Copyright: Copyright 1994, W. Scott Thoman


Contents
                      GRedSpot 3.6 - February 18th, 1994

What is GRedSpot?

Installing GRedSpot
Configuring GRedSpot
Changing the icon's title
Galilean Satellites window
GRS Transit Times window

GRedSpot and Screen Savers
Troubleshooting
Acknowledgements
Calling all icon artists!
Revision History

Author Information
Other related programs

Registering GRedSpot


What is GRedSpot?

    GRedSpot is a shareware MicroSoft Windows 3.x program that displays
the current position of the Great Red Spot on the planet Jupiter, and the four
Galilean moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in an icon.  You can set
the icon to display the moons above or below a half-icon of Jupiter, just show
the moons or just display the full Jupiter icon.  You can specify the icon's
title to display the current longitude of the Spot, a list of today's transit
times, and the time remaining until the next transit.  If you wish, you can also
configure the title to just be a clock, displaying the current time and/or
date.


Installing GRedSpot

    Simply use the Program Manager to create a New Program Icon in the group of
your choice and set the Working Directory to the subdirectory where you installed
the program files.  You may place the files in the subdirectory of your choice, but
the software must be able to find it's GREDSPOT.INI file there.

     If it cannot find the .INI file, then the About box will be displayed each
and every time you start GRedSpot.  See the section Troubleshooting for more information.

     I also recommend placing the Program Icon in the Startup group so it loads
every time you start Windows.

     If you don't already have the file BWCC.DLL, make sure you copy it to your
Windows system subdirectory and erase any other older copies of it.  See the
file BWCC.TXT for more information.


Configuring GRedSpot

    Before you can use GRedSpot, you need to tell it where you live and how
to adjust for daylight savings time.  You can also select many different options
as well.  Select the following links for more information:

   Setting your Time Zone
   Adjusting for Daylight Savings/Summer Time
   Animating the GRedSpot icon
   Great Red Spot's Longitude
   Background Colors
   "Always on top" feature

     Once you have set all the above options, you will probably want to have a look
at how you can change the icon's title.  This option allows you to configure
the title to display various information about Jupiter and it's moons.


Setting your Time Zone

    GRedSpot must know the time zone in which you live to display the icon
properly.  The default is the Eastern Standard Time time zone, which is
valid for cities in the United States such as New York City, Boston and Miami.
If you live in another time zone, you must select it yourself.

     When you first run GRedSpot, the program's About box appears.  Here you'll find
a list box containing all of the world's time zones.  Simply select the one in
which you live.


Adjusting for Daylight Savings/Summer Time

    There is a check box if you want the Daylight Savings Time (Summer Time)
adjustment applied or not.  Check this box if your area observes
Daylight Savings Time.  Just below this, there are four radio buttons to
determine which set of summer-time dates you wish to use.  If you select
Manual, the daylight savings time adjustment will be applied regardless of
today's date.  This means you must change the above check box twice a year
when the time changes.  You may need to select this option if your region is
not listed below.  Tables that list the daylight savings time start/stop
dates for the other radio buttons follow below.  If you select one of these,
the daylight savings time adjustment will be applied or not-applied
automatically based on today's date.  All daylight savings time adjustments
subtract 1 hour from the current time.

United States:
1994 - Start: April 3rd    End: October 30th
1995 - Start: April 2nd    End: October 29th
1996 - Start: April 7th    End: October 27th
1997 - Start: April 6th    End: October 26th

UK:
1994 - Start: March 27th   End: October 23rd
1995 - Start: March 26th   End: October 22nd
1996 - Start: March 24th   End: October 27th
1997 - Start: March 23rd   End: October 26th

Europe:
1994 - Start: March 27th   End: September 25th
1995 - Start: March 26th   End: September 24th
1996 - Start: March 24th   End: September 22nd
1997 - Start: March 23rd   End: September 28th

     If you live in one of these regions and the above dates are incorrect, OR
if you live in another region not listed above, please contact me with
the correct dates so I can update my software.


Animating the GRedSpot icon

    You can also select an update interval for the GRedSpot icon.  The default
is Real-Time, which shows the current position of the Spot.  South is at
the top to match the view in a telescope.  Other values are available to
animate the icon, or to display a new icon once every update interval.  The
values you may choose from are once every second, once every five seconds or
once every ten seconds.

     Note that when the Spot is on the far side of Jupiter, it is still visible as
a dotted outline.

     You can also have the icon rotate in the normal forward direction, or in
reverse.  Just click on the appropriate radio button.


