Electric Ephemeris PCA Argus v 3.1 for Windows. Sales & CD development. Electric Ephemeris/PCA Argus Programming: Laurids Pedersen

Transcription

1 Elecric Ephemeris PCA Argus v 3.1 for Windows MSP Soluions: Sales & CD developmen Elecric Ephemeris/PCA Argus Programming: Laurids Pedersen CD Design: Web Design: Magic Space MSP Soluions Technical suppor eam Eric Biss, Laurids Pederson MSP Soluions Local Telephone: Fax: Inernaional Telephone: Fax: MSP Soluions 135 Cheylesmore Drive Frimley Camberely Surrey GU16 9BP Unied Kingdom: pca@msp-online.com Web sie: Denmark: info@elecric-ephemeris.com

2 1 Table of Conens Inroducion 3 Wha s New in PCA v3.1 3 Program srucure - overview 3 Where can I find Help 3 Colour coding 3 Imporan! - essenial keysrokes in Argus 4 License and copyrigh 4 Hardware specificaion 4 Wha you should have: 4 Insallaion procedure 5 Diskee insallaion 5 Insallaion - Seing up: 5 Windows Colour Schemes 5 Windows Colour Recommendaion 6 Selecing Fons 6 Screen fon appearance 6 Screen fon size 6 Muliple Windows 6 Tex Mode 7 Graphic Mode 7 Opening exra Graphic Windows 7 Viewing Muliple Windows 7 Backup 7 Backup procedure 7 Re-insaing los daa 7 Inpu Menu - daa enry 8 Inpu Menu - On/Off 8 Inpu Menu - Focus 8 Curren Tab Shee 8 Radix Tab Shee 8 Presen Tab Shee 8 Daa Enry Name Dae 9 Dae enry - firs cenury AD. 9 BC daa enry Time Zone Ciy / Laiude Ciy / Longiude 10 Ciy no found 10 Sex 10 Posiions 10 R - Radix - calculaion of he birh char 10 The Char-wheel 11 Aspec calculaion 11 Aspec Grid 11 Char calculaion... coninued 11 Orb definiion 12 Bi-wheel 12 Namefile 12 NAMEFILE - imporing from DOS 13 Namefiles - Appending 13 Imporing muliple Namefiles - o new muliple Namefiles 13 Priner oupu 14 Keyboard shorcus 15 Numeric key opions 15 Macros 15 Macro - definiion 15 Macros - example 16 Macros - daa inpu 16 Accessories: Inerpreaions and modules 16 Inerpreaions 16 XLI - modules 16 XLI - Programming 17 Ediing 17 Preferences 17 BST ime changes

3 Inroducion Argus is he nickname for PCA for Windows. PCA is an abbreviaion for Personal Compuer Asrology. Hence he name Argus. The firs version of PCA appeared in 1986 and ran under he CP/M operaing sysem. This was he PCA v1.x series, famous a he ime for producing he firs rue graphic char-wheel o boh screen and priner. In January 1987 he firs MS-DOS version appeared. This was he PCA v2.x series. During his phase Elecric Ephemeris were firs o produce heir own colour drivers, unique graphic ransi/progression chars, XLI programming language, ec. The PCA v3.x series is wrien for he Windows operaing sysem. This represens a new generaion of asrological programming which will coninue o see Elecric Ephemeris innovaive syle combined wih ease of use. Wha s New in PCA v3.1 Argus has muliple feaures oo numerous o menion which were no incorporaed in previous PCA incarnaions. However, if you are familiar wih he MS-DOS versions you may find he following selecion of new feaures of ineres: Muliple Windows (see page 7) Quiniles & Sepiles Muliple orb definiions Gazeeer - 125,000 place names, nearly every ciy worldwide inclusive of ime zones Namefile - 16,000 enries per file plus Add Noes opion Proporional fons and colour opions for inerpreaion exs Aspec Grid Program srucure - overview Argus offers a variey of inbuil funcions. The following diagram illusraes he program srucure. A secion describing each program funcion appears in his manual. Where can I find Help_? Mos program insrucions are placed wihin Argus as Help files. This manual is limied as a Geing Sared documen. To view he documenaion for mos program funcions, press F1 which offers conex sensiive Help. Alernaively, here is a general Help available from he op pull-down main menu bar. This Help pull-down menu offers Conens, Search, Index, ec, feaures consisen wih mos Windows programs.

