Delphic Oracle Software Release Notes
Note: You can download the text only version of the shareware release notes which is more printer friendly.
=========================================================== Delphic Oracle v 6 - (32 bit) RELEASE NOTES =========================================================== This file contains important information. I recommend that you read this file in its entirety. This program calculates birth charts, and various methods useful to those studying the "System of Hermes" as reconstructed by Robert Schmidt. Schmidt's works are published by Project Hindsight / The Golden Hind Press. ----------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS ----------------------------------------------------------- -- WHAT'S NEW IN THIS VERSION -- INSTALLATION -- DELPHIC ORACLE KNOWN ISSUES -- ONLINE HELP -- ZOIDIASOFT ON THE WEB -- TECH SUPPORT -- CREDITS -- ORDERING ----------------------------------------------------------- WHAT'S NEW IN THIS VERSION ----------------------------------------------------------- Version 6.4.2.5 - Includes the Olson time zone update from 2013a. I also updated the Canada, Alaska, North Dakota and South Dakota CDS files with new time zone attributions. Version 6.4.2.4 - Thanks to Martijn van Bemmel, there is a new set of visually stunning professional icons in Delphic Oracle! The same graphic replaces the original (X) on my website for the high resolution display (1280 px and higher). Version 6.4.2.3 - This update completes the remaining GUI options that were left visible but not complete in earlier versions: Antiscia, Declination Parallels, Mundane Parallels and Rapt Parallels. This means that there are no visual elements left hanging which gives the appearance of completion. The four main direction types have been tested (thanks to Martin Gansten, Petr Radek and Trojan Kotnik) and the bugs have been worked through and corrected for the semi-arc method, circle of position, under the pole and topocentric directions (so far to my satisfaction) for both traditional and modern direction types. However, I think mundane directions should be tested more thoroughly. I have matching results from my work in Martin Gansten's course in both the test app and Delphic Oracle, but I'd like to see more examples tested to make sure there are no problems through all 4 quadrants with mundane directions. There are some abbreviations for the parallels that you should become familiar with: A || = this is a standard antiscia of a promissor directed to a significator (planet listed after ||). D || = this is a declination parallel of a given planet (planet listed after ||). There will typically be two of these unless a planet near the solstice is either above the ecliptic (summer) or below (winter) in which case the declination will not intersect the ecliptic anywhere. It is theoretically possible for there to be only 1, but such would have to intersect the ecliptic exactly on the solstice point which would be exceedingly rare. M || M = this is a mundane parallel to the meridian (either MC or IC). A planet will be listed next to this. M || H = this is a mundane parallel to the horizon (either Asc or Desc). Also will have a planet listed after this. R || Asc = this is a rapt parallel to the ascendant (with planet listed after). R || MC = this is a rapt parallel to the midheaven (with planet listed after). R || Desc = this is a rapt parallel to the descendant (with planet listed after). R || IC = this is a rapt parallel to the imum coeli (with planet listed after). Mundane aspects necessitate that the aspect be the fixed point in the direction. What this means is that if you have Aspects of Promissors to Significators checked, the promissor will be the fixed point in the direction which means that by the rules of calculation this is called a converse direction, so you will see all mundane directions listed as converse (or the conjunction as D/C). Traditionally though, this is a matter of point of view which can also be reversed. I have updated the Themes Tab to include basic direction types used throughout history so that one does not get too confused as to what was actually calculated and mix selections which can cause calculations to not match any authors preference (and therefore appear wrong). Part of the challenge is making sure that the options you select are appropriate for the direction type. For instance one could select Topocentric directions but calculate in zodiaco (no latitude) which can be done, but doesn't match what Kuhr did historically. Also one can select Ptolemaic semi-arc and calculate directions with latitude (when historically this was done only in the zodiac). This is why I created the Themes Tab so that by double clicking you will have selections that make sense for the historical period you are interested in. Of course you can stray from these predefined settings if you wish. Version 6.4.2.2 - The Fixed Stars section of the primary directions module has been linked up. Only conjunctions are allowed (no aspects). Latitude is used when ZP or ZL options are checked in the Time Lord System Options (F5). Latitude is always used in mundane directions. Therefore if you have mundane checked and ZP or ZL, you will end up with duplicates. Circumpolar stars will only calculate if you have the Z option checked. Because these stars never rise or set, directions which involve proportions of diurnal and nocturnal arcs cannot be calculated. Version 6.4.2.1 - Implemented Junctinus variation of annual divisions in the Time Lords form and in the Time Lords graph. The Graph version will require you to click the clear button in the Time Lord Settings window under Graph | Themes and you will see the new listing for annual divisions of Junctinus next to the other annual divisions in the left side listbox. Version 6.4.2.0 - Just some more tweaking of the Polich Page and Placidus under the Pole methods to reflect neo-converse conventions more accurately. Version 6.4.1.9 - Defaults have been re-organized in Primary Direction settings so that selections are not overridden when no option is selected until after verification that there is no selection for an option that must have a selection. Version 6.4.1.8 - Added mixed latitude options (Significator with latitude and promissor no latitude and vice versa) to the Primary Directions general tab along with the Kundig Key so that Polich Page topocentric directions can be calculated authentically. If there are any other direction types that use mixed latitude, let me know because this release only applies that option to the Polich Page method. There are two new abbreviations under M/Z to match this option: ZS = Zodiacal with latitude of significator (no latitude for promissor), ZP = Zodiacal with latitude for promissor (no latitude for significator). The directions through the bounds appear to be fixed for the southern hemisphere. To test this I used the Circumambulations through the ascendant and the values match to the date. The problem was the AD (ascensional difference) was negative in the southern hemisphere and the subsequent algorithm doubled the ascensional difference when it should have been canceled. The Placidus Under the Pole method has also been reworked (and debug data added). Along with this is another option to include debug data or exclude it in the Primary Directions general options. Version 6.4.1.7 - The Primary Directions component now has synchronized debug data which allows for checking of the calculations of every direction by clicking on the direction under the M/Z column. This same action will also calculate autogenerated charts for the date of the direction. In order to see the internal data, just grab the splitter control near the top of the window and drag down. You will see two memo fields filled with data (one for the significator and the other for the promissor). In the Derived charts window, there are now 2 new revolution types based upon Ile Spasev's article (http://beyondtheheaven.