without having to specify -z all the time,
  recompile the program, or add one hour to the times in your head, use
  the "defaults" file described later to edit the time zone.) Remember
  that the -z (and -l) switches must be before any other switches they
  modify (such as -n) in order for the new default to take effect.

-z <zone>: Change the default time zone (for -d-q-T-E options).

  The -z <value> option can be used to change the default time zone to
  the value in question. For example, you can force the -E ephemeris and
  -T transits to be displayed at midnight GMT time instead of the local
  time with -z 0; or, for the East coast where by default the time zone
  is "5", you can do -z 4 during DST to properly display transits,
  aspects in day, and other lists in the local DST zone.

-l <long> <lat>: Change the default longitude & latitude.

  Like the -z option, the -l option can be used to change the default
  compile time world coordinates used in certain options, such as the
  -n cast chart for right now switch.

-q <month> <date> <year> <time>: Compute chart with defaults.

  The -q <month> <date> <year> <time> option takes the four parameters
  and casts a chart for the time in question. The time zone and
  location are taken from the default compiled values. This is just yet
  another useful shorthand way to quickly make a chart. Note that the
  -a option which takes all seven chart parameters can be duplicated
  with -q along with the -z <zone> and -l <long> <lat> options.

-qd <month> <date> <year>: Compute chart for noon on date.

  The -q <month> <day> <year> option can be used to cast a quick chart
  for 12 noon on a particular date, using the default longitude and
  latitude, and time zone. One example where this is useful is with the
  -d option, e.g. to see the times of exact aspects on a particular
  date, like your next birthday, your finals, etc, without having to
  specify unnecessary data. Note that this is just like the -q switch
  except that -q requires a specific time on the day in question as well. 

-qm <month> <year>: Compute chart for first of month.
-qy <year>: Compute chart for first day of year.

  A quick chart cast for midnight on the first of a month can be
  generated with the two parameter -qm <month> <year> switch. A chart
  cast for midnight on the first of January of a year can be generated
  with the one parameter -qy <year> switch. Both of these use the
  default time zone and location. These switches are most useful for
  charts that don't require all the standard information. For example,
  to get an ephemeris for December, 2000, do "astrolog -qm 12 2000" and
  avoid having to enter in a day, hour, or location that wouldn't have
  any effect. These options are in similar to the -qd <month> <day>
  <year> switch above that will do a chart for noon on the given date,
  and the -q <month> <day> <year> <time> switch that takes a time as well.

-i <file>: Compute chart based on info in file.

  See the -o option below.

-o <file> [..]: Write parameters of current chart to file.

  The program supports directing chart information to, and reading
  output from, data files. The '-o' option will dump all the birth data
  (the date and stuff, not the planet positions) to the specified file.
  The '-i' option will cast the chart based on the info in the file.
  (This allows you to put your birth data into a specific file, and cast
  your chart whenever you want to after that without having to reenter
  your birth data all the time.)

  Another file output feature, the ability to concatenate "comment
  lines" at the end of a data file, is included with both the -o and
  -o0 options. (Some people have complained that the info in the
  Astrolog chart files are too cryptic.) After scanning the filename,
  the -o[0] option will then write any parameter that follows it at the
  end of the file, until a parameter beginning with a '-' (the next
  switch) is reached. For example: -o 'file' "Walter D. Pullen" Seattle
  will add my name and my birth city in two separate lines at the end
  of 'file'. (In Unix, quotes can be used to allow spaces within one
  parameter.)

-o0 <file> [..]: Like -o but output planet/house positions.

  Ability to write the actual sign and house positions of a chart to
  a file (instead of just the time and place) has been implemented via
  the -o0 <file> option. This option can be used interchangeably with
  the old -o output to file switch. The information written includes the
  zodiac position of the 20 main objects, their retrograde status and
  declination, as well as the positions of the (first six) house cusps.
  This file information can easily be passed into another program, and
  can be read back into Astrolog with the -i option. The -i option will
  automatically determine which type the file is, and will either use
  the given positions, or else calculate them as needed (note that some
  switches, such as the -c house system selection, will have no effect
  for this new file type.) Check an example of one of these files to see
  the precise format (a zodiac position is recorded as three numbers:
  degree in sign, sign as 1..12, and floating point minute within
  degree.) When the files are read back in, they will be flagged as
  "having no space or time" like the composite charts in the chart
  header displays.

  This file format can allow one to do things such as transits to
  composite charts (send the composite chart to file with -o0 option and
  then use that file as the first parameter to the -T option) composites
  between two composite charts (use -rc between two composite charts
  sent to a file) and even, if one is willing to do a small amount of
  editing, to do transits to midpoints or the 0 degrees Aries point.
  Note that one can easily edit the positions in the -o0 position file
  to be whatever they like, so one could replace some unimportant object
  (like the vertex) with 0 degrees Aries or an important midpoint value.
  Note that trying to still use the -o time and space output with an
  output chart that doesn't have space/time will confuse the program; it
  will either say it can't make the file or else will output the
  time/space of the most recent parameter file it read in.

----

Switches which affect what information is used in a chart.

-R [<obj1> [<obj2> ..]: Restrict specific bodies from displays.

  The ability to restrict the transit (-T) and daily aspect (-d) scans
  to just certain bodies has been implemented with the -R switch. Using
  -R by itself will prevent the asteroids, Chiron, the Part of Fortune
  and the Vertex from being in any of the lists. One may also give a
  list of one or more numbers representing planets to be ignored (e.g. 1
  = Sun, 2 = Moon, 3 = Mercury, etc) so that a complete custom setup can
  be obtained (e.g. -R 1 2 3 4 5 will cause all of the inner planets to
  be ignored). More than one -R switch can be combined (e.g. -R -R 16
  will cause the asteroids, etc, and the North Node to be ignored; the
  first -R gets rid of the asteroids, etc, and the second one deletes
  the North Node.) Also, specifying the same particular body more than
  once will cause it to be included again, or in other words, -R
  <objectnum> complements the status of whether it is to be ignored or
  not (e.g. -R -R 15 will cause all of the asteroids, etc, excluding
  Vesta, to be ignored; the first -R makes causes the asteroids to be
  ignored, and specifying Vesta in the second -R makes it reappear.)

-R0 [<obj1> ..]: Like -R but restrict everything first.

  The -R0 option will cause ALL of the bodies to be ignored, which is
  useful if you are looking for just the transits/aspects of a few
  planets (e.g. -R0 6 7 will cause everything but Jupiter and Saturn to
  be ignored.) Combining all these methods can cause whatever you are
  looking for in transits and aspects to be quickly found without having
  to wade through lots of stuff you aren't interested in.

-R[C,u,U]: Restrict all minor cusps, all uranians, or stars.

  These three switches are similar to the -R0 option in that they
  initially restrict objects, i.e. all the minor cusps, Uranians, and
  stars, (described below) respectively from appearing. For example, if
  you want to include only the star Sirius in an X window chart without
  having to also include all the other stars (or having to enter a very
  long restriction list), do: "astrolog -U -RU 48 -X", which will
  include the stars, and then restrict them all except Sirius, before
  making the chart.

-RT[0,C,u,U] [..]: Restrict transiting planets in -T lists.

  Transiting planets may be restricted from charts independently of
  those planets being transited to. In -T charts, the -R option only
  affects the natal planets. To restrict transiting planets, one must
  use the -RT option. The -RT option is exactly like -R, and any
  subswitches of -R can be used with -RT as long as the 'T' immediately
  follows the 'R'. For example, -RT by itself restricts transiting
  asteroids from appearing in -T charts, -RT0 restricts all transiting
  bodies, -RTu restricts the Uranians, and so on. This is a really
  useful feature, and allows one to pretty much be able to generate
  exactly and only those transits one is interested in. For example, if
  you want to see if anything is transiting your natal Jupiter or natal
  Saturn this month, do: "astrolog -i yourchart -T 3 1993 -R0 6 7". If
  you want to see if Chiron is transiting anything this year (excluding
  asteroids), do: "astrolog -i yourchart -Ty 1993 -RT0 11 -R". If you
  are only interested in transits of outer planets to your Sun or Moon,
  do: "astrolog -i yourchart -T 3 1993 -RT0 6 7 8 9 10 -R0 1 2", and so
  on. By default, only the transiting Moon is restricted. To get it
  back, merely unrestrict it with "-RT 2". These default transit
  restrictions are in the astrolog.dat defaults file described later,
  and are right after the standard restriction table, both of which may
  be modified however you please.

-C: Include non-angular house cusps in charts.

  This option must be indicated to include the four minor house cusps
  (i.e. 11th, 12th, 2nd, 3rd) in the various chart options, such as the
  -g aspect grids, -T transit searches, the X wheel chart, etc. This
  option of course won't have any effect on certain charts where only
  physical bodies are shown (e.g. -Z, -S, -L) or where all house cusps
  are already indicated in the chart (e.g. -v, -w).

-u: Include transneptunian/uranian bodies in charts.

  Display the locations of the "Uranian" planets with the -u switch.
  Transneptunian or Uranian planets are an interesting subset of
  astrology which includes various objects alleged to be beyond Pluto.
  (Do: astrolog -u -O to list the eight Uranian bodies.) Anyway,
  Astrolog will display the zodiac positions of these planets as well if
  one includes this option, and will print their positions after the
  main planets, or include them in the other chart types. (Note: the
  Uranians don't have any formal glyphs that I'm aware of, so therefore
  they are displayed in the X charts as three letter abbreviations of
  their name.)

-U: Include locations of fixed background stars in charts.

  Astrolog has the ability to display the positions of 47 of the
  brightest and most important stars in the sky. To include these stars
  in a chart, use the -U "universe" option. The 43 brightest stars,
  i.e. all those with apparent magnitude values < 2.0 are included, in
  addition to four dimmer "stars" which are considered significant,
  i.e.: Polaris the North star, the Pleiades star cluster (home of our
  extraterrestrial cousins), Zeta Reticuli (home of the Grey aliens),
  and the Andromeda (M31) Galaxy (closest galaxy to our own Milky Way,
  and home to various extraterrestrial hierarchies.) One bright star
  is called "Orion", which is formally Alnilam, the middle star of
  Orion's belt. Since stars are fixed in the sky, they will never
  change position in the -s sidereal zodiac, although they will slowly
  precess forward in the normal tropical zodiac. The -R restriction
  option can be used to determine which stars are actually included,
  although the -U option needs to be included to get any stars at all.
  (In X windows, the stars are denoted by three letter abbreviations
  (as are the uranians and minor house cusps), and are colored
  according to their brightness: yellow for stars brighter than (less
  than) magnitude 0.0, gold for dimmer ones from 0.0 to 1.0, orange for
  those from 1.0 to 2.0, and finally the dimmest special stars with a
  magnitude greater than 2.0 are red.)

