The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 2/The 640 Meg Shareware Studio CD-ROM Volume II (Data Express)(1993).ISO/graphics/starw320.zip/STARREAD.ME

Text File | 1992-09-05 | 24KB | 383 lines

                  STARWARE...    version 3.20

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**                                                                   **
**         The graphics in this program are really good!  But...     **
**     room lights will usually totally wash out the effect.  For    **
**     most monitors you will be able to see a lot more of the       **
**     stars, and even see their colors, if you turn off all the     **
**     lights and just use the illumination from the monitor.        **
**                                                                   **
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**                                                                   **
**                         --- HISTORY ---                           **
**                                                                   **
**     ORIGINAL RELEASE: 6/2/91                                      **
**                                                                   **
**     BUG FIXES: 6/12/91                                            **
**         Corrected a problem with updating the drawing of the      **
**     constellations.  The calculations were accurate, but the      **
**     shapes were not correct when plotted on the screen.           **
**         Corrected a minor miscalculation of the effect of         **
**     the stars' proper motion in right ascension.                  **
**                                                                   **
**     BUG FIXES: 6/18/91                                            **
**         Sometimes parts of constellations would be drawn          **
**     below the horizon.  This was fixed, but at the cost of        **
**     significantly increasing the size of the code in the          **
**     emulator version: staremw.exe.  It is now compiled with       **
**     the "medium" memory model, and is about 20K larger than       **
**     starware.exe, which makes use of a math coprocessor.          **
**                                                                   **
**     BUG REPORTS: 6/18/91                                          **
**         One user has reported that the mouse cursor does not      **
**     appear on the screen when the auto-sensed default VGA         **
**     mode is used.  When the mouse is moved to the top or the      **
**     left of the screen, the azimuth or elevation is changed,      **
**     so the problem is only in the display, not in the sensing     **
**     of the rodent.  His system uses a Logitech mouse and a        **
**     Video-7 graphics card.  When the program is forced to run     **
**     in mode 10h (the high-resolution EGA mode), everything        **
**     seems to be fine.  I have not been able to reproduce this     **
**     behavior...  If anyone else has similar problems, please      **
**     let me know.                                                  **
**                                                                   **
**     ENHANCEMENTS: 7/20/91                                         **
**         On VERY high-speed machines the time to switch between    **
**     the text mode used by the "variable" menu and the graphics    **
**     mode used to display the sky was much longer than any of      **
**     the other calculations.  Many people didn't mind, but for     **
**     some it was really irritating.  The logic has been changed    **
**     so that the "variable" menu now comes up in the current       **
**     graphics mode; the time delay for mode-switching has been     **
**     eliminated.                                                   **
**         Some users have been confused by the time parameters.     **
**     All times are given in "Universal Time" (that's what the      **
**     UT symbol means in the upper right-hand corner of the sky     **
**     display).  This is the clock time at 0 degrees longitude.     **
**     To translate this to local standard time, figure that one     **
**     hour is equivalent to 15 degrees of longitude.  For           **
**     instance, if the observer were at -120 degrees East           **
**     Longitude (about where Los Angeles is), the local standard    **
**     time would be (-120/15) = 8 hours earlier.  The July 11,      **
**     1991 eclipse peaked on the Pacific Coast at about 2030 UT,    **
**     so people in Los Angeles saw it at about 1230 PST.  (And      **
**     this is further complicated by the fact that California was   **
**     on Daylight Saving Time rather than Standard Time... The      **
**     clocks said it was 1130.)  With all these local               **
**     complications in time-keeping, it is far simpler to use       **
**     Universal Time for all the calculations.                      **
**                                                                   **
**     ENHANCEMENTS: 11/19/91                                        **
**         Minor changes in the function that detects and            **
**     translates the keyboard input were made.  According to        **
**     Microsoft's "Profiler", significantly less time is spent      **
**     reading and interpreting the keyboard.  The casual user       **
**     (including the author!) will be hard pressed to see any       **
**     difference!                                                   **
**                                                                   **
**     ENHANCEMENTS: 12/12/91   (Version 3.10)                       **
**           An "automation" utility was added.  The program can     **
**     now continuously step through time or azimuth, with a         **
**     user-adjustable additional delay between each display.        **
**     (Use CTRL-a to get the automation menu; the time delay        **
**     is on the "variable" (keystroke v) menu. (Hitting ESC         **
**     (or q or Q) stops the automation.)  This is most useful       **
**     on 386 machines with a co-processor or on 486 platforms.      **
**     The time delay is measured in milliseconds; on slower         **
**     machines it probably should be permanently set at 1.          **
**     (On a 10 MHz 286 with a coprocessor it takes 1-3 seconds      **
**     to update the sky; in most cases you'd not want to add        **
**     even more delay!)  On the other hand, on a 33 MHz 486         **
**     the updates can be so fast that its hard to follow the        **
**     changes.  Additional delays on the order of 100-300 msec      **
**     tend to improve the display.  It's also a matter of           **
**     personal preference: try experimenting until it looks good!   **
**           One use for the automation utility might be to          **
**     show the change in the North star location and the shape      **
**     of Ursa Minor. (Set the latitude to 90 on the variable        **
**     menu, then "find" Polaris with the constellation default      **
**     set to "always plot the constellations".  Then select         **
**     "Plus 1000 Years" on the automation menu.)  Another use       **
**     might be to watch the motion of the planets.  (Choose to      **
**     always have to visible planets surrounded by a box, set       **
**     the magnification to the widest possible field-of-view,       **
**     set the date to June 22 and the hour to local noon, then      **
**     "find" the Sun.  Adjust the elevation so that the sun is      **
**     near the top of the screen (if the latitude is in the         **
**     northern hemisphere) and select "Plus 1 Day" from the         **
**     automation menu.  