4 3 Imporan_! - essenial keysrokes in Argus ENTER - cascades beween ex and graphics open Windows SPACE - oggles he Inpu Menu beween ON/OFF Windows - Closing To close an Open Window, selec Window Clear (DEL) from he op pull-down main menu. Windows - Full size To enlarge a Window o full size, selec Window Full size from he op pull-down main menu. See Muliple Windows page 13 License and copyrigh Copies of Argus are only permied o he licensee for his/her individual use and program securiy. Giving away, lending or selling copies of Argus is illegal. Hardware specificaion Argus requires he following minimum hardware specificaion: Windows 3.x or Windows 95 8 Megabyes of RAM 10 Mbyes of free Hard disk space VGA graphic card & monior Wha you should have You should have he following iems: 1) CD 2) This manual or, in case you go a download version, jus he file(s), you downloaded.

5 5 Insallaion procedure CD version - Place CD in drive and selec Insall PCA 3) Diskee insallaion (if you have bough his version) Windows 9x ME or oher 32 bi versions a) Inser disribuion disk 1 in drive A: b) Selec Sar and hen Run Windows 3.x a) Inser disribuion disk 1 in drive A: b) From Program Manager, selec File and hen Run. Type: A:\SETUP...in he RUN window and press ENTER. When he insallaion sars, jus follow he insrucions on he screen. ARGUS creaes a direcory called ARGUS on he hard disk. If you have an earlier version of PCA v2.x insalled, he Windows insallaion will leave he original Dos insallaion inac. See Namefile page 13 Insallaion - Seing up When you have insalled Argus please noe he following: Windows Colour Schemes Par of an appeal of any asrological sofware is is aesheic layou. Therefore he way in which Windows uses colours may require some hough and redesign. Argus has is own Colour Seup Menu which is appropriae o Char colours, foreground, ex ec. (See Preferences page 17 ). However, he acual Windows colour environmen is seup in Windows iself. Depending on how your Windows colour Display is seup i will have a considerable effec on any Windows applicaion you use, including Argus. Therefore, we recommend ha you experimen wih he Windows Colour Display opion which you can change under he Windows Conrol Panel.

6 6 Windows Colour Recommendaion Under Conrol Panel Display Appearance we recommend: High Conras Whie. This paricular Windows colour scheme allows he Argus colour scheme o sand ou. Selecing Fons Argus insalls i s own fon PCA.TTF o he appropriae sysem folders. This allows he user o have asrological glyphs, ec. You can change he screen and priner fon seup under Preferences Fon Screen fon or Preferences Fon Priner fon. There are wo facors o consider regarding he use of fons which are configurable when Argus is insalled. They are fon appearance and fon size. We recommend he following. Screen fon appearance - recommended ARIAL - Regular Screen fon size - recommended Screen fon size - recommended VGA x poin Super VGA x poin Super VGA x poin or above Noe: To es wheher you have he opimum fon size and appearance open one ex window and one graphic window. Then selec Window Tile o see how i looks. See Muliple Windows, nex secion. Muliple Windows A unique feaure of Argus is is capabiliy o display and operae in Muliple Windows. In simple erms his means you could have CharWheels ec for Radix-1, Progressed, Transi, Graphic Transis, Radix-2 ec, open on one screen. In fac, here are wo screen modes which Argus operaes in: Graphic mode and Tex mode. The appearance of Muliple Windows on your screen depends on your graphic card and monior. In oher words resoluion, ec.

