1. You are deemed to accept these terms of use as soon as you enter this website and click into any folder or sub-folder.
2. The information, data and programs provided in this website are provided as they are, no claims or compensations of whatever kind would be entertained should there is any damages or losses of any kind so caused during the use or dissemination of these information, data and programs.
3. You may use or disseminate any information, data or programs in this website freely without paying any loyalty fees and notices. However, please note that some information or data or programs were provided by third parties. These may be subject to the respective copyright requirements. Please approach the relevant party for more information, clarification or approval before use or dissemination.
4. Data and programs provided in this website are only valid for the time specified. Please read the readme.txt file or relevant notes in each folder or sub-folder. No guarantee is made for any accuracy or precision of data so generated by the programs, so expressed or not.  
5. MS Office, as well as any relevant macros or sub-programs, is not provided in this website. You should get a licenced copy of the software in order to load, read and edit some files (*.doc, *.xls) in this website. However, you are free to use any third party compatible software, freeware or otherwise, and bear any risks so associated. 
6. Adobe Acrobat, as well as any relevant programs or sub-programs, is not provided in this website. You should get a licenced copy of the software in order to load, read and edit some files (*.pdf, *.ps, *.eps) in this website. However, you are free to use any third party compatible software, freeware or otherwise, and bear any risks so associated. 
7. Only minimum support, in the form of simple enquiries via emails, will be provided. No technical support of any kind other than that will be provided.
8. The website is open in read-only mode. No notes or information of any kind should be left in this website. Deletion or change of any files is not allowed.
9. This website may be closed at any time. Only minimum notice in short period will be provided. 
10. These terms of use are subject to change without prior notice.
  

General Instructions on Program Running
1. If users want to run the programs in this website, they should have a PC which can run MS-DOS 16-bit programs. Generally, 32-bit MS Windows of version 8 or earlier is more suitable for yjis purpose. Otherwise, a MS-DOS emulator will be required but this is not recommended. The PC should also be able to process Chinese Big-5 codes and Unicodes.
2. For executable files (*.exe) the MS Windows may block the download for security reason. Users may need to find a workaround for the download. Otherwise please seek assistance from a computer expert.   
3 For more information about the technical background of the Almanac, please read the file "天文年曆簡介.pdf" in the folder "OTHERS".
4. The first program to run is "SUN2000.EXE" in the "SUN" folder, which will generate the sun's ephemeris and also geocentric rectangular coordinates of the earth. These are input files for the Moon's and planets' ephemerides. Please read the readme.txt file in each folder for instructions about using each program.
5. The original ephemeris data are generally provided in binary files, but a text version would be provided for reference. All output files are in text file mode and readible/editable using a text editor, including *.ps and *.eps files.
6. If the programs are not revised or rewritten, they will only work until the year 2026 when the resulting output will exceed 10000 days as counted from 1.1.2000. So there are still some years left before a total breakdown.
7. However, these programs were written back in the 1980~1990s in the last century. Data used to generate the ephemeris were certainly not up-to-date and therefroe prone to errors or discrapancies. Users are therefore encouraged to revise or rewrite these programs. 
8. If users choose to revise or re-write the programs, suggestions on how to proceed are also included in note files in the relevant object's folder. Most up-to-date lunar and planetary data are recommended to use. These can be found in the sub-folders "VSOP2013", "MPLANET2" and "ELPMPP02" of the folder "OTHERS". Data and test programs (written in Fortran 77) are provided. Comparison of output data was made against data obtained from the Miriades system of Paris Observatory and the Russian IAA's online ephemeris generator. Errors were calculated and tabulated in the relevant spreadsheet. Please read the relevant readme.txt file for more information. Results are much better using these new data and programs than the old ones.
9. Some data from the DE440, developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA are also provided in the sub-folder "DE440" of the folder "OTHERS" as an alternative option. But only data for the most relevant dates (2020~2030) are included. Test programs (written in Fortran 77) are provided to read and calculate the heliocentric rectangular coordinates. Users may need to write their own programs in order to further use these data to generate ephemerides for the Sun, Moon and Major planets. Users should refer to JPL's website for more information on how to proceed.
10. If users don't like to write programs, I would suggest to use JPL's Horizon System to generate ephemrides online. They may also use IAA's AMPLE 3 software which can compute accurate ephemerides offline if the latest orbital data were available from a previous update. The software is available from IAA's website for free.