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I am looking for a handful of simmers (both experts and non-experts) to test a (freeware) program I have written. I hope this is the most appropriate forum for this.
I have written a utility which creates basic ILS and GPS approaches. By “basic”, I mean that it only does the final approach phase of a full approach. It does not do transitions or missed approach procedures. It is therefore aimed more at the casual simmer rather than the more “hardcore” simmer. It was designed for FS9, and uses the FS9 BGLComp compiler to produce the BGL file. However, these FS9 BGL files appear to work just as well with FSX.
The program runs in the form of a wizard:
1. In the first two steps of the program, you are asked to copy various items of information about the airport (latitude, longitude, elevation etc) and about the runway (latitude, longitude, heading etc). All this information can be obtained most conveniently from AFCAD (or an AFCAD-style utility in FSX).
2. The program then asks you which country your airport is in.
3. It then asks you which approaches (ILS and/or GPS) you want to add to which ends of the runway.
4. It then asks you whether there are any other runways at the same airport to which you want to add approaches. You then repeat some of the previous steps for any additional runways.
5. Once all the runways are done, the program has all the information it needs. The program will then create the XML file containing all the XML code that the compiler needs.
6. It then passes this XML file to the compiler, which automatically creates the BGL file.
7. The BGL file is then copied to FS9 and/or FSX.
I have tested it extensively on my own computer. While I am satisfied that it works fine on my computer, I would like the reassurance (before releasing it to the world) that it also works on other systems, particularly on systems running OSs other than XP (which I have). I am a novice programmer, and there could easily be something crucial that I have overlooked.
I would also like any feedback on whether the instructions are clear and comprehensive, and indeed any other comments about any other aspect of the program.
If anybody would like to test it for me, could you drop me an e-mail at masala@blueyonder.co.uk.
Thank you
Martin Gleeson
I have written a utility which creates basic ILS and GPS approaches. By “basic”, I mean that it only does the final approach phase of a full approach. It does not do transitions or missed approach procedures. It is therefore aimed more at the casual simmer rather than the more “hardcore” simmer. It was designed for FS9, and uses the FS9 BGLComp compiler to produce the BGL file. However, these FS9 BGL files appear to work just as well with FSX.
The program runs in the form of a wizard:
1. In the first two steps of the program, you are asked to copy various items of information about the airport (latitude, longitude, elevation etc) and about the runway (latitude, longitude, heading etc). All this information can be obtained most conveniently from AFCAD (or an AFCAD-style utility in FSX).
2. The program then asks you which country your airport is in.
3. It then asks you which approaches (ILS and/or GPS) you want to add to which ends of the runway.
4. It then asks you whether there are any other runways at the same airport to which you want to add approaches. You then repeat some of the previous steps for any additional runways.
5. Once all the runways are done, the program has all the information it needs. The program will then create the XML file containing all the XML code that the compiler needs.
6. It then passes this XML file to the compiler, which automatically creates the BGL file.
7. The BGL file is then copied to FS9 and/or FSX.
I have tested it extensively on my own computer. While I am satisfied that it works fine on my computer, I would like the reassurance (before releasing it to the world) that it also works on other systems, particularly on systems running OSs other than XP (which I have). I am a novice programmer, and there could easily be something crucial that I have overlooked.
I would also like any feedback on whether the instructions are clear and comprehensive, and indeed any other comments about any other aspect of the program.
If anybody would like to test it for me, could you drop me an e-mail at masala@blueyonder.co.uk.
Thank you
Martin Gleeson