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/dividing- the-year-into-13-monthly-revolutions/). There is a 3rd type suggested there that isn't implemented but the two that are, are named Gauricus Monthly Revolution and Solar Monthly Profections. These are actually like return charts but the first one adds 28 days, 2 hours and 17 minutes which is a synodic cycle of the year divided by 13. The other is simply the addition of exactly 30 degrees to the Sun's position to get the chart of a monthly profection. In the Gauricus monthly revolution, you will be presented a dialog window after clicking OK in the Derived charts window so that you can add charts and modify the time zone which is critical to getting an accurate ascendant. Simply click on the chart(s) you are interested in and it will open the add chart you are already familiar with for setting up natal charts. It also allows you to filter out monthly revolution charts you aren't interested in. Version 6.4.1.5 - Neo Converse directions have been implemented in the main primariy direction types (except for Placidian Mundane directions for the time being). There is a new option called Neo Converse in the Primary Directions window. This will cause modern directions (both direct and converse) to be calculated and the text NC will show indicating that the direction is Neo Converse according to modern rules of directing. This is what you should select if you want to match values to Morinus software. Traditional converse directions are directions where the significator is moved with the diurnal rotation. Neo converse directions have been defined as directions against the diurnal rotation. The debug info has been split between significator and promissor in the primary directions window, but has still not been synchronized yet. To use this, the best option is to limit the number of directions calculated. It is used for values that are suspected to be in error and makes for easier cross checking. To show this in the main window, just grab the splitter near the top and drag it down, then double click under the M/Z column at left and it will show internal data calculated. The abbreviations are: Sig_ = this is the significator prefix with an underscore to indicate that it is an object of TDirectPoint. After the underscore is the name of the property. Pro_ = the same as above, but for the promissor object. Name (aspect only) = this is the aspect name. Since the significator or promissor can be any point, this is not specified here. Name (bounds only) = This is the name of the bound if this point happens to be one of the term boundaries, otherwise it will be blank. Quadrant = This is the quadrant of the significator or promissor such that below the horizon in the east = quadrant 1, above the horizon in the east is quadrant 2, above the horizon in the west is quadrant 3, and below the horizon in the west is quadrant 4. This is what makes directions for hundreds / thousands of years possible for use in mundane astrology. EclipticLat = Ecliptic latitude. EclipticLong = Ecliptic longitude. RA = Right Ascension. Decl = Declination. AD = Ascensional Difference. (difference between oblique and right ascension) ED = Equinoctial Difference. OA = Oblique Ascension. OD = Oblique Descension. MD = Meridian Distance. HD = Horizontal Distance. DSA = Diurnal Semi-Arc. NSA = Nocturnal Semi-Arc. PP = Pars Proportionalis (proportional point). ProjectedMD = Projected Meridian Distance. UMD = Upper Meridian Distance. X, Y, Z are circle of position / placidus under the pole, etc derived trigometric values used to find the pole in pole specific methods. Pole = The Pole of the direction in circle of position, placidus under the pole, etc. ADUnderPole = Ascensional Difference under the pole. OblUnderPole = This can be either Oblique Ascension under the pole or Oblique Descension under the pole depending upon quadrant. AspectQuad = This is the quadrant that a mundane aspect is found in used only in Placidian mundane directions. Antiscia = The Antiscia of the significator or promissor. DeclPll = Declination Parallel. MundaneMD = Mundane Meridian Distance (used in mundane directions). MundaneHD = Mundane Horizontal Distance (used in mundane directions). There is now a new checkbox in the Main Options (F3) under the Terran Atlas tab to turn off long Olson Time Zone rule labels. When checked, only the UTC offset will show in the chart display which cleans up the appearance considerably. This will not affect the labels in charts already created and saved to your databases. Version 6.4.1.4 - The calculation of sect of the planets has been modified to add the medieval sect consideration (what Schmidt calls rejoicing conditions related to sect) to the chart hover over hints (the data that shows when you hover your mouse over a chart glyph). This includes the new field "medieval sect" with values of Hayz, Ex Conditione, and Mixed. There is also a special algorithm for finding the sect of Mercury based upon his common nature to both sects which is modified when it comes into contact with planets according to their sect affiliation. This option is on the Hellenistic tab of the main options on the new Sect tab and it only includes Mercury's conjunction with Jupiter, Saturn and Venus, Mars. The Sun and Moon are excluded from this calculation due to the frequency of the occurrence (Sun) and the fact that the Moon applies to Mercury, but not the other way around (unless retrograde). In the primary directions module I added debug info to the main window (grab the splitter at the top and drag it down to see the debug memo). The data arrays aren't synchronized yet, so double clicking on a direction will not give results for that direction yet, but I hastened this release for the other features above. Version 6.4.1.3 - Added dates and values for greatest elongation for Mercury and Venus in the Reports window (last group at bottom left). First set up a chart that represents the start date for calculating greatest elongation of Mercury and Venus from the Sun. Then go to the Reports window and click on the Greatest Elongation tool button or select it from the menu. The length of the report is determined by your selection in the Main Options (F3) under Graphic Ephemeris tab | Main tab (the bottom spin edit field which also controls heliacal phenomena report). The accuracy of the data is to within the hour. Calculations are monitored by a progress bar that allows canceling and the first entry is not actually a greatest elongation, but the elongation at birth. Version 6.4.1.2 - Directions through the bounds was plagued by an improper initialization of the internal DateTime component which assigns quadrants to all directions. The bound routines were set up out of sequence. Also the geographic latitude was masked internally by the default value of 43N27. This appears to be fixed. Version 6.4.1.1 - Forgot to link up the ayanamsa for directing through the bounds so I set this up. Version 6.4.0.2 - This update includes directions through the bounds for all direction types and all bound types (Egyptian, Ptolemaic, Valens and Chaldean). It will follow the selected bound type showing in the main chart (Main Options | Dignities - F3). If you want to follow the tradition of Ptolemy for instance, and direct a planet through the bounds, select that planet under the significators list and then select bounds / terms under promissors. If you also want to see the rays cast by other promissors to that planet, select the aspects desired and then select the planets desired under the promissors list. If one planet is selected as a significator, then this will show a very similar format to what I have done in the time lords section with the Circumambulations technique of Dorotheus, except it will represent Ptolemaic directions for a given subject. Once you have set up a group of selections the way you want them shown, save these as a theme under the themes tab. Just type in a theme name and click the Add button. All you need to do to get all your setting back for a given tradition is double click on the theme you want to restore. The directions will list the Sign first and then the bound second in the promissors list (such as Virgo Saturn, but using glyphs). The significator will be the fixed point in the direction. To my understanding, there has been no such thing as converse directions through the bounds, but if someone can point out otherwise it would be no problem adding them. Aspects to bounds have not been implemented for the same reasons. At this point all directions through the bounds are direct so it makes no difference what type of direction you have selected in the Primary directions window at this point. Directions through the bounds, while typically zero latitude, do use latitude for the significator if you have that option selected under either the Mundane or Zodiacal direction options. The cancel button has been enabled so you can cancel calculations of long direction lists. Version 6.4.0.1 - Includes several new options in regards to primary directions which are based upon Dr. Martin Gansten's PDDC course and Ed Falis's Astroframes program. Thanks to Dr. Martin Ganstin and Ed Falis for making this possible. First, this update isn't quite complete, but I wanted it available to help test some results. This update follows the same conventions that Martin Gansten outlines in his course and so far uses the traditional meanings of direct and converse. Later there will also be a neo-converse option for modern direction types. There are some symbols you should be aware of and I have made the following abbreviations which show in the direction list output: Under M/Z: M = Mundane (this is classical mundane direction and aspects are cast from the fixed point always as this was the convention of Placidus. Here direct and converse is a matter of perspective since the fixed point must always cast the aspect, if the aspect is the promissor, then the direction is converse. Likewise if the fixed point happens to be the significator, this is direct. If you have "aspects of significators" checked, then the significator must be the fixed point in the direction which means that it is a direct direction. Aspects of promissors generate converse directions. Ignore the direct/converse drop down list in this case since whether you want direct directions or converse depends only upon whether you have these two checkboxes checked at bottom right of the Selections tab. MM = This is a mundane direction according to Magini who cast aspects in right ascension measured along the equator instead of the ecliptic. Note that in many cases there will be duplicates where directions match. This is because there are situations where latitude in zodiaco and mundane are