Streamlining asteroid belts made by Asteroid Maker.

[PlutonianEmpire]

Getting my name mixed up is nothing new. Even when I was in High School, long before I joined shatters.net, people said "Plutonium" instead of "Plutonian".

Still entertaining regardless.

[Goofy]

Hi.
Sorry for long delay in reply, my job is too much time-consuming, sometimes.
Anyway, here is my problem using Asteroid Maker 1.6:
1- I used the application as is, in Win Office Excel 2003. No change to default settings, used F9 to make calculations as per instructions, obtained the page with all data, selected column A, copied it to notepad2 (encoding UTF-8) and here the results:

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##############################################
#VALORE!
# Orbit family: Main Belt. Inc: 00.000.012
"Asteroid 1" "Lalande 21185" {
    Class                "asteroid"
    Texture              "vesta.*"     
    Color                [ 0.001 0.001 0.001 ]
    Albedo               0.000
    # No mesh
    Radius               252
#BLANK
    EllipticalOrbit {
        Period           000.000.000.000.005
        SemiMajorAxis    0.000.000.000.002
        Eccentricity     0.000.000.000.000
        Inclination      0.000.083
        AscendingNode    0.000.266
        MeanLongitude    0.000.166
        LongOfPericenter 0.000.009
#BLANK
    }
    Obliquity            0.000.104
    EquatorAscendingNode 0.000.282
    RotationOffset       0.000.119
    RotationPeriod       0.000.000.000.000.004
#BLANK
}

Where are all those zeroes from?
Why on top of the list I read the line
#VALORE!
Is there something wrong in the default settings?
Please, someone can check if these results are due to my mistakes or are common?
I'm using Win 7 64 bit and the below shown machine.
BTW, anyone has a previous version of this software?
Thanks a lot.
Bye

Goofy

[Chuft-Captain]

Goofy,

When EXCEL cannot calculate a valid value in a cell, it puts the text "#VALUE!" to indicate an error. This can be for a number of reasons, most likely an invalid value entered by you in some other sheet. Now I believe "VALORE" is Italian for "VALUE" - I'm guessing your language/culture is set to Italian.
The error in this cell may well be responsible for all the other errors further down (if they are somehow dependent on the value in this cell).

To give a very simple example:
If a cell, lets say A1 has the value "a", and the cell B1 has the formula "=A1*3".
Clearly you cannot multiply the letter "a" by 3 (at least in decimal math), so the "#VALUE!" error will result:

value error.JPG

So , you need to first click on that cell and examine it's formula, to work out what has gone wrong. This is almost certainly due to an error on your part (possibly an invalid entry in one of the sheets/cells referenced by this formula, such as entering text when it's expecting a number, etc...
If you do not identify the error from an initial examination of the formula, then you will need to trace this formula back to the cells from which it derives it's value, and then examine their values (or formulae, which may in term need to be traced back) until you discover the error.

CC

BTW. All this information is freely available in the HELP function (F1) that comes with EXCEL. Try searching for "#VALUE!" in the HELP.

[Goofy]

Goofy, When EXCEL cannot calculate a valid value in a cell, it puts the text "#VALUE!" to indicate an error. This can be for a number of reasons, most likely an invalid value entered by you in some other sheet. Now I believe "VALORE" is Italian for "VALUE" - I'm guessing your language/culture is set to Italian.
The error in this cell may well be responsible for all the other errors further down (if they are somehow dependent on the value in this cell).
...........
So , you need to first click on that cell and examine it's formula, to work out what has gone wrong. This is almost certainly due to an error on your part (possibly an invalid entry in one of the sheets/cells referenced by this formula, such as entering text when it's expecting a number, etc...
If you do not identify the error from an initial examination of the formula, then you will need to trace this formula back to the cells from which it derives it's value, and then examine their values (or formulae, which may in term need to be traced back) until you discover the error.
CC

Thank you, CC.
But, have you downloaded recently the 1.6 from Motherlode and launched it as is, pressing F9?
If yes, what are the results with your system (OS, spreadsheet and so on)?
This is the real starting issue I have, because I think that there may is one or more errors in nthe original formulae as given in the program, because I made absolutely no change to any of the data in the first page.
Could you please check this?
Thanks a lot, I'm getting nervous with this Asteroid-maker, that should be a simple nice thing and really isn't, I fear.
BTW I found this old thread on the matter, and it looks like my probelms are old ones:
http://www.shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8089
Bye

Goofy

[Chuft-Captain]

Goofy,
You failed to re-iterate that you are using OpenOffice -- This is an important piece of information.
I would say that your problems arise from this.

