Release Notes for Version 7.1 of AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter

Version 6.3.24 of AstrolDeluxe was the last version of 6.3 that could be downloaded from the web site Updates page.

Versions 6.3.25, 6.3.26, and 6.3.27 addressed issues with the web-enabled version of AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.

Version 6.3.28 extended the ability from 6.3.23 to insert male and female pronouns in the interpretations to the compatibility reports, both in DoMutualHouses and in DoAspectsStrengthSorted. The separator for compatibility reports is the underscore character _, and the pronouns are preceded by 2 when subject2 is meant, e.g., 2He_She, him_her, 2his_her, etc.

Version 6.3.29 added logic for composite interpretation reports and tables to the web-enabled AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter.

Version 6.3.30 extends the availability of asteroid information. Previously, the Display menu for a chart only offered the Asteroid positions and Asteroid/Planet Aspects. Now, the menu adds Asteroid Aspects, which are mutual aspects between the asteroids. When one chart has been compared to another to create a biwheel, the Display menu now adds Asteroid/Asteroid Synastry, which are the aspects between the asteroids of the two charts. Previously, there was no asteroid information for composite charts, but if the program user has filled the asteroid arrays for each chart by doing the Asteroid/Asteroid Synastry, then after the user creates one of the two types of Composite Chart from the biwheel Display menu, the composite chart Display menu will offer Asteroid positions, Asteroid/Planet Aspects, and Asteroid Aspects.

The additional asteroids that can be downloaded from the Halloran Software web site Updates page now include the asteroid Aphrodite (1388). The elements previously given for the new planet Xena have been replaced with more accurate elements for Eris (136199). These asteroids have one minute accuracy for the 300-year range from 1800 to 2100 A.D.

Minor versions 29 and 30 added seven new commands to the $1,000 web-enabled version of AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter. Examples of these commands from the 2.ini sample job file include:

AsteroidListFile="c:\winastro\yzx.txt"

CompositeTableFile="c:\winastro\zyx.txt"

CompositeAsteroidFile="c:\winastro\xzy.txt"

CompositeReportFile="c:\winastro\zyz.htm"

TableCompleteFile="c:\winastro\xyz.tcf"

ImageCompleteFile="c:\winastro\xyz.icf"

ReportCompleteFile="c:\winastro\zyz.rcf"

The AsteroidListFile is the asteroid counterpart to the PlanetTableFile, so between these two commands, the webmaster has access to calculated positions for all the planets, houses, and asteroids. The CompositeTableFile and CompositeAsteroidFile supply these calculated positions for a composite chart. A CompositeReportFile uses the reportwriting engine to generate a composite interpretation report.

There are three new commands to make life easier for webmasters. The TableCompleteFile command will create a small file containing just the name of a PlanetTableFile, AsteroidListFile, CompositeTableFile, or CompositeAsteroidFile after the program is finished creating that file, so the web interface program can test for the TableCompleteFile in order to know when to move on to the next task. It is the same for the ImageCompleteFile - there is a big time difference between creating the ScreenImageFile, the PageImageFile and, most significantly, the information-rich PageWithGridImageFile. If the ReportCompleteFile command is used, the program will create this small file after the program is done creating a requested interpretation report file.

Version 6.3.31 adds the minor asteroids to the reportwriting engine for natal and composite interpretation reports. At the Add New screen of the Edit Interpretations program, when editing a natal or composite interpretation set, there is now a listbox of all the minor asteroids so that one can select a particular asteroid and create delineations of that asteroid in a sign, that asteroid in a house, or that asteroid aspecting a particular planet. Similarly, inside AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, when viewing a natal chartwheel or a composite chartwheel, at Interpret, Report Options, Report Order, there are now Report Item commands that can be added to the command sequence for a report template, DoRoidSign, DoRoidHouse, and DoRoidToPlanetAspects. For example, if Report Order includes DoRoidToPlanetAspectsAphrodite and the program finds Aphrodite in both a trine aspect to Mercury and a conjunction aspect to Pluto, the reportwriter will look in the interpretation database for delineations of those aspects and if it finds them will print them in the report.

Version 6.3.31 added the DerivedAscendantCompositeChart command to the [ActionSettings] section of the job file for the $1,000 web-enabled AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter. The default for a composite chart is the All Midpoints method, but if the above command is set to True, then the program will look for a section similar to the following in the job file:

[CompositeLatitude]

'for derived ascendant composite charts

MeetingCity=Fairview

'use MeetingCounty field when a city name is duplicated in a state or country

MeetingCounty=Wyoming

MeetingState_Country=NY

The above is intended to be the current location for the two people whose birth charts make up the composite chart.