7 Tex Mode 7 7 Obvious ex oupu using glyphs or abbreviaions ec So called Graphic Transis/Progressions Move hrough Tex mode by SCROLLING up and down. Graphic Mode Graphic Mode Char-wheels and also he Aspec Grid Up o fifeen graphic Windows open a any one ime Opening exra Graphic Windows Calculae required char, e.g. R - Radix-1', T-Radix-2', ec Selec Window Add new from he op pull-down menu. Selec V - Char-wheel, W - Bi-wheel, ec Viewing Muliple Windows Selec Window Cascade Selec Window Tile Use mouse drag & drop ec o resize & relocae Backup Wih any compuer program i is recommended o backup your daa files on a regular basis. The program files are rarely a problem, because hey can be re-insalled or replaced. However, your personal daa files may be irreplaceable. ARGUS offers he opion o make backup of he Namefile(s) and he program configuraion file (PCA.CFG). Backup procedure Inser a blank diskee in drive A and selec File Backup Save. All Namefiles and he PCA configuraion file are saved o he diskee. Re-insaing los daa Should i ranspire ha your daa is los, or if you happen o crash he configuraion file, you may resore your daa: Inser he backup diskee in drive A and selec File Backup Resore. This will offer a lis of files on he diskee... PCA.CFG is he configuraion file. PCA.NFI is he defaul Namefile. If you have creaed more han one Namefile, hey should all have an *.NFI exension. Choose he file, you wan o resore and selec OK.

8 Inpu Menu - daa enry 8 Inpu Menu - On/Off The Inpu Menu appears when Argus commences. To oggle he Inpu Menu On/Off selec he SPACE bar. You may also click Daa Inpu Menu - daa enry. Inpu Menu - Focus The Inpu Menu comprises of hree abbed shees. They are labeled Radix, Curren, and Presen from lef o righ. Selecing a Tab Shee can be done by clicking or by selecing he lef and righ arrow keys. When a Tab Shee is highlighed he Focus is on ha paricular Tab Shee. Curren Tab Shee If you feel confused abou hese abbed shees, jus concenrae on he middle one, which is defaul, and forge abou he wo ohers, you can do happily wihou hem. Use his Focus o ener your Radix daa, and also o ener Transi, Progressed daa, ec. Radix Tab Shee When a Radix char is calculaed, he daa enered in he Curren Tab Shee auomaically is copied o he Radix" Tab Shee. If you are working on a paricular char, and require i s original Radix daa, i will remain in he Radix Tab Shee. Presen Tab Shee The "Presen" daa shee has a daa clock which displays he compuer s dae and ime. This can be used for horary asrology. Noe ha he daa in Presen canno be changed/edied by he user. Furhermore, if he Focus is on he Presen Tab Shee, daa canno be Feched from he Namefile. Daa Enry Enering daa is sraighforward. Wihin reason, he daa enry fields are flexible o differing formas. To selec a daa field ry he following opions: 1) Selec a numeric key appropriae o he field number (e.g. 3 - Zone ) 2) Click in he appropriae daa field using he mouse 3) Use he UP or DOWN Arrow-Keys o navigae from one daa field o he nex/previous 4) Use he TAB and SHIFT/TAB keys o navigae o he nex/previous daa fields.

9 0 - Name- 9 The Name is wha is used o idenify a char. I can hold up o 30 characers. 1 - Dae To ener a dae, he Day, Monh and Year are separaed by spaces. For example: You may omi he 19' and ener he above example as: In which case Argus will add he 1900 auomaically. The 5h April 1904' can be enered as: or Dae enry - firs cenury AD. To ener he year for he firs cenury AD. leading zeros should bu used. For example: The 9h December in he year 55 AD. is enered as: BC daa enry BC chars are enered by saing BC afer he year. For example, o ener daa for on he 8h Ocober in he year 7 BC BC 2 - Time- Time is enered in 24 hour clock ime. Do NOT use AM or PM Birh ime is enered as hours, minues and seconds separaed by Spaces. If Seconds or Minues are zero, hey may be omied. 3 - Zone The ime-zone indicaes he sandard ime used in a counry in quesion. If dayligh saving ime is used, i mus be included. In he Unied Kingdom, 3 -Zone is usually se o 0' in winer and 1 E in summer. In fac, using Argus means ha you need no worry abou ime zones. If he geographic daa is feched from Argus s inernal gazeeer he correc zone and dayligh saving will auomaically be aken ino accoun and insered in he zone field..