the same definition. They differ though when it comes to aspect calculations and when their definitions of latitude differ. Z = This is a zodiacal direction with no latitude. It was the most favored direction type of antiquity (Ptolemy) and was typically used with the Ptolemy key. ZL = This is zodiacal with latitude. Here this will be the same as mundane conjunction, but when aspects are cast, they are cast along the small circle parallel to the ecliptic. ZB = This is zodiacal direction according to the method of Bianchini in assigning latitude. As for the Significator and Promissor columns, I have reversed these to fall more in line with Gansten's conventions for naming directions so that you can read it in order. The significator of a direction is always listed first and the promissor last. Saying that Sun to the conjunction of Mars is not a statement about the motion of the sky. It is traditionally a statement of astrological import similar to the relationship of a subject to a direct object. Under the D/C column: D = Direct C = Converse D/C = direct or converse (only happens in placidian mundane conjunctions) NC = Neo Converse (not available yet) Under the date column you have the ability to select short or long date format. Long date format includes the time of day (UTC). Julian Date is the julian date number. I include this column so that you can have a true date sort by clicking on the header. Under the Type column: PSA = Proportional Semi-Arc method of Ptolemy (this is also sometimes called the Placidian semi-arc method). RPC = Regiomontanus Position Circle method (aka circle of position method or the rational method) PUP = Placidus Under the Pole - this is a curve fit that Placidus invented which is meant to approximate the PSA method that is mathematically more elegant. PPT = Polich-Page Topocentric method. Under the Key column is the key used to translate the adjacent AOD (arc of direction) into a date: Ptolemy = 1 degree is 1 year Naibod = average daily motion of the Sun is the rate of travel (as a yearly constant). Placidus = average daily motion averaged over the arc of direction (requires iteration). Brahe = average daily motion of the Sun on the birth date in question is the rate of travel. In the Time Lord System Options (F5) there is a new Fixed Stars tab. Ignore it for now until I've finished linking it to the primary directions component. There are several new checkboxes on the Selections tab which match what I've alrerady mentioned above; the houses as significators is now operational, but I have yet to link directions to bounds, antiscia, or fixed stars. The mundane and rapt parallels are also not finished. You should also be aware that selecting too many directions will slow down calculations. This is why I have included a progress bar to the right on the main direction window. I have not included the Cancel button yet because it is not fully operational (setting the listview back into proper order after endupdate). When it comes to primary directions, less is definitely more. Selecting every option available will generate a huge list that will be impossible to navigate. The reason for all the options is to cover the entire range of directions historically used by various astrologers through history. In their own practice, they never used all the options available to you now, but selected what was important for the subject matter they were looking at. I suggest you do the same. The Themes tab is there for this purpose and it will group settings according to various astrological traditions throughout history. I will set these groups in a default arrangement when this module is finished according to author (Ptolemy, Lilly, Regiomontanus, Placidus, etc). Version 6.3.0.2 - Fixed a minor bug that prevented 3rd, 7th, and 40th days of the Moon derived charts from being calculated. Version 6.3.0.1 - The Chaldean confines are now in the chart wheel display and in time lords sequences. This bound type is dependent upon the sect of the chart where Mercury or Saturn switch positions in the signs depending upon chart sect. The diurnal places Saturn first, then Mercury, whereas the nocturnal will place Mercury first, then Saturn. This also includes the updated Olson time zone database files 2012f - 2012j. I have included about 1100 fixed stars which is part of the asteroid report. One can filter asteroids, hypotheticals, planets and stars into or out of the report entirely. They can be sorted by location in the zodiac by clicking on the header labeled "Ecl. Frac" or according to the criterion of all other headers. There is also the ability to exclude stars that are fainter than a user defined magnitude or stars that have a declination or ecliptic latitude greater than a certain number. A magnitude of 1.5 will give the 4 royal stars which is the default. Some stars have a name and a nomenclature name and others just have a nomenclature name which follows the convention of a Greek letter followed by the constellation abbreviation such as "alTau" which is "alpha Taurus". Alpha is by convention the brightest star and following in alphabetical order per constellation. This report is useful for determining which stars, planets, etc are in close conjunction. The fixed stars module comes with an updated Swiss Ephemeris dll and was a necessary precursor to the coming update in the primary directions module which will include all direction types up to the modern era. Version 6.2.2.3 - Changed the prenatal lunation calculation to handle lunations that happen very close to the 0 Aries point so that it can handle lunations that happen to fall very close to that point. Version 6.2.2.2 - Includes the changes from the Olson database 2012d and 2012e. Bumped up font sizes a bit in the wizards. Version 6.2.1.8 - Included user defined point for circumambulation technique (through the rays and bounds) so lots of various types can be directed. This can be found in the time lords list window under System of Hermes menu. The reorganization of the GUI sets the general period toolbar above the sub period toolbar. Version 6.2.1.7 - Fixed bug at end of array of planetary rays that duplicated the last list item. Also fixed a few more spellings at the request of Ben Dykes. Version 6.2.1.6 - Includes the distributions of the solar revolution method using oblique ascensions at the request of Benjamin Dykes, PhD. This follows the same window format as Al Firdaria and Primary directions except that chart selection is not present, but implied based upon what charts are showing in the main window. To get solar revolutions, first set up a solar return and display the chart. The first combo box titled "Chart Selections" offers "Solar Return Only" or "Solar Return to Natal". With the first selection you only need to display the solar return chart in the main window, select the directed point to direct to solar return positions and click the calculate button. When the "Solar Return to Natal" option is selected in "Chart Selections", you need to display a bi-wheel (press Ctrl + W) and place a natal chart inside and the solar return on the outside. The directed point is then a point from the solar return directed to natal positions. The calculations use oblique ascensions in scaling encounters of aspects, terms and sign boundaries and include the option to use latitude for planets not on the ecliptic. This affects only bodily encounters since aspect rays are automatically reduced to ecliptic positions at this point. When one selects user defined point from the directed point list (last item), the degree, sign, minute and label fields become enabled. Just select the degree and minute to direct and enter a label. For example if this is the lot of the father, then enter "Father" and a typical direction will look like "Father -> dex squ Sun". There are also several new GUI Styles that have been added which puts the library at well over 30 styles. Version 6.2.1.3 - Includes Olson time zone updates for 2012c. I have fixed the scrolling for the transit delineations and made the transit interface match Timaeus which had a superior arrangement. Version 6.2.1.2 - Includes Olson time zone updates for 2012b. America/Creston was added to the Olson time zone override rules as well as the main database. Version 6.2.1.1 - There are numerous improvements in this version. I have added GUI Styles to the user interface which can be found at the top of the group bar on the left of the main window. There are 26 different styles and they are far reaching affecting the appearance of every control except for your user defined themes. Upon switching styles, the main window brings up the chart designer to confirm if you want to change your color theme to match. Click Apply or Save and you have a completely changed theme. Also, I have extended the range of heliacal phenomena reports to iterate for up to 110 years. This is an extensive calculation, so a progress bar will show when starting the calculation. I have mimicked a separate thread in the application by adding the application.processmessages line inside the calculation loop so the application doesn't hang while this is being processed. I have replaced the Gif Image unit by Anders Melander with the Jpeg unit so now html reports use true color Jpg's for chart images which significantly improves the appearance of the reports. A brief flash of the preview