-U[z,l,n,b]: Order by azimuth, altitude, name, or brightness.

  In the -v standard chart, -Z horizon chart, and in the -O object list,
  where all the stars are printed sequentially, it can sometimes be
  confusing to locate the star you want among 42 others. The -U option
  can be modified to sort the stars in various ways. If one uses -Ub
  instead of just -U, the stars will be listed in order from brightest
  to dimmest. Doing -Un instead of -U will alphabetize the stars by
  name. -Ul will sort them by their altitude from highest in the sky to
  lowest, while -Uz will sort them by their zodiac position. Note that
  any star ordering will have no visible effect in X windows, and one
  must still use the default ordering when passing numbers to the -R
  option to restrict various stars.

-A <0-18>: Specify the number of aspects to use in charts.

  If you like many aspects, or only desire the major ones, to be
  included in the aspect grids, specifying -A <number> will limit or
  extend the number of aspects (e.g. -A 2 will make charts with only
  conjunctions and oppositions listed in them, while -A 18 will include
  all 18 aspects that Astrolog supports.)

-Ao <aspect> <orb>: Specify maximum orb for an aspect.

  Change the default orbs of the various aspects with the -Ao <aspect>
  <orb> switch. Do you not like the 7 degree orbs for conjunctions that
  are in there by default? Given an aspect number and an orb value,
  the orb used for that particular aspect is updated accordingly.
  Non-integer orb values are allowed of course. Use negative orb values
  to completely eliminate an aspect from ever appearing. For example:
  astrolog -Ao 2 4 -Ao 4 -1 narrows the orb for Oppositions, and
  completely eliminates Trines, leaving all the other aspects at the
  default values. Note that for very wide orbs more than one aspect may
  apply for a particular angle, in which case the more fundamental
  aspect is chosen. Also for wide aspects the fractional value of the
  orb may be lost in the -g text grid (due to too many characters) and
  their might be some slight overlap in the X window -g cells.

-Am <planet> <orb>: Specify maximum orb allowed to a planet.

  Ability to explicitly specify maximum orbs that any aspect can make
  to a particular planet is supported with the -Am switch. This is used
  for objects like the North Node which require narrower orbs than what
  the aspects themselves normally allow. The -Am switch takes two
  parameters: the first to indicate the index of the object, and the
  second to indicate what the maximum orb allowed to it will be. By
  default, the only objects with restriction are the Node, Part of
  Fortune, Vertex, and stars, which allow a 2 degree max orb to them.
  With this option, one can change these limits or impose restrictions
  for other planets too. The astrolog.dat file (described later) will
  read in these default planet orbs for the first 20 objects.

-Ad <planet> <orb>: Specify orb addition given to a planet.

  Ability to widen an aspect orb for any planet is supported with the
  -Ad switch. This is used for objects like the Sun and Moon which
  allow wider orbs to them then what the aspects themselves allow. Like
  the -Am switch, this -Ad switch takes two parameters: the first to
  indicate the object, and the second to indicate how much wider orbs
  allowed to it will be. By default, the only objects which have orbs
  widened for them are the Sun and Moon, each of which adds one degree
  to the orb of any aspect to it. With this option, one can change
  these additions or allow other objects to have them, too. The
  astrolog.dat file will also read in defaults for these orb additions
  for the first 20 planets.

----

Switches which affect how a chart is computed:

-c <value>: Select a different default system of houses.
(0 = Placidus, 1 = Koch, 2 = Equal, 3 = Campanus,
4 = Meridian, 5 = Regiomontanus, 6 = Porphry, 7 = Morinus,
8 = Topocentric, 9 = None.)

  Ten different house systems are supported: Invoke as astrolog -c
  <number> to change the system from the default of Placidus. (System 9
  refers to no houses at all, or in other words where the Ascendant will
  always be 0 degrees Aries, the Nadir 0 degrees Cancer, etc, which is
  useful for the extended chart animations as described later where
  having houses at all can tend to get in the way, and one can even
  observe the precession of the equinoxes with this system if used in
  conjunction with the -s sidereal chart option.)

-s: Compute a sidereal instead of the normal tropical chart.

  With this option, the chart will be just like the normal charts as
  most commonly used in astrology, except that all the zodiac positions
  will be shifted (to be about 24 degrees earlier). This is because the
  option casts sidereal charts which are based on the positions of the
  fixed stars (i.e. Aries starts at the constellation Aries) rather than
  the seasons (i.e. Aries starts at the Spring or Vernal Equinox.) Due
  to the "precession of the equinoxes" the position of the Sun at
  the Equinoxes has been gradually happening at an earlier point in the
  sidereal zodiac each year (taking about 2100 years change signs.)

-s0: Display locations as right ascension instead of degrees.

  For astronomers out there, this -s0 option will print all planetary
  positions in the right ascension hours/minutes format instead of the
  sign/degrees/minutes astrologers are accustomed to. This will affect
  how the objects are listed in the -v display, and how the star
  azimuths are displayed in the -O list. For example, 0 degrees Aries is
  represented as 0 hr, 0 min; 0 Cancer goes to 6 hr, 0 min, and so on
  through the 24 hour clock.

-h [<objnum>]: Compute positions centered on specified object.

  Normal astrology charts are based on the positions of the planets
  relative to the Earth. However, this option allows seeing of the
  zodiac positions with respect to the Sun's (or any other planet's)
  point of view. The -h option when invoked by itself will display a
  heliocentric chart: the Sun in the original listing will be replaced
  with the Earth's position as seen from the Sun in the heliocentric
  chart, with the other planets' positions modified accordingly. For
  bodies other than the Sun, the option takes a parameter to indicate
  which planet to center the chart on, e.g. do -h 5 to cast a Mars
  centered chart. (Moon centered charts aren't allowed; in fact, note
  that the -h option won't ever affect the Moon, which will always be
  displayed as seen from the Earth, no matter what the center body is
  set to, since it's not a formal planet.

-p <month> <day> <year>: Cast 2ndary progressed chart for date.

  A secondary progression chart for a particular date can be cast using
  the '-p <month> <date> <year>' command switch. (Note: I'm not sure if
  the house cusps are progressed correctly, but they're reasonably
  close to what is properly expected.)

-p0 <month> <day> <year>: Cast solar arc chart for date.

  Solar arc progressions are supported in addition to secondaries.
  Invoke the -p <month> <day> <year> switch as -p0 instead, and a chart
  will be generated with all planets and house cusps progressed forward
  an amount equal in degrees to the number of years that have passed
  between the specified date and the chart in question. The -pd option
  here (see below) specifies the number of days that have to pass per
  zodiac degree to progress forward; by default this is 365.25. To
  generate a solar arc chart for the current moment now, invoke the -pn
  switch as -p0n.

-p[0]n: Cast progressed chart based on current date now.

  The -pn switch is like the -p <month> <date> <year> switch except that
  (like the -n switch) it assumes the current moment now to cast the
  progressed chart to. This is just another shorthand convenience to see
  what ones progressed chart is like presently; just do: astrolog -i
  file -pn.

-pd <days>: Set no. of days to progress / day (default 365.25).

  User definable progression rates can be specified with this option.
  When using the -p progression option, Astrolog assumes you want the
  standard "year for a day" rate of progressions. By passing different
  values to the -pd switch, one can change the default "365.25 days for
  a day" to any value they want for some less often used method of
  progression. For example, one can do "-pd 7 -pn" to do a week for a
  day, "-pd -365.25 -pn" to get negative year for day progressions, and
  so on. (Note that "-pd 1 -p..." would be the same as if no
  progression were done at all.)

-x <1-360>: Cast harmonic chart based on specified factor.

  Harmonic charts (i.e. where all the planet positions are multiplied by a
  factor and the chart recast) are supported via the '-x' option. (e.g.
  -x 3 will make all trines conjunct in the chart displayed.)

-1 [<objnum>]: Cast chart with specified object on Ascendant.

  The -1 <obj> option can be used to change the houses to force a
  particular object to be on the ascendant. This is useful in casting
  Solar charts or for when the time of birth is not exactly known. For
  example -1 2 will case a normal chart, but the house cusps will be
  rotated so that the moon is on the ascendant.

-2 [<objnum>]: Cast chart with specified object on Midheaven.

  Just as the -1 option is used to cast a chart with an object on the
  Ascendant, the -2 <object> switch will cast a chart with the
  specified object on the Midheaven. The house cusps will be rotated so
  that the object in question is conjunct the 10th house cusp. As with
  the -1 option, if <object> is not specified, the Sun will be assumed
  by default.

-3: Display objects in their zodiac decan positions.

  Decan displays are supported in Astrolog, and one can display a decan
  influenced chart with the -3 switch. The decan theory is that each
  sign in the zodiac can be divided into three parts: The first 10
  degrees (i.e. the first decan) is mainly influenced by the sign in
  question, the second 10 degrees (second decan) although still
  influenced by the sign in question is also somewhat influenced by the
  next sign of the same element, while the last decan is influenced by
  the third sign of the same element. The -3 switch applied to a chart
  will move each object into the sign of its decan. For example, if the
  Sun is at 29 degrees Aquarius and the Moon at 5 degrees Virgo, in the
  resulting chart, the Sun will go to Libra (26 degrees) and the Moon
  will remain in Virgo (although be at 15 degrees now since it was
  previously in the middle of the first decan of Virgo.)

-f: Display houses as sign positions (flip them).

  The -f option can be used to "flip" the signs and houses, i.e. display
  the house as a sign position and vice versa. For example having the
  Sun at 26 degrees Scorpio, 2/3 way though the 10th house, will cause
  the resulting Sun under the -f option to be at 20 degrees Capricorn,
  26/30th the way through the 8th house. This can be used to determine
  how far a planet is through a particular house, as well as for domal
  chart analysis that Mark Kenski has informed me about. Domal analysis
  is based on the fact that for synastry comparisons, for example, a
  planet in Gemini and one in the 3rd house can be considered related in
  a way similar to a conjunction.

-G: Display houses based on geographic location only.

  This switch generates a special type of locational analysis chart,
  called a geodetic chart, in which the house cusps are computed from a
  different source, i.e. as a function of only the longitude and
  latitude. This basically gives every spot on the planet a different
  unique set of house cusps, and can be used to analyze the
  characteristics of different areas, and their influence on you if you
  insert your own planets in the houses. This type of chart was
  described in the January 1992 issue of Dell Horoscope magazine, from
  which I learned how to generate these charts. Basically, the Midheaven
  is approximately the longitude value converted from degrees into the
  appropriate zodiac sign; for example 0 degrees E goes to 0 degrees
  Aries, 30 degrees E goes to 0 degrees Taurus, etc.