Version 6.3.31 added the web-enabled commands of

ChartAnalysisFile="c:\winastro\zxy.txt"

CompositeAnalysisFile="c:\winastro\yxz.txt"

The convenience of the Chart Analysis table is that after giving the sign positions of the planets, it tells in what houses the planets are, similar to what AsteroidListFile and CompositeAsteroidFile does for the minor asteroids. So the webmaster can parse the output of both of these text files to get this calculated info for short, free reports.

Version 6.3.32 revises the BirthInfoBlock command for composite interpretation reports to give the birth data legends for the two subjects of the report, as long as the report is generated right after creating the composite chart, while the birth data is still in memory, as opposed to retrieving a saved composite chart which no longer has this information.

Version 6.3.32 expands the number of possible boilerplate entries in an interpretation database from 30 to 40.

Version 6.3.32 adds six entries for House Polarity Emphasis at the bottom of the Elements/Modalities listbox of Edit Interpretations, Add New. There is a HousePolarityEmphasis command now for a natal or composite template at Report Options, Report Items underneath DoDominantHouses. If added to the report template, the reportwriter will search the chart for house polarities such as 1st/7th, 2nd/8th, etc. which contain four or more planets. Planets are the Sun through Pluto plus the points at Customization, Planets (exclusive of the Ascendant, Midheaven, and Moon's South Node) which have a check in the Include column. The Sun and Moon are each equal to two planets. Depending on the results, the report will grab one of six possible delineations for the emphasis of a house polarity in the life of the native or the composite couple.

Version 6.3.32 adds a natal & composite command ReferToPreviousAspectNever. The logic of the reportwriter is that aspects are delineated whenever the template orders them, such as with the DoPointAspects command, but if the report is divided into sections with the SectionTitle command, then the ReferToPreviousAspectAlways command can refer the reader to an earlier section where that aspect was previously delineated, such as for the aspect Venus trine Moon, referring back to a section which previously delineated Moon trine Venus. When the report is divided into sections devoted to each planet's aspects, it is advisable to include the HousePlanetFirstInAspect command near the top of the template, as this changes the delineation title so that the name of the planet in focus comes first in the title. If you put this new ReferToPreviousAspectNever command near the top of the template, it will set a flag in the program so that aspects that are recorded as having been previously delineated will simply be skipped in later report sections, regardless of their relevance.

Version 6.3.32 adds a command DoNotPrintStrength that can be placed near the top of a natal or composite report template. This command will cause aspect delineation titles as well as dominant planets, signs, and houses delineation titles to print without their numerical strength values after the title in parentheses. The aspects will still be sorted in strength order, but there will be no indication to the reader that the aspect delineations that come first are much stronger than are the aspect delineations that come last.

Version 6.3.32 now automatically produces an unknown time composite chart when one or both of the charts in a biwheel comparison is marked for an unknown birthtime and the user selects from the Display menu either the All Midpoints or the Derived Ascendant composite chart. The planet points will be the midpoints of the two charts' planet positions just like before, but the composite planets will be placed in a solar houses chart just as the program does for an unknown birthtime natal chart. All the delineations of time-sensitive points that the reportwriter normally excludes from an unknown birthtime natal interpretation report will be excluded from an unknown birthtime composite interpretation report.

Version 6.3.33 fixes a bug that was causing progressions lists to print the wrong position for the position of the natal sun when it printed progressed aspects in the list. The calculated aspects were valid, but instead of printing the position of the sun in the natal chart, the aspects were showing the position of the progressed sun from the start of the list period. It took so long to discover this bug because it had no effect on either the calculations or on progressed interpretation reports. A similar bug affected the natal positions printed for all of the aspected planets in the less commonly used solar arc directions list.

Version 6.3.33 fixes a problem that could appear in a progressed interpretation report. If a planet retrograded backward from one sign to another during the report period, the program was getting the interpretation for the wrong sign, e.g., if Mars retrograded from Virgo into Leo, the report delineated Mars entering Cancer.

Version 6.3.34 adds the SuppressHeadingOn and SuppressHeadingOff commands to the available commands for all report templates. When the reportwriter encounters this command in the report order sequence, it sets a flag so that the reportwriter will print only the subheadings and text of delineations, minus their display headings, until in the report order sequence the reportwriter encounters the SuppressHeadingOff command, whereupon the reportwriter will resume printing the delineation headings in the report.