will show when generating html reports which is part of the image generating process now and eliminates the need for the user to update settings to fit the screen one is using (in the past failure to do this resulted in the image being partially cut off). Jpgs take longer to generate than gif images so be a little more patient while the shell brings up the default browser. The main font used by Delphic Oracle and Timaeus is now part of the Swiss Ephemeris install so that it is not downloaded twice. Version 6.1.0.8 - Added filters for the planetary day and hour to the Chart Design component so that these properties don't show in the Chart Designer. There's no harm in showing them, but you don't need to edit these and it only introduces complexity for the end user so these are filtered out for the sake of simplicity. I also fixed a bug in the Kurios Wizard where strings were not properly formatted causing incorrect read of Universal Hermetics Report. They should now match in content. Version 6.1.0.7 - Changed the Tokelau time zone (Pacific/Fakaofo) to make the date switch concurrent with West Samoa (Pacific/Apia). I have been tinkering with Primary directions (fixing the spelling in the link in the main group bar) and working to optimize the code. Also fixed spelling for Philippines lookup (using PH for country abbreviation bypasses this problem, but now it will work for the long spelling as well). Version 6.1.0.6 - Added an editable name for Derivative charts that gives a unique name for iterations of returns. There is a new edit field for suggested name and doing successive charts after the first one will append a number so that these can be saved to one of your database files (*.zcf). Clicking on a return type will give new suggestions for a name which you can edit to make shorter or add details. Version 6.1.0.5 - Added Significator aspects to Promissors to Primary Directions routines which is the other half Promissor aspects to Significators. Selecting all calculation options can result in significant hang time so the next step is to add a progress bar. I have therefore disabled automatic calculation upon showing the Primary Direction window to avoid unnecessary calculations, but keep in mind that changing the Chart combo box to switch between charts will generate a calculation so it is unnecessary to recalculate. Also corrected the link for upgrades on the Help | About page. Version 6.1.0.4 - Includes the ability to capture the screen as a JPEG image with function shortcut (F7) by providing a file name and saving it to your HD. This function can also be found under the view menu. I have also added the planetary day and hour to the chart info in both the standard and square chart view. Version 6.1.0.3 - Includes the update from Olson zone file 2011n which includes the changes for Cuba DST and Fiji. I have also fixed a bug that affected the circumambulation through the bounds for users of sidereal zodiac. The earlier versions added the ayanamsha twice ignoring the initial planet position which caused tropical sequences to be used. This has been fixed in this version. Version 6.1.0.2 - Includes the update based upon the Olson zone files from 2011j - 2011m. Have added 3 new zones to the Time Zone override button (Europe/Tiraspol, Africa/Juba, Asia/Hebron). Version 6.1.0.1 - Reset the default firdar options to Abu-Mashar and made GUI improvements to the Alfirdaria and Main windows. Version 6.0.0.6 - Added the Al-firdaria time lord procedure of the Arabs with option to change between 2 types of nocturnal sequences based upon ambiguity in medieval texts about where the place the nodes. Includes the ability to cross reference period onset dates to what is happening with transits and progressions of various types you specify by clicking on the period label in the list view. Includes printing and acrobat file generation and covers a span of time of over 2000 years for research in mundane astrology. Version 6.0.0.5 - Corrects the LMT bug that Michael Sinclair pointed out and adds the changes to the Olson time zones listed in 2011i. Version 6.0.0.4 - I set the zodiac mode to be checked at the time of chart calculation so that one does not have to restart the program to use the new zodiac. I have also added a change in the Terran Atlas for location lookups in Arizona (which uses Arkansas by mistake when filter mode is used). Version 6.0.0.3 - I have added the option to switch planetary hour type. The one based upon sect has been the standard in Timaeus and Delphic Oracle for years (Bonatti) but I've been hearing that although that was the theory, that the actual practice was to use the day lord (planet that goes about) for 24 hours until the next day lord takes over the following sunrise. This is the 2nd option named after Lilly, but I'm sure it was in practice before him. This can be found on the new Medieval Tab in the general options (F3) in Delphic Oracle and on the Options tab | General Tab in Timaeus. ** Version 6.0.0.2 - Includes the changes to the Russian time zones. Russia abolished daylight saving time so all zones will stay in their current time without changes until the next politician comes along. ** Version 6.0.0.1 - The second version of the Terran Atlas with 13 million records and 700 different location types for 250 countries has now been integrated into Delphic Oracle. You will still have to download and install the standalone version of the Terran Atlas (2.0). I have also worked on the rectification toolbar which updates the date and time in the chart window now. Before, only the toolbar indicated the date and time of the chart while the natal data was still in place which could be confusing to some users. There is a migration tool to help you move your chart files (it is not necessary to do this and perfectly acceptable to leave your chart files in the old directories) and/or your registry settings. It is highly recommended that you bring over your registry settings from version 5 to 6. This same tool also works for updating from Timaeus 7 to version 8. The Derivative Charts window has been enhanced to do planetary returns of all kinds for up to 100 returns. Obviously if doing Pluto returns, the range of the Swiss Ephemeris will be exceeded so in these cases those charts will not calculate planet positions. I have also made it impossible to edit charts of certain types such as solar returns. The Graphic Ephemeris has also been improved with persistent image spacing through docking and window resize operations so you no longer have to hit the redraw button to see the graph when switching between windows or resizing the graph. I have also added a 45 degree dial to the graph options. I have made numerous changes in the main window and docking procedures. Users have the option of which windows to dock or float free. This setting is in the main program options (F3) on the new Docking Tab. It is similar to the Autogenerated Charts Tab in function where you drag windows from one side to the other to indicate whether it is a docked or floating window. I changed both tabs so that clicking the Save button at the bottom saves these defaults (or one could use the save button placed between the lists). Be aware that if you drag a window from docked status to floating, a program restart is required for the system to update (dragging from floating to docked does not require this). The opened chart list is no longer at top right. I have placed this at top left above the group bar panel. There was a splitter between the Medieval and Hellenistic sections and I have placed these in the same group bar and placed the opened chart list above the splitter. There is no memo anymore that displays chart details. It wasn't necessary to take up the extra space, because simply clicking on a chart once displays the chart details in the popup hint (double clicking displays the chart wheel). There were too many splitters in the main window, so now it is down to 3 splitters. The group bar has been color coordinated and you will notice several small changes in toolbar glyphs that helps the visual appearance. Most of these icons are from http://www.aha-soft.com and some are combinations of icons placed together from free icon sources. Also, for a long time now I've been wishing to have the ability to update the transits on the fly without displaying current time lords and now there is an extra toolbutton placed to the current time lords toolbutton near the transit animation controls. In the Miscellaneous Reports, I have fixed the spacing of text columns for the lots so they fall correctly in the rich edit memo pad (which users can edit). I also fixed a small bug in the Time Lords Graph where the clear button would become disabled if the window was hidden by docking another window in its place. The Chart Designer Themes tab mirrors the 4 previous tabs (Wheels, Visibility, Colors, Glyphs) and there is a sub tab by the same name for each of these main tabs. All 4 of these used to be on the same Themes tab with a listbox split up by dividers, but users with small screens had a difficult time seeing the flattened controls so each now has a tab for itself. When you work on Wheel settings on the top level tab of the Chart Designer, then you go to the Themes | Wheels to save (or restore) these settings as a group. The same can be done with the other 3 main tabs. Themes are a convenient