This works best if the constellations       **
**     are  not plotted on each update.)                             **
**           The logic used in drawing boxes around the visible      **
**     planets has been changed (due to feedback from users).        **
**     If a planet is selected by either the "find" procedure        **
**     or by hitting a numerical key (1-9), only that planet         **
**     will have a box drawn around it.  This is useful when         **
**     the sky is being "automated" and you want to follow the       **
**     motion of just a single planet.  The "one-planet-only"        **
**     option can be restored to the "all-visible-planets" by        **
**     hitting Alt-b.                                                **
**           A couple minor bugs were fixed that caused the very     **
**     first sky display to be fouled up on some machines if the     **
**     program had been called several times in succession with      **
**     no intervening programs.                                      **
**                                                                   **
**     BUG FIXES:  1/25/92                                           **
**           A user reported that, if the mouse cursor was currently **
**     being displayed and the F1 key was hit (to get into the       **
**     command list or "help menu"), and then F2 was hit to go back  **
**     to the sky display, the mouse cursor disappeared.  What was   **
**     worse, there was no way to get it back again.  Evidently the  **
**     program was still keeping track of its position, because the  **
**     usual changes in azimuth and elevation were being properly    **
**     implemented...  It just wasn't possible to tell where the     **
**     cursor was.                                                   **
**           An interim fix was to just make sure that the mouse     **
**     cursor was turned off before hitting F1.  This has now been   **
**     corrected, so that it doesn't matter if the cursor is         **
**     displayed or not before invoking the command list.            **
**           Another irritating problem was reported by several      **
**     users: even if a star had not been selected, clicking the     **
**     left mouse button when the cursor was below the currently     **
**     displayed horizon would often (not always!) result in star    **
**     parameters being displayed.  This has also been fixed.        **
**                                                                   **
**     ENHANCEMENTS:  9/5/92  (Version 3.2)                         **
**           A lot of stuff was added in this release: support for   **
**     a SuperVGA mode (finally!), more sky objects, and a couple    **
**     of new commands.  (And all the bugs that were reported...     **
**     so far... have been fixed.)                                   **
**                                                                   **
**           SuperVGA Support:  The standard 800x600x16 mode can     **
**     now be used.  As a default, STARWARE checks to see if VESA    **
**     software support is available, and, if so, whether or not     **
**     it can make use of VESA mode 102h.  Almost all SVGA cards     **
**     have a VESA driver; this has become the standard way of       **
**     making graphics cards from different manufacturers at least   **
**     partially compatible.  (If your card doesn't support the      **
**     VESA standard in either software or hardware, you can         **
**     probably get a driver just by asking your board's             **
**     manufacturer or distributor for one.)                         **
**           If you know that your card and monitor will support     **
**     the 800x600x16 (four plane) mode, but have not installed      **
**     the VESA driver, you can force STARWARE to use that mode      **
**     by typing:                                                    **
**                                                                   **
**                   starware ###                                    **
**                                                                   **
**     where ### is the (decimal!) mode number that your board's     **
**     manufacturer has assigned to this particular mode.  (There    **
**     is NO standardization for mode numbers above 19h (25          **
**     decimal), which is why the VESA standards were invented.)     **
**           If the SVGA capability is not detected, the program     **
**     will first look for VGA capability (640x480x16), and then     **
**     for EGA (640x350x16) capability, just as in previous          **
**     releases.                                                     **
**           A problem arose in making the 800x600 resolution        **
**     available: neither Microsoft nor Logitech supports that       **
**     mode with their mouse drivers.  The Microsoft driver (up to   **
**     Version 8.1) doesn't even acknowledge that such a mode        **
**     exists, and the Logitech driver (up to Version 6.00) has      **
**     bug that paints a black square every time a button is         **
**     clicked.  This edition of STARWARE makes use of function      **
**     20 of mouse interrupt 33h to overcome the problem.  If you    **
**     have an older mouse driver that doesn't support this          **
**     function, newer drivers are available on a lot of Bulletin    **
**     Boards, or directly from the manufacturer.                    **
**                                                                   **
**           More Sky Objects:  Some users weren't happy that only   **
**     the "easiest" (i.e. brightest) Messier objects were in        **
**     the previous releases.  Version 3.2 now includes ALL the      **
**     Messier objects.  As long as the data base was being          **
**     upgraded, I threw in several other interesting things: some   **
**     of the more powerful radio sources, some "named" galaxies     **
**     ("Sombrero", "Whirlpool", etc.), the more famous Quasi-       **
**     Stellar-Objects, and so on.  This also required a major       **
**     increase in the number of names that can be found using the   **
**     "Find" procedure.                                             **
**                                                                   **
**           New Commands:  Two new keyboard commands have been      **
**     added: "r" (or "R") and "l" (or "L").  The "r" commands       **
**     show a Right Ascension-Declination grid ("r" for "Right").    **
**     "r" toggles the grid on and off, and "R" toggles the default  **
**     (always show the grid automatically, or never show the grid   **
**     automatically).  The "l" commands display the names of the    **
**     constellations ("l" for "label").  (Actually, to conserve     **
**     screen space, only the three-letter abreviations are shown.)  **
**     "l" toggles the labels on and off, and "L" toggles the        **
**     default.  The labels, even with the default on, will only be  **
**     shown if the constellation is actually being displayed.       **
**                                                                   **
**               Logic Changes:  Users may now use Local Time in     **
**     all of the calculations.  The difference between Universal    **
**     Time and Local Time must be entered on the "Variable List"    **
**     menu.                                                         **
**                                                                   **
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______________________________________________________________________

