Main Menu Bar

The menu bar is the one place that lists everything Compass can do. On Windows it is drawn inside the shell window and carries File, Charts, Edit, View, and Help menus. On macOS the same menus render in the system menu bar at the top of the screen, reading Apple · Compass · Charts · Edit · View · Help, and there is no File menu: Quit lives in the Compass application menu instead, alongside an extra About entry.

Most menu commands open a feature that has its own page in this documentation. The tables below name each command and point you to the page that covers it.

note

On macOS the operating system adds items of its own to every application's menus, and no application can suppress them. The Edit menu picks up AutoFill, Start Dictation, and Emoji & Symbols; the View menu picks up Enter Full Screen; the Help menu picks up a Search field; and the Compass application menu carries the standard Services, Hide, and Show All items between About Compass and Quit. Those items come from macOS rather than from Compass, so the screenshots on this page show them even though the tables list only the commands Compass itself provides.

File menu (Windows only)

The File menu holds a single item. It does not exist on macOS, where Quit lives in the Compass application menu.

Command	Description	Details
Exit	Closes the shell and shuts Compass down, saving the window position first.	Exit Application

Charts menu

Each item opens a new chart window of the named type. All three stay disabled until Compass has finished loading its saved settings, presets, locations, and natal records.

Command	Description	Details
Mundane Chart	Opens a chart of the sky over the default location at the current moment.	Open a Chart
Natal Chart	Opens a chart of the default natal record, drawn at its own moment.	Open a Chart
Transit Chart	Opens a chart of the current sky against the default natal record.	Open a Chart

Edit menu

The Edit menu gathers the reference-data editors and the two settings editors.

Command	Description	Details
Locations	Opens the editor for the saved places your charts are anchored to.	Locations Editor
Natal Records	Opens the editor for the saved records Natal and Transit charts are drawn from.	Natal Records Editor
Chart Settings	Opens the single application-wide editor for chart colors and chart defaults.	Chart Settings Window
Aspect Settings (submenu)	Opens the aspect definitions editor for the chart type you pick from the submenu: Mundane, Natal, or Transit.	Aspect Settings Window

View menu

Command	Description	Details
Toggle Theme	Switches the whole application between its Light and Dark themes.	Toggle Theme
Keep on Top	A checkable item that floats the shell above all other windows.	Keep Main Window on Top

Help menu

Command	Description	Details
About Dialog (macOS: About)	Shows the version you are running, your license status, and the copyright line.	About Dialog
Documentation	Opens this manual in your default web browser.	Open Documentation

Compass application menu (macOS only)

On macOS the operating system supplies an application menu named after the application. Compass adds its own About entry to it.

Command	Description	Details
About Compass	Opens the same About dialog the Help menu opens.	About Dialog
Quit	Shuts Compass down. The keyboard equivalent is Cmd+Q.	Exit Application

Procedures

Open the File Menu

The File menu exists only in the in-window menu bar on Windows. To open it:

• Click File on the menu bar.

The menu drops open showing its single item, Exit.

Open the Edit Menu

The Edit menu is the way in to the Locations and Natal Records editors and to both settings editors. To open it:

• Click Edit on the menu bar.

The menu drops open, listing Locations, Natal Records, Chart Settings, and the Aspect Settings submenu.

note

On macOS the Edit menu sits in the system menu bar at the top of the screen rather than inside the Compass window.