Event Data

The Event Data window is where you input time and location details for creating astrological charts and interlinked tableaux.

To open the Event Data window:

• click the  "Event Data" Toolbar button,
• select "Horoscope" | "Event Data..." from the main menu,
• right-click in an empty region of the Chart tableau and select "Event Data..." from the popup menu,
• type the hot-key 'B'.

The window title is either Core data or Background data, because the same form serves to input details for some types of horoscope which utilise two data-sets (for more information see Core and Background data). Beginners will mostly use the Core data form.

Inputting event details

The data to erect a horoscope comprises:

• name of the native, or brief description of the event (this field is optional),
• date and (local civil) time of the event. NOTE: the default date format is European style (day.month.year). To set it to US style (month/day/year) switch the Date Format setting on the Misc. tab of the General Settings window ¹,
• gender (sex),
• location: (city) name, country, area, state, etc (this field is optional) ²,
• latitude and longitude of the location of the event ²,
• difference between local civil and Greenwich (Universal) time as a Time Zone. NOTE: Time Zones are displayed in European style, not US style: locations East use a + sign, those West use a - sign ².

¹ To enter the date of an event B.C. (Before Christ), type the letter B after the year.

² When a location is selected from the Atlas, or from the drop-down city names list, these fields are completed automatically.

ATTENTION: When the symbol '?' is displayed in the Time Zone name field (under the Time Zone data - in the image above 'ENGLAND'), it indicates that this information is not available in the Atlas and that the Time Zone may not be correct. In this situation you can input the Time Zone value manually.

Pre-Gregorian calendar dates are adjusted for automatically, according to the accepted rules of astronomy, i.e. Monday, 24 September 1582 in the Julian calendar is followed by Tuesday, 5 October 1582 (Tuesday) in the Gregorian calendar. The date of adoption of the Gregorian calendar by different countries is a matter for historical research.

Selecting the type of chart

There are two ways of making the chart type selection. They are equivalent in function, and differ only in their user interface. You cannot, however, use both at the same time:

• Event Data window - when the Chart Type Selector is not open,
• Chart Type Selector window - opened by:
  • clicking the  "Chart Types" button on the Toolbar, or
  • selecting "Control" | "Chart Type Selector..." from the main menu, or
  • typing the F4 hot-key.

Select first the basic chart type: Natal, Horary, Dual, or Complex. After selecting the Natal chart type, proceed to the section Erecting the chart below.

A Horary is constructed as a single chart, but for the moment of 'birth' of an idea, question, or event. Selecting the horary chart type will cause ZET to take account of additional special settings available for horary charts. After selecting the horary chart type, proceed to the section Erecting the chart below.

After selecting a Dual chart, it is necessary to set its type and to input event data for the second (outer) chart of the pair (i.e. the Background data).

To input the background data-set, use the buttons  "Core Data form", "Background Data form" to switch the Event Data window betweeen the core and background data entry modes. The window titlebar indicates which form is currently displayed.

Select a type of dual chart either from the list in the Chart Type Selector window, or from the drop-down list box in the Event Data window which appears with Dual selection. The following types are predefined. (NOTE: only transit and synastry types of dual charts are available in ZET Lite):

See the following for more information about chart types: Prognostic Charts, Synastry, Horary, Complex Charts

Erecting the chart

After entering the above data, click the Execute button to create the chart.

If the name field in the Core data is not empty, the newly created chart is entered into a historical log of calculations, from which it can be quickly recast. Click the  "History" button on the Toolbar to open the History log window.

The chart is ready. To close the Event Data window, click its Close button.

Data entry assistance

The buttons adjacent the data entryfields assist in speeding up data input into the Event Data window in some situations:

"Open Database" button opens the Database window of stored chart details, from which an item can be selected for automatic loading into the currently displayed form (core or background data),

"Now" button inserts the current (system) date and time into these two fields of the form,

"Here" button inserts your present location (see Your Location) into the form.

"Here and Now" button combines the functions of the "Now" and "Here" buttons. Also the chart calculted and the Event window closed.

 "Get from Reference date" button obtains a date and time for the background data from the Reference Date window. This feature is available for some types of prognostic chart only.

"Additional comments" button opens a subsidiary text window into which additional comments, such as the reliability of the supplied natal data, biographic details, etc may be entered. (In the Database window, these are displayed in a separate pane).

"Open Atlas" button opens a window containing a world gazetter of place names, together with their geographical coordinates and time zones. From there any entry can be selected and its details automatically inserted into the form.

"Lookup Time Zone Table" - when unchecked allows the time zone data to be entered manually from the keyboard. Normal operation is with this setting checked, so that time zones are set from the Atlas, with allowed overrides as described next.

"Open Time Zones/Daylight Savings Times table" button opens a window listing either world time zones, or historical civil time changes which occurred in a time zone. Selections from these lists override the time zone set by Atlas look-up. You can switch between the two tables using the popup menu, displayed by right-clicking in the window:

• List of Time Changes Tables - switches the window to display the list of world time zones.
• Select - selects as the time zone the currently highlighted item in the list of world time zones. Reopening the window after making a selection will display the historical civil time changes for the selected zone.

"Open Time Zone Abbreviations table" button opens a window with a comprehensive list of time zones, their names and abbreviations. A time zone can be selected here for the event data by double-clicking an item with the mouse. This setting will override the time zone set by Atlas look-up.

Other functions

The buttons at the top of the dialog window have the following functions:

"Copy" copies the data currently on the form to the Windows clipboard (buffer). The data can be pasted, for example, into a text editor or an e-mail program, etc where it appears as semicolon-delimited plain text.

"Paste" inserts the contents of the Windows clipboard (buffer), if it has a compatible format, into the currently displayed (core or background data) form. Compatible data is created by ZET 8 in other parts of the program, e.g. the Search for Event window, aspects' Dynamics Diagrams.

"Reset form" button reinitialises the displayed form.

"Save to Database '[name]'" saves the data on the currently displayed form to the currently selected database page, named in the button's tooltip info.

"Copy Core data to Background data form" performs as labeled.

"Switch Core and Background data" button exchanges the core and background datasets, i.e. the Core data is transferred to the Background form, and vice versa.

  "Core Data form", "Background Data form" buttons switch the Event Data window between core data input and background data input modes.

  "Open the Dual Chart Editor" accesses the Dual Chart Editor window.

"Return" buttons (may be absent from your version of ZET) - after selecting a Return chart, the drop-down list below allows the selection of a planet for which a planetary return (i.e. recurrence at a zodiacal longitude) is to be calculated. The return will be calculated for a date just prior to the date on the Background data form. Click the arrow buttons which appear at right when the chart has been cast to display the next return chart. Repeated clicking on the arrow buttons generates successive return charts for the planet, forwards or backwards in time.

"Joint mode" button - puts the instance of ZET 8 into a special broadcasting/listening mode for other instances of ZET, which are also running with Joint mode enabled. In this mode, changes to the current event data made in one copy of the program are channeled to the other instances, where they are interpreted as commands to update the event details. This make it possible to synchronize all instances to update their tableaux, etc.

NOTE: the Cosmos, Sky, Geographical Map, and N-Chart tableaux utilize the data on the Core data form (never the Background data).