SOLUN Version 5 for EPOC
(C) Copyright 1993, 2001 David Rushall
Contents
(*) Please read all sections marked with a * above before
installing and using Solun, even if you have used the application
previously.
Solun is your "Pocket Planetarium": a convenient tool for the
amateur astronomer, providing both almanac and planetarium
functions.
Features include:
- Planetarium and star atlas displays.
- World map and globe views, showing the day/night terminator.
- Orrery and quick observation solar-system displays.
- Almanac reports, including lunar month, rise and set times
and eclipses.
Solun for EPOC runs on the Psion Series 5, Series 5mx, Series 7,
Revo and other compatible machines.
Note: Solun is also available for the Psion Series 3
range including the Series 3a, Series 3c, Siena and the
Acorn Pocketbook II.
Visit the Solun home-page, at
http://www.piecafe.demon.co.uk/
, for latest news and screen shots.
New features
The following lists some of the new features to be found in some
of the most recent versions of Solun.
- Version 5.1
- Comet path shown on 3D orrery; User-selected time, location and
observation notes preserved in settings document; Ability to open
read-only settings documents; "Observation notes" dialog "Clear" button;
Unnamed location names a contain longitude and latitude; "Another tip"
option on main menu; Location dialog now only accepts valid names and
Delete key fixed; Fixed occasional "invalid arguments" when clicking on
"Quick..." views; Avoids crash when given bad command string by some
application launchers; Handle default document name being a directory or
not a Solun document.
- Version 5.0
- New document based saved settings system; New improved "Sky view"
button; Full colour displays; Background star chart plotting; 3D orrery;
Permanent dark background option; Built-in constellation etc labels
(separated from user-defined labels); Improved object and label
catalogues; Improved search dialogs; Night shading on "Globe view";
Line of ecliptic on "Quick ecliptic view"; Side view of Saturn's rings;
Improved chart symbols; Revised, more concise Help file; Improved Revo
displays (dialog sizes, title bar); Improved VGA displays (more
"automatic" stars, auxiliary window placement); Improved "Update"
button behaviour; Improved auxiliary window behaviour; Improved error
reporting; Automatic null display when required; Planet phase on
information panels; Trigonometry table no longer saved on faster
machines; "Close Solun?" removed (for standard cases); Many other
ease-of-use improvements (dialog/menu layouts, terminology); Fixed sign
of equation of time bug; Colour application icon; Improved SIS
packaging (with separate entries for Report module and Help); Use FlLib
OPM shared library; Install on drive E:.
- Version 4.5
- Comet support, including charts, information panels and
reports; Chart detail settings presets; Improved and draggable
information and moon phase window; Find labels matches
sub-strings, not just prefixes; Rise/set calculation speed
improved; Improved planet information and label selection
dialogs; Cosmetic enhancements to title bar, null display and
welcome screen.
- Version 4.41
- Sun and moon on daily planet report; Day skip setting for
reports; New object ephemeris report; Integrated milky-way
outline (for faster plotting); Lunar parallax accounted for;
Around 1000% faster chart object identification; Various
enhancements and bug fixes (sun-earth distance; Arctic circle
boundary error; location selection and city name length; spaces
in label file names; rounding on DMS conversion; daily planet
report date).
- Version 4.4
- Enhanced report mode, including print support; Degrees and
minutes input fields; Low and high automatic detail settings;
Revo bug fix; New welcome screen.
- Version 4.3
- Finer star resolution; Plot up to 5000 stars; Faster star
chart plotting; Plot stars by magnitude; Clearer chart graphics,
including more star sizes; Automatic number of stars; Faster
scanning for object info; Automatic update; Double-buffering;
Improved zoom support, including sidebar buttons; Saturn ring
display; Improvements for Galilean and globe displays; Visual
target for title-bar menu; Improved 'Find' support; EPOC-friendly
menu shortcuts; Welcome back to the "Chart" menu.
- Version 4.21
- Pen-enablement of 'World Map' and 'Quick ...' views;
'Apply (no redraw)' button on pan and zoom dialog; Equator shown
on world map; Fix orrery small-screen bug; EPOC R5 compatibility;
SIS package.