Version 6.3.34 adds a kind of hack to the program so that minor asteroids can be counted in the HousePolarityEmphasis interpretation command for natal and composite interpretation reports. If the *.ASN file for a minor asteroid, such as the file 1221.ASN for Amor, includes the line PlanetInclude=True, then the program will give that minor asteroid the weight of a planet in calculating which houses the chart emphasizes for the HousePolarityEmphasis command. The ASN files are not in the application folder, but in the \asteroid subfolder. The program provides no interface to add this attribute, but it is easy to edit the *.ASN files with Windows Notepad.

Version 6.3.34 also sorts a report's House Polarity delineations in descending strength and will print the strength after the title unless DoNotPrintStrength precedes the HousePolarityEmphasis command in the report order sequence.

Version 6.3.35 modified the [CompositeLatitude] section for derived ascendant composite charts in the job file for the $1,000 web-enabled AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter. It should now contain MeetingCity, optional MeetingCounty, and MeetingState_Country. The program will pass the meeting location to the ACS PC Atlas in order to get the latitude that is needed for a derived ascendant composite chart.

Version 6.3.35 makes it possible for the interpretation report SectionTitle command to contain the word Introduction - previously if this word were present in the SectionTitle command it would trigger printing the Introduction delineation.

Version 6.3.35 restores the SkipNextIfUnkTime command to the commands available for composite interpretation reports, now that version 6.3.32 made it possible for AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter to produce an unknown time composite chart.

Version 6.3.36 fixed a problem with setting East longitude, South latitude, and East time zone when the PC Atlas was not used for lookups with the web-enabled program. If the job file tried to set these manually by setting LongitudeWest, LatitudeNorth, or TimeZoneWest to False, this was failing to trigger the Click event that should have set East or South to True, so for a False value this version now sets the opposite directions programmatically.

Version 6.3.37 adds the PageHardBreak command as an option to Interpret, Report Options, Report Commands for all types of reports. Where the normal Pagebreak command will create a pagebreak in the interpretation report if the page has at least 23 lines of text on it, the PageHardBreak command will create a pagebreak if the current page has as little as 3 lines of text on it.

Version 6.3.37 fixes DoPointAspectsMoon to not interpret aspects involving the Black Moon Lilith.

Version 6.3.37 fixes a logic problem that could have caused the program to omit aspects between the Moon and the Moon's Node.

Version 7.0.1 adds aspect patterns. The program comes with a file of Aspect patterns or configurations and the program user can create more patterns from an Aspect Patterns designer on the Customization menu. From Search Three at Options, Research Charts it is possible to search the currently loaded charts database for charts that have a desired aspect pattern, and it is even possible to specify that the found patterns must contain particular planets. I recommend doing these searches with Halloran Software's $59 collection of 4622 Famous Charts. In normal calculation use, the program shows the names of the aspect patterns that it finds for a chart in a listbox on the Graphic Aspects wheel - clicking on any one of the aspect pattern names in the listbox will visually draw lines between the planets that make up the pattern. These symmetric patterns can be visually dramatic, for example, see the Grand Septile pattern found in the chart of British author Oscar Wilde. The program also now lists the aspect patterns found for a chart in the Chart Analysis table. The report-writing engine adds a command to interpret any aspect patterns found in a natal or composite chart - DoAspectPatterns. The Edit Interpretations program for natal or composite interpretation sets at Add New now lists the names of all the Aspect Patterns found in the standard.acz file so that each pattern can be selected and a delineation created for it. John Halloran is writing delineations for all the standard patterns, delineations which he intends to make available to Halloran Software customers.

Version 7.0.2 makes it possible at Customization, Print Courtesy, to edit the astrologer's name as well as the astrologer's address, in order to have this contact info appear as desired on printed charts, tables, and reports.

At Help, About AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, will appear the name, address, and serial number of the astrologer customer to whom Halloran Software sold the program copy. The only person who can see this unchangeable private info will be the astrologer who is using the program. As long as the astrologer does not illegally share his or her installation CD with other astrologers, this private information will remain private. Customers should guard and control their CD for installing AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter, never allowing anyone to copy it.

Version 7.0.3 stops using version 1.1.9 of the ACS Atlas OCX control because linking to it did not recognize the EnableHalfDST method and gave error 438 when the program invoked that method. Revert to compiling with version 1.1.8. The good news is that, when I do this, everything works as expected even if the user's computer has the newer atlas control. Added the Pitcairn PIT timezone of 8h30m West. The program now has 194 named time zones.