-F <objnum> <sign> <deg>: Force object's position to be value.

  The -F option is used to force a particular object's position to
  always be a particular location in the zodiac. This feature can be
  used as an easy way to manually include things Astrolog normally
  doesn't in various charts. For example, this can be used to force the
  position of some minor thing, like the Vertex, to always be the
  location of whatever you prefer, like the 0 degrees Aries point, or
  an important midpoint. Then you can do an aspect grid, transit
  search, or whatever, and calculate aspects to midpoints or transits
  over midpoints. The -F switch takes three arguments: first is the
  index of the object to replace, next is the sign from 1..12 to force
  it to be, and third is the degree within the sign. For example, if I
  want to see if anything is making an exact aspect today with my Sun
  Moon midpoint at 6Sag28, I could do "astrolog -n -d -F 16 9 6.28",
  which would replace the North Node with my Sun Moon midpoint in the
  aspect search.

-+ [<days>]: Cast chart for specified no. of days in the future.

  The -+ <#ofdays> option will cast a normal chart, but one for #ofdays
  in the future (or past if a negative value is given). One use for
  this is in combination with the -n and -d options. For instance, I
  often invoke the program as "astrolog -n -d" to see the exact times
  of today's aspects. However, just before midnight I might want to
  see what's going to happen in the following day, so I would do
  "astrolog -n -d -+ 1" to see the exact times for tomorrow's aspects.
  The #ofdays parameter is optional, and will default to one if left
  off, so the above command can be done as just "astrolog -n -d -+".

  Note that for such a chart, the chart header will show the correct
  date of the actual new chart, instead of the original one. For
  example, today (9-11), if I do "astrolog -n -+ 2" I will get the
  chart for two days from now, and the chart header will display 9-13.
  This has some special uses. For example, if you want to know what the
  date was/will be when you are 10000 days old, do "astrolog -i
  yourchart -+ 10000" and see what the date in the resulting chart
  header is.

-- [<days>]: Cast chart for specified no. of days in the past.

  This new "dash minus" option is just like the "dash plus" (-+) option
  described above, except it subtracts instead of adds the specified
  number of days from any chart cast. This is only for convenience, in
  that "-- 1" is the same as "-+ -1".

----

Switches for relationship and comparison charts:

-r <file1> <file2>: Compute a relationship synastry chart.

  Computing the relationship between two charts is supported. Invoke the
  program as 'astrolog -r <file_of_person1> <file_of_person2>' and the
  program will give you the relationship between the two charts. In
  other words, the program will use the positions of person2's planets
  and person1's houses. Use this with the -w option to get a wheel chart
  and you can do synastry. Note that transits can be computed with this
  by comparing your chart with the positions of the planets at the
  current moment (as in -n switch). To make this easier, you may specify
  the filename "now" for any file and the computer will use the current
  planet positions instead of looking for a like named file. (e.g.
  'astrolog -r me now' will compute transits for file 'me'.)

-rc <file1> <file2>: Compute a composite chart.

  The '-r' option can be used to generate composite relationship charts.
  Simply invoke it as '-rc <person1> <person2>' instead of just -r and a
  composite chart (i.e. composed of the midpoints of the planets, etc.
  of the two charts in question) will be generated.

-rm <file1> <file2>: Compute a time space midpoint chart.

  Time-space midpoint relationship charts are supported: Doing "-rm
  chart1 chart2" will calculate the time and location exactly half way
  between the times and locations as indicated in the two files. Unlike
  all other types of relationship charts, this one actually exists in
  space and time, and therefore can be treated like a single chart and
  can be output to a file with the -o option.

-rd <file1> <file2>: Print number of days between files' dates.

  One useful non-astrological function in the program is the ability to
  determine how many days have passed between two dates, with the -rd
  switch. As with the -rb option below, this is considered a
  relationship "chart" because it requires the input of two different
  dates, and when -rd is in effect, again the standard -v planet
  position listing will be replaced by a line telling how many days are
  in the interval. For example, "-rd person1 person2", will display how
  many days person1 is older than person2 (or the other day around).
  Want to find out how many days old you will be on Jan. 1, 2000? Do
  "-rd yourchart tty", and type in the first date of the next
  millennium, and see what you get!

-rb <file1> <file2>: Display biorhythm for file1 at time file2.

  Biorhythm charts are supported by Astrolog with the -rb switch.
  Although not directly related to Astrology, the concepts are similar,
  and adding this didn't require much extra code, and since some are
  interested in this, I felt I'd add it in. The biorhythm theory says
  that we have three main types of energy: Physical, Emotional, and
  Intellectual. These three run in continuous wave cycles from high to
  low, each of which repeats about every 30 days or so. Therefore, a
  biorhythm chart for a particular day should describe how much energy
  one has or how they are feeling in this area. Now, Astrolog considers
  biorhythm charts as a type of relationship chart, because in order to
  generate one, two dates or charts are needed: the birth date of the
  person, and the date to cast their chart for. Technically the program
  will replace the standard -v listing of planet positions with the
  biorhythm chart when -rb is in effect. As an example, "-rb file1
  file2" will cast the chart for the birthday signified by chart1 or
  chart2 (whichever is older) for the date in the other file. Remember
  that one can substitute the pseudo filename 'tty' to mean get the
  chart info from the terminal instead.

  The actual biorhythm chart itself will display, for the day in
  question, what the percentages of the physical, emotional, and
  intellectual cycles are, as numbers from -100% (low ebb) to +100%
  (happy and full of energy). In addition, the biorhythm percentages for
  the seven days before (T-7 days) and the seven days after (T+7 days)
  the date in question will be listed, too, so one can see if the
  cycles are rising or falling. Finally, as a cute way to help in
  interpretation, the program prints the appropriate smiley, medium, or
  sad face after each percentage. (BTW, it takes over 58 years for all
  three cycles together to synchronize and repeat themselves.)

-r0 <file1> <file2>: Keep the charts separate in comparison.

  There is a distinction between any of the above types of particular
  relationship charts and the actual comparison between two separate
  charts. The -r0 option is used to generate actual comparison charts.
  For example, combining -r0 with the -g switch will cause a full grid
  chart of the aspects between all the planets of the two charts (with
  person1's planets on the vertical axis and person2's on the
  horizontal) to be displayed. (Unfortunately, if all 20 of the
  default objects are left unrestricted here, the grid will exceed 80
  columns, unless the 80 column clip feature (described later) is
  turned on.) The -r0 option can also be used with the -X switch to
  generate true relationship wheel charts, (described later). The -r0
  option will act like the -r synastry option in certain displays that
  can't compare two charts; for example, '-r0 -v' will act the same as
  just '-r -v'. (Note: the "-t file" current transit option is
  basically a shorthand way of doing "-r0 file now".)

  Comparison relationship charts may also be generated for the -m
  midpoint and -m0 aspect list options. Combining -m with -r0 will
  yield an ordered list of all midpoints between all combinations of
  one planet from chart1 and another planet from chart2. Combining -m0
  with -r0 will yield a list of all aspects between planets in the two
  charts, in order based on what Astrolog think their influences are.
  So, if you really want to know if your Sun widely trining your SO's
  Moon, will override the effect of your Saturn closely squaring their
  Mars, do "astrolog -r0 yourchart sochart -m0" and see the influence
  given to each aspect.

-t <file>: Display current house transits for particular chart.

  The command switch '-t <file>' can be used as a shortcut way to
  compute the current transits for the chart in <file>. (Saves you from
  having to mention the 'now' in the '-r0' option.)

-t[b|d] <file>: Print biorhythm/datediff for current time now.

  The -t option has been extended based on the -rd and -rb features.
  Remember, the -t option is a shorthand for specifying a relationship
  comparison chart where one of the charts is that for the current
  moment now (assuming you have TIME compiled in.) The -tb <file>
  switch will display the person indicated in file's biorhythm for
  today. The -td <file> switch will display how many days old the
  person in the file is today.

----

Switches to access graphics options:

-k: Display text charts using Ansi characters and color.

  With this option, the text charts may be displayed in color, as well
  as with real graphics characters instead of with stuff like dashes
  and pluses. This makes the text charts look almost as neat as their
  color X11 graphic counterparts. All that's needed is a terminal that
  accepts Ansi escape sequences. You will get garbage if you include
  -k on a non-Ansi terminal. Most PC's are in Ansi mode, so if you have
  a PC this should work. Include the -k switch on the command line, and
  the program will display all charts as before, but change the color
  appropriately for every part of any chart printed! Just try a -w
  chart, a -g grid, or a -T list and see the difference of how much
  easier it is to find a planet or aspect among a large chart.

  Color isn't used randomly but is based on logic. Most colors are very
  similar to the ones chosen in the color X charts. In general,
  everything is based on the following rules for elements: Fire is Red,
  Earth is Yellow, Air is Green, and Water is Blue. Zodiac signs and
  positions are printed in the color of their element. Houses are
  printed in the color of their corresponding sign. Planets are printed
  in the color of the sign they rule. As for the other objects, we have
  the following colors: Asteroids are in bright purple (magenta),
  Uranians are in dim purple, and non-physical points like the Node,
  Fortune, and Vertex are in a bluish gray (dark cyan). Stars are
  either orange if they are bright (magnitude < 1.0) or a dark red if
  dimmer. For aspects we have the following: Conjunctions are Yellow,
  Oppositions are Blue, Squares are Red, Trines are Green, Sextiles are
  Light Blue (Cyan). For the minor aspects we have magenta for
  inconjunct/semisextile, orange for semisquare/sesquiquadrature, dark
  cyan for all the quintiles, dark purple for all the septiles, and
  dark red for all the noviles.

-X: Create a graphics chart instead of displaying it as text.

  This is the general switch, which means display a chart in an X window
  instead of on the screen in some form. For example, the command
  'astrolog -i mychart -X' will open a new window and display the chart
  in question in it. (Of course, all the other switches, e.g. -R, -c,
  -1, etc, can be used to change what info is actually displayed.) If
  you use the -L astro-graph switch in addition to this, the appropriate
  Astro*Carto*Graphy map will come up in a window instead of the earlier
  boring list of longitudes. (e.g. astrolog -i me -X -L) The -Z and -g
  switches will produce their own chart types as well, although, of
  course, only one type of chart can be in a window at any given time.

-Xb: Create bitmap file instead of putting graphics on screen.

  This switch will cause a bitmap file to be produced and written to a
  file instead of putting the graphics in an actual window. This is
  useful if you want to convert the graphics to different formats, e.g.
  so they can be displayed on PC's, etc. Note that -Xb (or any other
  -X<letter> switch) automatically assumes the -X switch above, so
  'astrolog -i file -Xb' is sufficient (and you don't also have to
  include the -X).