way to group settings so that you no longer have to set 20 - 80 controls every time you want to switch. Set up a theme and save it, and the next time you double click that theme all of the associated values will be brought back and used by the program. I have changed all splitter styles in to ssGroupBar and extended the grabber areas to maximum which gives a more streamlined appearance. There have been a number of zone changes that have taken place during the equinox to Alaska, Russia, Chile, Turkey and a number of smaller countries. I have finished the new section on the essential dignities which includes full tabulation calculation of the almutem figuris according to Ibn Ezra, an essential dignities table that calculates almutens for the house cusps and planets, etc... The degree attributions of Bonatti have also been added to the essential dignities table (bright, dark, smoky, empty, welled/pitted, azemena, degrees of increasing fortune and masculine and feminine degrees which Bonatti used primarily for horary. Acrobat and printing routines for the almutem figuris and essential dignities tables have been finished. ** Version 5.2.4.5 - This version saves the column widths for the primary direction list view window. You can hover your mouse on the header divider and drag and it will remember the widths of these headers when you close or hide the window. ** Version 5.2.4.4 - I have added Acrobat file generation and printing for the primary direction listings. I recommend using the Acrobat function if you have your printer set to print all pages so that you can specify which pages to print because listings can go beyond 100+ pages quite easily. The calculation still needs a progress bar for calculations because in some cases it can take more than a minute to complete if you have everything selected and you generate primary directions for 5,000+ years. I corrected a minor bug in the selection of the primary directions that didn't filter out oppositions when unselected. ** Version 5.2.4.1 - This update includes primary directions according to the Placidus semi-arc method. Hovering over the M/Z (Mundane/Zodiacal) column will highlight the direction and clicking on an item in this column will create autogenerated charts according to your autogenerated settings so that you can compare transits, progressions, etc to the current directional arc. Clicking on a column header will sort according to the contents of that header, so you can sort by significator, promissor, julian date, etc... There has also been a new time zone added to the Olson time zone database (America/North Dakota/Beluah) because of the change from mountain to standard time for Mercer county. You will see the new zone in the Olson time zone override window (button to the far right of the time field). ** Version 5.2.3.4 - There has been an update to the Olson database with regard to Hawaii rules during world war II so the CMDateTime component has been updated to include the changes which is part of delphicoracle.exe. If you already have the database files for cities (downloaded Terran Atlas 1.1.1.1 or later) then all you need is Delphic Oracle install. The exception is if you use the stand alone version, then terranatlas.exe should be downloaded as well. The time zone information is part of the date time component so that you can skip downloading the massive city database which rarely changes. ** Version 5.2.3.3 - I fixed a bug in calculation of some of the Hermetic lots that affects certain charts depending upon your other lot options. The case where a double reversal is not considered a conceptual problem has been reinstated in these cases. ** Version 5.2.3.2 - I've added a crosshair to the time lord graph so that viewing concurrent time lord sequences in parallel can be more precisely defined as a guide for your eye. The time split line representing the crosshair will change orientation to either horizontal or vertical depending upon your graph orientation. I removed the date setting and now require that graphs start with the birth date, but I have increased the range of calculation to a max of 300 years. The limitations are based upon memory and a maximum calculation span for circumambulations which is 360 years. Depending upon the resources of your system, your actual calculation span may vary. Most systems should have no trouble maxing this range out. ** Version 5.2.3.1 - When editing the Terran Atlas database I disabled the search timer for smoother operation. You must keep the database in read only mode to do lookups. This helps stave off the possibility of data corruption should you hit the navigation edit buttons by accident, etc. I also updated the DateTime class property DateStyle so that it updates the Terran Atlas accordingly with the same date style used in the rest of the program. ** Version 5.2.2.3 - I've included the Olson TZ definitions from version 1.1.2.2 of the Terran Atlas in this version of Delphic Oracle which reflects minor changes - see the Terran Atlas readme for details. ** Version 5.2.2.2 - I've tightened up the data associations between the Canada file and the Olson time zone database to use all zones that were created rather than using a default zone based upon the most populated areas. Some countries do not have a one to one correspondence between region number or province name to zone rule and had to be searched using localization routines. There are a few areas like this such as Indiana, Idaho, eastern Oregon, etc. At this point this makes the associations fairly tight (within about 5-10 miles in most cases) except for regions that are in extreme northern latitudes 70N or 70S. Since so few people live in these areas, it isn't much of a problem, but if the location gives the wrong zone rule, there is the option to override the Olson time zone using the button attached to the far right of the time edit field. ** Version 5.2.1.2 - I have made small changes in the way search is done on the default location so that the focus doesn't force a duplicate check on a location. ** Version 5.2.1.1 - This release contains the integrated version of the Terran Atlas database. You will need to download the standalone version of the Terran Atlas to use it in Delphic Oracle because this install doesn't contain the database files. See the Terran Atlas readme file for information on how to use the Atlas search modes. There is a new Terran Atlas Tab in the Main Options (F3) which allows you to switch primary Atlas, whether to place the database in edit mode, whether to show the Olson database time zone messages and a path to the atlas files. There are actually 2 directories (unicode and ansicode) for each version of the Atlas. The unicode version has special characters which might make data hard to find unless you have a special keyboard (to type umlauts and such). If you don't want to type in special characters, then don't change the default directory. ** Version 5.1.2.3 - Fixed bug that caused some Solar Arc directions to go backwards. Added the ability to print sorted asteroid lists and create Acrobat files. I've been working on the accuracy of return charts in the Derivative charts dialog window and added the topocentric option. Geocentric lunar returns and topocentric lunar returns for the natal location will work fine, but generating a relocated topocentric lunar return will show a position of the Moon that is not quite that of birth but may be derived from the topocentric lunar position at birth at the relocated nativity. I will have to check into this further with the debugger. ** Version 5.1.2.2 - Fixed a bug that prevented lot lists and Aspects to be printed as Acrobat files together. I've also brought transit delineations from Timaeus to Delphic Oracle. I am working to make these delineations come up as specific to the rulers of a given house. For now they are lumped together, but in a future version the text selection will be specific to the house ruler. For now you just need to know which planets rule a given house in your chart and look in the generated list of all 12 houses. ** Version 5.1.1.0 - There is a new data window that shows ecliptic latitude, speed, right ascension, etc for all of the planets and currently 108 asteroids. The lists will sort when clicking on the header column. For instance, clicking on the speed column will sort asteroids or planets from fast to slow, or clicking on ecliptic longitude will sort according to longitude, etc. The asteroid database is a fully customizable, user defined database that is capable of calculating all asteroids for which there are ephemeris files which you can download by FTP from the Astrodienst website (www.astro.com). See the help file for details on how to add new asteroids to the database and download files by FTP (there is a help button in the lower database section for this). Because the update needs the files for the 108 asteroids, you need to download the new ephemeris installation from your registered users page which has also been updated to include these files. ** Version 5.1.0.9 - Added the AutoSizeFont property to the chart designer (F2). When set to True (default), this has the effect of automatically setting the font sizes for all your glyphs in the chart display based upon a number of screen factors. Most of the time, this will be satisfactory, but if you wish to tweak the sizes, then you need to set