- Version 4.2 (first full release for EPOC)
- Chart printing; Export display as MBM; Ini files in Solun4
directory (on C:); New-style Options dialog; Optional setting of
scale on fast path; Single bitmap file; Support for screens
smaller than Series 5; Toolbar and title bar optional; RA and Dec
displayed in status bar in point-and-click mode; Look for missing
label files on alternative drives; Line plotting in label files;
Azimuth/altitude grid; Correct galactic equator; Full manual in
online help.
- Version 4.1d (second beta for EPOC)
- Enhanced Gallilean moon display; Basic inverse video; More
accurate rise/set times; Planet report; Observer information panel;
Information for all plotted objects; Find objects; Approximate scale
outlines for sun and moon; Additional information on moon detail panel;
EPOC-style title bar and menu; Run from drive D:; Simple online help;
Various minor bug fixes.
- Version 4.1b (first beta for EPOC)
- Gallilean moon display; Key constellation names on "Quick" views;
General display improvements; Full pen-enabled interface.
- Version 4
- New "Quick observation" views; New "Report" mode, including eclipse
prediction; Point-and-click pan and zoom; Greater accuracy for Sun and
Moon calculations; Multi-size labels; Full support for Psion Siena.
Copyright status: Charityware
Solun for EPOC is Charityware. This means you are licensed to
distribute and use this application (according to the following
conditions) for free!
However, if you like it enough to pay something, then you are
invited to send a small donation to a charity. See below, and in
the application's online Help for more details.
Disclaimer and copyright
- Solun for EPOC is charityware and copyright; it is not public
domain. The rights to this package remain the property of the author
and the right to withdraw this license at any time is reserved.
- You may use this software, free of charge, for an indefinite period
and at no obligation to the author, other than honouring these
conditions.
- Permission is given to publicly distribute this software provided
the distribution contains all, and only, the unaltered files of the
original distribution. In addition, the ownership of the rights to
this software must be clearly stated and any fee charged for the
distribution must be extremely nominal.
- Use of Solun is entirely at the user's own risk. The user must
accept responsibility for any direct or indirect loss or damage
arising from the use (or misuse) of the package. This software is
supplied "as-is" and carries no warrantee of any kind. This software
is for entertainment only.
- Warning: Both the plotted positions of 'fixed' objects
and the calculation of the objects of the solar system are not
intended to be highly accurate. Whilst these may be sufficient
for most amateur astronomical purposes, Solun should never be
used for navigation.
- Note: The OPX files employed by this software (and
included in this distribution) are the copyright of Symbian Ltd
(Systinfo and Alarm) and Neuon (nListBox). Please see their WWW
sites,
http://www.epocworld.com/
and
http://www.neuon.com/
respectively, for more details.
- Note: Some of the files provided along with the Solun
application are derived from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue and as
such are not covered by this declaration of copyright. These files
are identified by their *.str and *.sol suffixes, and are provided
for your convenience.
In addition to this README document, there are a number of
sources of information about the installation of use of Solun.
These are listed below.
- README document (this one)
- This document contains what you should know to get started;
including how to install the application and display a few simple
screens.
- Online application help (Solun.hlp)
- Solun includes a full user manual in the form of a EPOC
application help file. This contains instructions for all
displays and includes some hints and useful information, such as
lists of some interesting objects in the sky. To read this
document, open 'Solun.hlp' using the standard EPOC 'Data'
application or select the 'Help' item from the main menu within
the Solun application.
Hint: If your machine (or your PC) is connected to a
printer, you can print the manual in the normal way. Use the
"File:Print setup..." dialog to select whether you wish to print
an individual section card or all the cards in a view. The full
document will need about 30-40 sheets of paper.
- User manual WWW (web site)
- There is an illustrated version of the User Manual for Solun
available as a web page, at:
http://www.piecafe.demon.co.uk/solunman/
. This document is (currently) written with the Series 3
version of Solun in mind (so ignore the installation instructions)
but is near enough to the EPOC version to be useful.
The manual can be downloaded in a single
ZIP
file if you require.
- Solun home page (web site)
- For information about Solun, including the latest news and
releases, visit my home page on the web:
http://www.piecafe.demon.co.uk/
.
- Ask the author (email)
- If you have queries, comments or suggestions then please
feel free to send me an email. My address is at the end of
this document.
Solun for EPOC is designed for use with the Psion Series 5 and
compatible machines.