-Xb[n,c,v,a,b]: Set bitmap file output mode to X11 normal,
compacted, very compact, Ascii (bmtoa), or Windows bmp.

  The bitmap file can be written in five different formats; by default
  whatever format specified at compile time is used. One can change
  this mode by putting an extra character on the command line after the
  -Xb switch. Specifically, to override the compile time mode, use -Xbn
  for a standard X11 bitmap, -Xbc for an X11 bitmap with some white
  space removed, -Xbv for a very compact X11 bitmap (which may not be
  able to be processed correctly by all X programs), -Xba for a one
  character per pixel Ascii dump identical to the result generated from
  the X11 bmtoa program, and finally -Xbb for the Windows .bmp bitmap
  described below.

  One of the available bitmap formats are the .bmp extension bitmap
  files commonly used on PC's running under Microsoft Windows. If you
  have a PC running Windows, you can set your root background to be one
  of these monochrome Astrolog bitmaps by: use the -Xb option to create
  a bitmap file, then rename it to have the extension .bmp and put it
  in your Windows subdirectory, then go into Program Manager -> Control
  Panels -> Desktop and select this file to be your "wallpaper". These
  bitmap files may be generated in either color or black and white.
  By default, all graphic charts will be in color, unless specified
  otherwise. Color is most useful for these PC bitmaps (-Xbb), although
  a color bitmap will take up more disk space. X11 bitmap files will
  always be output in monochrome format, since color .xbm files don't
  exist. A color Ascii file (-Xba) will have the color value of each
  pixel converted to a hexadecimal number, instead of being in the
  format generated by the Unix bmtoa utility in the case of monochrome
  charts.

-Xo <file>: Write output bitmap to specified file.

  This option is used in conjunction with the -Xb option, to specify the
  name of the file to write the bitmap to. If not included along with the
  -Xb option, the program will prompt you for the filename when writing
  the bitmap to disk.

-XB: Display X chart on root instead of in a separate window.

  This switch will cause the chart graphics to be displayed directly on
  the root window. This action occurs very quickly since the program
  does not have to write a separate bitmap file and call xsetroot -bitmap
  on it (although one could easily do this if they want to). For example,
  one could put the line 'astrolog -n -XB' in their .xsession file
  and whenever they log in, their background will be set to a chart of
  the current state of the planets!

-Xm: Create monochrome graphic instead of one in color.

  For systems without color monitors, the -Xm switch will create all
  charts in monochrome B/W mode. One can still generate color bitmap
  files on a monochrome system, just can't properly display them of
  course.

-Xr: Create chart graphic in reversed colors (white background).

  Normally the charts comes up white on a black background. To get the
  chart or bitmap displayed in reverse video (black on white), use this
  -Xr switch.

-Xw <hor> [<ver>]: Change the size of the chart graphic.

  The default graphic size is 600x600 (400x400 for PC's). This can be
  changed with the -Xw switch. -Xw with one argument n will make an n
  by n chart; -Xw with two arguments x and y will make an x by y image
  with the chart centered in the middle. Note that this switch will not
  affect astro-graph or aspect grid windows; to change the size of
  these use -Xs below.

-Xs <100,200,300>: Change the size of map or characters by n%.

  Note that the size of the planet and sign glyphs don't change when you
  change the size of the chart. This can cause problems for very small
  charts where the glyphs overlap the rest of the chart and for very
  large charts where there is lots of excess space. The -Xs switch can
  be used to change the size of all glyphs. The valid values that can be
  passed to it are 100, 200, and 300, where 200 is the default. Note
  that this switch is used to change the size of the astro-graph (and
  aspect grid) graphic charts (because the world map is considered to be
  one giant glyph by the program.)

-Xi: Create chart graphic in slightly modified form.

  Certain people have asked that some of the graphics charts be modified
  in various minor ways, i.e. in either adding or removing certain
  information. Rather than add a new hard to remember minor option for
  each change, I have added one major new switch which covers all the
  charts. The new -Xi switch will invoke this "induce/inhibit
  information" option, and pressing the 'i' key in a window will
  accomplish the same thing by toggling the mode's status. By default,
  all the charts are as before, but when this bonus option is set, it
  affects each graphic chart in a different way, as follows:

 o For the standard -v and relationship -r0 -v wheel charts, it will
   inhibit the display of the aspect grid in the center - useful for
   speed or when doing large time lapse animations when it would get in
   the way.

 o For the -g aspect grid, it will flip the aspects and midpoints across
   the center diagonal, i.e. the midpoints will be below it and the
   aspects above it, instead of the other way around. For the -r0 -g
   relationship aspect grid, the entire grid will be replaced with one
   showing all midpoints between all the objects in the two charts.
   Note: The -g0 switch when combined with -r0 will also generate a
   relationship midpoint (as opposed to aspect with just -g) grid.
   However, this will revert back to the aspect grid if both -Xi and -g0
   are in effect with -r0.) 

 o For the -Z horizon chart and -S space chart, it will, for the major
   planets, increase the size of the "points" showing where each object
   actually is, making a brighter "spot", for easier viewing; combine
   this in the horizon chart with the 'l' key label inhibitor and get a
   very realistic view of the night sky, with planets brighter and all.

 o For the -L astro-graph chart, this will eliminate the display of the
   Ascendant, Descendant, and Nadir lines, leaving just the vertical
   Midheaven lines and zenith points, for a remarkable increase in speed
   and much less clutter when including many objects.

 o For the -XW world map display, this will show the Earth's ley line
   locations by drawing them on top of the map. Familiar with ley lines?
   They are lines of energy crossing the Earth. I was experimenting
   earlier with the master ley line grids on the Earth (in the pattern of
   an overlapped 20 sided Icosahedron and 12 sided Dodecahedron) and I
   figured Astrolog with its world map would be an interesting program to
   explore this with. Actually this is mainly a hack, and belongs more to
   the field of dowsing than to astrology, but I figured I would leave it
   in there for amusement and inspiration.

   Hackers note: there is an interesting "bug/feature" that can arise
   with the -XW as well as the -XG (and -XP, described below) switches:
   These displays can be brought up in a window without having to
   specify an actual chart. Now suppose one presses 'V', 'L', etc. to
   bring up a chart - what will be displayed? The answer will be
   whatever default values were already there, and if you're curious,
   it's set to be the chart for the release of this version of the
   program itself: 6:43am PST (8 hr before GMT) on March 20, 1993 here
   in Seattle, WA 122W20, 47N36 (exact moment of the Vernal Equinox when
   the Sun entered Aries.)

 o For the -XP polar globe view, this will show the southern hemisphere
   instead of the northern.

 o For the -XG globe display, it will display the zenith locations of all
   planets (and stars if -U in effect) on the globe, i.e. where on the
   Earth each object could be viewed by looking straight up. This on the
   globe display is almost identical to the astro-graph chart without its
   various lines, except of course that the projection of the world map
   is different. It's also similar to the -Z horizon display, except that
   it's free from the distortion of projecting the celestial sphere upon
   a plane, so it has use to star gazers. However, animation mode here
   will still only affect what part of the Earth is viewable, and won't
   update the chart from which the zenith locations were obtained.

-XT: Inhibit display of chart info at bottom of graphic.

  Normally, at the bottom of any chart graphic is printed some header
  information listing the date, time, and location of the chart in
  question. One can inhibit this display by specifying the -XT switch.

-X1 <object>: Rotate wheel charts so object is at left edge.

  Yet another graphics feature, this allows one to effectively rotate
  one of the graphic wheel charts so that a particular object is hinged
  to the left hand (east) edge of the chart. Given the -X1 switch with
  the index value of an object, the wheel is drawn but always rotated
  so that the object in question is at the left side of the chart. By
  default we have the ascendant at the left edge, of course. This is
  useful for tracking important planets so one knows where they are,
  but yet doesn't distort the house cusps as the -1 switch does.

-X2 <object>: Rotate wheel charts so object is at top edge.

  This is identical to the -X1 switch above except here we rotate the
  entire graphic wheel so the object in question is always at the top
  of the chart. Note that during a day, the degree difference between
  the Ascendant and Midheaven varies in most house systems, so that
  with the Ascendant hinged at the left edge, the Midheaven will wobble
  back and forth near the top of the wheel. If you prefer, "-X2 18"
  will fix the Midheaven at the top of the screen, and the chart will
  be like before except the Ascendant will be the one to wobble near
  the left edge of the chart.

-Xd <name>, -di[..] <name>: Open X window on specified display.

  For X windows only, the -Xd <display> switch can be used to change
  the display to bring the window up on. Normally, the X window will
  always come up on the current display, but we can do things like
  "astrolog -Xd machine:0.0" and have the window appear there. In
  addition, the program will accept this string through the standard
  "-display" (which can be abbreviated as "-disp" or anything starting
  with "-di") switch common to most X11 applications.

-XW: Simply create an image of the world map.

  Believe it or not, I painstakingly entered the data for the world map
  used by the program by hand using an Atlas during a long week. If you
  just want to see the map of the world by itself without any
  astro-graph lines on it, use the -XW switch.

-XW0: Like -XW but do a non-rectangular Mollewide projection.

  The -XW0 switch is just like the normal -XW switch in that it just
  displays the world map and nothing else, except that this -XW0 map
  generated will be in what's called the Mollewide projection, a good
  looking form often used for maps of the world, as opposed to the
  standard rectangular map projection used in -XW which distorts the
  polar regions of the globe across the top and bottom of the screen.
  (The Mollewide projection pinches the polar regions together,
  generating a elliptical map, which is similar to the -XG globe
  displays, but which shows the whole world instead of just half.)

-XP: Create just the world map, but from a polar projection.

  The -XP option will generate a polar view of the Earth as a globe.
  This is like the -XG globe option except that the view is always from
  the top (or bottom). By default, the view is looking down on the north
  pole with 0 deg W/E toward the bottom of the screen. (Animation mode
  will cause the view to spin about the center of the screen.) To see a
  view of the south pole hemisphere, go into the bonus information mode
  described above ('i' key). Again, like with all the other X window
  display modes, one can enter this display with a keystroke: press 'P'
  in any Astrolog window and it will revert to this display.

-XG [<degrees>]: Display the image of the world as a globe.

  Once we have the data for the map of the world, there are
  several neat things we can do with it; for instance, with a little
  trigonometry and clipping, we can bring up a view of a globe, which
  is what the -XG switch does. An optional argument will specify a
  rotation value in degrees to display different parts of the globe.
  (The globe seems to look best for a -Xw window size of around 350.)

