
ASTROAID USER MANUAL
--------------------


WHAT IS ASTROAID?
-----------------

AstroAid is a piece of Psion free/shareware software that is intented to assist 
anyone interested in astrology. AstroAid performs calculations and is also able 
to display horoscopes on screen (even on the tiny Siena screen).

AstroAid version 1.3 or higher will work a Psion serie 3/3a/3c as well.

AstroAid is shareware. This means that you can share the distribution set of
AstroAid freely with others using any media, but only in unmodified form. See
the heading 'Registration' for the benefits for doing so.

AstroAid is copyright by M. Bokhorst. All rights reserved.

Altering AstroAid or the distribution set is prohibited.




FEATURES OF ASTROAID
--------------------
- Calculation of houses, planets, moon node and part of fortune
- Graphical horoscope display
- Presentation of results using astrological symbols to save screen space
- Views for planet aspects and quality distribution
- Calculation of transits, progressions and series (ephemerides)
- Comparision of radix, transit, progression and with other horoscopes
- Calculation of increasing, decreasing, in- and outgoing aspects
- Databases for birth dates, times and places
- Easy choosing from a list for existing horoscopes
- Smoothless interfacing to the world database
- Built-in symbol help
- Caching of calculation results for later re-use
  (the Psion Siena does not have a Pentium processor ...)

If you live in the Netherlands or in Belgium: dit programma stelt zichzelf 
automatisch in op de nederlandse taal als het draait op een nederlandse of 
belgische Psion. Eventueel kan met behulp van Special/Settings nederlands op een 
buitenlandse Psion worden gekozen. Engels op een nederlandse Psion kiezen kan 
natuurlijk ook, indien u daaraan de voorkeur geeft.



DISCLAIMER
----------
AstroAid is provided "as is" without any guarantee of any kind.
I will however try to solve reported problems and to realise wishes to the best
I can. See the heading 'contacting me' if you want to reach me.



ACKNOWLEDGES
------------
The names Psion and Siena are registered trademarks of Psion Corporation.



INSTALLATION
------------
Follow the steps below to install AstroAid:

1.  Unzip the zip-file
2.  Create the directory APP\ASTROAID
3.  Create the directory APP\ASTROAID\DATA
4.  Move ASTROAID.OPA to the APP directory
5.  Move ASTROLIB.OPO to the APP\ASTROAID directory
6.  Move ASTROPLN.OPO to the APP\ASTROAID directory
7.  Move AELEMENT.DBF to the APP\ASTROAID directory
8.  Move ASTROAID.FON to the APP\ASTROAID directory
9.  Install AstroAid from the System Menu

If you live in the Netherlands or if you want to install the dutch place
database and the dutch summer time table for other reasons, follow the next
optional steps:

10. Move APLACE.DBF to the APP\ASTROAID directory
11. Move ATIME.DBF to the APP\ASTROAID directory

Note that if you want to store the horoscope datafiles in another directory or 
using another extension, that it is possible to create an alias (see your user 
manual for details).

I don't own a flash disk, so I was not able to try if AstroAid works when
installed on a flash disk. If anyone tries this, please let me know what
your experiences are.

Note that the installation instructions are changed with version 1.2b. Old 
installations will however still work. Note also that it is possible to move the 
data files, except for the horoscope data files, to the DAT directory with 
problems. Especially usefull if you want to edit them with the database 
application. It is also still possible to have the OPO files in the OPO 
directory and the FON file in the FON directory.

*** Upgrading to version 1.3 ***

If you are upgrading to version 1.3 or higher, you should replace the file
AELEMENT.DBF by the new one supplied.

*** Upgrading to version 2.0 ***

If you are upgrading to version 2.0 or higher, the horoscope datafile called 
ASTROAID.DBF must be moved to the directory APP\ASTROAID\DATA. Furthermore the 
files APLACE.DBF and ATIME.DBF should be replaced by the new ones supplied.

The distribution set should contain the following files:

    ASTROAID.OPA        AstroAid itself
    ASTROLIB.OPO        AstroAid library routines
    ASTROPLN.OPO        AstroAid planetary routines
    AELEMENT.DBF        Planetary data
    ASTROAID.FON        Font file with glyps
    APLACE.DBF          Dutch location information
    ATIME.DBF           Dutch daylight saving information
    ASTROAID.TXT        This text file

You can freely use AstroAid, but you have to register to

-   remove the restrictions and
-   to use the disabled features or
-   to get support

AstroAid is designed for a 240 x 160 or 480 x 160 sized LCD. If AstroAid detects 
another sized LCD it will issue a warning. Nothing will get damaged if you 
continue, but AstroAid will probably not look like you expect. Let me know if 
you like to have AstroAid for another type of computer.



