Earth Plot
Updated May 5, 2025
Console
The Earth Plot Console was added to the March 2, 2023 release. It provides a friendlier way to change data, fonts, colors and other settings. Previously you had to quit Earth Plot, edit the ini settings file, and then restart Earth Plot.
Press the ` (back tick) key to show and hide the console window. If the console window is already shown but not the active window then it will become active instead of hidden.
The Earth Plot Console is similar to a Linux or Mac Terminal window or a Windows Command window. Use the left and right arrow keys to move the cursor. Use the up and down arrow keys to go through your history of commands. Scroll the window's contents using Ctrl+Shift+ Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Page Up, Page Down, Home and End keys.
Command: ver
The ver command displays the versions (build dates) of Earth Plot and the SGP4 library and the version of SDL.
Command: set [<variable> [<value>]]
Almost everything about Earth Plot can be customized. While some things are done by keyboard shortcuts most are done by setting variables.
The set command is used to set and show variable values. Both the variable and value parameters are optional. If no value is provided then the value of the specified variable will be shown. If no variable and no value are provided then the values of all variables will be shown.
All the values are saved when you quit and reloaded the next time you run.
Each variable expects a value according to the Type column in the above table. The table below describes the different types.
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| boolean | These are really integers with the values 0 or 1. You can enter any integer value but all non-zero values will become 1. |
| color |
Color values are three or four positive integers with each ranging from 0 to 255. Their meanings are: <red> <green> <blue> [<alpha>]The alpha value is optional and not used at this time. If not provided it will be set to 255. |
| file name | A valid file name according to the host operating system. A file name may include a file path and it will be treated as an absolute path. If any part of the file path or file name contains a space then the whole value needs to be enclosed in double quotes. |
| file path | A valid file path according to the host operating system. All file paths are treated as absolute paths. If any part of the file path contains a space then the whole value needs to be enclosed in double quotes. |
| integer | Variables of type integer will indicate their valid values. All integer values, including color components, can be entered using decimal, hexidecimal (0x prefix), or octal (0 prefix) notation. |
The font files and the coastlines file are considered support files. When a support file name variable does not include a path then the application will look for the file in:
user.app.pathapp.base
obj.data) is considered a user data file.
When a user data file name variable does not include a path then the application will look for the file in:
user.data.path
The End