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BGL Size

K

kcidmaharg

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2
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us-ohio
I have observed something that does not seem to make sense. Compiled BGL size at times seems to vary wildly. In modifying some existing FSX airports (adding parking) I noticed that some airports had very large BGL sizes compared to others (like 50 kb vs 1.5 kb). If I just open the XML file and recompile the BGL, the size will drop to a much lower value. It doesn't happen for all airports and I have to close and reopen the XML file for the size reduction to occur. I also noticed that the FSX frame rate for these bloated BGLs was half or less than that of the recompiled, smaller version. Unfortunately, I can't provide a big BGL example because I recompiled all of them to get the smaller size.

Is there something I am doing wrong, a bug in the program, or should I open and recompile all my XML files to avoid the problem.

Dick Graham
 
Hi,

I think these BGL files contained some features not supported by the decompiler (FSX Planner in this case). So that means you will loose them when exporting again. That should explain the smaller size, but you will probably also miss some objects or so.
 
Arno is right. The size of an airport element in the bgl file is fixed. So if the bgl file is larger or smaller then something has changed. However there are some utilities (AFX) that add information to a bgl file that is not related to the airport. In this case the size might be bigger.
 
Also the stock airport bgl files contain multiple airports. So if you are making a change to one of those and recompiling it, your new bgl file will contain only one airport whereas the original bgl could have contained 50 airports.

-Russell
 
Tnx for the quick replies.

I went back and checked the 50 or so airports I've modified and can not identify any obvious changes. On that basis, I don't think Arno's response (I think these BGL files contained some features not supported by the decompiler (FSX Planner in this case). So that means you will loose them when exporting again. That should explain the smaller size, but you will probably also miss some objects or so.) is the source of the size change. The airports I'm modifying are simple with only runways, windsocks, and an occasional NDB or VOR. I'm just using the FSXPlanner Find function and adding parking to a specific airport. Because of that, I'm guessing that they are part of a multiple airport BGL. Since the smaller size doesn't occur until I reopen and compile the new XML file, it seems that this is most probably the explaination. However, does rf360m's reply (Also the stock airport bgl files contain multiple airports. So if you are making a change to one of those and recompiling it, your new bgl file will contain only one airport whereas the original bgl could have contained 50 airports.) mean that I'm recompiling all the included airports in addition to the one I'm working on? Maybe this is why I see a reduction in frame rates with the first BGL (duplicate airports?). If this is the case, perhaps everyone should always recompile from the new XML file to avoid duplication.

Anyhow, because of the effect I've seen on frame rates, I plan on doing some tests to see if I can determine what is actually happening. I'll let you know if I find out.

Dick
 
If you open an airport which is contained within a bgl file that has more than one airport in it and then compile that airport to a new bgl file you are not compiling all the airports in the file, only the one you originally specified.

-Russell
 
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