OpenOffice is NOT 100% inter-operable with EXCEL spreadsheets.
YES, it can read them, and for many average spreadsheets it may do quite a good job in converting them, however for large multi-sheet spreadsheets with complex formulae, there is a higher chance of encountering an in-compatibility.
The formula syntax of OpenOffice.Org I think differs in some crucial aspects from EXCEL. eg. I think semi-colons (;) rather than commas (,) are used as separators, in some or all builtin functions in OpenOffice, and I think that the names of some functions also differ.

Your choice is to use EXCEL, or to manually convert all remaining inconsistencies into their OpenOffice form -- a potentially long and tedious task.

That said... I have just opened it in OpenOffice, and it seems to have converted fine. Not seeing the issues you are.

A possibility, is that there is an option when installing OpenOffice to include/exclude MSOFFICE compatibility plugins of some kind.
I can't remember from when I installed it whether this was an option or not, but it may be worthwhile re-installing OpenOffice, and make sure any such options (if presented) are selected at install time.


CC

[Goofy]

Goofy, You failed to re-iterate that you are using OpenOffice -- This is an important piece of information. I would say that your problems arise from this.
Your choice is to use EXCEL, or to manually convert all remaining inconsistencies into their OpenOffice form -- a potentially long and tedious task.

I'm sorry CC, but as shown in my post on Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:58 AM, I tried it in MS Office Excel 2003 too, with shown results.
May it be that the spreadsheet is not comnpatible with my Excel version?
Perhaps it has been produced with Excel 2000 or Excel 2007, who knows.

That said... I have just opened it in OpenOffice, and it seems to have converted fine. Not seeing the issues you are. A possibility, is that there is an option when installing OpenOffice to include/exclude MSOFFICE compatibility plugins of some kind. I can't remember from when I installed it whether this was an option or not, but it may be worthwhile re-installing OpenOffice, and make sure any such options (if presented) are selected at install time.CC

I'll follow your suggestion and re-install OpenOffice, and if this will not work, I'll try on a friend of mine PC with MS Office Excel 2010.
Hope to solve in some way this issue, and thanks a lot for your help, very appreciated.
BTW, I sent a PM to "bdm" but I'm sure he'll read not it, it's 7 years he is no more in the forum.
Bye

Goofy

[John Van Vliet]

--- edit ---

[John Van Vliet]

--- edit ---

[PlutonianEmpire]

ubdate
the 2005 MS xls runs just fine in the current LibreOffice 3.5 and on linux too.
though there are a bunch of

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#BLANK
#BLANK
#BLANK
#BLANK
#BLANK
#BLANK
#BLANK
#BLANK
#BLANK


Which is why I posted this tutorial.

[Chuft-Captain]

I'll follow your suggestion and re-install OpenOffice, and if this will not work, I'll try on a friend of mine PC with MS Office Excel 2010.
Hope to solve in some way this issue, and thanks a lot for your help, very appreciated.

FYI,

The version of OpenOffice I am using is 3.4.0 which handles this spreadsheet just fine. What version are you using? Make sure it's the latest version when you re-install.

[Goofy]

I'll follow your suggestion and re-install OpenOffice, and if this will not work, I'll try on a friend of mine PC with MS Office Excel 2010.
Hope to solve in some way this issue, and thanks a lot for your help, very appreciated.

FYI,
The version of OpenOffice I am using is 3.4.0 which handles this spreadsheet just fine. What version are you using? Make sure it's the latest version when you re-install.

Hi CC.
I've just downloaded and installed the 3.4, and the results are the same oines.
At this point I give you the (default) settings I'm using when launching OpenOffice Calc (BTW, is this the correct substitute for MS Office Excel .xls files?):

Code: Select all

3,037814720800   Outer planet semimajor axis (AU)         OK
161,2883                           Mean Longitude of Outer Planet            OK
7,806619419900           Period of Outer Planet                  OK
0,6667                           Forbidden zone (resonance)      2   3   OK
2,31828652                   Maximum orbital radius (AU)                  
0,46000000                   Estimated star mass                  
                     
System Properties                     
Lalande 21185   Name of central star                  OK
0,4600   Mass of Central Star (solar masses)   8,5880E-21   OK
1,4744   Orbit Period at 1 AU (years)                  
73,4716   Inclination of Reference Plane to Ecliptic         OK
259,3924   Ascending Node of Reference Plane to Ecliptic      OK
                     