  Note that the -XW and -XW0 maps can be animated like as this -XG
  globe display can. Animation of these maps are done by shifting the
  whole map to one side or the other. In fact, such a feature can be
  used indirectly to shift one of the X window astro-graph charts
  (which are drawn on the world map) from the normal case of having the
  date line on the edges of the screen: Go into the world map or globe
  display, animate it a bit, and then change graphic modes to display
  the astro-graph chart, and it will be shifted by the corresponding
  amount. (Note that animating the astro-graph screen itself will
  change the chart info, not how the screen itself is done.) Because
  the -XW world map, and -XP polar globe display, can be animated just
  as the -XG general globe display can, the -XW and -XP switches accept
  optional parameters on the command line that will specify what degree
  (from 0 to 359) to start the map at, just like the -XG switch does.
  In addition, the -XG option itself accepts a second optional
  parameter, which is the starting angle for the globe's tilt, from -90
  to +90 degrees.

-Xn: Start up chart or globe display in animation mode.

  The -Xn [<value>] option can be used to start up an X window in
  animation mode. It a window, one would have to explicitly press 'N' or
  a shift+number key to start the window animation. Without a parameter
  after -Xn, the option will start it up in continuous update to "now"
  mode (which is like pressing 'N' in that any chart will be erased with
  the current chart now.) The switch can accept parameters from 1..9,
  corresponding to the animation rates obtained by pressing shift 1..9
  in the window, i.e. update whatever chart is passed to it seconds,
  minutes, hours, days, months, years, etc. later each time.

----

Astrolog window keypress options (version 3.00):

Press 'H' or '?' to display this list of key options.

  The most important key, of course. Pressing this will display a help
  list of all the key presses available in the text screen from which
  the window was invoked from.

Press 'p' to toggle pause status on or off.

  Press this to pause all updates to the window. This is mainly used to
  freeze any animation (see below) but also has an effect even on
  'still' windows. Key presses will still be accepted in pause mode but
  their effects won't be apparent until one presses 'p' again to
  continue. This can be used to temporarily freeze a chart in animation
  so that it can be looked at without interruption.

Press 'x' to toggle fg/bg colors on screen.

  Pressing this will invert the colors on the screen, or in other
  words will do the same thing as the -Xr switch on the command line.

Press 'm' to toggle color/monochrome display on screen.

  For color displays, pressing this key will toggle in and out of
  monochrome mode.

Press 'T' to toggle header info on current chart on screen.

  Pressing the 'T' key will toggle whether or not the chart parameters
  are printed at the bottom of the window. This corresponds to the -XT
  switch mentioned earlier.

Press 'i' to toggle status of the minor chart modification.

  Pressing this key will toggle whether or not an alternate form of the
  present chart should be displayed. See the -Xi switch described
  earlier for more information on these alternate chart formats.

Press 'l' to toggle labeling of object points in chart.

  Press the 'l' key in a window to inhibit the labeling of all planets
  in the various charts. Instead of drawing the little point and then
  the glyph near it, just the point is displayed. This mode is mainly
  useful for the -Z horizon and -S space charts (and has little use for
  anything else) when in cramped quarters or to get a more realistic
  view of how the sky actually looks.

Press 'v' to display current chart positions on text screen.

  Press this key to dump back to the text screen the list of where all
  the planets currently being displayed in the window are. This display
  is the same as produced with the -v switch, and is useful if one wants
  text to show where everything in the chart is.

Press 'R' to toggle restriction status of minor objects.

  Press the 'R' (restrict) key in an Astrolog X window and the screen
  will be redrawn with the restriction status of these asteroids and
  other minors toggled.

Press 'C' to toggle restriction status of minor house cusps.
Press 'u' to toggle restriction status of uranian planets.
Press 'U' to toggle restriction status of fixed stars.

  Pressing the 'C', 'u', and 'U' keys in the window will toggle the
  restriction status of the four minor house cusps, the uranian planets,
  and the fixed stars, respectively. These keys compliment the 'R' key
  option already in place, and are the counterparts to the -C, -u, -U,
  and -RC, -Ru, -RU options.

Press 's', 'h', 'f', 'F' to toggle status of sidereal zodiac,
heliocentric charts, domal charts, and decan charts.

  Press the 's' key in the window to toggle whether or not the sidereal
  vs. tropical zodiac is used. Press the 'h' key to toggle to a
  heliocentric based chart or back again to a geocentric one. Press the
  'f' key to toggle the status of whether or not the chart should be
  modified to correspond to the appropriate domal chart (where the house
  positions are represented as zodiac positions and vice versa). Press
  the 'F' key to toggle the status of whether or not the chart should be
  modified to correspond to a decan chart (where each sign is divided in
  thirds representing the two other signs in its element). These keys of
  course correspond the -s, -h, -f, and -3 options, respectively.

Press 'O' and 'o' to recall/store a previous chart from memory.

  Have you ever animated your natal or some other chart to some far
  distant future or past time, only then to wish you could somehow
  easily get back in time to the original chart? You can, by pressing
  the 'O' key in a window, which will recall to the screen previously
  "saved" chart parameters (which are by default set to whatever you
  started the window with.) Press the 'o' key to change this default
  stored chart to be the chart that is presently in the window.

Press 'B' to dump current window contents to root background.

  Press the 'B' key in an X window to dump whatever is currently being
  displayed to the background root window. This is basically the
  corresponding keypress to the -XB option.

Press 'Q' to resize chart display to a square.

  One can manually resize the Astrolog windows using a window manager
  (except when a world map or aspect grid is displayed, in which case
  any resizing will have no effect). Pressing the 'Q' key will
  automatically resize any (non-world map) window to be a square. This
  is useful, after resizing charts to approximately the size you want,
  to make them precise squares.

Press '<' and '>' to decrease/increase the scale size of the
glyphs and the size of world map.

  This two keys will respectively decrease and increase the size of the
  sign and planet glyphs (as well as resize the astro-graph and aspect
  grid charts) through the three scale factors available. After resizing
  the window, you will probably want to use these keys if the glyphs are
  then too big or small for the new chart.

Press '[' and ']' to decrease/increase tilt in globe display.

  '[', ']' keys: Not only can the globe display be rotated, but the
  poles can be now tilted down at various angles! (This basically makes
  the -XP polar globe view option obsolete; it's still in there only for
  backwards compatibility.) Press the '[' and ']' keys when the globe is
  being displayed to respectively "pull down" and "push back up" the
  angle of the polar axis from which the globe is viewed.  Combining
  this with the globe rotation allows one to move any point of the globe
  to the center of the screen.

Press 'N' to toggle animation status on or off. Charts will
be updated to current status and globe will rotate.

  Animation! This key will toggle in and out of a mode where the chart
  is continually updated in the window. Entering the animation mode
  will cause the chart being currently displayed to be replaced by the
  chart for the exact moment at the time you are running the program.
  Every second or two, the chart will be updated to reflect the new
  current state of the planets and houses. For large window sizes, one
  can actually see very minor changes in the chart every few seconds.
  With the text 'T' mode in effect, the chart is basically an advanced
  version of xclock, and makes a good window to be left running on
  your display. If you are in the -XG globe display mode, pressing
  the 'N' key will cause the globe to rotate for an impressive display!

Press '!'-'(' to begin updating current chart by adding times.
!: seconds, @: minutes, #: hours, $: days, : months,
^: years, &: years*10, *: years*100, (: years*1000.

  These nine keys (i.e. shift plus the number keys from 1..9) enter
  into a different form of chart animation. Pressing them will cause the
  current chart being displayed (i.e. it will not revert to the current
  planet positions) to continually have a delta time added to it and be
  recast and shown. Pressing '!' will have one second added to the chart
  for every update (slow action unless you have a very fast system - the
  animation will be even slower than for the 'N' key). Pressing '@' will
  have one minute added to the chart each time, which makes for a nice
  display (note that you will definitely want to be in the text 'T' mode
  for these animations so you can see what times in the future these
  charts are being cast for. Pressing '#" will have one hour added each
  time (note that now the house cusps are starting to move quickly, so
  you may want to switch to a different system of houses (such as the
  Equal to keep the Midheaven from flopping back and forth) and/or use
  -1 to put an object like the sun on the Ascendant.) Pressing '$' will
  have one day added each time (now you will probably want to start
  using -R to remove fast moving objects like the moon), and pressing
  '%' will have one month added for each update of the window. The
  final keys, shift 6..9 cause years, decades, centuries, and millennia
  to be added each time, and tend to only be used to look for long range
  actions (when will Neptune next enter Pisces, etc.) To exit these
  animation modes, press the 'N' key.

Press 'r' to reverse direction of time-lapse or animation.

  Press this to reverse the direction of any animation taking
  place. For the '!'..'(' animation keys above, this will cause
  negative times to be added to the chart, e.g. pressing '#'
  then 'r' on a chart cast for noon will cause the next chart to
  be displayed for 11am, then 10am, etc. For the Globe animation,
  this will cause the rotation to reverse direction.

Press '1'-'9' to set rate of animation to 'n' degrees, etc.

  The nine number keys are used to set the relative "rate" of
  animation to "n" whatevers. For example, normally the "@" key means
  add one minute to the chart for each update, but press "5" and now
  we are adding 5 minutes each time. For the Globe animation,
  by default the Earth rotates one degree each time; however, the
  number keys can speed this up to nine degrees for each update.

Press '1'-'9' to determine section of chart to show if clipped.

  For PC systems only, see the section on PC graphics for this
  additional feature accessed through the number keys.

Press 'V','L','A','Z','S','W','G','P' to switch to normal (-v),
astro-graph (-L), grid (-g), local (-Z), space (-S),
world (-XW), globe (-XG), and polar (-XP) modes.

  There are basically eight main modes in which a window can be in:
  There are the five main charts (wheel, astro-graph, aspect grids,
  local sky, and space view) as well as the three world displays (the
  simple map by itself, the globe view, and the polar projection). These
  eight keys can be used to switch between these eight modes in the
  middle of program execution. For example, you can bring up your own
  chart in a window, then press 'L' to see the astro-graph chart for the
  same birth data. Then you can press 'W' to just see the world map by
  itself, and 'G' to see the globe view, after which you can press 'V'
  to return to your original wheel chart.

Press '0' to toggle between -Z & -Z0, and -XW & -XW0 modes.

  When graphics are up on the screen, pressing this key acts similar to
  the mode changing keys above that switch between the different
  graphic chart types. When pressed, the state of the program being
  invoked with -Z vs. -Z0, as well as the state of -XW vs. -XW0, will
  be reversed. In other words, if I am viewing the -Z -X horizon chart,
  and I want to see the -Z0 -X sky graphic, then I press '0' to go to
  it. Similarly, this key will flip me back and forth between the -XW
  simple rectangular world map display and the -XW0 Mollewide
  projection graphic. A bit of a hack, but very useful, and the only
  way to change these suboptions while the program is running.