Version 7.0.4 makes two changes to the .log file of the web-enabled AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter. First, the .log file will only be created if in the ActionSettings section of the .ini job file appears the command GenerateLogFile=True. Second, to each line of the log file will be appended the time when the program performed that function. The program should complete the job slightly faster when the .log file is turned off, but when the log file is turned on, the times will help to diagnose how much time the program is taking in between different parts of running a job.

Version 7.0.4 starts testing in advance for the existence of the job file that is passed on the command line of the web-enabled program. If the file does not exist, then the name of the non-existent file will be printed in an error message to a file webfile.err in the application folder. So the calling program can and should test for the existence of webfile.err in the application folder - if present it indicates and explains why winast32.exe performed no calculations.

Version 7.0.4 also makes some adjustments to aspect patterns, mainly to the logic whether a pattern is a duplicate of another pattern and should therefore not be listed or shown. Added the Small Talent Triangle described in Aspect Pattern Astrology by the Huber family. Do not list this pattern when it is part of a more important kite pattern.

Version 7.0.5 eliminates an unused duplicate command for the reportwriter to do AsteroidPlanet interpretations. It also prevents T-Square aspect patterns from being listed that are subsets of larger Grand Cross aspect patterns.

Version 7.0.6 of AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter makes two changes to the handling of daylight saving time in Illinois during the years 1916-1942 and 1945-1959 when the state said for hospitals to record births in CST instead of CDT. First, during those years, for an Illinois lookup, clicking on the Read Atlas button in the PC Atlas Express will still give CST for summertime births, but a message will now come up which says, "Date is during period Illinois law said record Standard time while Daylight time in effect. But if subject born in a Catholic hospital in Chicago, which recorded prevailing time, Transfer to Natal and adjust Hours Difference from Greenwich back to Central Daylight Time (CDT). Click on Table button for observance dates." The second change is that the Table button will now actually show the alternation between CDT and CST, whereas in previous program versions all the entries for those years said Standard.

Version 7.0.7 adds the ability to search for charts in the current saved charts database according to the subject's first name, last name, data source, and rating class. You can now perform these searches at Options, Research Charts..., Search Two, By Remarks.

Version 7.0.7 fixes a problem with the Aspect Pattern search where if the search specified that the found pattern must contain a particular planet, and a second instance of that pattern occurred in the chart, the chart could be wrongly eliminated from the list on account of the second pattern instance that did not contain the desired planet.

Version 7.0.7 fixes a problem with Aspect Pattern recognition generally where if the pattern on the designer wheel did not start with the first 3-degree sector, such as the T-Square pattern where the first sector does not start until right before the Aries-Taurus boundary, the program was not recognizing chart patterns in which the lead planet was placed before this in the chart, such as in the middle of Aries for the T-Square pattern example.

Version 7.0.7 fixes a problem with narrow orb patterns where qualifying planets in the chart had to be in exactly equivalent 3-degree sectors in order for the narrow orb pattern to be recognized, thereby overlooking some patterns where the second planet was in a preceding sector, but the aspect between the planets was still less than 3 degrees (for example, planet one at 1 degree Aries in sector 0 and planet two in 29 degrees Gemini in sector 29 where the two planets have a close square aspect of 88 degrees). This fix may cause some patterns to be found that have 5 degree orbs, greater than the narrow 3-degree orb specified, but these still meet the intent to find tight patterns. Simultaneously with this fix, show all patterns that are equal in the hierarchy, for example, show both the Cardinal T-Square, tight, and the Grand Cross, both of which have a Hierarchy value of 3.

Version 7.0.8 restores the program's ability to find sign stelliums, which I had inadvertently broken.

Version 7.0.8 adds searches for charts with a desired percentage of chart planets in a modality or element. This search is on the Search Three tab at Options, Research. I have two files of married couples, one set of 53 who are still happily-married (106 charts) and another set of 40 who are bitterly divorced (80 charts).

The breakdown of charts with over 40% of a sign modality among the 53 happily married couples are:

16 male Cardinal, 21 male Fixed, 9 male Mutable,

control, random days, same years:

10 male Cardinal, 13 male Fixed, 14 male Mutable

14 female Cardinal, 18 female Fixed, and 14 female Mutable,

control, random days, same years:

15 female Cardinal, 17 female Fixed, and 17 female Mutable.

The breakdown of charts with over 40% of a sign modality among the 40 bitterly divorced couples are:

10 male Cardinal, 14 male Fixed, 8 male Mutable,

control, random days, same years:

11 male Cardinal, 13 male Fixed, 10 male Mutable,

14 female Cardinal, 9 female Fixed, and 12 female Mutable,

control, random days, same years:

13 female Cardinal, 12 female Fixed, and 13 female Mutable.