REGISTRATION
------------
Registration enables you to:

-   display horoscopes graphically
-   make progressions
-   make serie calculations
-   compare horoscopes
-   enter more than 7 entries in the database

Furthermore you get free updates of the program by E-mail. Only registered users
will get support.

AstroAid can be registered through RegNet. RegNet can be reached on the World
Wide Web at the following URL:

    http://www.swregnet.com

or by calling 1 800 WWW2REG (1 800 999 2734) or (805) 288-1827.

The registration number of AstroAid is 1651.

When you want to register AstroAid do the following:

1.  Install AstroAid as described above
2.  Choose the menu Special/Register
3.  Write down the presented 'challenge' and
    leave this menu by using the escape key
4.  Backup your files
5.  Fill in the registration form at RegNet and
    complete it with the 'challenge'

RegNet will sent me your registration request. Based on your 'challenge' I will
calculate a 'response'. I will sent you this 'response' to the E-mail address
you supplied.

When you have received the 'response', you can complete the registration process
by again choosing the menu Special/Register and filling in the supplied
'response'. Press enter and AstroAid will confirm your registration.

Please note that a registration for each copy of AstroAid is required and that a 
registration is personal.



CONTACTING ME
-------------
Problems, questions, suggestions, comments, etc. can be sent to the following
E-mail address:

    M.Bokhorst@earthling.net

I would like to hear from you what you think of this program, regardless if you
are a registered user or not.

The lastest version of AtroAid can be obtained at

    http://huizen.dds.nl/~chronos/psion.html



HOW TO USE ASTROAID
-------------------
I think using AstroAid is straightforward, but if you have troubles or have
questions about details, read the following section.

When you start the program the main menu appears. The main menu is organised as
follows:

    Calculate
      New
      Existing
    Special
      Settings
      Orbs
      Register
      About
      Exit



GENERAL

When no menu is active, you can find the 'active' or 'operating' key(s) on the
screen between less/greater then sign (position varies because of the usage of
the small Siena screen). For example: <Menu>

Dates are unchecked. It is for example possible to enter november 31. The
program want crash on it. November 31 will for example be interpreted as
december 1st.

To create a new horoscope datafile do the following:

        - goto the system screen
        - position on the AstroAid icon (do not start AstroAid)
        - press the menu key
        - choose the menu Archive/New file



CALCULATE/NEW

When you choose Calculate/New a dialog appears were you can enter the following
data:

    Last name          persons/event last name
    First name         persons/event first name
    Day                \
    Month               | of birth
    Year                |
    Time               /
    Place              of birth
    Daylight saving    Auto, No or Yes
    Time regulation    Auto, Zone, Amsterdams, Loenens, Real or GMT
    Remark             anything

If AstroAid is running on a Psion serie 3/3a/3c the daylight saving, time 
regulation and remark fields will show up in a second dialog.

When you don't enter a surname or a given name, a question mark is used.

Daylight saving 'Auto' means for places outside the Netherlands 'No' (unless you 
have entered daylight saving information for your country yourself). For places 
in the Netherlands the file with the name '\dat\atime.dbf' is looked up. If the 
specified date is within a range defined in this file, daylight saving is 
assumed. The supplied file contains daylight saving information for the 
Netherlands from the year 1916 until now (1998).

The time regulation specifies how the time of birth should be interpreted.
Unless you are living in the Netherlands you should not pay attention to the
regulations 'Amsterdams' and 'Loenens'. Time regulation 'Auto' means for places
outside the Netherlands use the time of the time zone of the specified place
(local time). For places in the Netherlands the following aplies:

    before 1/5/1892    real time
    before 1/5/1909    choose from a menu
    before 1/7/1937    amsterdam time
    before 16/5/1940   loenen time
    else               MET

Time regulation 'real' means interpret the time as the 'real' time at the
longtitude of the specified place of birth (this is not the time of the time
zone).

