AstroGrav Help /Menus /Edit /Preferences...Version 5.2.1

Edit / Preferences... ()

Operating Systems: All except Mac
Window Types: All
Simulation Types: All

Summary

Edits the AstroGrav preferences.

Description

When you select this command, the AstroGrav preferences dialog will be displayed.

At the top of the preferences dialog there are a Restore Defaults button on the left and Open... and Save As... buttons on the right. The Restore Defaults button returns the preferences to their original values when AstroGrav was first installed. The Save As... button allows you to save your preferences in an XML file that can later be opened using the Open... button, so that these two buttons can be used either to transfer your preferences from one computer to another, or as way of backing up your preferences. The preferences that are saved include not only those that can be edited with the preferences dialog, but also your custom locations and list of recently opened simulations.

The remainder of the preferences dialog is a tabbed interface that has separate tabs for general preferences and for each of the different window types.

General Preferences ()

The general preferences apply to the application as a whole, and are as follows.

Home Location... allows you to specify the default location that is used for generating ephemerides with the Window / New Ephemeris... command.
Date Format... allows you to specify which of 15 different date formats AstroGrav should use. There is also an Include AD / BC checkbox that allows you to specify whether or not to include the AD and BC labels with the years. When included, years before 2 AD are labelled 1 AD, 1 BC, 2 BC, 3 BC, ..., and when excluded, years before 2 AD are labelled 1, 0, -1, -2, ..., so that for example, 481 BC corresponds to year -480.
Units... allows you to specify which units AstroGrav should use in a new simulation.
Help... allows you to specify whether AstroGrav should use the online help pages or the offline help pages. The online help pages will always be the most up to date, but the offline help pages might be preferable if you're using an old version of AstroGrav or your computer is not connected to the internet.
Show Menu Icons allows you to specify that AstroGrav should display tool icons to the left of the text on menu items. This may be useful to help you familiarize yourself with the icons used to respresent the various commands.
Show Menu Tips allows you to specify that AstroGrav should pop up a brief description of a menu item when the mouse hovers over it.
On Startup: allows you to specify what AstroGrav does on startup, and has the following choices.
- Do Nothing is a Mac only facility that just shows the menu bar.
- Create New Simulation creates a new simulation containing just a single star.
- Open Latest Simulation opens the most recently used simulation in the state in which it was last saved.
- Show File Chooser displays a file chooser for you to choose which simulation you want to open.
Language: allows you to specify which language AstroGrav uses, and has the following choices.
- Dutch
- English
- English (UK)
- French
- German
- Italian
- Portuguese
- Spanish

View Preferences ()

The view preferences apply only to view windows, and are as follows.

Status Bar Position allows you to specify whether status bars should be shown at the top or the bottom of view windows.
Tool Bar Position allows you to specify whether tool bars should be shown at the top, the left, the bottom, or the right of view windows.
Font allows you to specify the size of the text labels in every view window.
3D Glasses... allows you to specify which combination of colors your 3D glasses have, so that AstroGrav can draw three dimensional displays that correspond.
Use Right Button For Navigation allows you to specify whether or not the right mouse button should be used for the navigation of every view window, instead of for displaying the contextual popup menu.
Antialias is usually switched on, so that lines and text have smooth edges in view windows. Switching it off can make view windows display faster, but at the cost of giving the lines and text jagged edges instead of smooth edges.
Colors: Names allows you to specify the color used to display the names of objects in every view window.
Colors: Closed Orbits allows you to specify the color used to display the closed orbits (ellipses) in every view window.
Colors: Open Orbits allows you to specify the color used to display the open orbits (parabolas and hyperbolae) in every view window.
Colors: Tracks allows you to specify the color used to display the tracks of objects in every view window.
Colors: Velocities allows you to specify the color used to display the velocities of objects in every view window.
Colors: Accelerations allows you to specify the color used to display the accelerations of objects in every view window.
Colors: Coordinate Axes allows you to specify the color used to display the coordinate axes in every view window.
Colors: Ecliptic Grid allows you to specify the color used to display the ecliptic grid and the ecliptic in every view window.
Colors: Equatorial Grid allows you to specify the color used to display the equatorial grid and the equator in every view window.
Colors: Galactic Grid allows you to specify the color used to display the galactic grid and the galactic plane in every view window.
Colors: Horizontal Grid allows you to specify the color used to display the horizontal grid and the horizon in every view window.
Colors: Angles allows you to specify the color used to display angular separations in every view window.

Table Preferences ()

The table preferences apply only to table windows, and are as follows.

Status Bar Position allows you to specify whether status bars should be shown at the top or the bottom of table windows.
Tool Bar Position allows you to specify whether tool bars should be shown at the top, the left, the bottom, or the right of table windows.
Font allows you to specify the font that is used for drawing table windows.
On New Tables: Auto-Resize Columns allows you to specify whether or not to enable automatic column resizing in every new table window.
On New Tables: Show Cell Detail Popups allows you to specify whether or not cell detail popups should be shown when you move the mouse over cells in every new table window.

Structure Preferences ()

The structure preferences apply only to structure windows, and are as follows.

Status Bar Position allows you to specify whether status bars should be shown at the top or the bottom of structure windows.
Tool Bar Position allows you to specify whether tool bars should be shown at the top, the left, the bottom, or the right of structure windows.
On New Trees: allows you to specify how AstroGrav displays new trees, and has the following choices.
- Open No Parents leaves all parents closed, so that the root parent is the only visible object.
- Open Root Parent opens the root parent only, leaving all other parents closed.
- Open All Parents opens all parents, so that every object is visible.

Small Body Preferences ()

The small body preferences allow you to specify the addresses from which the Edit / Import Objects... command obtains its comet and asteroid data. It should only be necessary to change any of these addresses if the data source is moved to a different location, which is a rare occurrence. It will allow you to continue downloading the most recent data without having to wait for an AstroGrav upgrade to become available. AstroGrav must be re-started for any changes to take effect.