AutoSizeFont = False so that your values will not be overwritten. Make sure you click Apply or Save at the bottom of the Chart Designer to keep these values. In the Database window, I have added code to match the column widths for the search and chart database data and these will remain consistent when you resize columns. ** Version 5.1.0.8 - Fixed minor bug at the bottom of Universal Hermetics report that showed glyphs without using the Astro font. A few shortcuts have been changed such as Ctrl + V which should be reserved for pasting but brought up print preview. Print Preview no longer has a shortcut. Also removing charts from the list used to be <Ctrl + Del> and now it is simply the delete key by itself. I also made the Chart File Manager a little more intuitive by placing the save functions at the top and the new database creation at the bottom of the window. A significant change is now in place regarding UAC (User Account Control) that will allow users to install to the Program Files directory that involves setting the execution level as "invoker" internally which is standard practice in Vista and Windows 7. The Rave Engine printing procedures required installation to the Users Documents folder because the print.rav file was not picking up the path to the chart image for printing and Acrobat file generation. I solved this by hard coding the path to the bitmap within the print.rav file under the Users Public folder: C:\Users\Public\Zoidiasoft Technologies\Delphic Oracle 5\chart.bmp instead of using Param.Bitmap datafield assignment (or FileLink) which wasn't working from the RvProject component. The users .zcf files (chart database files) have been moved down one directory under \Zoidiasoft Technologies \Delphic Oracle 5\Files in a default install. Users do not need to change existing database files to fit unless they want to. You can create your own databases in multiple directories as long as they are not in secure zones on your PC. I removed the confusing Chart File dialog creation that required you to click OK allowing a potential name change which was bad practice and now it simply creates the file as long as it is a unique file name and gives feedback about where it was created immediately after. If you want to change existing database files over to the new default location, first make a backup copy of your existing chart (*.zcf) files. You can either do this manually using windows explorer or use the Chart | Database | Backup function. Then you can copy these files over to the new location. Last go into Chart | SaveAs and delete the file paths that you no longer need. The Backup function will create backup files by the same name, except that it uses a .bak extension. Simply renaming to use a .zcf extension will make the file work as a .zcf file. Alternatively, you can use the Chart | Database | Restore function and it will do this automatically. Be careful with restore! This will overwrite any changes that you've made since the last restore and you could potentially lose data. There is an over-write prompt to keep you from doing this accidentally. ** Version 5.1.0.7 - Finished the print and Acrobat routines for the square chart view. Discovered the problem that some people are having with printing and this has to do with the Rave print engine. There is a fix for this. See the FAQ on my site for more information on how to fix your printer errors. ** Version 5.1.0.6 - Fixed bug in the HTML report that caused broken images in the Lot List. ** Version 5.1.0.5 - Added China Coast time to user defined time zones and added an Autolookup checkbox for the ACS Atlas in the Locations window (F4). ** Version 5.1.0.4 - Made changes to the window docking routines to make better use of space. ** Version 5.1.0.3 - Made minor modification to the print routines to make sure that only print.rav in the root directory is used (not the Acrobat directory). ** Version 5.1.0.2 - I accidentally included the full path to the help file but should have used the relative path. Context sensitive help has been fixed in this version. IMPORTANT! ---------- Petri Laakso points out that the chart database files were overwritten with the new install. I will have to include a backup routine for updates to Delphic Oracle. For now, if you have any charts saved to .zcf files, make sure you go to that directory (using windows explorer) and copy the *.zcf files (such as natal.zcf) to an alternate location before you re-install. After re-install, copy those files back overwriting the new files. I have now checked "never overwrite" and "permanent" in the InstallShield properties for the database files, but just in case you should back these up until I write a routine that will do this. ** Version 5.1.0.1 - This version has a complete help file in html help format, a complete index, is searchable and has a table of contents. This file has about 400 topics and is organized in 2 sections: how to and reference. The reference section starts with a broad overview and then each function on the main menu is explained in the section listed under the sub menu which makes knowing where to look much easier. Of course the help file is context sensitive and linked to each window of the application. Just press F1 and the focus will tell where to open the help file to. It is also Vista compatible. ** Version 5.0.2.5 - Updated the components in the Default Location window to include button edit fields (buttons attached to edit fields). It also now returns the Place name after doing an ACS Atlas lookup. I am currently writing help files in HTML format which are also context sensitive. Main Group Bar now also retains styles between sessions. ** Version 5.0.2.4 - Fixed bug in main statusbar which sets the font to make astrological characters unrecognizable. The miscellaneous reports have also been updated with correct character recognition for the dignities, eminence sections, etc. Toolbars still need work to prevent resize problems - I recommend opening this section with the docked tab area maximized for best effect for now. ** Version 5.0.2.3 - Added a popup menu for delineations of chart positions to the main chart viewer tab. You can right click the chart to get delineations of planet positions. Added a few new color themes and settings. Fixed bug in the lunar monomoiria and 9 years of the Moon procedures that showed no glyph for Capricorn (9 years method) and did not correctly initialize the lunar monomoiria method. I also initialized the print preview function so that it will show a Gif image upon showing the window. It will also automatically size the window to be large enough to be able to show the main chart image in WYSIWYG format (What You See Is What You Get). If the image is too large and you want it to be smaller so that the extra space isn't added to the graphic, then drag the window to be the same size as the chart and if it is too small, it will automatically correct to include all graphic memory. ** Version 5.0.2.2 - Fixed bug that prevented transfer of decimal coordinates for latitude and longitude from the Locations window and the Derivative charts window. Also fixed icon alignment so that image indexes make proper sense for the procedure it initiates. Calendar window and Reports window are 2 examples. Reset default size of aspectarian so that it is smaller for first time users. I also fixed the preview of the ascendant and midheaven degrees in the new chart setup window so that the glyph for Capricorn will show up (according to date style) such that European format will show the medieval cap glyph and American date style will show modern Capricorn glyph. ** Version 5.0.2.1 - Fixed bug that prevented charts from being retained for the next user session. The file was saved to the wrong directory because of a missing "\". ** Version 5.0.2.0 - Aspect and Testimony lines are now drawn for the asHellenistic AspectStyle property of the AspectWheel. The asShowAll shows platic (sign based only) aspects and the sign ascensions in the middle of the wheel. The asPlatic style shows sign based aspects (or testimony) and also shows separating (divergent) configurations. The asShowAscensions shows only the ascensional times without aspect lines. At this time, the asHellenistic style does not show "outside the sign" aspects if any exist and does not restrict the Moon's orb to a "day and a night". I also updated the Chart Designer Apply button to show a message dialog to let you know when default settings have been set. Fixed bug in Circumambulations time lord procedure that set the first bound lord incorrectly in the time lord listings, time lord graph and current time lord listing. ** Version 5.0.1.8 - Fixed bug in the PNA that caused planets that were in their own places or places of a sect mate to be in alien places. Also rescaled the printing so that glyphs in the planet wheel and house wheel have better collision avoidance. ** Version 5.0.1.7 - Added version 2.0 of the Swiss Eph Dll and moved the whole sign houses selection over to the main options (F3). The Krusinski-Pisa dynamical divisions were added as a result of this. Also, there was no longer a need for the whole sign checkbox in the window where wheel setups are done. To enable the house numbering drop down list in the wheel setup, you will have to select the whole sign house system under the dynamical divisions on the general tab of the