                  Thank you for trying STARWARE;
         I hope you'll find it both useful and entertaining.
______________________________________________________________________

LEGAL STUFF

   This set of programs is shareware: it is copyrighted, but may be
freely distributed as long as all the files, including this one,  are
kept together.  (This is my one chance to ask for a registration fee.)
Other than that, no restrictions.

   Also, there are no warrantees or guarantees: the software is being
made available "as is".  It has worked without a problem on DOS
machines from XT-class to i486's, at speeds from 4.7 to 33 MHz, with
and without math coprocessors or expanded/extended memory, but there is
no way to test it on all the possible configurations that might exist.

   Since it is possible to run the program from a floppy disk, prudence
might suggest that this is the way to first try it out.  (It takes a
while to load all the data files when a floppy is used; if it works OK
on your machine when you are using a floppy, you might consider
transferring the files to your hard disk.  Much less aggravation!)

   Every effort has been made to assure that the star database is
accurate and that the calculations are properly done, but it seems to
be a law of nature that bugs will be uncovered if enough people use the
program in enough different ways.  Please let me know if you uncover
one of these critters; I want to make this right!
______________________________________________________________________

SHAREWARE

   I'm counting on the hope that each user who plays around with
STARWARE for a while will think that the shareware fee is reasonable;
it's only $32.00.  If you do think that this is a fair price, please
send a check to:

         Arthur B. Prag
         17357 Hartland St.
         Van Nuys, CA 91406-4416

   I have deliberately NOT included a reminder that pops up on the
screen every time you use the program...  This may be poor business
practice, but that kind of thing drives me straight up the wall!  This
is the only request for support that I'll make.

   In return for your registration, I'll send you a copy of the
STARWARE manual (about 90 pages) which lists all the stars used and
details the assumptions and limitations of the program.  You will
also be put in the database for future upgrades (unless you request
otherwise); these will be made available to registered users for
considerably less than for new users.  Until a MAJOR revision comes
out, one that will require a new manual, I'll ask just enough to pay
for the materials and postage if you need a disk; I hope that most
registered users will get the upgraded programs from a bulletin board.
(Sending out disks is a real PAIN!  I'd much rather be playing around
trying to improve STARWARE.)
______________________________________________________________________

COMPATIBILITY, LIMITATIONS, ETC.