Places are first searched in the file called '\dat\place.dbf' if it exists. If 
the specified place is not found in this file, the world database is looked up. 
When the place you entered is unknown, the dialog re-appears with a question 
mark after the specified place. You can abbreviate places, but be carefull to 
specify enough characters to make the place unique.

After entering all data correctly the house and planet positions are calculated
(takes some time) and shown. The position of the moon node and the pars fotunae
are calculated and shown as well. The sun or moon glyph behind the position of
the pars fortunae refers to day or night birth (this is taken into account when
calculation the pars fortunae). The glyphs (symbols) are the traditional glyphs,
which you are not used to maybe, but they are I my humble opinion more correct.
Press the help key for an overview of glyphs. The day in the heading is the day
of the week of the birth (or event).

When you try to leave the result window using the Esc key the question 'Save 
data?' appears. When you enter 'Yes' the data is saved in the selected datafile 
(by default 'app\astroaid\data\astroaid.dbf').



CALCULATE/EXISTING

When you choose Calculate/Existing the choosen datafile is read (by default 
'app\astroaid\data\astroaid.dbf'). All names found in it are displayed 
alphabetically in a list. You can scroll through this list by using the Up, 
Down, PgUp and PgDn keys or by pressing a letter, which brings you to the first 
name starting with that letter. You can choose a name by pressing the enter key. 
After choosing the house and planet positions are calculated as if it was a new 
horoscope.

To keep AstroAid small, there are no functions to update or delete records in 
the horoscope databases. You can use the 'Data' application for that purpose, 
because the horoscope database is just a normal database. To do this, first 
position to the data application, then press the tab key, then browse to the 
desired horoscope datafile and finally select it with the enter key. When the 
horoscope database is newly created by AstroAid, it has no titles. You have to 
enter these yourself. They could be as follows:

    First Name
    Last name
    Day
    Month
    Year
    Hour
    Minute
    Daylight saving
    Time regulation
    Place
    Remark

When you press the Menu key in the result window a menu organised as follows
appears:

    Calculate
      Transit
      Progression (registered users only)
      Serie (registered users only)
    View
      Graphically (registered users only)
      Aspects
      Qualities
      Comparision (registered users only)
    Special
      Select
      Exit



CALCULATE/TRANSITS

When you choose Calculate/Transits a dialog appears where you can enter the date
for which transits should be calculated. The date defaults to the current date.
The transits are displayed next to the radix positions.



CALCULATE/PROGRESSION

When you choose Calculate/Progression a dialog appears where you can enter the
date for which a progression should be calculated. The date defaults to the
first of the current month. A progression is made by using the rule a day for a
year. The date and hour of the day and time on which the progression is based is
shown above the progression. The progression is shown next to the transits
(when calculated). You can choose the direction of the progression: forward
(default) or backward (regression).



CALCULATE/SERIE

When you choose Calculate/Serie a dialog appears where you can enter the details
of the serie you want to calculate. A serie is a list of planet positions
calculated at a regular interval. The dialog looks like this:

    Base               Radix, Transit, Progression or Date
    For                Sun, Moon, ..., Pluto
    Each               Hour, Day, Week, Month
    Number             1..15
    Retrograde         Yes or No
    Direction          Forward or backward

When 'Base' 'Date' is choosen, a dialog like follows appears:

    Day                \
    Month               |
    Year                | defaults to the current date/time
    Time               /

The base determines the start date and time of the serie. Each month actually
means each 30.5 days. Retrograde determines if retrograde is calculated or not
(has no meaning for the Sun and Moon). Calculating retrograde takes about double
the time. You can leave this view by pressing the escape key. Note that no
corrections for time regulations are made when choosing base Date. This means
the specified time should be GMT time.



VIEW/GRAPHICAL

When you choose View/Graphical a dialog appears were you can choose what 
horoscope, or combinations of, to display graphically. It is also possible to
choose if weak aspects should be shown (see View/Aspects below for details).
Weak and strong refers to the orbs of the aspect, not the type. Only the
following aspects will be shown:

        Sextile                 60 degrees
        Square                  90 degrees
        Trine                  120 degrees
        Inconjunction          150 degrees
        Opposition             180 degrees

The default is to show the radix horoscope with only strong aspects. If you 
choose to display two horoscopes, the glyphs (symbols) of the planets of the 
first horoscope are displayed in gray and of the second in black and only the 
aspects between the first and second horoscope are displayed. This display can 
be rather 'busy'. Note that it is not possible to show the semi-sextile aspect 
(30 degrees) due to resolution limitations.