main options (F3). ** Version 5.0.1.6 - Routed the direct printing from the main window to the output printer so that printing works without having to generate a PDF file to print. Print preview however still needs work. ** Version 5.0.1.5 - Compiled a new version of the windows installer for users of Vista, Xp and Win 2000 using the old InstallShield application. This installation is a solid one and will work on all 3 OS's. A system restart is required. Ignore the check for updates (uncheck this box) on the last page of the installation. You might want to uninstall the InstallAware version to save space if you already downloaded version 5+, but that is not required. I added the ability to seek current paths that are needed after installation to update the chart database directories, Html / Printing directories and the root and retained charts directory. These buttons can be found on the Paths Tab of the General Options (F3). One should be careful not to use the Rewrite Chart Database button (there is a dialog to prevent accidental clicks) unless one is sure they want to redo the database. If you use this, it will wipe out the links to databases you created. Chart files that you saved to existing databases will be the only ones spared. This button is for users who are having difficulty setting up the correct paths. If this is the first time installing version 5 then directory setting is handled automatically if you accept the default installation location. If not, you will want to use the Seek Current Paths feature. ** Version 5.0.1.2 - Fixed bug in Nautical Metaphor Wizard where wrong font was used. Linked rectification tool to the lot listings so rectified values will show up in the printout and Acrobat reports. ** Version 5.0.1.1 - Finished Acrobat output for the Lot Listings. Set EmbedFont property in the Rave reporting engine to true. Updated Chr() defaults in CMChartData to the current font. Now saves the columns[0].width property in the ListView component for the lots when closed and restores the width when open to whatever width you set the columns so that the setting is persistent. ** Version 5.0.0.8 - Added sorting to the Lot Listings using the ListView component. Click on the columns to do an alphasort for that column. The Ecliptic Longitude gives real values for the positions of the lots and will sort in true numeric fashion. I still have to modify the Acrobat output and printing to reflect the new sorting. I've also been hunting for vestiges of AztroZoidsoft.ttf settings in components which may not be on your machine because I changed this to AstroZT.ttf. If you find any more odd looking glyphs in any areas of the program, let me know. ** Version 5.0.0.7 - Fixed bug that didn't allow an override of the ACS Atlas when the zone button is pressed. ** Version 5.0.0.6 - Fixed bug in the registration routine that would not allow users to upgrade which would cause program to seize after 30 days. ** Version 5.0.0.5 - Fixed bug in the main status bar that prevented display of the astrological font. Color coordinated all 3 display types for the Group Bar and added a new Chart group to the group bar which matches the Chart menu function. Finished linking reports sub menu in the main menu. Printing works for circular charts, but not for square charts (not programmed yet). ** Version 5.0.0.1 - This is nearly a complete overhaul of the previous version at the deepest levels. Written in D2009, it is Unicode compliant which means that foreign language versions of this program can be made available in the future. The ACS Atlas lookups now use the wide character format instead of the old ASCII format. The ChartWheel Designer allows the modification of wheels, visibility, colors and glyphs and draws up to 4 wheels at a time. You can specify how far out from the center you want the wheels to be with the InnerRingRadius and OuterRingRadius properties and you can also determine whether these are visible at all. You can generate many types of chart displays just by using some wheel types (making them visible) and hiding the ones you don't want visible. For example to get a modern wheel I hid the sign, tick and bound wheels and in the HouseWheel, set ShowSignGlyphs to true (and Whole sign houses to false in the wheel setup dialog - CTRL + W). Once all the properties are set for a given wheel type (uni-wheel, bi-wheel, etc) you should go to the Wheels Tab and specify a wheel theme, making sure to select the correct wheel type for your intended theme. That way, you can get these settings back just by double clicking on a saved wheel theme and clicking apply. The next time you draw the wheel it will be done with the settings for that wheel type. The Visibility Tab gets rid of the checkboxes using two listboxes one with the selected planets and points and one with unselected planets and points, just drag between or select and press the left or right arrow buttons. The Glyphs Tab allows you to select the glyphs (or pictures) you want to use for your planets, signs, etc. On the Wheels Tab of the ChartWheel Designer at the top, select the wheel type you want to work on. This will take several seconds to load the properties and you will see a label to the right of the categorize checkbox indicating what wheel type has been loaded. Toggle the categorize checkbox to see the effects. This checkbox will retain its state through sessions and it is not necessary to click the save or apply button as it is saved automatically when you close the window. There are 3 categories that pertain to font sizes which can be modified according to your taste. HouseGlyFontSize property in the Font Sizes - House Wheel category will only show a change if ShowSignGlyphs in the HouseWheel section is set to true and the HouseWheel is itself visible. Each of the wheels of each type (PlanetWheel, TickWheel, etc...) all have an inner ring radius and an outer ring radius which define the contents of the wheel. The OuterRingRadius is supposed to be larger than the InnerRingRadius property as the radius is a real number which has to be within a range of 0.0 to 1.0. First decide which wheels you want visible and then set the desired radii for each wheel making sure that none of values for the visible wheels overlap. If they do, the drawing will probably look a bit strange. I usually match the radii of the InnerRingRadius and the next OuterRingRadius. For example the HouseWheel - InnerRingRadius property would usually match the PlanetWheel - OuterRingRadius property (0.67) for the LargeWheel (Uni-Wheel) type. Once you have settings set up, it is a good idea to click apply and then redraw the chart style that you are interested in to see if you are getting the desired result. Remember to show the same number of wheels as you are working on so if you are working on a bi-wheel style, then you to select 2 charts to display to see the effects, as displaying a uni-wheel by double clicking on a chart at top right will not show your modifications. Special properties on the Wheels Tab: DegreeAsPortion: When PlanetListType is set to plDegreeOnly this will always round up the degrees a planet has such that a planet at 11Ta01 will show a 12 when only listing degrees. When degrees are listed alone the retrograde color is used for the degree notation (See Colors Tab at bottom). AspectLineStyle / TestimonyLineStyle: This is in the AspectWheel section and draws aspect and testimony lines according to the Antiochus Definitions as translated by Robert Schmidt. As of the initial version, these have not been enabled to draw yet. ShowSignGlyphs: In the House and Number wheel you can toggle this to true or false. At this time the Number wheel version of this property has no effect because there is no drawing code for this in house numbering. This can be useful for the House Wheel though especially if you like to show a modern feel when the Tick, Sign and Bound wheels visible properties is set to false, then you can make the HouseGlyFontSize really large and pass this off as a sign wheel with Koch or Placidus dynamical divisions (be sure to uncheck use Whole Sign Houses - Ctrl + W). Once you have everything showing the way you want it, you will not want to lose these settings the next time you modify, so go to the Themes Tab and on the Wheels section type in a new theme name (making sure the correct wheel type is showing to the left of the edit field) and then click on the add button to the right. The next time you want to get back to this group of settings all you have to do is double click on the theme and click Apply at the bottom. The next time you draw a chart of that type, it will be done in that style. Visibility Tab: I did away with the checkboxes and replaced it with two listboxes indicating planets that are selected for display and those that are not. There is a save and restore button sandwiched between these two list boxes that saves the visibility setting for a given planet wheel. There are up to 4 planet wheels that can be displayed depending upon the chart type. A Uni-Wheel will always use PlanetWheel(1) and will be inner most. Make sure to select which wheel to set visibility for in the top CombBox. You can drag multiple planets / points at a time here or click the arrow buttons. Once you have the visibility settings done, specify a visibility theme on the Themes tab in the same way that you did for the Wheels