10 Ciy / Laiude 5 - Ciy / Longiude Argus s inbuil alas/gazeeer auomaically manages laiude, longiude, ime zones and dayligh saving imes. There are abou 120,000 ciies covering mos places in he world. To exrac a ciy / place from he gazeeer observe he following: Choose eiher he field 4 - Laiude/Ciy or 5 - Longiude/Ciy. Ener he name of he required ciy for he char o be calculaed and selec he ENTER key or click ouside he daa field. If he search for he ciy / place is successful he 3 - Zone, 4 - Laiude and 5 - Longiude are insered in he Inpu Menu. Ciy no found If he ciy is no found, or if here is more ha one ciy having he same name, a lis of ciies will be displayed for manual selecion. You may Page Up and Page Down in order o find he ciy you are searching for. If you find he appropriae enry in he lising provided you may eiher double-click he Ciy enry or selec he ENTER key. If he ciy / place is no lised and canno be found, you may of course ener he laiude, longiude and zone manually. Sex This daa field enry is no mandaory, bu i may be pracical o provide he appropriae informaion. The daa is saved in he Namefile. I may be used for sex dependan inerpreaions, research, ec. Posiions R - Radix - calculaion of he birh char The birh char is calculaed by selecing R or by clicking Posiions Radix. The Radix oupu indicaes Planeary Zodiacal posiion and House posiion. Under Preferences Asrological opions Abbreviaions you may choose wheher you require oupu o display asrological glyphs or use abbreviaions. There is also an opion wheher Chiron should be included or no.

11 11 The Char-wheel To display a Char-wheel, selec V or click (Chars Char-wheel). Under (Preferences) here are differen opions for he following: Char syle Orienaion Aspec syle Glyph size Posiions size Line widh Posiions These opions allow he user o choose how he glyphs and aspecs are drawn, how large he glyphs should be, if posiions are prined wih rounded degrees or wih degrees and minues, ec, ec. There are also four differen char syles o selec from. Aspec calculaion Under he Mehods pull-down menu wo aspec ables are available: A - Aspecs (inernal) OA - Aspecs (cross) For each aspec displayed, you will noice wo ses of figures, he second se prefixed by a + (plus) or - (minus) symbol: The orb value displayed in degrees minues + if applying; - if separaing Daily aspec orb change The Orb speed is especially ineresing for Progressed chars, so ha you can see if he aspec is slow or acue. Aspec Grid Noe ha an Aspec Grid for I-Aspecs is available. Selec Chars Aspec Grid. Char calculaion... coninued Once he Radix is calculaed you may wan o calculae anoher char, e.g... ransi, progressed, synasry, ec. Selec SPACE o evoke he Inpu Menu and ener he appropriae daa using he Curren ab shee. Then go o Posiions or Mehods o run he required non-radix char. Now if you wan o know which aspecs are formed in/from he oher char, click (Mehods Inernal aspecs) or (Mehods Cross-aspecs). The inernal aspecs are muual aspecs beween posiions in one char only, while he cross aspecs connec posiions beween wo chars.

12 Orb definiion 11 When calculaing aspecs, you are able o choose which aspecs o display and wha orbs hey use. Furhermore, you have an opion o configure four differen ses of aspec definiion. This means ha you can use differen aspec requiremens for differing char ypes, e.g. Radix, Progressed, Synasry, ec. For insance, in a Radix char you may allow up o 8-10 degrees for a Sun opposiion Uranus (I-aspec), while in Synasry you may allow hree degrees (x-aspec), ec. To deermine he orb limi, selec Daa Orb definiion. The orb menu has a field called "Maser orb", which you may use for his purpose.. In he Orb Definiion menu choose one of four orb schemes: R, P, S or C. These schemes deermine: individual orb rules for: Individual orbs for each plane How o combine wo planeary orbs Individual orbs for each aspec To edi hese orb definiions choose a scheme by clicking he Configure buon. The orb scheme "None" means, ha only he maser orb and no scheme is acive. Bi-Wheel Having calculaed boh a Radix and one oher char ype, selecing W or clicking Chars Bi-Wheel produces a Char-wheel wih wo circles of posiions: An inner circle holding he Radix posiions An ouer circle holding he oher char. This char ype has a fixed aspec syle, plane size and no degrees and minues, due o lack of space. Namefile When enering new birh daa in he Inpu Menu, i normally would be advisable o save he daa o he Namefile. This faciliaes laer access, hus no having o ener he same daa wice. To call he Namefile Window selec Namefile from he Inpu Menu. To save your birh daa from he Inpu Menu o he Namefile, move he cursor o where you wan he daa sored and selec Sore. Normally you will use he END key o move o he end of he file and hen save he daa. However, you may save he daa and inser i anywhere in he Namefile. In ha case he new daa is insered beween exising enries, herefore nohing is overwrien.