VIEW/ASPECTS

When you choose View/Aspects a dialog appears were you can choose which aspects
you want to see (Radix, Transit or Progression). This default to the aspects of
the Radix. After choosing a window appears with the selected aspects. The
position of the planets are shown as well, followed by the house where the
planet resides and then followed by the house(s) the planet rules. When a plus
sign appears after the house number(s), the next house is ruled as well.
Increasing aspects are displayed with a bold typeface. Aspects with less than
halve of the orbs are displayed black (the stronger aspects), else they are
displayed in grey (the weaker aspects). The 45, 72 and 135 aspects are always
shown in grey. The default orbs are as follows:

    between lights (sun or moon)       12 degrees
    between lights and other planets   10 degrees
    when one of the planets is fast     8 degrees
    when both planets are slow          6 degrees

Fast planets are by default the planets to and including jupiter. All other
planets are considered slow. The moon node, the ascendant and pars fortunae are
considered slow as well. You can change these settings by choosing the menu
Special/Orbs.

Note that an aspect is only valid when the signs where the planets resides make
an aspect. For example a planet at 1 degree Virgo does not make a square aspect
with a planet at 29 degrees Aries because Virgo and Aries do not make a square
aspect.

Press the help key for an overview of glyphs. You can leave this view by
pressing the escape key.



VIEW/QUALITIES

When you choose View/Qualities a dialog appears were you can choose which
qualities you want to see (Radix, Transit or Progression). This defaults to the
qualities of the Radix. After making your choice the qualities are shown. You
can leave this view by pressing the escape key.



VIEW/COMPARISION

When you choose View/Comparision a dialog appears where you can enter the
details for the compare. The dialog looks like this:


    Of                 Radix, Transit, Progression or Selection
    Stationair         Yes, No	(applies to the 'Of' horoscope)
    With               Radix, Transit, Progression or Selection
    Stationair         Yes, No (applies to the 'With' horoscope

The default compare is a stationair radix with moving transit. Stationair means
consider the position as fixed when determining if the aspects are increasing or
decreasing. After confirming the dialog a window appears with the selected
compare. The 'Of' planets are shown in rows and the 'With' planets are shown in
columns. The house where the planet resides is displayed as well. Aspects with
less than halve of the orbs are displayed black (the stronger aspects), else
they are displayed in grey (the weaker aspects). See for more details about orbs
View/Aspects above. The number after the aspect glyph (symbol) is the rounded
number of degrees difference. Numbers above 9 are not displayed and for 45, 72
and 135 degrees aspects no numbers are displayed at all. A small plus sign
means the aspect is increasing and a small minus sign means the aspect is
decreasing. A small less than sign means that the aspect is ingoing and a small
greater than sign means that the aspect is outgoing. You can leave this view by 
pressing the escape key.



SPECIAL/SELECT

When you choose Special/Select a dialog appears where you can select what
horoscope you want to select. A selected horoscope can be compared with other
horoscopes. This makes it possible to compare horoscopes of for example
different persons with each other.



SPECIAL/SETTINGS

When you choose Special/Settings a dialog appears that looks like as follows:

    Housesystem        Placidus (default) or Koch
    Cache (days)       default 10 days
    Taal/Language      Nederlands or English
    Retrograde (hour)  default 1 hour

The results of a calculation for a given date and time is written to the cache
file with the name '\dat\acache.dbf'. When you try to make a calculation for the
same date and time, the results are read from the cache file instead of doing
the calculation again. This saves you time and batteries. Each entry in the
cache file takes up about 160 bytes. To prevent that the cache file grows
unlimited, the cache file is cleaned up when you start AstroAid. The default is
to remove entries not used the last 10 days. You can change this with the
'Cache' option. If you want to clear the cache completely, know that it is
possible to remove the cache file. AstroAid will create a new one automatically
when needed. Houses and serie calculations are not cached. Cache 0 days means
don't clean the cache.

To determine the speed of a planet (and if the planet is retrograde), the
position of a planet is calculated twice: once at the given date and time and
once 1 hour later (default). You can change this setting with the 'Retrograde'
entry. Be aware that changing this value has no effect on results in the cache
file.



