highlight multiple constellations

README.md

@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ The following settings can be included in a `StarCharter` configuration file:
 * `chart_edge_line_width` - Line width to use when marking the edge of the chart. Default: 2.5.
 * `constellation_boundaries` - Boolean (0 or 1) indicating whether we draw constellation boundaries. Default: 1.
 * `constellation_boundary_col` - Colour to use when drawing constellation boundaries
-* `constellation_highlight` - Optionally, highlight the boundary of one particular constellation, identified by a three-letter abbreviation.
+* `constellation_highlight` - Optionally, highlight the boundary of particular constellations, identified by three-letter abbreviation, comma sepparated list.
 * `constellation_label_col` - Colour to use when writing constellation names
 * `constellation_label_size` - Relative font size to use when rendering constellation names. Default: 1.
 * `constellation_names` - Boolean (0 or 1) indicating whether we label the names of constellations
@@ -463,6 +463,7 @@ Only the filename is compulsory. The fields have the following meanings:
 * `angular_height` - The number of degrees of altitude spanned by the horizon graphic (vertically). By default, this is calculated from the aspect ratio and angular width of the image, assuming the pixels at the centre of the image to be square. So, if the image is twice as wide as it is high, and the angular width is 360 degrees, its angular height will be 180 degrees.
 
 ## Change history
+FORK version (28 June 2026) - Added the ability to highlight multiple constellations. Fixed bug of generating more than 5 charts in one configuration file
 
 **Version 10.0** (6 June 2026) - Switched default ephemeris from DE430 to DE440. Add support for horizon graphics.
 

dataFetch.py

@@ -212,12 +212,12 @@ def fetch_required_files(refresh: bool = False, never_refresh: bool = False,
         {
             'url': 'https://ftp.lowell.edu/pub/elgb/astorb.dat.gz',
             'destination': 'data/astorb.dat',
-            'force_refresh': True
+            'force_refresh': refresh  # was True
         },
         {
             'url': 'https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/MPCORB/AllCometEls.txt',
             'destination': 'data/Soft00Cmt.txt',
-            'force_refresh': True
+            'force_refresh': refresh  # was True
         },
 
         # Definitions of constellation boundaries

data_processing/milky_way_map/src/main.h

@@ -26,20 +26,18 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 
 // Output 1 is for starcharts_svg
-#define SMOOTH        16                      /* Median smoothing of Axel Mellinger's panorama */
-#define RESOLUTION_1  (360./8000*(SMOOTH)/16) /* resolution of grid in degrees */
+#define SMOOTH        16 /* Median smoothing of Axel Mellinger's panorama */
+#define RESOLUTION_1  (360./8000*(SMOOTH)/16)    /* resolution of grid in degrees */
 
-#define H_SIZE_MAP1  ((int)(360/(RESOLUTION_1)))
-#define V_SIZE_MAP1  ((int)(180/(RESOLUTION_1)))
+#define H_SIZE_MAP1   8000
+#define V_SIZE_MAP1   4000
 
-// Output2 is for HTML5 planetarium
-#define RESOLUTION_2 (360./4096) /* resolution of grid in degrees */
-
-#define H_SIZE_MAP2  ((int)(360/(RESOLUTION_2)))
-#define V_SIZE_MAP2  ((int)(100/(RESOLUTION_2)))
+#define RESOLUTION_2  (360./4096)                /* resolution of grid in degrees */
+#define H_SIZE_MAP2   4096
+#define V_SIZE_MAP2   1137
 
 typedef struct {
-    unsigned char C[V_SIZE_MAP1][H_SIZE_MAP1];
+    unsigned char C[V_SIZE_MAP1][H_SIZE_MAP1];  /* 4000 x 8000 = 32 MB */
 } dataArray;
 