Synchronous orbits and Kirkwood Gaps                     
1,00%   Chance of 1:1 (Trojan) with Outer Planet            3,03781472      OK
0,80%   Chance of 3:4 (Hilda) with Outer Planet            2,50766080      OK
0,10%   Chance of 1:1 (Trojan) with Inner Planet            0,68499358      OK
0,08%   Chance of 4:3 (Hilda) with Inner Planet            0,82981063      OK
0,40%   Kirkwood gap strength (3:5)      3   5   2,16103657      OK
1,70%   Kirkwood gap strength (1:2)      1   2   1,91370336      OK
0,50%   Kirkwood gap strength (3:7)      3   7   1,72680551      OK
0,60%   Kirkwood gap strength (2:5)      2   5   1,64917956      OK
1,00%   Kirkwood gap strength (1:3)      1   3   1,46042899      OK
                                             
Miscellaneous constants                     
6,6740E-011   Gravitational Constant                  
Asteroid    Asteroid prefix                          OK
A   Moon prefix and suffixes            I   II   OK
1   First asteroid has this number               OK
#BLANK   Blank line marker                  OK
.   Celestia decimal point – usually "."            OK
        Locale decimal point                                    ERROR
                     
Textures                     
11 Number of different textures   Albedo       R              G              B           OK
"ceres.*"           <===>   0,113   0,300   0,300   0,300   OK
"pallas.*"          <===>   0,159   0,400   0,400   0,400   OK
"juno.*"            <===>   0,238   0,500   0,460   0,420   OK
"vesta.*"           <===>   0,423   0,720   0,670   0,620   OK
"toutatis.*"        <===>   0,160   0,520   0,470   0,420   OK
"ida.*"             <===>   0,240   0,500   0,460   0,420   OK
"kleopatra.*"       <===>   0,160   0,300   0,300   0,300   OK
"golevka.*"         <===>   0,150   0,300   0,300   0,300   OK
"geographos.*"      <===>   0,326   0,520   0,470   0,420   OK
"bacchus.*"         <===>   0,150   0,520   0,470   0,420   OK
"ky26.*"              <===>   0,150   0,300   0,300   0,300   OK

As you can see the "Locale decimal point" has no sign, so it gives Error, but if I put there the "comma" "," as used in Europe, the Error disappears, but results are always the same ones.
I tried all the combinations of dot and comma for Celestia/Locale Decimal Point, same results.
Could you please check if your parameters are the same ones, and what happens if you put the "comma" as I did?
I'm having some doubt about the file on Motherlode, perhaps it's corrupted?
Thsnks a lot once again.
Bye

Goofy

[Chuft-Captain]

OK,

I think what is happening is that those European comma's are causing the problem. (I was able to replicate your problem by temporarily changing locale to Italian)
I think it's (the spreadsheet's) handling of European locale characters is less than perfect.

So, when using this spreadsheet, simply change to a non-european locale within OpenOffice. (ie. A locale that uses decimal-points instead of commas.)

In Tools -> Options:

locale.JPG

CC

[Goofy]

OK, I think what is happening is that those European comma's are causing the problem. (I was able to replicate your problem by temporarily changing locale to Italian)
I think it's (the spreadsheet's) handling of European locale characters is less than perfect.
So, when using this spreadsheet, simply change to a non-european locale within OpenOffice. (ie. A locale that uses decimal-points instead of comma.
CC

Chuft-Captain, I bless you!!!!!
That was the reason of my problem, and hare is the new result after modifying the "Locale" settings in OpenOffice:

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# Generated with Asteroid Maker Version 1.6 on 2012-06-07 19:06:08.
# Reference plane: Inc = 73.4716, Asc Node = 259.3924
# Asteroids generated: 250
##############################################
# Asteroid 1 - Mass: 1.0574E+20 kg.  Class: Normal.  Moons: 0.
# Orbit family: Main Belt. Inc: 06.620307
"Asteroid 1" "Lalande 21185" {
    Class                "asteroid"
    Texture              "ceres.*"     
    Color                [ 0.300 0.300 0.300 ]
    Albedo               0.113
    Mesh                 "larissa.cmod"
    Radius               192.03
#BLANK
    EllipticalOrbit {
        Period           001.891027622993
        SemiMajorAxis    1.180459774059
        Eccentricity     0.161228175452
        Inclination      077.9815
        AscendingNode    254.3898
        MeanLongitude    121.3220
        LongOfPericenter 330.8643
#BLANK
    }
    Obliquity            001.2415
    EquatorAscendingNode 116.2793
    RotationOffset       320.8447
    RotationPeriod       0006.833481498581
#BLANK
}

So we had here a kind of "Babel Tower" of characters, but fortunately you gave me the right suggestion for addressing it.
Thanks a lot, very very appreciated.
Bye.

Goofy