Version 7.0.10 worked further on eliminating duplicate aspect patterns from being listed. In some cases, if the program had found the same pattern starting with a different planet the pattern was being reported twice - this should no longer occur.

Version 7.0.10 also improved the Search for Remarks so that the logical NOT symbol ! and the logical OR symbol || would work with single letter searches and not trim any space which the user may have intentionally added after a letter.

Version 7.0.10 improved the ability to detect patterns involving five or more points, such as the Grand Sextile with six points. The maximum is seven points, which is the Grand Quintile. Usually you must Allow additional points at Customization, Aspect Patterns, to find such patterns. If you Allow Nodes or Asteroids, then you must have the Include column for the Moon's Nodes or the desired asteroid checked at Customization, Planets.

Version 7.0.10 increased the hierarchy level of the T-Square aspect patterns so that an all same modality T-Square will appear together with a dissociate Grand Cross that may use some of the same sectors. Replaced the pattern.src file and renamed the standard aspect pattern file from standard.acz to standard.apz.

Version 7.0.11 allows the simultaneous appearance of equal hierarchy T-Square and Grand Cross aspect patterns.

Version 7.0.11 added a Case Sensitive checkbox to the Remarks search tab. The default has been and is to do a case insensitive textual search, but now if you check this box, the case of your results must match the upper or lower case of your search term, e.g., the 'm' of 'random' will not match a search for capital M.

Version 7.0.11 makes it possible for an aspect pattern interpretation to append interpretations for applicable pattern focus planets to the main pattern interpretation. For example, to the end of the interpretation for Cardinal T-Square, if the interpretation has <<Focus Planet Sun>>, then the program will look for a combo interpretation for Cardinal T-Square, Focus Planet Sun. If the program finds that interpretation, it will replace <<Focus Planet Sun>> with the interpretation. If the interpretation does not apply because the Sun is not a focus planet in that pattern or if the program cannot find the interpretation, then the program will just erase <<Focus Planet Sun>> from the end of the Cardinal T-Square interpretation. In the Edit Interpretations program, at Add New, one creates the insertable combo interpretations by selecting the aspect pattern name in the Aspect Pattern listbox and doing Select As Item 1, such as Cardinal T-Square, and then selecting the focus planet name in the Planet Name listbox at the upper left, such as Sun, and then selecting Focus Planet at the bottom of the Aspect Pattern listbox and doing Select As Item 2 - that will create the combo title Cardinal T-Square, Focus Planet Sun.

Version 7.0.12 made minor fixes.

Version 7.0.13 shortened the height of the tables which were extending down too low on the Chart Information screen page.

Version 7.0.13 attempts to solve a problem where the license file for international customers was being blanked out if the computer system date was before the Last Used date on the license file.

Version 7.0.14 adds Pattern Planet to Focus Planet and Reaction Planet in the interpretation editor, so that a pattern interpretation can include brief summaries of the contributions made by the supporting planets that make up the pattern, such as by the Yod planets that are in sextile or by all the planets that make up a pattern that has no focus, such as a Grand Cross or a Grand Trine. This will help make the interpretation more personal for the reader by providing some planetary energy descriptions that can be synthesized in the reader's mind.

Version 7.0.15 enables the reportwriter to insert interpretations for 'reaction planets', such as occur in the Boomerang and Kite aspect patterns.

Version 7.0.16 fixes a problem whereby the color world map used for astro-cartography would not display a country name for all instances of a particular color on the world map. If this problem happened at all, it would usually only happen with one particular chart on account of that chart's planet lines changing the color expected at a hardcoded spot on the map for detection of that color.

Version 7.0.16 worked more on aspect patterns, this time extending the search beyond just the first possible starting planet in order to find a Grand Cross pattern. Also fixed problem where Small Talent Triangles were being eliminated that should have been displayed.

Version 7.0.17 eliminates some of the duplicate aspect patterns that resulted from the work in the previous version.

Version 7.0.18 enlarged the search radius for aspect patterns and improved the logic for eliminating duplicates so that the pattern with the most planets is always the one remaining.

Version 7.0.19 worked more on the logic for eliminating duplicate planets in aspect patterns.

Version 7.0.20 may have finalized the logic for aspect patterns.

Version 7.0.21 fixes searches for ACS Atlas cities that are close to a point on which one has clicked on one of the color maps. I have been working on a new larger Geo Names Atlas that will be an AstrolDeluxe add-on, in the course of which I had broken this map search. Added code so that if no city is found within the initial radius from a map click, the program automatically doubles the search radius and looks again.

