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rpmc

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  1. Updates for both the GPS Module and CustomDraw Map XML Guidebooks are available for free download from: http://robbiemcelrath.com/fs/guides/gps What's new in Versions 2.0? GPS Guidebook: Descriptions of the 65 FSX-only gps variables, an expanded section on Working with Strings, many updated graphics, and errors found in v.1.1 corrected. CustomDraw Map Guidebook: Sections on Number Format and Map Object color syntax have been added, many graphics updated, and errors found in v.1.0 corrected. The GPS GUIDEBOOK: "FS9GPS Module" is an xml guide for working with Flight Simulator’s gps.dll module. It contains definitions and examples of the 321 FS9 & FSX gps variables and 65 that are FSX-only, plus discussion of some xml coding techniques such as ICAO Transfer and Cycle Skipping that are sometimes needed when working with the gps module. The FS MAP GUIDEBOOK: "CustomDraw fs9gps:Map" is a guide for working with the XML Moving Map gauge in FS9 and FSX. It's a companion volume to the "FS9GPS Module" guidebook. In addition to the map variables, the guidebook also discusses calibration of XML and CustomDraw map scales so the following XML applications are possible: - TAWS and TCAS map overlay - Mouse click distance, bearing, latitude and longitude - Nearest search centered on mouse click - Adding flight plan waypoint by mouse click - Stationary map vs. moving map I hope you continue to enjoy working with the gps module! Bob
  2. File write capability using Logger has been added in Blackbox release 3. Using Blackbox3, real time values of up to several hundred Flight Simulator system variables (A, E, P) and L:Vars from any or all xml gauges in the panel can be recorded to file each update cycle. Blackbox3 also retains all of the screen output formats included in Blackbox release 2. What Blackbox does: BlackBox3 constructs an xml diagnostic gauge that can be used to display in readout form on the screen or write to HDD file the number or string values of user-selected A:, E:, or P: system variables, or any L:Var in the panel. It can display important parameters such as L: and A: variables, booleans, enums, etc., that are not usually displayed directly by the gauge you are building. As such, it is very useful for debugging xml gauge logic; you can see what all variables are doing in real time as MS Flight Simulator flies. The BlackBox3 application can be used with either FS9 or FSX and requires installation of the Logger module which can be downloaded from the Blackbox website. Please follow the simple installation instructions for Logger as well as the Setup instructions for Blackbox3 which are included in the Help file for each product. Blackbox3 and Logger were written by Robbie McElrath. Blackbox3 can be freely downloaded here http://www.robbiemcelrath.com/blackbox/?blackbox and feedback is solicited and welcome. Cheers, Bob
  3. Logger is a FS2004 and FSX module that provides file read and write capability for XML gauges. Using Logger, up to several hundred different number or string variables of any type (A:, E:, P:, G:, L:, or fs9gps) can be written to or read from hard disk file each gauge update cycle. The module enables the XML user to write flight data recorder gauges, save and load flight plans, save and load initial values for XML gauges that cannot otherwise be saved with Flight Sim’s Save Flight, and record flights for subsequent playback as Google Earth Tracks and Tours ("video"). The Logger module, installation and help file, file read and write format guide, and example XML applications can be downloaded here http://www.robbiemcelrath.com/blackbox/?logger. Additionally, several visually interesting Google Earth Tour and Track files as well as an Excel 2003 application that generates Google Earth .kml files are available. Logger was written by Robbie McElrath, author of BlackBox. Also in the pipeline for release soon is BlackBox3 which will integrate Logger file write capability into BlackBox. Feedback is solicited and welcome. Cheers, Bob
  4. A few mistakes contained in the original Guidebook have been corrected and a few graphics updated in version 1.1 (June, 2011). The v 1.1 changes (491 KB) or the entire v 1.1 document (7,645 KB) can be downloaded from the Blackbox website: http://www.robbiemcelrath.com/blackbox/?guide Cheers, Bob
  5. @Gunter - many thanks. In the end, I can say that I enjoyed writing it, although the bitching was related to the feeling a few months into it that I had bitten off more than I wanted to chew. Perseverance won out. I really hope that it encourages more people to build gauges that utilize the gps variables - they open up quite another dimension of FS gauge building possibilities. Bob
  6. After struggling for some time with many of the fs9gps variables and searching the forums for documentation of their use, often in vain, I attempted to fill the gap. What started out as notes on a spreadsheet grew into something more resembling a guidebook, “FS9GPS Module”. It’s a collection of ‘notes to myself’ on the use of the gps module, definitions and examples of its 320 variables, and explanations of the principals of some xml coding techniques such as ICAO Transfer and Cycle Skipping that are used when working with the FS9 gps.dll module. For those interested, it can be downloaded from the BlackBox website: http://www.robbiemcelrath.com/blackbox/?guide Hope you enjoy it! Regards, Bob
  7. Version 1.1 now on the website. Slight modification that removes the "@c" abbreviation, eliminating GPSViewer's need for C:fs9gps to appear in the Host Gauge. Also lists "SET ONLY" variables for reference.
  8. A companion to BlackBox2, GPS Viewer is a simple utility that generates xml code to display selected Microsoft Flight Simulator GPS variables while flying. It does not create a stand-alone gauge. Instead, the generated code must be pasted into the xml code of a host gauge that communicates with the gps.dll module. GPS Viewer generates xml code in either FS9 or ACES format and can be used with FS9 / 2004 or FSX. It is a Microsoft Excel application that contains macros to drive Excel User Forms (input forms). For those adventurous enough to begin working with the MSFS GPS module, this utility might help the debugging process. It is freeware that can be dowloaded at http://www.robbiemcelrath.com/blackbox/?gpsv Cheers, Bob
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