XLM question

I downloaded a Bristol 188 for fs2004 that has no gauges folder but does have a folder with a lot of xlm files. I'd be grateful if someone can tell me about these......

Thanks.

If you mean .xml files then these are gauge files, they usually come in a compressed format, there should also be bitmaps which are the images of parts of the gauges that the xml files use to make up the gauges, the xml files also contain all the variables needed for the gauge operation.

Hello gypsymoth,

 

Taking a punt here, Google search reveals that .xlm file extensions are Microsoft Excel "Macro" file extensions. MS Excel uses .xls .xlsx or .xml as normal spread sheet saved file extensions.

What they (.xlm macro files) have to do with a particular aircraft I have no idea.

Gauges usually have the .gau .cab or .dll file extensions.

I would be reluctant to open one of those executable Macro type files since malware has been known to be coded into such files, however I am not suggesting that these particular files are in any way malicious, just being cautious!

 

btw : I haven't used FS2004 for about 10 years, so I may well be rusty on the details, but as I remember there were never any .xlm macro files in any aircraft download.

 

Where did you download the Bristol 188.

 

Cheers Jethro

OK but the xlm & texture files go where?

If indeed they are xlm files, do not do anything with them - they aren't needed. The texture files go into a texture folder inside the plane's folder.

Ok gypsymoth, having found and downloaded the "bristol_b188.zip" for FS2004 from Flightsim library, I can say that the folder "B_188_9" containing the .XML's (not .xlm's) and the folders 640 & 1024 containing .bmp's are meant for the "Bristol B188" "Panel" folder.

I think you would copy the whole "B_188_9" folder with its contents as is and paste it into the Bristol B188 Panel folder so that those .xml gauges and textures can be called when the aircraft is loaded.

 

If this does not work then the next most likely place for the entire "B_188_9" folder (as is) is to place it in the "Gauges" folder.

 

Anyway just having an educated guess from my memorys of FS2004.

 

You will see a Panel.cfg within the Bristol B188 "Panel" folder (open it with notepad) which lists all special gauges for those .xml's in the B_188_9 folder.

 

There should definitely not be any .XLM Macro files in the (bristol_b188.zip) download.

 

Cheers Jethro

Mmmm...jethro is a clever clogs!!! B_188_9 in the panel folder did the trick. My apologies & mistake - they are xml files & I've never come across them before in 10 yrs of FS9.

 

Thank you very much,

Terry.

Most FS9 gauges, when it first came out, were coded in a C++ language, and had the .gau extension.

However, C++ can be a difficult language to learn code in, and debugging it can be a chore. You need a special program to open them, and to re-compile it when finished, all before you can see if the changes you made work correctly.

 

XML, on the other hand, can be opened with a normal text editor (NEVER, EVER use a word processor!!), like the WordPad that comes with Windows, or WordPad++, a great, easy to use text editor, which makes editing, changing, customizing, and debugging a much easier task. You don't need a special compiler, or de-compiler, you don't need library type files to #include, and so on and so on. You can open a .xml file, make a small change, or even a big one, save it off, and reload the plane. Boom, done.

 

The sim has been intended to use xml files since it was created. It permits 3rd party developers to relatively quickly and easily create new gauges, and so on, to add to existent aircraft the sim already has, or for brand new aircraft. Look at most add-on gauge, or effects control, files. Almost all will be in an xml format. Take a glance through the Library, and you'll see what I mean.

 

Further, many, if not most xml gauges can be utilized by FS9, and FSX, both. A very good feature indeed. I use any number of FS9 xml coded gauges in FSX. Look at the ComGold radio stack, just as an example. Originally written for FS9, but works just as well in FSX.

 

Have fun!

Pat☺

Jethrom - with your help I was able to edit the panel:

 

 

I use what ever gauges are given me Pat, & am a fan of Glenn Copeland's efforts.

My pleasure gypsymoth,

 

That panel looks very nice for a 2D panel, and what's more it looks complete.

 

The next question, how did you go with the "rcbco-11" gauges and the gaugesound.dll file.

 

And finally, how does she fly, well behaved I hope. Do the afterburners work, have you installed the dsd.xml & sound files. Have you taken her above Mach speed for the inevitable sonic boom sound.

 

Cheers Jethro

I got the 188 for a friend who'd seen it in a Tony Butler book on secret projects. He's new to simming & I'm showing him the sort of things you can do when you know how. I'll have a go at landing it at Heathrow at the weekend when I'm back there. He can tell me how easy it is !

He has gaugesound.dll in his machine.

 

Thanks for your help,

Terry.

this are ALL GAUGES, CAN BE PLACED IN PANEL FOLDER OR THE fs9 GAUGE folder.

 

rgds

gk

these are ALL gauges, can be placed in the panel folder as subfolder or in the gauge folder of fs9

 

 

rgds

gk

they can be EASELY modified if necessarry COMPARED to the gauges written in C-language!!

 

any text editor can be used to modify them.

 

a good PANEL program is the one from ED STRUZINSKY!!!

 

rgds

gk

they can be EASELY modified if necessarry COMPARED to the gauges written in C-language!!

 

any text editor can be used to modify them.

I could swear I'd heard those two statements somewhere before.

HHhhhmmmm...

:rolleyes: ;) ;) :cool:

 

Have fun, all!

Pat☺

what do you mean by hmhmh?

 

could you explain please?

 

it seems to me that you do not know to much ..

 

 

rgds

gk

what do you mean by hmhmh?

My attempt to indicate the humming sound one makes when one thinks about something that one suspects may be true. Not easy to indicate in simple text like this.

it seems to me that you do not know to much ..

And all I was doing was making a small joke. Check Post #8 in this thread, on the first page of the thread.

The two statements you made,

they can be EASELY modified if necessarry COMPARED to the gauges written in C-language!!

 

any text editor can be used to modify them.

are the same as I made in Post #8.

 

But I guess I don't know much, now do I?

Pat☺

sorry,

 

i REALLY did not read your post #8 or any other post except the one from the gentlemen who stated the problem

 

 

it is amazing that i formulated the same sentence as you did!!!

 

 

sorry again, i really did NOT read your comments before i added my comment.

 

what a coincidence, strange things happens in life sometimes.

 

by the way i added many xlm gauges for all my planes, some using the original textures from .gau gauges and adding the xml code for it, completely new gauges, or modifying existing one to my liking.

 

rgds

gk

What a coincident, huh, gk?

Amazing that stuff like that happens.

 

sorry again, i really did NOT read your comments before i added my comment.

No trouble. Not upset in the least. I could deal with Marine Corps Drill Instructors screaming in my face. They could even get away with hitting us, back then. Not often, but they would do it.

Something like this is water off a duck's back, to me :D

 

Have fun!

Pat☺