   Please note that (at least in its present incarnation) the program
supports EGA, VGA, or SVGA (mode 102h) graphics, but no others.  In
particular, it does NOT support Hercules (native mode), or CGA cards.
If there seems to be a demand for Hercules support, this may be added in
the future.

   The accuracy of the star calculations is excellent, but the positions
of the planets and of the moon are good for only a few thousand years.
In a practical sense, this only shows up in estimating planetary
occultations of particular stars and in the precise ground track of
eclipses; suggestions on how to improve this and still maintain a
reasonable computation time are definitely solicited!

   There are a LOT of calculations made whenever the sky is updated!
In addition to just worrying about precession (so that only the
coordinate system would have to be changed), the proper motions of the
stars are included, so the relative star positions change also.  If you
have an 80x87 math coprocessor, the updates will go much faster.  The
program will still work without a coprocessor, but you might notice
something of a delay before the new sky is displayed.

   You can use a mouse to select a particular object, or to change the
azimuth or elevation angle of the observer, but a mouse is not required.
A graphics cursor is also provided so that selection can be made using
only the keyboard.

   The program and all the data files occupy only about 386K of RAM when
running, so expanded/extended memory is not needed.  The hard disk
requirements are much less: about 276K if "starware.exe" is retained,
and about 282K if "staremw.exe" is kept instead.
______________________________________________________________________

INSTALLATION AND STARTUP

   If you have downloaded these routines from a BBS, all the files which
are necessary to run STARWARE are compressed in the STAR32.ZIP file. If
you have received a physical disk, the programs have already been
expanded. There are two main .EXE programs: STARWARE.EXE and STAREMW.EXE;
the first should be used if you have a math coprocessor and at least an
80286 CPU.  The other one ("STAR EMulation Ware") can be used with any
DOS machine.  STAREMW.EXE is larger than STARWARE.EXE, and uses only 8086
commands, so it runs a little slower; if you have a math coprocessor it
will use it, otherwise it will emulate a coprocessor.

   Depending on your system, you should keep only one of these two .EXE
files; the other simply uses up space on your disk.

   The program assumes that all the needed data files are in the same
directory as the main .EXE file: keep them all together.

   To run STARWARE, switch to the disk (or directory) that has all of
these files, and simply type STARWARE (or STAREMW).  The type of graphics
card and the monitor will be detected automatically, and the STARWARE
logo will be presented.  Follow the on-screen directions to navigate
through the rest of the program.  You can view a summary of the available
commands at any time by hitting the F1 key.

   When a sky map is displayed, hitting "v" or "V" will bring up a
"Variable List" menu.  This can be used to make changes in any of the
physical parameters: time, location, etc., and should be used to make
either large changes (e.g., 100,000 years) or very precise changes
(e.g., the latitude of the observer is 34.1563 degrees).  Please note
that all the time parameters are given in "Local Time": the difference
between Local Time and Universal Time (the nominal time in Greenwich,
England) is an adjustable parameter that can be set using the "Variable
List" menu.  This Local Time convention includes hours, days and years.
Also be aware that the longitudes are given in degrees East; this means
that Los Angeles (for example) is at 240 degrees (or -120 degrees, both
are accepted).

   Another very useful command is "f".  This calls the "find" function,
and asks for the name of the object that you want to locate.  If it can
be found, the screen will change so that it is placed near the middle
of the display, and, if a mouse is available, its cursor (whether it is
currently displayed or not) will move to point at the object.

   When you exit the program (by hitting ESC or "q"), the current
settings are saved in the "STARINI.DAT" file; these will be used as the
defaults for the next STARWARE session.
______________________________________________________________________

FINAL THOUGHTS

   I started to develop this STARWARE program several years ago; it was
really just a way to learn C.  As things progressed, it turned out that
it was necessary to learn a bit about assembly language, EGA and VGA
graphics hardware, and an awful lot about astronomy.  (Often at a more
or less "cultural" level: what is the "right" way to draw the
constellations??)

   This has been, and will continue to be, a long-term project.  I've
thoroughly enjoyed developing the program and am very pleased with the
results.  I hope you will be too.

   Questions, comments, bug discoveries, are all welcome.  Please send
them to me at the address given earlier.

   Thanks.