Tab above. If you are working on a bi-wheel, then just set wheels 1 and 2 and set a theme. Colors Tab: This has been changed from version 4 as well and now uses ColorEdit Dialogs for each planet / sign / point. Custom colors can be set up to the number of colors allowed by your display. Once you colors are set, go to the Themes Tab to set a color theme. Glyphs Tab: This is new in version 5. I decided not to hard-code the glyphs that you might decide to use and you can use virtually any glyph that is shown by the AstroZT font. In the future I may enable font selection as well so you can use different fonts. An artistic use for this is that for the signs, I have added pictures of the signs and not just the sign glyphs themselves. Once the Glyphs are set, you can set a Glyph Theme on the Themes Tab to save this group of settings. Auto-Generated Charts: In Version 4 I added the ability to draw transits on the outside wheel from a natal chart when double clicking on a sub period, clicking on the time lords graph or the graphic ephemeris. In version 5 you can specify what kinds of charts to automatically generate outside from the natal wheel and in which order, but because a quad-wheel is the largest number possible only 3 chart types can be selected at a time. To set this go to the Main Options (F3) and click on the Auto Generated Charts Tab. There is a save and sandwiched between the selected chart types and the un-selected chart types. Just drag over the charts that you want and then drag up and down in the list to specify the order. The top most on the selected list represents the innermost next to the natal chart and the bottom is the outer most. You can show secondary progression, tertiary progression, solar arc and transits at this time. The advantage to this display is that you can study time lords and these positions side-by-side and they will be synchronized with the onset of time lord periods that you have clicked on. There is no need to set these charts up manually outside of the display area as would be the case with Solar Fire's progression / transits calculator. The default location is used for all auto-generated charts (F4). Chart Database: The chart database has been redesigned so that several charts can be saved to the same file. Each file is a file group with several charts and each group can be searched individually or searched globally. These files have a .zcf ending, such as natal.zcf, event.zcf, etc. It is important to specify the correct path to these files in the save dialog if you have specified a different location during installation. You can specify your own new databases as well at the bottom of the file manager window (Save Dialog). On Vista, these need to be saved to your documents folder as they can't be saved inside Vista secure zones. You can import your old files from v 4 to version 5 under the chart menu and toolbar. Docking Style: Nearly all analysis windows will dock to the right of the chart display and the main window has several splitter controls with grabber arrows. Clicking on an arrow will shift the splitter all the way in the direction of the arrow. There are 3 states that the window can be docked in: minimized to the dock panel, tacked up to the top (maximized) or tacked sideways which will minimize the window that is not active. It is possible for windows to be behind other windows here, so it is a good idea to close out old windows when you are finished with them, but it can be useful to tab between several windows you are using during chart analysis. Printing: The printing routines are not completely finished in this version and will be updated shortly (Square chart style is not finished yet). Also for some reason the InstallAware sometimes forgets to install the font and it doesn't allow me to specify a system restart which is necessary. So don't bother to start the program after installation, you should check to see if the font AstroZT.ttf (AstroZT Semibold) is installed first (not AstroZoidsoft semibold which is for version 4 if you have it). If not present, just drag the font from your install directory to the windows font's directory and restart. ----------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLATION ----------------------------------------------------------- Minimum system requirements: * Intel Pentium or higher * Mac OSX 10.6+ (VMware) * Microsoft Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / Xp * Memory: 1 GB of RAM * 100 MB hard disk space * VGA or higher resolution monitor * Mouse or other pointing device Directions: 1.) Extract the files inside delphicoracle.zip to a temporary directory. 2.) Browse to the directory where you extracted the files. 3.) Double click on Setup.exe and follow the onscreen instructions. ***** Don't forget to make backup copies! ----------------------------------------------------------- DELPHIC ORACLE KNOWN ISSUES ----------------------------------------------------------- -- In cases where a multi wheel is shown, the data for the Universal Hermetics, lots, delineations of houses and PNA are for the outermost wheel, not the inner most in the way one might expect. The fix for this is simple... if this kind of orientation disturbs you, simply redraw the chart by double clicking on the chart you want to examine so that it is a single wheel and do the analysis that way. -- The Export Editor sometimes shows the exported time lords in a machine designated font by default instead of the AstroZT.ttf font that is native to Delphic Oracle. All you have to do here is select all the text in the editor and select the AstroZT font from the font combo box. ----------------------------------------------------------- DOWNLOADING UPDATED HELP FILES ----------------------------------------------------------- The online Help files that accompany this release may be updated from time to time to provide corrections, clarification, additional examples and other new information. Updates will be available for download from the Lost Horoscope X-Files Web site at: http://www.astrology-x-files.com/help-download.html ----------------------------------------------------------- ZOIDIASOFT ON THE WEB ----------------------------------------------------------- Zoidiasoft Technologies home page: http://www.astrology-x-files.com ----------------------------------------------------------- For More Information On The Ancient methods: http://www.projecthindsight.com ----------------------------------------------------------- TECH SUPPORT ----------------------------------------------------------- The author, Curt Manwaring may be reached for tech support: phone: 315-200-2025 ----------------------------------------------------------- CREDITS ----------------------------------------------------------- Robert Schmidt's work in the translation of Hellenistic astrological texts is the sole basis for this program. Without his help in understanding the philosophy and practice of astrology from that era, this program could not exist, nor would have ever had a reason to be written. Bill Johnston (a student of Schmidt's) laid out the algorithms for many of the time lord procedures that I followed, along with suggestions for reports, and other features too numerous to mention. The Swiss Ephemeris, of course, needs no explanation. The ACS Atlas was developed by Astro Communications Services and can be found at: http://www.astrocom.com. Contact Bill Purchase for special pricing discounts. Kenneth Hirst developed the "Astro" font back in 1993 and with a few modifications, it is now also licensed to Curtis Manwaring. This font was originally used in the program "Astrology World". As for the modifications, Ken "fontified" the drawings of the glyphs that I made for the lots of fortune, spirit, exaltation and basis. Astro font is Copyright 1993, Cosmorama Enterprises, P.O. Box 5362, Irvine, California 92716. All rights reserved. This font is proprietary. Albert Timashev was very helpful in design suggestions and testing. He helped in debugging font and form display issues that affect international users and showed me how to import the ocx control for the ACS Atlas. He is a Delphi programmer and runs the site: www.astrologer.ru The TGifImage unit used for creating gif files from drawing code in Delphic Oracle is the work of Anders Melander and is offered as freeware. He is reachable at: Finsensvej 79, 2tv. DK-2000 Frederiksberg Denmark Delphic Oracle's exe and dll files use UPX to keep file sizes small. It was developed by Markus Oberhumer and Laszlo Molnar: web: http://upx.sourceforge.net ----------------------------------------------------------- ORDERING ----------------------------------------------------------- Name_______________________________________________________ Phone(_____)__________________ Email ______________________ Address____________________________________________________ City_________________ State/Country___________ Zip_________ ____ Delphic Oracle: $149.95 ____ Add $9.45/$16.45 (USA/Intl) for DVD Postage $________Total Write check (US dollars) to Zoidiasoft Technologies and send to: Zoidiasoft Technologies, LLC 2833 Mayfair Ave. Henderson, NV 89074 Phone: 315-200-2025 =========================================================== Copyright (c) 2003-2013 Zoidiasoft (tm) Technologies By Curtis Manwaring, All rights reserved. ===========================================================