Version 7.0.21 adds the ability to save the planet strengths bar graph calculations to a file. This gives the researcher access to the actual numbers instead of just looking at the height of the bars in the Planet Strengths graph. The program can save one file with all the strength values for a particular date, but it can also save calculated planet strengths for a range of dates which it saves in separate files for each planet. If at File, Save Planet Strengths to File, you set a file to which to save, then pick Display, Planet Strengths, and then auto-animate the screen, which can be a single wheel, biwheel, triwheel, or quad wheel, calculating by increments into the future at Edit, Rotate/Rectify Chart, then the program will create separate files to which it saves the value for each planet's harmonious and inharmonious strength for each date of the automatic calculation. You have the option of moving the slider bar to Fast in order to calculate and save these strengths at a faster pace than is the default. The files end with the *.csv extension used for comma-delimited data files. If you have Microsoft Office installed, and you double-click on one of these *.csv extension files, it will come up in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and you can say to view the data in a graph. Alternately, you can also start a database, spreadsheet, or graphing program and select to import the file, specifying to your program that the First Row Contains Field Names. The resulting data sets and graphs will show when the transiting and/or progressed energies of each planet are at their their high and low points during the time period for which you have allowed the auto calculations to proceed.

Version 7.0.22 fixes a problem with aspect patterns where the loose version of a pattern could appear to have the same number of planets as the tight version, with both pattern versions displaying. The display was missing one of the planets that belonged to the wider orb pattern.

Worked on the logic for displaying both a Grand Cross and a tight T-Square pattern.

While it is desirable for the program to display on the screen both a wide version of a pattern with more planets included and the tightest version of the same pattern with just the tight orb planets, which helps the astrologer to visually analyze and understand the chart, repeating different versions of the same pattern in the interpretation report causes undesirable repetition of interpretive text. Programmed a change so that the Chart Analysis table and the Aspect Pattern interpretation report will omit tight orb patterns that are narrower duplicates of patterns that include more planets.

Added a routine to sort aspect patterns into order by hierarchy, with the refinement that where the hierarchy is the same, patterns with more planets will be listed first. This will cause the most important patterns to appear first in the interpretation reports.

The program will only append ", repeat" to a pattern and attempt to grab that simplified delineation if the pattern title does not end with ", tight", on account of the Edit Interpretations program and the ReportWriter can only handle one comma per delineation title - but also a chart should not have as many duplicate tight patterns as it could have duplicate looser patterns.

Version 7.0.23 enables a cluster of planets that occupies one angle of an aspect pattern to cross the Pisces-Aries boundary.

Version 7.0.24 fixes an aspect pattern backup problem that eliminated three pattern planets from a yod pattern where the group of planets straddled the Pisces/Aries boundary.

Version 7.0.25 adds logic for an introduction to the aspect patterns section which says how many aspect patterns the program found to delineate. It adds logic to not print pattern planet interpretations for a Grand Air Trine, Grand Earth Trine, Grand Fire Trine, and Grand Water Trine pattern when a Kite pattern has already delineated those pattern planets. Same for a tight Yod pattern when a Boomerang pattern has already delineated the sextile planets.

Version 7.0.26 implements the ability to look up countries and cities from the three million city Geo Names Atlas. AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter will ship with just the file for the country of France included. The atlas of 230 countries will be a separate $100 purchase. The difference between the International Atlas that is part of the ACS PC Atlas and the Geo Names world atlas is the difference between 100,000 cities and 3 million cities.

Version 7.0.27 renames the Small Talent Triangle aspect pattern to be the Talent Triangle and renames the Boomerang aspect pattern to be the Arrow Yod. The aspect pattern names will be used in interpretation reports for the general public - it is important that the pattern names be positive and descriptive and not be a source of anxious questions for the astrologer. The aspect patterns file gets a new extension - *.APK - the standard file is called STANDARD.APK. If it does not exist, AstrolDeluxe creates it from the PATTERN.SRC file.

Version 7.0.27 also gets AstrolDeluxe ReportWriter ready to start working with the Halloran Aspect Patterns interpretations file, that will be a separate $50 add-on. It adds two new templates - Standard with Aspect Patterns and Aspect Patterns Only.

Version 7.0.27 fixed a problem where a report sometimes ended with a blank page. At least when the report ends with aspect pattern interpretations, the reportwriter knows which is the last pattern interpretation and takes steps to prevent the last page from being blank.

Version 7.1.1 fixes the following five problems noticed while demonstrating version 7.1 at the United Astrology Conference in Denver, Colorado.