Changing the icon's title

    You can change the title beneath the icon to whatever you like.  More
importantly, you can have other information such as transit times
displayed here as well.

The About box has the default icon title set to ~N, which is a special
"code" to display the number of hours and minutes until the next transit.

If you prefer, you can change the title to be just a simple word or two, like
"Jupiter" or "Jupiter's Great Red Spot".  This may be necessary to work with
some screen savers.

All the available options are listed below:

Jupiter options:
   ~N =	Next transit time in expanded format (i.e. "Next transit: 5 hours,
32 min" and "Last transit: 46 minutes ago").
   ~n =	Next transit time in hh:mm format.
   ~L =	List all transit times for today.  Used in conjunction with ~1, ~2,
~a, ~A, ~p, ~P described below.  (i.e. "~L~a~1" displays times such
as "12:23am, 10:15am, 8:03pm").  Note that the 'a' comes before the
'1', the opposite of how these options work when configuring the
icon title as a clock (see Clock options below).
   ~c =	Central Meridian relative to Earth to the nearest degree (i.e.
273°).  Zero degrees means the Great Red Spot is directly facing
Earth, 180° means it's facing directly away, etc.
   ~C =	Central Meridian to the nearest one-tenth of a degree (i.e.
273.4°).
   ~g =	Great Red Spot's Meridian to the nearest whole degree.
   ~G =	Great Red Spot's Meridian to the nearest one-tenth of a degree.
   ~T =	Time next transit will occur.  Use with "Clock options" below.
(i.e. "Next Transit: ~T~1~a" will display as "Next Transit: 8:03pm")
If there are no more transits today, "Tomorrow" will be displayed.

Satellite options:
   ~s1 = Show Io's orbital degree position (Use ~S1 to the nearest 1/10th)
   ~s2 = Show Europa's orbital degree position (Use ~S2 to the nearest 1/10th)
   ~s3 = Show Ganymede's orbital degree position (Use ~S3 to the nearest 1/10th)
   ~s4 = Show Callisto's orbital degree position (Use ~S4 to the nearest 1/10th)

Clock options:
   ~1 =	12-hour format
   ~2 =	24-hour format
   ~a =	"am" or "pm"
   ~A =	"AM" or "PM"
   ~p =	"a" or "p"
   ~P =	"A" or "P"
   ~w =	Weekday name as "Mon", "Tue", etc.
   ~W =	Weekday name as "Monday", "Tuesday", etc.
   ~m =	Month name as "Jan", "Feb", etc.
   ~M =	Month name as "January", "February", etc.
   ~h =	Month number (1-12)
   ~d =	Day of the month number (1-31)
   ~y =	Year as "94", etc. (Year without the century)
   ~Y =	Year as "1994", etc. (Year with the century)
   ~o =	Ordinal suffix of "Day of the month" as "st", "nd", "rd", "th",
etc. (as in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.)

Example icon titles:

   Title:	Displays as:
   "Next transit: ~T~1~a"	Next transit: 9:05pm
   "Next transit: ~T~2 ~g"	Next transit: 21:05 275°
   "I.~s1 E.~s2 G.~s3 C.~s4"	I.182° E.37° G.349° C.206°
   "~N"	Next transit: 4 hours, 32 min
   "~L~2"	00:23, 10:15, 20:03
   "~1~a ~W ~m ~d~o"	9:05pm Fri Feb 18th
   "~1~A"	9:05PM
   "~W ~M ~d ~Y"	Friday February 18 1994
   "~y.~h.~d"	94.02.18
   "Jupiter"	Jupiter

Feel free to experiment with different combinations to suit your taste.


Great Red Spot's Longitude

    In the About box, there's a field for the longitude of the Great Red Spot.
Each location on the surface of a solid planet such as Earth will always
remain, of course, at the same latitude and longitude.  The Great Red
Spot, however, is a huge "storm" high in Jupiter's atmosphere.  Because of
this, and also due to the fast rotation speed of the planet (the fastest
in the Solar System), it has been known to "drift" up to several degrees in
longitude.  Currently, the Great Red Spot's longitude is 35 degrees relative
to the planet's Central Meridian.  You may want to consult your favorite
astronomy magazine a few times a year so you can adjust this longitude value
for the best possible accuracy.


Background Colors

    You can select one of many different background colors.  The default is
black, but you can select white or a shade of gray if you prefer.  The
"transparent" color allows you to display Jupiter with no background,
appearing on top of whatever is beneath it.