If you have a problem with a particular platform then, if
possible, please send me an email, preferably with a screen shot
of the problem.
- Display
- The displays have been optimised for the Series 5 (640x200
pixels) but should operate on both smaller devices (down to about
480x160 pixels) and larger ones (provided they are not too big).
Users with smaller screen devices (such as the Revo) may find the
display is better with the tool and title bars turned off.
- ROM
- This software has been ported to EPOC using a Series 5
(v1.01(145) UK). Other ROM levels should be supported, including
EPOC Release 5 machines such as the Series 5mx, Series 7 and Revo.
Note: That EPOC Release 6 machines ("Quartz" and
"Crystal", e.g. Nokia Comunicator) are not supported by
this release (visit Solun web site for ER6 availability).
- Processor
- Being an OPL application, Solun should be processor
independent. However, the supplied OPXs are designed for use
with ARM-based machines. If you wish to use Solun on another
platform (e.g. the "WINS emulator"), please see the Symbian and
Neuon web sites (addresses in Conditions section) to see if the
OPXs are available for that platform.
The following sections outline how to install and use this
version of Solun. Please follow these instructions carefully.
Upgrading from Solun4
If you have been using Solun 4.x, there are some considerations
when you install this release:
- If you have been using Solun 4.2 or earlier:
- Your existing copy of Solun does not use SIS files.
Please delete the contents of the \System\Apps\Solun4\ directory
and remove Solun.ini and Solun.dat from the C:\System\ directory,
if present.
- If you are upgrading from a any version between 4.21 and
4.5 inclusive:
- Your existing copy of Solun uses SIS files.
It is recommended that you use "Add/Remove" on the Control Panel
to remove your existing copy before installing this
SIS file.
Note that your old settings will not be preserved.
Note: As of Version 4.3, Solun uses more 'EPOC-friendly'
shortcut keys for menu options (such as Ctrl-T for
'hide toolbar'). Users familiar with the older, Series 3 hot-keys
(such as Ctrl-T for show 'Time' dialog) may wish to turn on
the 'Old style shortcut keys' option on the Tools menu.
Contents of this distribution
The distribution ZIP file contains the following files:
- These installation instructions:
Readme.txt and Readme.htm
- Main application file (including OPXs, in SIS package):
Solun.sis
Installation
To install this version of Solun, simply use the following
steps:
- Close all applications before installing this software.
- Using PsiWin2 or the "Add/Remove" icon on the EPOC Control
Panel (if you have it), install the main application, Solun.sis
Notes: Please read all messages carefully.
You will be asked whether you wish to install the Solun report
module and the online User Manual and help (it is recommended
that you install both, you can always remove them at a later date
to recover up to 240 KB disk space).
The supplied OPXs are for ARM-based machines,
such as the Series 5, Series 5mx, Series 7, Revo, etc.
If you wish to run this application on the EPOC emulator then
please contact the OPX authors (web addresses above) for the
appropriate versions.
- Look in the "Extras" draw on the machine for the new
"Solun" icon.
If you are a new user, now read the
quick tour section of this document
and don't forget to browse Solun's online help file (available
from the 'Help' tool bar button) which contains a full user
manual as well as hints and tips to get you started.
Please consult your Psion manuals for more details of these
operations, but let me know if you're having problems.
Installation problems?
If the install hangs whilst "Checking dependencies"
Sometimes an install using PsiWin seems to freeze during the
"Checking dependencies" stage. I'm not quite sure whether this is
a problem with particular versions of PsiWin or particular versions
of Windows, but it does seem to happen most with Series 7
machines.
If you get this problem then please try copying the unzipped
Solun.sis file from your PC to any directory one of the drives on
your EPOC device. You should then be able to double-tap the file
on the System screen and install it from there. Once Solun has been
installed, you can delete Solun.sis from your EPOC device
If you have problems with OPX versions
Solun requires the supplied versions (or later) of some
OPX files to provide special functions from the EPOC system.
Installing the supplied SIS file should ensure you have the required
levels or later on your machine.
Unfortunately, there are some older and misbehaved applications
out there which do not supply these OPXs correctly and these may
cause problems with Solun and other applications that require a
newer version.
If you experience messages about missing or incompatible OPX
versions (or perhaps even operating system kernel errors) when
starting Solun, please consider the following tips.
