FSX FSX ignores events at flight loading .....

[rcbarend]

Hi,

Maybe the description below is of some help to people that create XML gauges.

In many of my gauges, I need to initialise certain aircraft functions to a defined value.
The simplest way is to issue events at the first gauge schedule; however, in many cases FSX simply ignores such events then.

My environment: Windows7-64bit (No SSD), FSX-Accelleration (but the same problem occurs with e.g. FS9 on WindowsXP).
For the test, I use a saved flight and want to set PropPitch to an initial value (20 percent).
An XML gauge in the panel.cfg includes the following code:

<Update Hidden="Yes">
  (L:VertInit,number) d ++ (&gt;L:VertInit,number) 0 ==
  if{ 0.20 16384 * (&gt;K:PROP_PITCH_SET) }
</Update>

Meaning that the PropPitch event is given once, at the first schedule of the gauge.
The problem: FSX ignores this event in many cases, depending on how you load, Windows cache, etc.....
In fact, the code above ONLY works (on my PC), when I load the saved flight, let it stabilize, and then reload the aircraft.
Some examples to get it working (exact values are specific for my PC and this particular flight).
- After a rebooted PC, start FSX the first time and load the flight the first time: the value "0" in the code example needs to be at least "140" (140 / 18.2 = 7.6 sec after gauge load) for FSX to see/execute the event.
- When starting FSX again, and loading the flight the first time, the value needs to be at least "45".
- When the flight is loaded, and I reload the flight, the value needs to be at least "35".

So the "deaf time for events" strongly depends on how/when you load, cache, probably PC-performance, where the gauge is defined in the panel.cfg, etc .....
I don't know if this is specific for events given in XML code, or if it also applies to gauges programmed in C/C++/C# ..... But I'm curious to know....
(Please, let's not start another pro/con XML programming debate here .. LoL)

The solution I use in my XML gauges that rely on proper aircraft-initialisation:
- After gauge load, give a specific event at every gauge schedule.
- Await the functional initialisation, until the result of the event is actually reflected in the corresponding XML variable.

As a generic solution, I use an initialisation gauge with the SeatBelt function:

<Update Frequency="2"/>
<Element>
  <Select>
  <Value>
  (L:RCB_FSX_INIT,bool) !
  if{
  (&gt;K:CABIN_SEATBELTS_ALERT_SWITCH_TOGGLE)
  (A:CABIN SEATBELTS ALERT SWITCH,bool)
  if{ 1 (&gt;L:RCB_FSX_INIT,bool) }
  }
  </Value>
  </Select>
</Element>

Just as example, but this has never failed me; meaning that I'm sure that FSX is ready to receive/execute events at the shortest possible time depending on how the aircraft/flight is loaded ..

Hope this helps other designers ....

Best regards, Rob

 

[delivery guy]

Bill gave me this code a while back for loading events action after reloading aircraft. This way reloading aircraft or saved flights are always in sink.

<Element>
<Value>
(L:Firstload.bool) !
if{
1 (>K:CABIN_SEATBELTS_ALERT_SWITCH_TOGGLE)
}
1 (>L:Firstload.bool)
}
</Value>
</Select>
</Element>

 

[n4gix]

Rob, that is an clever solution to ensure that your script actually completes it's job. Thanks for sharing!