Free software to draw sky charts

SkyChart is a software to draw chart of the night sky for the amateur astronomer from a bunch of stars and nebulae catalogs.

• About SkyChart
• macOS ARM64 Build System
  • Quick Start
  • Build System Components
• Prerequisites
  • System Requirements
  • Install Dependencies
• Build Process
  • 1. Dependency Build
  • 2. Main Application Build
  • 3. Create Distribution Package
• Advanced Usage
  • Code Signing
  • Apple Notarization
  • Clean Build
• Troubleshooting
  • Common Issues
  • Verification
• App Bundle Architecture
• Build Results

See main web page for more information and full download:
🌐 https://www.ap-i.net/skychart

Please report any issue at:
🐛 https://www.ap-i.net/mantis/set_project.php?project_id=1

This software is part of a full suite for astronomical observation:

• CCDciel - CCD/CMOS camera capture
• INDI Starter - INDI server management
• EQMod GUI - Mount control interface

Requirement: libpasastro

This repository includes a complete build and distribution system for SkyChart on macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon) with automated CI/CD pipeline support via GitHub Actions.

For Users:

./launch_skychart.sh

For Developers:

# 1. Build dependencies
./build_dependencies.sh

# 2. Build main application  
./build_macos_arm64.sh

# 3. Create distribution package
./package_macos.sh all

Automated Scripts:

• build_dependencies.sh - Automated dependency package building (7 packages)
• build_macos_arm64.sh - Complete application build with Qt5 support
• package_macos.sh - App bundle creation and distribution packaging
• launch_skychart.sh - Runtime launcher with proper environment
• test_build.sh - Build validation and testing

What's Built:

• ✅ Native ARM64 Performance - True ARM64 compilation (no Rosetta 2)
• ✅ Complete Functionality - Star charts, telescope control, WCS support
• ✅ Professional Distribution - macOS app bundles with code signing support
• ✅ Full Astronomical Data - Complete star catalogs (Hipparcos, GAIA, Tycho, etc.)

• macOS 11.0+ (Big Sur or later)
• Apple Silicon Mac (M1/M2/M3/M4)
• Xcode Command Line Tools
• Homebrew package manager

# Install required packages
brew install fpc qt@5

# Verify installations
fpc -v
qmake --version

./build_dependencies.sh

Builds 7 dependency packages:

• bgrabitmappack - Graphics bitmap manipulation
• laz_synapse - Network communication library
• indiclient - INDI telescope control protocol
• xmlparser - XML parsing utilities
• enhedit - Enhanced edit controls
• uniqueinstance_package - Single instance management
• lazvo - Virtual Observatory tools

./build_macos_arm64.sh

Build Process:

1. Environment Setup - Verifies prerequisites and paths
2. Lazarus IDE Setup - Clones and builds with Qt5 support
3. Qt5Pas Framework - Builds Qt5 bindings for Pascal
4. Dependencies - Compiles all required packages
5. WCS Library - Builds coordinate system library (520KB ARM64)
6. Main Application - Compiles SkyChart executable (22MB ARM64)
7. Data Setup - Configures astronomical data directories
8. Verification - Ensures all components are properly built

./package_macos.sh all

Creates complete app bundle with:

• Proper macOS .app structure
• All dependencies embedded
• Complete astronomical data (193MB)
• DMG distribution package (61MB)

This repository includes a complete GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline for automated ARM64 builds:

Pipeline Features:

• ✅ Native ARM64 cloud runners (when available)
• ✅ Self-hosted runner support (your Mac)
• ✅ Automated dependency installation
• ✅ Complete build automation
• ✅ Professional DMG distribution
• ✅ Artifact management and releases

Setup Self-Hosted Runner:

# Automated setup script
./setup_github_runner.sh

Workflow Triggers:

• Push to main, master, or macos-arm64 branches
• Pull requests to main branches
• Manual workflow dispatch

Build Matrix:

• Primary: GitHub-hosted macos-15-arm64 runners
• Fallback: Self-hosted ARM64 Mac runners
• Output: Professional DMG packages with automatic releases

For detailed CI/CD setup and analysis, see: GITHUB_ACTIONS_ANALYSIS.md

./package_macos.sh sign "Developer ID Application: Your Name"

./package_macos.sh notarize your@email.com app-password TEAM_ID

./build_macos_arm64.sh clean
./build_macos_arm64.sh

Qt5 Framework Not Found:

export DYLD_FRAMEWORK_PATH="/Users/$(whoami)/homebrew/Cellar/qt@5/5.15.17/lib:$DYLD_FRAMEWORK_PATH"

Missing WCS Library:

# Copy library to runtime location
cp skychart/library/wcs/libcdcwcs.dylib ~/homebrew/lib/

Build Failures:

# Clean and rebuild dependencies
./build_dependencies.sh
./build_macos_arm64.sh clean
./build_macos_arm64.sh

# Test build components
./test_build.sh

# Check executable architecture
file skychart/units/aarch64-darwin-qt5/skychart

# Verify app bundle
ls -la dist/SkyChart.app/Contents/

SkyChart.app/
├── Contents/
│   ├── Info.plist                    # Bundle metadata
│   ├── MacOS/
│   │   ├── SkyChart                  # Launcher script  
│   │   └── SkyChart_bin              # Main executable (ARM64)
│   ├── Frameworks/
│   │   └── Qt5Pas.framework/         # Qt5 Pascal bindings
│   ├── Libraries/
│   │   └── libcdcwcs.dylib          # WCS library (ARM64)
│   └── Resources/
│       └── tools/                    # Complete astronomical data
│           ├── data/                 # Basic configuration
│           └── cat/                  # Star catalogs (31 catalogs)

• SkyChart executable: 22MB ARM64 native binary
• WCS library: 520KB coordinate system library
• Complete app bundle: 193MB with all astronomical data
• Distribution DMG: 61MB compressed package
• Code signing ready: Developer ID certificate support

• Executable: skychart/units/aarch64-darwin-qt5/skychart
• App Bundle: dist/SkyChart.app
• DMG Package: dist/SkyChart-*.dmg
• Launcher: launch_skychart.sh

After successful build, you should have:

• ✅ Native ARM64 SkyChart executable
• ✅ Complete Qt5 framework integration
• ✅ All 7 dependency packages compiled
• ✅ WCS library built and deployed
• ✅ Complete astronomical data catalogs (31 catalogs, 43MB)
• ✅ Proper macOS app bundle structure
• ✅ Distribution-ready DMG package

Verification Command: ./test_build.sh

✅ Complete and ready for production use, packaging, and distribution.

This build system provides a fully automated, reproducible process for creating native ARM64 SkyChart applications on Apple Silicon Macs. Testing CI/CD: Fri Sep 19 21:32:15 EDT 2025