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FSX Planner release 16 now available (June 11)

R

rf360m

Messages
961
Hi all,

Release 16 of FSX Planner is now available. It can be downloaded here:
http://www.zbluesoftware.com/clients/FSXPlanner.zip

This release cleans up a lot of display issues relating to decimal places, and especially to the XML output, which has been completely rewritten to be much more user friendly for those who like to hand code xml.

Here are the changes:
* The xml code write engine has been completely rewritten. The extra lines that were created before are no longer created. Attributes are now output in the order specified in the SDK documentation. There is now an option to display each attribute on a separate line (default), or all on one line. This can be adjusted via the preferences dialog.

* Markers and VORs are now saved to the airport xml file.

* There was a bug which would make the Find Airport feature give incorrect file/folder results for certain airports. This has been fixed.

* You can now specify the default tee 1 - tee 4 offsets for a parking space. This is accessible through the Defaults tab of the Preferences Dialog.

* All values that are displayed in spinners (ie altitudes, widths, lengths, etc) are now displayed and can be edited to 3 decimal places.

* Modified how apron vertices, boundary fence vertices and blast fence vertices are added and deleted. To add a vertex, use the appropriate tool and shift-click where you want the vertex to be added. Note that you must click on a valid location for a vertex. To delete a vertex, control-click on the vertex you want to delete. This change was made to create a more uniform approach to adding and removing vertices throughout FSX Planner and also to allow for the right click popup menu.

* The Navigation toolbar and the View -> Navigation Toolbar menu now communicates properly so that they stay synched.

* The Airport Data Display and the Object Data Display panels are now tear-offs and can be moved to other locations on the screen, or to other monitors, or they can be hidden. To do so, click on the title bar of either the airport data display or the object data display and drag it to the desired new location. Clicking the X in the title bar will return the window to the docked location on the left. Clicking the X when the window is docked will hide it. There are two new menu options under the View menu which also control the visibility of these windows. If the panel is hidden and you want to see it, select the appropriate view sub-menu. If you want to hide one of the panels, uncheck the appropriate View sub-menu option.

* The NDB tool has been implemented. You can now add, view and edit NDBs for the airport. This tool is available under the navigation Toolbar (View -> Navigation Toolbar).

* A check for VORs and NDBs without Idents has been added to the error checking dialog (Compile -> Error Checking).

* A check for taxiway paths that have invalid start or end indices has been added to the error checking dialog. (Compile -> Error Checking).

* The Clean Up Taxiways option, under the Edit menu, now also checks for taxiways that have non-existant start or end points and deletes those taxiways.

* The Find Taxiway Point dialog has been added. This is available under the Edit menu. It allows you to enter the index number of a taxiway point or parking location and then have that location displayed if it exists. This is intended to help in debugging errors within the airport due to incorrect or non-existant taxiway point indices.

-Russell
 
Any chance that runway lighting (edge, ALS, slope indicators, etc.) will be implemented as a display option??
 
Russell,

The new version doesn't appear to be saving changes. I've tried with a couple of airports. Loaded them up, made some changes, tried both CTRL-S or from the menu, and nothing happens. Closing the program and re-loading the .XML comfirms no changes were saved.

Kael

EDIT: After more testing, it appears SOME airports are saving whlie some still arn't. I couldn't for example, get the supplied KLGA to save.
 
Last edited:
KaelO said:
Russell,

The new version doesn't appear to be saving changes. I've tried with a couple of airports. Loaded them up, made some changes, tried both CTRL-S or from the menu, and nothing happens. Closing the program and re-loading the .XML comfirms no changes were saved.

Kael

EDIT: After more testing, it appears SOME airports are saving whlie some still arn't. I couldn't for example, get the supplied KLGA to save.
Click to expand...

You are right. I did some testing and found a bug related to the saving of NDBs that would cause it to crash. So that's why it worked on some airports but not others.

I have fixed this bug and uploaded the new version.

So anyone how has already downloaded release 16 should do so again here:
http://www.zbluesoftware.com/clients/FSXPlanner.zip

Thanks Kael!
-Russell
 
Very disturbing!

Russell,

I've noticed this for some time, but only recently confirmed it. It appears that over time, compiling and saving the same airport, FSX Planner is loosing peices of airport data.

I've kept a master copy of an airport I'm working on, and over time made small changes to it. I opened it up today to discover that some of the first taxiways I installed are now missing. The nodes are all still in place, but the paths are missing. I put these taxiways in days ago and had them working then before moving onto other parts of the field. When I returned this afternoon I've discovered their missing.

This has occured a few times for me. I didn't report it at first figuring it may just be my imagination playing tricks on me, hence I started to keep a working master.

Don't know where to start looking for a solution,

Cheers,
Kael
 
I haven't checked this on the latest version because seeing this thread is the first time I knew it was released, but one thing I noticed while trying to solve a problem using FSX Planner last night was that it kept abbreviating the ICAO code for my airport.

I'm using "IPBB" for a test airport ("Ian P's Bigger Base" - fortunately for humanity not planned for a general release) and in three compilations, the resulting bgl file was called "IPBB.bgl", "PBB.bgl" and "BB.bgl" consecutively.

Because I wasn't deleting the previous bgl files between compilations, this meant that I ended up with three airports in the same place, called three different things, but with identical information.

Is this specific to my installation, or has anyone else seen a similar effect?

Thanks for your efforts on this, it's made my life a lot easier!

Cheers,

Ian P.
 