Press 'tab' to toggle between graphics resolutions.

  This feature is only available on PC systems. See PC graphics section
  for its description.

Press 'q' to terminate the window and program.

  Pressing this key will exit graphics mode or terminate the window
  (and leave the Astrolog program itself.)

----

Left   mouse button: Draw lines on chart in window.
Middle mouse button: Print coordinates of pointer on world map.
Right  mouse button: Terminate the window and program.

  Mouse buttons: Pressing the mouse buttons in the X windows will do
  various functions. The left mouse button acts as a pen that allows one
  to actually draw on the chart: press it and drag the pointer to draw a
  line on the window - good for aiding in analysis or in presentations.
  (Any scribbles one makes will disappear the next time the chart window
  is updated, therefore drawing will have little effect when in
  animation mode.) The middle mouse button will only work when the world
  map is shown, i.e. in the -L astro-graph or -XW world map displays:
  press it and get the approximate longitude and latitude of the place
  on the map where the pointer is. For the three scale sizes of 100,
  200, and 300 percent, the accuracy is to the nearest degree, 30', and
  20', respectively. So, if you want to cast a chart for southern
  Madagascar, Africa, but don't know the coordinates, click the middle
  button on the map for a good approximation! Finally, the right button
  acts just like the 'q' key, and will terminate the window.


*******************************
DATA ENTRY AND THE MAIN DISPLAY
*******************************

     The main part of the program is executed simply by entering
"astrolog" (assuming that's the name of the executable), and the
program will ask you for all the birth info and will give the
planet/house positions. (e.g. for here in Seattle right now for the
seven prompts I would enter [for June 11th, 1992 AD at 10:22pm, with
daylight time in effect - if daylight time were *not* in effect, I
would have entered 22.22 for the fourth value instead]: 6; 11; 1992;
21.22; 122.20; 47.36) The program then calculates and displays the
positions of all planets, Chiron, the four main asteroids, as well as
stuff like the Part of Fortune and the Vertex. (The Uranian bodies
and fixed stars can also be listed if one includes the appropriate
command switches described earlier.)

     This user interface where one manually inputs the chart
information is "smart" in a few ways. First, the true names of months
or their abbreviations may be entered (case doesn't matter) instead
of the corresponding number if you prefer. At most, the first three
letters of the month are needed; some months (like February which is
the only month starting with "F") may be abbreviated all the way up
to their first letter. The second enhancement is that the time value
may be entered with a "pm" or "am" (or just "p" and "a") suffix in
addition to the standard 24 hour clock. For example, instead of
entering "18.30" for "6:30pm", you can enter "6.30pm" or even "6.3p"
and the program will process it the same. Similarly, "12.30am" can be
used instead of "0.30", and so on. The final enhancement is that
colons may be used instead of decimal points for the time and
location values. For example "6.30" may be entered as "6:30" instead,
and longitude values like "122.20" may be entered "122:20", which is
more intuitive than those decimal points.

--

     When the standard list of planetary positions is displayed, some
additional information in addition to these locations are shown: (1)
Whether or not each planet is in its ruling sign, or fall, as well as
displaying the same information for ruling or debilitating houses.
(2) The sum of the signs in each element and mode and their totals is
displayed in a grid form. Also, planets in their exalted and
debilitated signs are noted. In addition to the (R) indicating a
planet in it's ruling sign, and an (F) for a planet in it's fall, we
have (e) if a planet is in its exalting sign, and a (d) for a planet
in its debilitating sign (which is always opposite the exaltation, as
how the fall is opposite the ruler).

     Also in this main display, the total number of planets in each
of the hemispheres of the wheel, as well the number of objects in
positive/masculine and negative/feminine quality signs, are counted.
To the right of the element table, we have a column of seven numbers
labeled as follows: "+" is the number of "positive" objects (i.e. in
Fire or Air signs); "-" is the number of "negative" objects (i.e. in
Water or Earth signs); "M" is the number of objects above the horizon
(i.e. in the hemisphere of the Midheaven); "N" is the number of
objects below the horizon (in the hemisphere of the Nadir); "A" is
the number of objects in the Eastern half of the sky (in the
hemisphere of the Ascendant); and "D" is the number of objects in the
Western half of the sky (in the hemisphere of the Descendant).
Finally we have a field indicating the division of objects into the
first six and second six signs of the zodiac. The number of objects
in the first six signs of the zodiac will be printed, labeled by the
character "<". (The number in the second half isn't printed; just
subtract from the total if you want to know.) According to a book on
the Kaballah, the emphasis of the first six signs on the zodiac is on
"what's to learn", and the emphasis on the second six signs is on
"what's to share". Use or interpret this as you wish.

     I have taken the liberty to define ruling and exalting signs for
the asteroids (and the rest of the first twenty objects that don't
already have them.) This won't affect much other than whether a 'R',
'F', 'e', or 'd' is displayed in the -v charts, but it will slightly
affect the powers given to these objects in the -j influence chart
since they now can be in their ruling sign. The -O object list will
display the list of ruling and exalting signs (and the fall and
debilitating signs which are just opposite the above) for all these
objects in addition to the planets; however, I have listed them below:

     Chiron, the compassionate, experienced healer, is most similar
in function to Pisces, hence Chiron rules here. Chiron expresses well
in caring, feeling, Cancer, hence Chiron exalts here. Ceres, goddess
of agriculture and representing the mothering, reproductive instinct,
is similar in function to Taurus, hence Ceres rules here. Ceres
expresses well in the nurturing, caring, sign of Cancer, hence Ceres
exalts here. Pallas Athena, mentally acute and unemotional, is most
similar in function to Virgo, hence Pallas rules here. Pallas
expresses well in practical, disciplined, introverted Capricorn,
hence Pallas exalts here. Juno, ability to sacrifice self-interests
to maintain a relationship, is most similar in function to
relationship oriented Libra, hence Juno rules here. Juno expresses
well in sociable, crowd pleasing Leo, hence Juno exalts here. Vesta,
with its orientation to directing hidden creative or sexual energy
without fear, is most similar in function to Scorpio, hence Vesta
rules here. Vesta expresses well in individualistic, quirky Aquarius,
hence Vesta exalts here. The North Node, with its emphasis on being
able to break from the past routine and pursue the unfamiliar and
personal growth, is most similar in function to society questioning
independent Aquarius, hence it rules here. The Node expresses well in
growth and sacrifice oriented Virgo, hence the Node exalts here. The
Part of Fortune is calculated based on the positions of the Sun,
Moon, and Ascendant; if these three objects are in their ruling
signs, then the Fortune will fall in Pisces, hence the Fortune should
rule here. Similarly, if the Sun, Moon, and Ascendant are all in
their exalting signs, then the Fortune will fall in Aquarius, hence
the Fortune should exalt here. The Midheaven, being the 10th house
cusp, corresponds to Capricorn, ruled by Saturn. Hence the
Midheaven's ruling and exalting signs are the same as Saturn's:
Capricorn and Libra. The Ascendant corresponds similarly to Mars,
hence its ruling and exalting signs are the same: Aries and
Capricorn. The Vertex, being always near the Descendant, corresponds
to Libra, and hence has the same rulership and exaltation as Venus:
Libra and Pisces.

     The standard chart listing of the planetary positions will also
include an additional field for the "velocity" of each planet. This
velocity value approximates how fast the planet is moving through the
zodiac with respect to the Earth (or whatever the central body is set
to) in degrees per day. This value of course, goes negative when a
planet goes retrograde. This is useful not only to get a feel for how
fast each planet moves through the zodiac, but to determine when a
planet is about to go retrograde or direct - the value approaches
zero when the planet changes direction.


**************************************
DATA DEFAULTS AND COMPILE TIME OPTIONS
**************************************

     Astrolog includes the ability to search an input file for
various default parameters to use in the program. This allows one to
easily change major defaults without having to recompile the program,
which is useful if, say, one receives a compiled executable from a
friend who had a different configuration. The program looks for the
file "astrolog.dat" in the current directory, and if not there, looks
for it in the default directory. Parameters in this file will
override any defaults compiled into the program, although the highest
priority is still given to the command line options. Note one doesn't
*have* to have this file in order to run the program - if not found
Astrolog will still run as before using the compile time defaults.

     Presently, the parameters one can change in this file are:
default time zone (as indicated with -z option), default longitude
and latitude (as in -l option), number of aspects (-A option), and
default house system to use (values as in -c option). Next is whether
the -k Ansi graphics should always be in effect. If the value here is
non-zero, then it is assumed -k is always in affect, and one needs
then to use the -k switch to return to normal. This is recommended
for PC users who display charts on the screen more often than they
print one out. After this is the default number of rows per house to
pass to the -w wheel chart option. Next, the value of the minor
compile time variable DIVISIONS may be changed in the file. This
value tells how many "segments" we should divide each day, etc, when
doing aspect or transit searches (-d or -T). More segments is slower
but can be more accurate by a minute or two. I suggest a value of 24
here for Unix systems and 8 for PC's, but now it is easy to
experiment to see what would be best for you.

     Then in the astrolog.dat file come default restriction values
(as with the -R option) for the first 20 objects (0 = active, 1 =
restricted). Some people just don't like or care about the various
minor bodies such as the asteroids, Chiron, Part of Fortune, etc.,
and think that they clutter up the various charts. This is a good way
to keep them from showing up by default (one can still use the -R
option to get back any objects eliminated here.) This is immediately
followed by a similar restriction list for planets when transiting in
the -T charts. Next come the default orbs (as with the -Ao option)
for the 18 aspects. Then comes a list of the maximum orbs of any
aspect allowed to the first 20 objects (as with the -Am option), and
after this is a list of the amount to widen aspect orbs to the first
20 objects (as with the -Ad option.) Then, for the -j influence
interpretation chart, four values indicating the power given to
planets in ruling sign, planets exalted in sign, planets in ruling
house, and planets exalted in house, may be specified. Finally in the
file, comes a long list of the main influence values used by the -j
option, i.e. the power values of each of the first 20 planet objects,
of the 12 houses, and of the 18 aspects.