- Close all applications and reinstall the supplied SIS file.
It is recommended that you install the OPX files on the internal
(C:) drive. Attempt to start Solun.
- If you still have problems, backup your machine (if possible).
If you have installed the "Add/Remove" icon on your Series 5
Control Panel, use it to remove the package with a name similar to
"RMR Systinfo OPX", if present. Next, remove manually
\System\OPX\Systinfo.opx from both C: and D: drives, if present.
Now, reinstall the supplied SIS file on to your machine and
attempt to start Solun again.
Note: I recommend keeping a copy of Solun.sis
handy in case installing another ill-behaved application
in the future should regress the level of the OPXs and cause
problems with Solun and other applications.
Removing the Solun application
If you have finished with this software you can remove the
application as follows:
- Make sure the Solun application is not running.
- Using the "Add/Remove" icon on the EPOC control, remove
the "Solun - The Pocket Planetarium" application.
After you have completed these steps, Solun will have been
removed from your machine's memory and "Extras" bar.
Once you have installed the Solun application, you are ready
to take a quick tour...
- Starting Solun
- Touch the new "Solun" icon on the "Extras" bar. After a few
seconds you will be presented with the welcome screen.
- Display a star chart
- After Solun has finished initialising and the welcome screen
has been displayed, press the "View" button on the tool bar and
then select "Star chart" from the pop-up menu. If you have no
tool bar visible, use the "View:Display mode" sub-menu.
The first time you display a star chart, Solun calculates a
trigonometry table, which can take a while. If this takes more
that a couple of seconds, you are given the option to save the
table to disk for next time (as C:\System\Apps\Solun\Solun.dat).
Press Y and Solun will continue to draw the chart.
When the chart is complete, you will see a representation of
the current sky as seen from your home city, facing South. By
default, Solun displays the planets and the outlines of the
constellation shapes and a few stars.
- Changing the star chart display
- From the menu, select "Chart:Detail and colour..." to display
the Chart detail and colour dialog. Select '<4' into the number of
stars field and set all other fields to 'Black' (or 'White' if
your display currently has a dark background). Now, press the "Lines"
button to choose which lines to plot. Set all the lines to
'Grey' and press Enter twice (once to return to the main details
dialog, and a second time to complete).
From the menu, again, choose "Chart:Sky view direction..."
(or press the "Sky" toolbar button) to display the sky view control.
Tap the "W" (west) direction, or press the "W" key.
Solun will begin to redraw the chart with your new settings.
- The day/night world map
- To display the day/night map, press the 2 (number two) key, or
select the "World map" option from the "View:Display mode" menu. An
outline map of the world will be displayed, with a curved line
representing the areas where the moon is rising or setting, and a
shaded area representing the areas in darkness.
- The quick visibility display
- To quickly see which planets are currently above the horizon
from your home city, press the 5 (number five) key, or choose the
"Quick visibility" option in the "View:Display mode" menu. A grid is
displayed representing your horizon along the bottom, and showing
the symbols for the planets.
To view the meanings of the planet symbols in an inset window,
select the "View:Auxiliary display:Planets key" menu item.
- The moon information panel
- To display a panel of information about the moon, choose
"Information:Moon..." from the main menu.
The displayed panel includes the rise and set times for the moon,
as seen from your location today, and the current moon phase.
- A report display
- From the main menu, choose "Information:Report display"
to enter the Report dialog. Press the "New..." button and select
"Moon phase" to display the moon phase report.
Solun will calculate the date and times for the quarter moon
phases for the next few weeks. In addition, an indication is
displayed of the likelihood of an eclipse at each new and full
moon.
When the report is complete, press "Done" to return to the
main menu.
That was, of course, a very quick tour and Solun has many, many
more features, as you'll find if you explore the application menus.
For more information select the 'Help' item from the main menu to
open the full User Manual.
If you have any comments or suggestions about this application
then I can be contacted at the following locations:
- Email:
- dave@piecafe.demon.co.uk
- World Wide Web:
- http://www.piecafe.demon.co.uk/
For the latest information about Solun, please visit my
home-page on the
World Wide Web, or send me an
email.
Solun is distributed in association with
FreEPOC.
I hope to hear from you, and in the meantime I hope you enjoy
using Solun as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
David Rushall, February 2001
dave@piecafe.demon.co.uk