SPECIAL/ORBS

When you choose Special/Orbs a dialog appears that looks like as follows:

    Orbs Light/Light   default 12 degrees
    Orbs Light/Planet  default 10 degrees
    Orbs Fast planet   default 8 degrees
    Orbs Slow planets  default 6 degrees
    Fast until         Sun, Moon, ..., Pluto (defaults to Jupiter)

For more information on changing Orbs, see View/Aspects.



SPECIAL/REGISTER

See the registration heading.



SPECIAL/ABOUT

This options displays version and copyright information of AstroAid. You can
leave this view by pressing the escape key.


SPECIAL/EXIT

This option stops (exits) AstroAid.



FILES
-----
\app\astroaid.opa               AstroAid itself
\app\astroaid\astrolib.opo      AstroAid library routines
\app\astroaid\astropln.opo      AstroAid planetary routines
\app\astroaid\aelement.dbf      Planetary data
\app\astroaid\astroaid.fon      Font file with glyphs
\app\astroaid\acache.dbf        Calculation cache (automatically created) *
\app\astroaid\data\*.dbf        Horoscope databases (automatically created)
\app\astroaid\astroaid.odb      Configuration data (automatically created)
\app\astroaid\aplace.dbf        Dutch location information (optional) *
\app\astroaid\atime.dbf         Dutch daylight saving information (optional) *

* Tip: you could make these files hidden, so they are not shown on the desktop



DATA FILES
----------

The layout of APLACE.DAT is as follows:

        Country code (should match with the codes used in ATIME.DBF)
        Time difference with GMT in minutes (east is positive)
        Place name
        Lattitude degrees
        Lattitude minutes
        Longtitude degrees
        Longtitude minutes

The layout of the ATIME.DAT is as follows:

        Country code (should match with the codes used in APLACE.DBF)
        Year
        Starting day of the month
        Starting month of the year
        Starting hour
        Ending day of the month
        Ending month of the year
        Ending hour



REVISION HISTORY
----------------
Version   Date         Remarks

1.0       15/12/1997   First public release

1.1       24/12/1997   AstroAid will now run without an initial acache.dbf
                       Forgot to translate 'u' into 'h' (hour)
                       Removed display of seconds in times
                       Added sequence number for serie calculations
                       Compare 'With' can now be 'Stationair' as well
                       Serie calculations can now be done backwards
                       Stop on the calculation screen will work now
                       Updated this text file

1.2b      31/31/1997   Beta release for testing with Serie 3 LCD:
                       Added file \opo\astropln.opo to make room
                       Split menu Setting into Setting and Orbs
                       Split menu Calculate/New into two parts 
                       (only when not running on a Psion Siena)
                       Made heading a graphical window to force correct font
                       Added planet of birth day of week in heading
                       Split menu Calculate/Serie into two parts
                       (the date/time is only asked when choosing base 'Date')

          04/01/1997   Change screen layout: increased line distances 
                       and added some lines.
                       Added display of in- and outgoing aspects in the
                       compare view (added symbols in the font file for it).
                       Shifted symbol of capricorn one pixel right.
                       Added display of age in years in the heading.
                       Solved two related bugs when using dates before the
                       20th century:
                        Progression calculation now displays the correct time
                        Serie calculation now displays the correct time also
                       Recompiled using s3atran to make AstroAid working on
                       the Psion 3a (hopefully)
                       Changed 'Surname' into 'Last name'
                       Changed 'Given name' into 'First name'
                       Added dutch summer time info for the year 1998
         
          08/01/1997   Changed installation (location of files). 
                       Old users: please read the instructions again.
                       Changed the symbol for jupiter slightly.

1.3       20/01/1997   Changed the format of 'aelement.dbf' to prevent
                       problems with decimal point/comma conversions.
                       If you are updating AstroAid, you must replace this
                       file by the new one supplied.
                       Solved a bug causing AstroAid to terminate with the
                       message 'overflow' sometimes
                       Solved a bug causing AstroAid to terminate with the
                       message 'invalid parameter' on a Psion 3a
                       The quality window is now shown in black on the
                       Psion series 3a (same problem as above bug)


2.0       16/02/1997   Added two important functionalities:
                       - graphical horoscope display
                       - support for multiple datafiles
                       Furthermore the place and time datafiles were revised
                       to support places and daylight saving times outside 
                       the Netherlands
                       Existing users: please reread the installation 
                       instructions

<END>