13 12 Namefile opions: Namefile - Search Namefile - Sor (alpha, numeric, anniversary) Namefile - Creae new Namefile - Impor Dos forma Namefile - Add / Edi noes NAMEFILE - imporing from DOS ARGUS creaes a direcory called ARGUS on he hard disk. If you have an earlier version of PCA v2.x insalled, he Windows insallaion will leave he original Dos insallaion inac. The file which held he collecion of chars in your Dos version of PCA is called NAMEFILE.DAT. Normally, his (old forma) file was insalled o a direcory on your hard disk called EEZ. Before you do anyhing wih his file, i is recommended o back he file up o a diskee ec using he Dos COPY command, or Windows Explorer, Windows File Manager, ec. Then, make a copy o he Argus direcory on he disk drive you have insalled i on, e.g. C, D, ec. Then, o ransfer he birh daa from he old (DOS) forma, you will find a funcion for his under: Daa Inpu Menu Namefile File Impor Dos Namefile. The defaul Namefile in Argus is called PCA.NFI Namefiles - Appending If you have he defaul Namefile open PCA.NFI and choose o IMPORT a Namefile, he Namefile you impor will APPEND o your curren open Namefile_! Imporing muliple Namefiles - o new muliple Namefiles If you have several Namefiles in Dos forma which you wish o conver o PCA Windows forma do he following: Daa Inpu Menu Namefile File New Daa Inpu Menu Namefile File Impor Dos Namefile 13

14 14 Priner oupu In order o acivae he priner you may selec eiher of he following: Click File Priner Sar prining Selec 99' Acivaing he priner changes he saus indicaor a he boom of he screen showing when he priner is acive. Now ry o calculae a Radix or selec a Char-wheel as explained previously. In his case he oupu goes boh o he Screen and Priner. However, a his poin he priner may no seem physically acivaed. This is because he Windows Prin Manager buffers (spools) he priner oupu in order ha i does no inerfere wih prin jobs from oher programs. To spool he processed priner oupu and physically acivae he priner choose: Click File Priner Terminae prining Selec 9X There are prin layou opions by selecing Preferences Prin page opions. The Priner Menu has a number of opions apar from Commence Prining and Terminae Prining: Prining...coninued Prin Abor - 9z Abor prin procedure Prin Suspend - 9o Temporarily suspends oupu o he priner. This allows you o oupu o screen only (o experimen) for a momen wihou having o erminae he prin job. Prin Resume - 9i Resumes he emporarily suspended prining. Form feed - 9f Page ejec, even if he curren page is only parially wrien. Line feed - 9l Inser one blank line.

15 14 15 Keyboard shorcus Mos Windows users prefer o use he mouse wherever possible. In ha case he mouse seems easy o use and he keyboard is relegaed as a ex inpu device. However, if you use he keyboard, you may find ha i execues cerain funcions more speedily. This is rue especially if he program offers one-key presses. Of course, i may ake a bi of effor o learn appropriae key selecions. Argus has a number of one-key commands, mainly inheried from he Dos version. The appropriae key sroke is displayed a each menu opion. Numeric key opions The Inpu Menu offers numeric key selecions, numeric keys 0-6'. This allows he user o selec and edi a daa field. You may complee he ediing of he appropriae field by selecing he ENTER key. Alernaively, you may navigae he Inpu Menu using TAB, SHIFT-TAB, Arrow keys and he oher navigaors on he keyboard. Macros Macro - definiion In earlier Dos versions of PCA a Macro was someimes referred o as a "command line" or "command queue". However, mos programs use he word MACRO. A Macro is a series of program commands, which become assigned o a single key selecion and are execued by ha single key press. The need for a Macro arises when he same sequence of commands are required several imes. Macros - example You may require prined oupu consising of Radix posiions plus Char-wheel for a series of chars. These char enries may be in he Namefile and are each o be prined on one page. Do he following: 1) Go o he firs Namefile enry of he en chars o be processed making sure ha he Namefile poiner highlighs ha firs char enry. 2) Selec Fech o inser Namefile enry in Inpu Menu. 3) Selec C - Macro or click on he MACRO par of he saus line a he boom of he screen.