"Smart cusps" feature: This is a yet another setting, a simple yes/no
option that will only affect the way -T transit lists are displayed.
It can only be set in this astrolog.dat file. If the value there is
non-zero, then transits to minor house cusps will be processed in a
more intuitive manner. First of all, aspects other than conjunctions
or oppositions to minor cusps will be ignored, e.g. a trine to the
11th house is redundant and isn't really useful; we are more
interested in the conjunction to the 3rd house cusp. Minor aspects
to the Ascendant and Midheaven, and all other objects, are left
alone. In addition, with smart cusps active, oppositions to minor
house cusps will be printed as conjunctions to the opposing cusp,
e.g. instead of "Jupiter Opp 3rd Cusp", we have the more logical
"Jupiter Con 9th Cusp". This is just another way to make transits
charts clearer and less confusing.

"80 column clip" feature: This is another yes/no option that can only
be set in astrolog.dat. If set to non-zero, then we guarantee that no
text chart when displayed will overflow 80 columns. By default, with
all objects unrestricted, certain charts will have rows more than 80
columns long, breaking up the chart making it very difficult to read.
The -r0 -g relationship aspect grid, and the -E ephemeris listing,
will normally go beyond the 80th column. With this feature however,
these and other charts that can go beyond column 80, such as -L when
uranians are unrestricted, will always be displayed on one line, with
columns that would go beyond the 80th not getting printed.

     About the only major thing that one *can't* change in the file
is the default directory path in which the program looks in for input
files if not in the current directory, since Astrolog needs the
default directory in order to be able to locate the file in the first
place! The standard "astrolog.dat" file included with the release of
the program has some "comment lines" describing what is contained in
each line. One can chance or delete comments as long as they make
sure that an equals sign ('=') immediately proceeds any value or list
of values, since the program uses this character to determine where
comments end.

     Astrolog.dat files for versions 2.40 and before won't work with
version 3.00, because there are additional definable parameters and
tables inserted in this file for 3.00. Attempting to read in such an
old file into version 3.00 will result in an error message saying one
should upgrade the old file or delete it.

--

     I often use Astrolog to look at and compare files containing
charts of various people. I have many chart files, so I keep them in
a separate directory. Since it is always a pain to have to cd into
this special directory all the time, there is a DEFAULT_DIR string to
be set at compile time. Whenever the program reads in a chart file
with the -i option, it will first look in the current directory for
it. If it's not found there, Astrolog will then look for a file of
the same name in the special default directory.

     A couple of Astrolog users have said to me that their computer
(for example, Mac's) won't accept command switches on the command
line (like they boot Astrolog from a menu for instance.) Therefore,
they aren't able to access many features in the normal way. If this
is the case with your system (or if you just don't like command line
options), then comment out the '#define SWITCHES' line at the
beginning of the astrolog.h file. If you do this, then the program
will ignore any switches and prompt you to enter them manually at the
very beginning of program execution.

     A couple of other compile time option variables are in the
include file astrolog.h: For those people who don't like Placidus, a
default house system can be set by changing the value of
DEFAULT_SYSTEM to the value from 0..9 indicating what system to use
if the user doesn't explicitly specify it with -c. Another thing: It
should be mentioned that although the accuracy of Sun..Pluto, Chiron,
and the Uranians are to the nearest minute (for years 1900-2000), the
four asteroids are relatively inaccurate and can even be a couple of
degrees off in the worst case.

     There is a special compile time variable dealing with graphics
(in addition to the "X11" one) called "GRAPH". One comments out the
#define GRAPH line if they don't want graphics, and not just if they
don't have X windows. In other words, one can generate most of
Astrolog's graphics charts even if they don't have X windows. Now,
when GRAPH is defined but X11 isn't, the program will generate the
charts, but just never try to bring up a window; it will simply
always assume that you are writing a bitmap file. The bitmap file
will contain a (unfortunately always black and white) image of what
would normally be in the window, just as the -Xb switch does. One can
then use various graphics utilities to convert the image into
something they can display on their system if they can't do so using
any of the available bitmap modes. (Any system that can compile
Astrolog should be able to compile in the non X window graphics
features as well.)

     A bitmap output mode other than the Windows .bmp bitmaps and
standard ones that can be read with the Unix X11 xsetroot command is
allowed in the graphics routines. If one changes the BITMAPMODE
compile time option in astrolog.h to the character 'A' when
compiling, or invokes the -Xb switch as -Xba, then all bitmaps output
will be in a straight Ascii form, with one character corresponding to
each pixel. This format is identical to the result produced by the
Unix command bmtoa, and it can be converted back into a bitmap with
the Unix command atobm. Although not as efficient spacewise, this is
a simpler format, and is recommended for those without X windows who
are still using Astrolog's graphics, if they want to write their own
conversion program.


********************************
DESCRIPTION OF X WINDOW FEATURES
********************************

     One of the most impressive features of the program are the X
windows features, which are generally accessed in the program via the
-X switch and derivatives of it on the command line. There are five
different types of chart displays: A standard graphic display of a
wheel chart in a window (with glyphs, aspects in the center, etc),
graphic displays of the Astro-graph charts (which look almost
identical to the Astro*Carto*Graphy maps from Jim Lewis) complete
with all the labeled lines drawn on a map of the world (like the -L
option), aspect/midpoint grids showing the aspects and orbs in effect
between every body in a chart (like -g option), a local sky chart
showing where each planet is located on a map of the local horizon
area (as in -Z), and a space chart showing an aerial view of the
solar system (as in -S). The X wheel and aspect grid charts can
displayed in a different form to accommodate relationship comparison
charts. There are also other commands that can be given to the
window once it is up and running, which can do other things, such as
continually update the window every few seconds to the current status
(i.e. an extended version of the -n option) as well as other forms of
animation. Note that the program is still text based, and one can
easily turn off all the X features by commenting out the #define X11
in astrolog.h if they don't have X windows.

     Probably the only thing more impressive than the X window
features are the X window features displayed on color monitors. (The
charts displayed in color are *much* more eye catching than the B/W
ones, IMHO.) Here is how the colors have been assigned for the
various charts: Four colors have been allocated for the four elements
- Fire = Red, Earth = Brown, Air = Green, Water = Blue. The various
sign glyphs (and the corresponding house labels) are in the color of
their element. Planets are in the color of the sign of their main
ruler. Chiron and the four asteroids are Gold, while the north node,
and other non-physical objects like the fortune and vertex are
Violet. Representations of the Ascendant/ Descendant/ Midheaven/
Nadir (in the astro-graph map lines and elsewhere) are in the element
color of the corresponding sign/house that the angular lines refer
to, i.e. Ascendant = Red, Midheaven = Brown, Descendant = Green,
Nadir = Blue. A few extra things have been added for color wheel
charts only: dark gray lines marking off each house (in addition to
the main lines on the horizon and meridian), and each degree instead
of every 5th degree being marked in dark gray on the outer circle
(every 5th degree being white). Aspects lines are colored too, as
follows: Conjunctions = Yellow, Sextiles = Light Blue, Squares = Red,
Trines = Green, Oppositions = Dark Blue. For the minor aspects we
have: Inconjuncts/Semisextiles = Brown, Semisquares/
Sesquiquadratures = Orange, (Bi/Semi)Quintiles = Violet,
(Bi/Tri)Septiles = Gold, (Bi/Quatro)Noviles = Pink.

     For color X terminals, the -XG globe display and -XW world map
display are done with the continents in different colors! This makes
them look much better than monochrome maps. Each of the seven
continents is in a different color of the rainbow, and the colors are
chosen to correspond to the appropriate chakra (etheric energy vortex
along the human spine) that goes with each land mass. They are:
Africa - red - Root chakra, Australia - orange - Navel chakra, South
America - yellow - Solar plexus chakra, North America - green - Heart
chakra, Europe - blue - Throat chakra, Asia - indigo - Third Eye
chakra, Antarctica - violet - Crown chakra. Major lakes are, of
course, colored navy blue.

--

-v -X: The X wheel charts have their graphic information organized as
follows: There's an outer circle showing the signs and sign glyphs,
inside of which is a smaller circle divided up into 5 degree
increments to make determining exact degrees easier. Inside of this
is a circle divided up into the 12 houses labeled with numbers. The
entire chart is divided by two dashed lines through the Ascendant/
Descendant (which is always horizontal of course) and the
Midheaven/Nadir. Inside the house circle are the planet glyphs in
their appropriate positions. Small pointer lines run from each glyph
to just before single dots. These dots indicate the precise locations
in the zodiac of each object. The pointer lines (which are dashed if
the object is retrograde and solid otherwise) are necessary so as not
to have to draw planet glyphs on top of one another when planets are
conjunct. Inside the ring of the single dots, are the aspect lines
connecting these positions. Since the default number of aspects to
use is just the 5 majors, one can determine which aspect is in place
just by looking at the aspect line. The accuracy of the aspect is
determined by the dashedness of the line: A solid line means the orb
is < 2 degrees; a dashed line means the orb is < 4 degrees; a really
dashed line mean the orb is < 6 degrees, etc.

-L -X: The X astro-graph charts are organized as follows: A map of
the world is shown. The edges of the map are labeled with ruler lines
that are 5 degrees apart (with longer ruler lines for more important
longitudes and latitudes, like those that are multiples of 10, 30,
etc.) The equator is labeled with a dashed line. The polar regions of
the world aren't shown; the map shown ranges from 60 degrees S
latitude to 75 degrees N latitude. Note that each pixel on the screen
represents exactly one half a degree on the world. (For -Xs 100 the
ratio is one pixel to one degree, and for -Xs 300 the ratio is one
pixel to 1/3 degree.) On this map are drawn the lines indicating
where on the world the various planets are angular at the time in
question. (Note: you might want to -R restrict some objects because
otherwise the map tends to get pretty cluttered with lines.) As
expected, Midheaven and Nadir lines are vertical, and the Ascendant
and Descendant lines are curved. Little square boxes on the Midheaven
lines indicate the exact zenith latitude location. Each line is
labeled at the top or the bottom of the screen, showing what planet
is in question and (sometimes) what angle is in question. All
Ascendant and Midheaven lines are labeled at the bottom of the
screen, and all Descendant and Nadir lines are labeled at the top.
Each line goes a bit beyond to the top or bottom of the world map,
and then another pointer segment (which is again dashed of the object
in question is retrograde) goes and points to the planet glyph. There
is a capital "A" or "M" under each of the glyphs at the bottom of the
screen, explicitly indicating whether the line is an Ascendant or
Midheaven line. At the top of the screen, however, there are only the
glyphs, but one can still determine whether these lines are
Descendant or Nadir lines based on whether they are curved or not.
Note that not all the Descendant lines are labeled; this is because
some of the Ascendant/Descendant lines actually connect near the top
of the screen and don't actually cross it. This graphic astro-graph
chart will display a small purple dot at the precise point on the
world map for which the chart in question is being generated. This is
useful to help see how close the various planetary lines are to you,
if you live in the middle of the continent or someplace not easily
determinable on the compact map of the world.