If one exited from Customization, Ruling Planets or Aspect Orbs with the X in the corner and then went back in, it would think that you had changed the data without saving and give an error when you next exited.

Modified the Sorted property to False for the listbox at both Customization, Aspect Patterns and at Options, Research Charts, Search Three, Aspect Patterns because the T-Square pattern was being listed out of order with the Talent Triangle.

Did more development at Interpret, Create Report. The logic to get the Personal Path report instead of the Spirit Success report as the preferred report for a brand new user whose computer has both files should have been limited to a natal report, and not to all types of reports, which can include transits, compatibility, return chart, progressed, and composite/combined.

If one had entered a Planet Strengths filename to which to save the planet strengths for successive dates, at File, Save Planet Strengths to File, and then set the program to auto-rotate, at Edit, Rotate/Rectify Chart, if that included progressing the chart, then the name of the planet strengths file was being set to null at the start of calculating the progressed chart, so no files were created.

Noticed an instance where the very last line of the interpretation report was missing - fixed to only delete the correct number of blank lines needed to ensure that the report does not end with a blank page.

Version 7.1.1 adds to the aspect patterns report a simple black and white graphic image of each pattern before the pattern's delineation.

The planet velocity calculations in hsc6032.dll are normally very good, but improvement was needed to get the correct retrograde flag when the planet is stationary, so as of version 7.1.1 AstrolDeluxe tests if the absolute value of the velocity for Mercury through Pluto is less than 0.05 and if it is then AstrolDeluxe calculates the position of the planet for 1/10 of a day earlier and uses the difference to get the true direction of the planet.

Version 7.1.2 enables the Planet Strength files discussed for Version 7.0.21 to be saved for single wheels that are calculated forward in time with auto rotate. Previously, saving the planet strengths for successive dates only worked for biwheel, triwheel, and quadwheel charts moved forward in time. So if you want to save values for each of the planet strengths for Here & Now transits starting as of a certain date for the next 60 days, then you would click on Here & Now and on Calculate, click on File and Save Planet Strengths to File, click on OK for the filename, click on Display and Planet Strengths, click on Edit and Rotate/Rectify Chart and on the Auto button, wait for 60 days to be calculated, and then click on Cancel up on the menu bar. If you go to My Computer, then in the directory to which you said to save will be csv extension files for each of the planets with rows for each date and columns for the harmonious and inharmonious strengths. If you have a spreadsheet program which Windows has recorded as the default program for reading CSV files, then you can double-click on one of the planet files to have the its values come up in the spreadsheet and if the spreadsheet program is like Excel in having a graphing module then you can see a graph of the harmonious and inharmonious strength values for the time period of the calculations. Testing shows that so much of the planet strengths comes from swiftly changing relationships, such as to the chart angles, that if one is going to be referring to planet strength values calculated for the transiting planets, that it would be wise to calculate for an hour at a time instead so that you can see how much of the strength values is a short term variation and how much is a long term variation.

Version 7.1.2 also fixed a problem where the strengths for the transits were being messed up when you auto-rotated a triple wheel of both progressions and transits.

Tony Louis called to my attention that the Decan interpretations for the Ascendant, Midheaven, and Sun sign in his Journey Careers report were not being inserted in version 7.1. Verified this problem and fixed in version 7.1.3.

Version 7.1.4 added the ability to backup the saved charts file with its associated files to a CD-R or CD-RW disk and to restore saved charts from a CD. This is in addition to the previous backup method using a diskette in floppy drive A:. AstrolDeluxe backs up to a CD by writing files to the CD Burning Cache and lets Windows take it from there.

Version 7.1.5 offers a third option to backup the charts files to a backup directory off of the program directory. The user then has the flexibility to copy the files to other backup devices.

The backup function just automates the process. It knows to also copy the *.ptr file and, if you have had More Chart Data turned on, the *.mdb file that are associated with the *.cht file to your backup destination. File and Backup/Restore Charts File, Backup loads a form with three radio buttons for three types of backup - floppy drive A:, a CD-R disk, or a backup directory for further action by user (where it says above the radio buttons, "For manual backup to a CD or to alternate destinations, such as a pen drive, by user, select to back up to a backup directory."). While the backup form is loading, it checks the availability of floppy drive A: and the CD Burning Cache and grays out those choices if they are not available, leaving only the third choice then.