16 15 (...also see Help Macro). 4) Now ener his macro: 99RV9X followed by ENTER or click OK. 99rv9x Means he following: 99 sar prin process r prin Radix posiions v prin CharWheel 9x erminae priner If you hen selec C - Macro again, he macro dialogue box shows he laes execued macro as defaul. If you Fech he nex Namefile enry hen selec C - Macro and simply press ENTER or click OK o repea he sequence. An = (equal sign) exracs he Namefile enry ino he Inpu Menu. E.g.., =99rv9x To repea (loop) a macro erminae i wih C. (The leer c followed by a full-sop). Such a macro will coninue infiniely and he Saus Bar will indicae he macro engaged. To abor selec ESC. E.g. =99rv9xc. Macros - daa inpu Some commands require daa. In ha case you may inser daa ino a Macro. To do so, you mus erminae by using a full-sop. For example, enering he dae 13h Feb, The macro would look like his: Please noe: 1) The 1' means open Inpu Menu field 1 - Dae. 2) The erminaing full sop which means ENTER. Accessories: Inerpreaions and modules Argus has a capabiliy of ex inerpreaion add-ons. These are available as opional exras. Inerpreaions ARGUS is no provided wih inerpreaion exs. Differen inerpreaion exs are available for ARGUS which you can buy as opional exras. In principle, i is possible o run inerpreaions wrien for he DOS version of PCA. Inerpreaions can be wrien by anyone as long as he XLI programming language is used. The XLI programming language can be found on his CD. For cusomised versions of

17 exs please call XLI - modules XLI - modules 16 XLI is Argus s dedicaed programming language which is used for he wriing of asrological inerpreaions, research, program cusomisaion, ec, ec. You may already have XLI modules and inerpreaions on your hard disk, e.g. from he DOS version of PCA. You may creae new pull-down menu for hese iems. (Up o 15 inerpreaions and 15 XLI modules.) XLI - Programming Argus has a complee inbuil scriping language - XLI. Wha his means, is ha wih XLI programming knowledge, i is possible o wrie your own inerpreaions and modules. XLI is paricularly useful for complex inerpreaion srucures and research / search modules. The funcions in he Dos programming manual also apply o a large exen o ARGUS. A number of free sample XLI modules are also available n his CD: Ediing ARGUS has an inbuil ex-edior for ediing (small) XLI-files. I is called by clicking File Edi. Finally, you may ener XLI-commands in he macro-inpu line, if you sar i wih a $- sign. Try for insance o ener his macro: $GRON 0 64 FOR CNT 1024 MUL DRSYM NEXT Preferences ARGUS offers a variey of user definable opions. Clicking Preferences will display he opions available. Mos of hem are self-explanaory. Under Asrological Opions you'll find a number of asrological echniques, ha may no be familiar o you. Unless you know wha you are doing, you should leave hese opions on heir defauls. The menu opion Save o Disk means, ha he curren seings will be saved, so ha hey are he defauls nex ime you use he program. If you jus are experimening wih differen seings, or if you realize, ha you may have made a misake which you don know how o resore, hen don' selec Save o Disk, bu qui he program and resar. Then he original seings will reappear. Save o disk also saves he orb definiions, which you can define in Daa Orb limi Configure. This concludes he geing-sared manual. For more in-deph explanaions, use he Help pull down on he programs main menu.

18 18 BST The dae changes o and from BST and GMT since March - 25 Ocober March - 31 Ocober March - 29 Ocober March - 28 Ocober March - 27 Ocober March - 26 Ocober March - 31 Ocober March - 30 Ocober March - 29 Ocober March - 28 Ocober