-g -X: Aspect grid windows with the appropriate aspect glyphs can be
displayed by combining the -g option with the -X option (astrolog -g
-X). Both the split aspect/midpoint grids labeled down the diagonal,
as well as the relationship aspect grids between two charts (astrolog
-r <file1> <file2> -g -X) are supported. The aspects glyphs, objects,
and the signs in the grids are in their colors as defined earlier.
Like the astro-graph windows, these charts can't be resized in the
normal way unless one uses the '>' and '<' keys. For anything less
than the largest scale size (achieved with the switch -Xs 300, or by
pressing '>' within a window) all that will be displayed in each
aspect grid cell is the glyphs of the aspect in effect, the planet
being aspected, or the sign of the midpoint. However, once the
largest scale size is reached, there is room in each cell to display
the aspect orb to the nearest minute off of exact (with a plus or
minus sign indicating whether the actual angle is slightly greater
than or less than exact); the degree and minute in addition to the
sign for midpoints; and the degree and sign location for each planet
that's in the grid. Remember, the ASCII aspect grids in the text
options are rather limited, only displaying orbs to the nearest 0.1
degree, midpoints to the nearest degree, as well as the confusing '.'
vs. ',' for angles slightly greater or less than exact (not to
mention leaving the vertex out for the relationship grids between two
charts). Well no longer: with X11, we can see *real* aspect grids
with Astrolog!

-Z -X: The -Z local horizon feature can be displayed in an X window
as well (e.g. astrolog -Z -X), in which all the planets will be
displayed in a window depicting the sky. The small dot above or below
each glyph indicates exactly where each planet is. (Some of the
glyphs may be overlapping, although the program tries to cut down on
this.) There is a horizontal line dividing the window representing
the local horizon; planets above this line are visible, while planets
below it are set. There are three vertical lines dividing the window
as well: The middle line represents the due south direction, the one
to the left is due east, the one to the right is due west, and the
edges of the window are due north. Like the standard chart display,
this window may be resized to any proportion. One can press the 'Z'
key in any window to enter this display type in that window at any
time.

-Z0 -X: An additional graphics chart is available through the -Z0
switch: local horizon charts suitable for stargazing. As we know, the
normal -Z switch generates a listing of the planets with respect to
the local horizon, and the -Z combined with the -X switch generates a
graphic image of the planets and stars on the local horizon. This
chart assumes one is facing due south, and is divided left to right
by the horizon line, with straight up being toward the top of the
screen and straight down toward the bottom. This is a good chart,
especially for noticing the rising and setting of planets and other
objects, but the fact that the meridian is split up causes distortion
when trying to view objects high up in the sky. Therefore, if one
combines this -Z0 switch with the -X switch, a new differently
oriented local horizon chart will be displayed. Here, the zenith
point straight up is in the center of the screen, and the horizon
line is a surrounding circle. Due north is along the line from the
center to the top of the screen, due south is on the line from the
center to the bottom, east is to the left, and west is to the right.
In other words, this is just like what one would see if they were
lying on their back looking straight up with their feet to the south,
so this should be better for stargazing. Outside the circle marks
what's below the horizon, and the extreme corners of the screen mark
the nadir - what's straight down. As with the normal -Z graphic
chart, this one has the various axes marked at five degree
increments.

-S -X: The -S switch can be combined with -X to give an X window
chart of the solar system. This will be displayed as an aerial view
of the entire solar system, with 0 degrees Aries to the left of the
screen, and 0 degrees Cancer to the bottom. Note that this chart
includes all possible planets, including the Earth (whose glyph is a
cross inside a circle). Whatever object is chosen to be the central
body is at the center of the screen, with all the others around it.
This is a fun chart to animate - watch the planets go around the Sun,
and *see* how they turn retrograde with respect to the Earth. In
addition to the bodies themselves, twelve spokes are drawn from the
center body to the edge of the screen, which delineate the zodiac
with respect to it. Note that the scale of the solar system is large;
attempting to fit all the planets out to Pluto on the screen at once
will cause all the inner planets to be crammed together near the
middle of the screen. To deal with this, the scale size as indicated
with the -Xs switch and the '<' and '>' keys will affect how much of
the solar system is viewed at once (in addition to the glyph sizes).
For a scale size of 300, the viewport will have a radius of 6 AU
(about out to the orbit of Jupiter; useful for viewing the inner
planets). For a scale size of 200 (default), it will have a radius of
30 AU (enough to include Neptune, and Pluto most of the time).
Finally, a scale size of 100 will result in a radius of 90 AU, enough
to easily include the entire solar system, as well as the orbits of
the alleged Uranian bodies beyond Pluto.

-r0 -X: True relationship wheel charts can be displayed in a window,
i.e. where the planets of both charts are displayed in separate rings
of the same wheel. Use the -r0 option to display this comparison
type. For example, for the command "astrolog -r0 person1 person2 -X",
the following is displayed: The signs and houses as in person1's
chart are drawn in the outermost part of the wheel. Inside this is a
ring of person2's planets as displayed in person1's houses, and
inside of this are person1's own planets. Finally at the very middle
is an aspect grid, which shows those aspects that are occurring
between the objects in the two charts. Basically this is just the
standard wheel chart for person1, except that person2's planets are
in an outer ring of objects and the aspect grid shows the aspects of
the relationship. Putting such a chart in animation mode only affects
person2's planets, so this is a great way to analyze transits: Doing
"astrolog -t yourchartfile -X" will show all your current transits,
and allow you to easily animate the transiting planets through your
natal signs and houses.

--

     A couple of conveniences for the graphics features exist. Note
that the -Xo <bitmapfilename> option is only used in conjunction with
the -Xb write output to bitmap switch. Therefore, -Xo automatically
assumes -Xb is set. (Invoking -Xb itself without -Xo will have the
program prompt the user for the bitmap filename.) In other words,
astrolog -Xb -Xo 'file' is the same as just astrolog -Xo 'file'.
Also, I should mention that Astrolog includes its own appropriate
bitmap (a rainbow over an opened Third Eye) if one iconifies the
window, instead of reverting to the braindead UnknownIcon :)


***********************************
DESCRIPTION OF PC GRAPHICS FEATURES
***********************************

     Astrolog's PC graphics charts look and feel and are displayed
just like the X window graphics already described. When compiling,
one has a choice between four options: (1) choose no graphics
abilities at all, (2) compile so that graphic chart bitmaps can be
generated and output to a file, (3) compile allowing file graphics in
addition to direct screen graphics in X windows, and now (4) compile
with file graphics and direct graphics on the screen of a PC. The
addition of PC graphics in no way inhibit or affect the X window
graphics already in place; it's merely a matter of which compile time
options are set. Unix users don't need to look at this section.

     Astrolog uses the Microsoft PC graphics library as defined in
the file graph.h included with their C7 "C" language compiler. This
file and the graphics.lib library is needed in order to be able to
compile with these graphics options set, just as the X window
libraries are needed to compile with those graphics included. If
unavailable, one can still access these PC graphics with the library
linked in, in the already compiled executable posted.

     PC Astrolog is a DOS program and should be run from a DOS
prompt, outside of any Windows system. To generate a graphics chart
instead of a text one, include the -X switch just as one would do to
bring up an X window. The expected graphic chart will be displayed on
the screen unless the -Xb write bitmap to file switch is in effect.
The colors chosen for the graphics are basically identical to those
chosen in X window charts, and both of these in turn are now based on
the Ansi colors used in the Ansi text charts.

     Now, there are many various types of PC monitors and
resolutions. Astrolog will automatically try to determine and pick
the highest resolution mode available on your system, so this need
not be worried about.

     The PC Astrolog charts may be animated in all the various ways,
and the animation will usually be flicker free! Now, PC's do have
limited memory, therefore there might not be room for more than one
page of graphics at the highest resolution. Hence, animation at the
highest (default) mode, may flicker; however, graphics at a slightly
lower resolution may take enough less memory to allow enough to do
flicker free animation. A special PC only feature for this has been
added: Pressing the 'tab' key while the PC graphics are up will try
to pick a lower resolution, where flicker free animation can be done.
Specifically, we'll toggle to a 640x350 EGA mode. On my own system,
the highest resolution I get is a 640x480 16 color VGA mode, however
the charts can't be animated without flicker. When I hit 'tab', I
drop from 480 lines of graphics to 350, but now the animation will be
perfectly smooth. The results with whatever graphics system you have
may be different.

     The chart that comes up will use as many pixels as is defined by
the chart's size as specified with the -Xw and -Xs switches. The 'Q'
change chart size to square key works just as before. However, on PC
screens we will try to take in account the pixel size ratio. On EGA
screens where the pixels are long and narrow, meaning a true "square"
chart looks tall and thin, we compensate by increasing the horizontal
size of the chart. The 'B' key, which on X window graphics will blast
the current window contents to the root background, is a meaningless
feature for a PC. This key, for PC graphics systems, will instead
resize the chart to be the full size of the screen. When the graphics
mode is changed through 'tab', the chart size will be modified to be
the largest "square" that will fit on the screen (as if the computer
presses 'B' followed by 'Q' for you.)

     If the size of the chart is less than the size of the screen, it
will be displayed centered in the middle of the screen. If however
the chart size is greater than the screen size, then the chart will
take up the whole screen, and part of it will be clipped. By default
we show the upper left corner of the chart if this is the case. Now,
one can define and change which part of the chart gets shown. On PC's
the meaning of pressing the number keys have been enhanced. Normally,
number keys set the animation speed; they still do, but now only when
animation is actually being done. If not in animation, the number
keys from 1..9 will define which "quadrant" or area of the chart gets
shown. It's best to think of and use the number pad for this feature
(make sure num lock is on!) Pressing the '7' key, i.e. the upper left
number on the number pad, will set it so the default upper left part
of the chart is seen. Pressing the '3' key, on the lower right corner
of the pad, will show the lower right corner of charts larger than
the screen size. Pressing '5' will show the middle area of the chart,
with equal amounts of the chart clipped from left and right, and top
and bottom. Pressing '6' will show the right end of the chart,
vertically centered on the screen, and so on. Basically, we have a
simple implementation of something like scroll bars, allowing viewing
of all parts of the "window"! One can generate and display on the
screen even the largest charts producible with Astrolog. (Bitmap
files are still limited to, i.e. will be clipped to, a maximum size
of 728x720 pixels, however). Even on an 640x350 EGA, one can use this
to generate and view all parts of a 300% scaled relationship aspect
grid (883x883), or even a 300% scaled world map display (1082x545)!

--

#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#
+     Walter D. "Cruiser1" Pullen    |    astrolog@byron.u.washington.edu     +
#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#