 #endif

data_processing/star_catalogue_merged/main_catalogue_merge.py

@@ -1247,11 +1247,11 @@ def read_english_names() -> Tuple[StarList, str]:
             star: StarDescriptor = StarDescriptor()
             try:
                 star.names_hip_num = int(line[90:].split()[0])
-            except ValueError:
+            except (ValueError, IndexError):
                 pass
             try:
                 star.names_hd_num = int(line[97:].split()[0])
-            except ValueError:
+            except (ValueError, IndexError):
                 pass
             star.add_english_name(new_name=line[18:36].strip(), prepend=True)
 

setup.sh

@@ -112,9 +112,9 @@ cd ${cwd} || exit 1
 
 # Make some test charts of the paths of solar system objects, to ensure all ASCII input ephemeris files are converted
 # to binary for rapid access on subsequent queries
-echo "[`date`] Generating test charts"
-cd ${cwd} || exit 1
-./runExamples.py "$@" || exit 1
+# echo "[`date`] Generating test charts"
+#cd ${cwd} || exit 1
+#./runExamples.py "$@" || exit 1
 
 # Finished
 cd ${cwd} || exit 1

src/astroGraphics/constellations.c

@@ -85,8 +85,27 @@ void plot_constellation_boundaries(chart_config *s, line_drawer *ld) {
     double x_first = 0, y_first = 0;
     char line[FNAME_LENGTH], *scan, constellation[6] = "@@@@";
 
-    // This must be set to true initially, to ensure that colour is set when we start tracing the first constellation
-    int was_highlighted = 1;
+    // Parse constellation_highlight into a list of 3-letter abbreviations, comma-separated
+    // e.g. "Ori,Tau,Gem"
+    // char highlight_buf[FNAME_LENGTH];
+    // strncpy(highlight_buf, s->constellation_highlight, FNAME_LENGTH - 1);
+    // highlight_buf[FNAME_LENGTH - 1] = '\0';
+
+    char highlight_buf[FNAME_LENGTH];
+    snprintf(highlight_buf, FNAME_LENGTH, "%s", s->constellation_highlight);
+
+    char highlights[64][4];  // up to 64 highlighted constellations, 3 chars + null
+    int highlight_count = 0;
+
+    char *token = strtok(highlight_buf, ",");
+    while (token != NULL && highlight_count < 64) {
+        // Strip leading/trailing spaces
+        while (token[0] == ' ') token++;
+        strncpy(highlights[highlight_count], token, 3);
+        highlights[highlight_count][3] = '\0';
+        highlight_count++;
+        token = strtok(NULL, ",");
+    }
 
     // Set up line-drawing class
     ld_pen_up(ld, GSL_NAN, GSL_NAN, NULL, 1);
@@ -137,22 +156,30 @@ void plot_constellation_boundaries(chart_config *s, line_drawer *ld) {
             x_first = x;
             y_first = y;
 
+            // Check if this constellation is in the highlight list
+            int is_highlighted = 0;
+            for (int i = 0; i < highlight_count; i++) {
+                if (strncasecmp(constellation, highlights[i], 3) == 0) {
+                    is_highlighted = 1;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+
             // Set the line colour and width for the boundary of this constellation
-            if (strncmp(constellation, s->constellation_highlight, 3) == 0) {
+            if (is_highlighted) {
                 cairo_set_source_rgba(s->cairo_draw,
                                       s->star_col.red, s->star_col.grn, s->star_col.blu,
                                       s->star_col.alpha);
                 cairo_set_line_width(s->cairo_draw, 2 * s->line_width_base);
-                was_highlighted = 1;
-            } else if (was_highlighted) {
+            } else {
                 cairo_set_source_rgba(s->cairo_draw,
                                       s->constellation_boundary_col.red,
                                       s->constellation_boundary_col.grn,
                                       s->constellation_boundary_col.blu,
                                       s->constellation_boundary_col.alpha);
                 cairo_set_line_width(s->cairo_draw, 0.8 * s->line_width_base);
-                was_highlighted = 0;
             }
+
         }
 
         ld_point(ld, x, y, NULL);
@@ -162,6 +189,7 @@ void plot_constellation_boundaries(chart_config *s, line_drawer *ld) {
     ld_pen_up(ld, GSL_NAN, GSL_NAN, NULL, 1);
 }
 
+
 //! plot_constellation_sticks - Draw stick figures to represent the constellations.
 //! \param s - A <chart_config> structure defining the properties of the star chart to be drawn.
 //! \param ld - A <line_drawer> structure used to draw lines on a cairo surface.