Linux/Ax.0 from CD/obj lists/error logs

Bill J Gray Nov 9, 2002

Hi folks,

I've not been doing very well at keeping up with replies to this
list. Hence, an excessively long reply with a few comments on Guide
in Linux/WINE, Ax.0 extraction from CD-ROM, customized object lists,
and the error log file:

GUIDE IN LINUX/WINE:

Glenn, about "full functionality" of Guide in Linux/WINE: I just
got a comment from a gent running SuSE 8.0. The only problem he's
found has been with printing, but it's not clear if this is a Guide
problem, a WINE problem, or a problem with the CUPS printing system.
I suggested using Guide's "Make PostScript File" option as a
workaround; you make a PS file, then print it with GhostView or
GhostScript. That may be his interim solution.

I'd be really impressed if every last bit of Guide functioned
correctly in WINE. Guide is a big enough program so that I'd expect
that somewhere, in some obscure nook or cranny, it uses a part of
the Windows API that isn't totally "right" in WINE. (For that matter,
I'm impressed to hear that HNSky is running "flawlessly".)

Incidentally, I mentioned installing Red Hat 8.0 on my own machine
a while back. This doesn't mean I'm going to leap into a Linux port;
in fact, I've had several frustrating installation problems with it,
not totally resolved yet, in part due to my lack of knowledge of Linux.
It'll be a while before anything of interest comes out of this.

A2.0 FROM CD-ROM:

Hansjoerg, about A2.0 display: one thing to do is to look in
'startup.mar' for this line:

63 real CD d

Make sure that the last letter corresponds to the CD-ROM drive letter.

If that's not it, I'd be at a loss to understand the problem. Perhaps
you could e-mail me the directory for one of the disks? (Something along
the lines of going to a DOS prompt and entering 'dir d: > direct.txt',
then sending me 'direct.txt'?) If you want a check on the directory
structure, the following could help:

http://www.projectpluto.com/a2.htm

Also, if you'd prefer to just copy A2.0 to your hard drive and have
Guide simply display it, without needing to make use of the "Extras...
Get Ax.0 Data" menus at all, take a look here:

http://www.projectpluto.com/update7.htm#ax0_direct

On a related note, Roger Pickard wrote:

"...I wish to switch off the USNO-A2 info but although the box
labelled 'off' is checked under 'Extras' 'Toggle user data sets' etc,
I still see all the stars!"

Problem here is that the controls you tried work with A2.0 data
downloaded from the Internet, but not with A2.0 data from the CD-ROMs.
(And to make matters worse, data displayed via the above "ax0_direct"
method goes through a third, different process.) Fixing all these
so that they work through a common interface would make things much
less confusing, not to mention saving me a few pages of user manual
expended in explaining said differences.

In your case, since you extracted the data from CD, Guide has
stored all of it in a temporary file on the hard drive. The only way
to shut it off is to use the "Extras... Get Ax.0 Data... Clear Ax.0
Data."

CUSTOMIZED OBJECT LISTS:

Arild Moland wrote:

"...Also, a friend of mine wanted to have alt/az shown in the
'current asteroids/comets' lists. There's the option of configuring the
fields shown in the efemerids list available for a single object, so
this kind of configuration might be possible for these other lists too?"

I do envision this as a possibility, as part of a general plan to
create object lists. The idea is that one could create a list of
objects, either restricted to the on-screen area or anywhere in the
sky, to a given magnitude limit, with desired parameters listed
(very much like the way in which the fields shown in an ephemeris
are already customized.) It's described a bit at

http://www.projectpluto.com/future.htm#data_tables

ERROR LOG FILE:

Paul Gabriel mentioned a crash in 'more info', and asked as to where
Guide might log errors. In the case of at least _some_ errors, a file
called 'heapdump.txt' is created. (This mostly applies to certain sorts
of memory errors.) It's not particularly straightforward to figure out
its meaning, and I can't say I rely on it greatly.

-- Bill