Jupiter's Four Galilean Satellites

    In addition to the About box, there is also another dialog box called Galilean
Satellites to configure the display of the four major Jovian moons discovered
by Galileo: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.  You can set the program to
display the moons either above or below a half-icon of Jupiter, show just the
moons in the center of the icon space, or display the full icon of Jupiter.
Simply click on the appropriate radio button.

     You can also select the Satellite Colors, the Inclination angle of the satellites,
and the size of Jupiter and the moons.

     You can view the Satellite Orbital Periods here.


Satellite Colors

    You can set the colors of the moons and the small image of Jupiter by changing
the Red, Green and Blue values to the ones you want.  Each color value is
from 0 (no color) to 255 (full color).  By mixing and matching the values, you
can create any color you wish.


Jupiter/Moon sizes

    You can change the size of each moon from one pixel (the default) to
two pixels.  Likewise, the size of Jupiter can be changed from 2 pixels to
four.  Please note, however, that the scale of the Jovian system is exaggerated
when the larger pixel sizes are used, but the icon is easier to view from a
distance this way.


Inclination angle of the satellites

    An important feature on the Galilean Satellites dialog box is the Incline Angle.
The radio buttons default to As seen from Earth.  Presently and for the next
few years, the plane of Jupiter's moons is tilted approximately 3 degrees with
respect to the Earth.  GRedSpot defaults to this value when displaying the
moons, creating an image as seen from a small telescope or binoculars.  For an
overhead view of Jupiter, click on the radio button Above Jupiter looking
down.  This automatically sets the Incline Angle to 90 degrees and sets the
radio button for Only show the moons.  Earth is now directly "down" from the
icon; moons that are "above" Jupiter are behind the planet, or farther from
Earth, and those that are "below" Jupiter are in front, or nearer to Earth.

     The Other radio button lets you select your own inclination angle and does
not change any other button settings.  After clicking this button, enter your
own value from -90 to 90 degrees.

     Experiment with different values and combinations until you find a viewing
angle that suits your taste.


Satellite Orbital Periods

Io:	 1 day,  18 hours, 28 minutes
Europa:	 3 days, 13 hours, 14 minutes
Ganymede:	 7 days,  3 hours, 43 minutes
Callisto:	16 days, 16 hours, 32 minutes

(From Peterson's Field Guide)


"Always On Top" feature

    You can click the Icon is always on top of windows button on to have
the GRedSpot icon stay visible when other windows are covering it.  When on, the
icon will always appear "on top of" the other windows instead of being "hidden"
beneath them.


'GRS Transit Times' window

    When you select the GRS Transit Times window, the current date and time,
the position of the Spot displayed in degrees, and all of today's transit
times in 24-hour format are displayed and updated every few seconds.
The orbital position in degrees for each moon is also displayed.

   Press the Minimize button in the upper right corner to shrink the window back to
an icon.


GRedSpot and Screen Savers

    In the default configuration, GRedSpot displays the time until the next
transit beneath the icon.  Since this will automatically update the icon's
title once per minute, this may cause some screen savers, which can sense
such activity, to never activate.  A simple solution is to change the
Icon Title field in the About box to some simple word or words, such as
"Jupiter" or "Jupiter's Great Red Spot".  You will not be able to use
GRedSpot's clock feature (although you could still display the date), but your
screen savers should work again.


Other related programs

    Look for EARTHSxx.ZIP, a Windows icon that shows the current sunlit-side of
Earth, MARSICxx.ZIP, a Windows icon that shows the current view of the
planet Mars and SOLSYSxx.ZIP, a Windows icon that shows the current position
of the nine planets in our Solar System.  All three have been released and are
available at the Internet FTP site oak.oakland.edu and it's mirrors,
ftp.cica.indiana.edu and it's mirrors, and at the Software Creations BBS,
(508) 365-2359 (2400,N,8,1), all in the USA.  All users receive the
shareware versions of these programs when they register.

     The current versions are EARTHS26.ZIP, MARSIC26.ZIP and SOLSYS10.ZIP.


Registering GRedSpot

    Print out the file ORDER.FRM to get a quick order form for registering
GRedSpot.  This shareware version is not cripple-ware, nag-ware or
free-ware, although it will remind you every 5 times to register until the
evaluation period expires.  When you do register, you will receive the latest
executable version that allows UNLIMITED use of the program with no reminder
box and no expiration.

     All future versions/upgrades of this program are FREE to registered users.
When a new shareware version becomes available, just download it and copy
the new files to the registered version's subdirectory.  It's that simple!