Version 7.1.6 improves the interface of the PC Atlas with Return Charts, the second choice on the Options menu. If the return chart is neither for 1) the astrologer's location (the default location), nor for 2) the native's birthplace (for which there is a button), then 3) click on the PC Atlas button at the bottom of the Return Chart calculation screen and look up the location either from the 250,000 cities known to the PC Atlas or from the three million world cities known to the Geo Names Atlas (for which there is a button on the PC Atlas lookup form). A successful lookup will transfer the desired city with its longitude and latitude back to the Return Chart information screen.

Instead of using the PC Atlas button on the return chart form, the user might enter the desired longitude, latitude, and city name. The program will check if that city is known to the PC Atlas. If the city is not known, the program will now give the user a message that the PC Atlas does not know the city and will calculate the return chart for a local time zone based on the supplied longitude and latitude. If the city is known to the PC Atlas, the program will compare the longitude and latitude degrees at the return chart form to that found for that city in the PC Atlas. If the degrees differ, the program will now display a message that the user should click on the PC Atlas button to fill in the blanks at the return chart form, and abort the return chart calculation.

The value of using the PC Atlas is that the time shown for the calculated return chart will be for the clock on the wall according to the time zone observed at the native's location, but if you want to see mean local time instead, just add a word like 'local' after the city name so that it is not found in the PC Atlas.

The title bar caption of the PC Atlas lookup form now says "ACS Atlas Lookup (move to next field by pressing Tab key)" to make it clear to the new user that after putting in the state abbreviation or country that they move to the city field by pressing the Tab key.

Version 7.1.7 makes a new command available to aspect patterns interpretation reports, CutOffAtPatternCount, where this command ends with a number from 1 to 15, and in the Report Order sequence the command must be positioned before the command DoAspectPatterns. This command will help astrologers to standardize the length of an aspect patterns interpretation report, since in our experience clients can possibly have as many as 17 aspect patterns. If the inserted command is CutOffAtPatternCount8, then instead of the introduction saying that the report has 17 patterns and giving interpretations for 17 patterns, the introduction will say that the report has 8 patterns and will give interpretations for the first 8 patterns, which were already sorted by strength, depending on the hierarchy ranking of the aspect pattern and how many planets participate in the pattern. Use of this command is a little untruthful - it is only recommended when reports are being sold for a low fixed price that do not justify an overly long report. But also, when a client has 17 aspect patterns, the patterns tend to stomp on each other so that just the strongest patterns have a recognizable influence on the client's life.

Version 7.1.7 tweaks the aspect pattern detection module to get an additional planet in the second corner of a pattern that may be a little further along than the second corner planet that most exactly aspects the beginning planet in the first corner of the pattern if this additional second corner planet lines up with the planet in the third corner of the pattern. Warren Buffett has a Cardinal T-Square involving Uranus at 15 Aries opposing Venus at 22 Libra which are square to both Jupiter and Pluto at 14 and 20 degrees of Cancer, but without this tweak, the program was only getting Jupiter as the focus planet. Reading the interpretation for Pluto as the focus planet of a Cardinal T-Square makes it clear that both Jupiter and Pluto are active focus planets in Buffett's chart.

Version 7.1.8 eliminates an annoying message at program start-up seen only by users in non-English environments and a 64-bit Vista operating system.

Version 7.1.9 initializes a boolean variable that could cause a Yod aspect pattern to go missing from the aspect patterns list if the chart contains a Kite aspect pattern and if there are other Yod patterns that use one or more planets of the missing Yod pattern.

Version 7.1.10 clears the Notes and Memo fields from previous results in order to avoid spurious results when searching at Research Charts, Search Two, By Remarks. Also clears a warning that the record has been changed.

Version 7.1.11 fixes a problem where adding "InterpHouseLinkedBySignToNext" to a custom natal report template was not appending the desired house to the command in the report order sequence at Interpret, Report Options.

Version 7.1.11 fixes a problem where at the start of the transits list a planet's retrograde flag could be wrong, if the list starting date was close to the date when the planet changed direction.

Version 7.1.12 makes a minor change, adding a carriage return after the Compatibility Index line at the end of a StarMatch report in HTML format.

Version 7.1.13 fixes a problem that could happen displaying the Arabic Parts for a second time after the program has been used to display the Chart Analysis table.

Version 7.1.14 fixes a problem on Windows 2000 and later Windows versions, such as XP, with copying text to the Windows clipboard from the Alfred Witte pop-up interpretations that one can get if one double-clicks on the midpoint or sensitive points lists. If the clipboard had existing content, trying to Copy would not work.


Astrology Software Secure Order Form.

Return to News page.

Astrology software top page.


Copyright © 2009 Halloran Software, Los Angeles, California
Last modified on September 24, 2009.

http://www.halloran.com/dlr71upd.htm