Xoc Maya Calendar uses a tab based interface. Each of these tabs is described below.
Xoc Maya Calendar comes in two versions: the Professional version and the Light version. The Professional version has features that explore the full range of the Maya Calendar and provides many tools for working with Maya inscriptions. The Light version is designed to allow seeing the Maya date for your birthday, anniversary, or other important dates.
Hover the mouse over words like this to see definitions of terms. Click on an image to see a better view.
| Feature | Light | Professional |
|---|---|---|
| Stela Tab | ✔ | ✔ |
| Gears Tab | ✔ | ✔ |
| Madrid Codex | ✔ | ✔ |
| Month Tab | ✔ | ✔ |
| Long Count Tab | ✔ | |
| Distance Number Tab | ✔ | |
| Calendar Round Tab | ✔ | |
| Ring Number Tab | ✔ | |
| Serpent Number Tab | ✔ | |
| Almanac Tab | ✔ | |
| Profiles Tab | ✔ | |
| Find a Gregorian Date | ✔ | ✔ |
| Find a Julian Date | ✔ | |
| Find a Maya Long Count | ✔ | ✔ |
| Find a Partial Long Count | ✔ | |
| Copy information to Clipboard | ✔ | ✔ |
| Print information | ✔ | ✔ |
| Use Maya Formulas in Excel | ✔ | |
| Common Years | ✔ | ✔ |
| Astronomical Years | ✔ | |
| Support for Languages | ✔ | ✔ |
In the Stela tab, you see an idealized image of how a Maya Long Count would appear on a Maya stela . You can change any one of the periods and see the impact that it has on the date. The Light version of the program shows a simplified version of the Stela tab.
On the Gears tab, you can see an animated view of how the Calendar Round works, showing the interlocking between the Tzolk'in and the Haab.
On the Madrid Codex tab, you can see an animated view of how the Maya actually viewed time. It shows two pages from one of the remaining Maya books and the animation shows how they enumerated the days.
Shows a month from the Gregorian calendar (the one we use) with the Maya Long Count and Calendar round at the bottom of each day. Can be printed.
In the Long Count tab, you can You can put in two Long Counts and get the distance number between them.
In the Distance Number tab, you can enter a beginning Long Count and a series of distance numbers. It will show all the Long Counts reached.
In the Calendar Round + tab, you can enter a Calendar Round and a distance number. It will show the Calendar Round reached.
In the Calendar Round - tab, you can enter two Calendar Rounds. It will show the minimal Distance Numbers between them.
On the Ring Number tab, you can enter the information for a Ring Number from the Maya codices . It will show the Long Count reached.
On the Serpent Number tab, you can enter a Serpent Number from the Maya codices. It will show the Long Count reached.
On the Almanac Tab, you can enter the information about an almanac from the Maya codices. It will calculate the entire almanac and show the Tzolk'in periods.
In the Profiles tab, you can select unusual correlations , names for days in the Tzolk'in and months in the Haab, and information about the Maya epoch to see this information throughout the program. This allows working with Aztec dates, post-classic Maya dates, and dates spelled using your favorite orthography . The program provides some of the most commonly used profiles, but you can add others. The Light version of the program only supports the most standard profile.
The Maya Calendar is complicated. The program comes with an extensive description on how the Maya Calendar works.
The Light version allows you to put in a Gregorian, Julian, or Maya date and find the corresponding dates in other systems. The Professional version adds an incredibly powerful search feature, using a proprietary search algorithm based on number theory. It allows partial information about Maya dates to be entered and it will find all of the possibilities that match the criteria.
The Copy button on the ribbon places information on the Windows clipboard. This information can be pasted into a word processing program such as Microsoft Word. The Professional version (on Windows only) adds another very useful feature: If you have Microsoft Excel, the Excel button will invoke Excel and install a library of Maya Calendar functions that can be used in any Excel worksheet. This allows analysis of sets of dates.
Maya dates work in both the current and previous Maya epoch. Dates can be seen up to 10 trillion years in the past. You can see the calculated supplementary series glyphs, and the Gregorian, Julian, and Julian Day number for any Long Count date.
The Light version supports common years such as 3114 BCE for years before 1 CE. The Professional version adds support for astronomical years such as -3113 for years before 1 BCE. Astronomical years assume that there is a year zero.
The main window expands to the size of the screen. This is ideal for using a projector to teach about the Maya Calendar in a classroom.
The program has been designed to support different languages. It currently supports English and Spanish. Other languages will be supported as we find translators. If you are biligual and wish to volunteer to translate the interface into a particular language, or merely suggest a better translation for some term in the program, let us know on the contacts page.