     The cost of the diskette and the mailing charges are all included
in the US $10 registration fee.  Personal checks, money orders and American
Express travelers checks are all accepted (sorry, I do not yet accept credit
card orders).  If you wish, you may register for US $20 and receive the
full Borland C++ 3.1 source code and Windows resource files used to make
this program as well.  The source code for each future version will be
available free for registered source-code users.

     If you find GRedSpot useful, please upload it to other bulletin
boards and/or Internet FTP sites so other people can enjoy it, too!


Order Form
                    GRedSpot 3.6 - Order Form

Return this form along with:

   US $10: for the latest registered executable version
                              OR
   US $20: for the latest version PLUS the full Borland C++ 3.1
           source code and Windows resource files
to:
                        W. Scott Thoman
                        41 Lee Road
                        Dryden, NY  13053  USA

Registered users are entitled to ALL upgrades AT NO EXTRA COST!
When a new shareware version becomes available, just download it
and copy the new files to your registered version's directory.

Personal checks, money orders and American Express traveler's
checks are all accepted.  (Sorry, I do not yet accept credit
card orders).  You will also receive the shareware version of
3 other icon-programs, one for Earth (EarthSun; EARTHS26.ZIP)
Mars (MarsIcon; MARSIC26.ZIP) and (SolSys; SOLSYS10.ZIP).

   Name ____________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________

        ____________________________________________________

        ____________________________________________________

        ____________________________________________________

Internet/CompuServe Address: _______________________________

Can I e-mail it to you?  ___ .ZIP file ___ UUENCODEd  ___ No

Where did you hear about GRedSpot? _________________________

____________________________________________________________

Disk size:   ___ 5.25"   ___ 3.5"

Comments: __________________________________________________

                           THANK YOU!


Calling all icon artists!

    If you have improved the existing icons, or have created any new icons to
improve the animation, please send them to me and I might include them, along with
your name and my thanks, in future versions.  If I use your contributions, you will
receive the latest registered executable version free, including the source code,
for your efforts.


Troubleshooting

    If you get the About box each and every time you start the program, make
sure you have the program icon's Working Directory set to the directory
where you have the GREDSPOT.EXE file.  This allows the program to properly find it's
.INI file.  Make sure your GREDSPOT.INI file is in the same subdirectory as the
GREDSPOT.EXE file; if it isn't, move it to that subdirectory.  This is the recommended
way to keep all of GRedSpot's files together.

     If you prefer, you may also set the Working Directory to your Windows subdirectory
explicitly, or just leave it blank to have it default to your Windows subdirectory.  Again,
just make sure that GREDSPOT.INI is, indeed, located there.

     Finally, make sure the .INI file is marked as read/write (this is the default);
do NOT mark this file as read-only.


Acknowledgements

    Many thanks go to Peter Hayes (peter.hayes@uk.cray.com) in England for the
information he supplied to me on the daylight savings time issues in the UK
and Europe, and to Dan Bruton of Texas A&M University (the author of the
program GALSAT50) for his *extensive* help with the satellite calculations.

     Thanks also to Eric Rickin (erickin@umich.edu) for pointing me in
the right direction, namely to Don LeClair (71534.3255@compuserve.com) for help
on doing transparent backgrounds and having icons stay "always on top".


Acknowledgements2

    Hi Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Brian, Joe, and my wife, Robin.


Revision History

                       GRedSpot - Revision History

02/18/94 Version 3.6 - Added support for transparent backgrounds.  Added the
"always on top" check box.  Added printable order forms
directly from the help system.

01/18/94 Version 3.5 - Added help system, improved dialog boxes, user
can now change the size of Jupiter and the moons
for easier viewing, support for moon orbital
positions in icon title.

12/21/93 Version 3.0 - Added support for the four Galilean Satellites.
Minor optimizations and improvements.

11/24/93 Version 2.0 - Initial release.  All options are now fully
user-configurable on the About screen and saved
in GREDSPOT.INI.  Added support for all timezones,
daylight savings time, and update intervals.
Support for displaying transits, date and time in
many formats.  Improved all of the icons.  Using
straight Windows API calls instead of OWL.

07/12/93 Version 1.0 - First version.  Used BC++/OWL as a framework.


Author Information

  Any suggestions, bugs, ideas, complaints?  Let me know what you think of this
program so I can improve it!  Please include the version number you are using
in all correspondence; this is version 3.6.

Mail Address:

   W. Scott Thoman
   41 Lee Road
   Dryden, NY  13053
   USA

Internet E-Mail Address:

   thoman@law.mail.cornell.edu

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Thank you for using GRedSpot!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


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