KaelO said:
Russell,

I've noticed this for some time, but only recently confirmed it. It appears that over time, compiling and saving the same airport, FSX Planner is loosing peices of airport data.

I've kept a master copy of an airport I'm working on, and over time made small changes to it. I opened it up today to discover that some of the first taxiways I installed are now missing. The nodes are all still in place, but the paths are missing. I put these taxiways in days ago and had them working then before moving onto other parts of the field. When I returned this afternoon I've discovered their missing.

This has occured a few times for me. I didn't report it at first figuring it may just be my imagination playing tricks on me, hence I started to keep a working master.

Don't know where to start looking for a solution,

Cheers,
Kael
Click to expand...

I have never seen this type of behavior in any of the airports I have modified.

Can you post the original xml for the airport as well as the xml for it after a taxiway has been lost?

Thanks!

-Russell
 
Ian P said:
I haven't checked this on the latest version because seeing this thread is the first time I knew it was released, but one thing I noticed while trying to solve a problem using FSX Planner last night was that it kept abbreviating the ICAO code for my airport.

I'm using "IPBB" for a test airport ("Ian P's Bigger Base" - fortunately for humanity not planned for a general release) and in three compilations, the resulting bgl file was called "IPBB.bgl", "PBB.bgl" and "BB.bgl" consecutively.

Because I wasn't deleting the previous bgl files between compilations, this meant that I ended up with three airports in the same place, called three different things, but with identical information.

Is this specific to my installation, or has anyone else seen a similar effect?

Thanks for your efforts on this, it's made my life a lot easier!

Cheers,

Ian P.
Click to expand...


Did you make any changes between the compilations? Or did you just compile the airport three times in a row and get this result?

Can you post the xml for the airport?

-Russell
 
Hi Russell,

I was making changes between each compilation.

While I was deleting files last night, I actually found XML files called "IPBB", "IBB", "PBB" and "BB" in that order of saving (I saved the XML after every successful compilation), which is even odder. I have since fixed the file manually and disposed of all my backups, so might not have a copy of the XML saved by FSXPlanner unfortunately.

I'll do some digging and testing tonight and come up with a more accurate fault report - I have not installed release 16 yet, so will test before and after.

Cheers,

Ian P.
 
rf360m said:
I have never seen this type of behavior in any of the airports I have modified.

Can you post the original xml for the airport as well as the xml for it after a taxiway has been lost?

Thanks!

-Russell
Click to expand...

Ok, I've attached two .XMLS. the first is a copy I made several days ago, the second (v2) I've just opened up a few seconds ago to discover is now missing two taxiways joining runway 16/34. This has been the sort of behaviour i've expirenced a few times. Open up the XML to discover just a few taxi ways missing. Very strange.

Incidently, they also have that crosswind runways activated like we were talking about the other day.



Good luck
Kael
 
Last edited:
Russell,

The file below is the end result of all my fiddling and tweaking (ultimately in SDE trying to solve an NDB problem). I haven't been able to recreate the problem, irritatingly, but seeing as I can't get it to happen again regardless of what I change - I was deleting and recreating the taxiways and apron area at the time - I think it may have been caused by something else I had running at the time rather than by FSXP itself.

I will keep an eye open for it happening again, though.

Cheers,

Ian P.
 

Attachments

KaelO said:
Ok, I've attached two .XMLS. the first is a copy I made several days ago, the second (v2) I've just opened up a few seconds ago to discover is now missing two taxiways joining runway 16/34. This has been the sort of behaviour i've expirenced a few times. Open up the XML to discover just a few taxi ways missing. Very strange.

Incidently, they also have that crosswind runways activated like we were talking about the other day.



Good luck
Kael
Click to expand...

Hi Kael,

At any time when you were editing the airport did you delete a parking location? I have identified a bug that would occassionally cause a taxiway to be erroneously deleted when you delete a parking location. Perhaps this was causing your taxiways to mysteriously vanish?

-Russell
 
Russell,

Its possible I guess. I assume that this bug your talking about will delete a taxiway thats not related to the parking spot? As you can see from the uploaded .XMLs, in that second one I lost two taxiways attached to a runway and nowhere near a parking spot.

Still, it happened to me again last night after I posted those two XMLs and its frustrating to say the least. I'm begining to wonder if some of the other issues I'm having, such as aircraft not leaving pre-flight, having something to do with airport data that is going missing or becoming corrupted that I can't see.

Cheers mate,
Kael
 
Find Fault

Hi, Russell

As you know, AFCAD has a function to find faults in the airport, to avoid the AI traffic stopping working. I really don't know how extense and complexe is that function, but is very important to verify some rules to be followed, as nodes disconnected and many others.

Perhaps, if FSXPlanner had that option implemented, the user could test his/her work before saving it and find if something has been deleted from the project unwillingly.

Are you thinking about that?

Thanks,

José
 
KaelO said:
Russell,

Its possible I guess. I assume that this bug your talking about will delete a taxiway thats not related to the parking spot? As you can see from the uploaded .XMLs, in that second one I lost two taxiways attached to a runway and nowhere near a parking spot.

Still, it happened to me again last night after I posted those two XMLs and its frustrating to say the least. I'm begining to wonder if some of the other issues I'm having, such as aircraft not leaving pre-flight, having something to do with airport data that is going missing or becoming corrupted that I can't see.

Cheers mate,
Kael
Click to expand...

Yes, the bug doesn't always happen, but when it does it results in a taxiway that has nothing to do with the parking spot being deleted. I know why it is happening, so it's fixable. :)
 
José said:
Hi, Russell

As you know, AFCAD has a function to find faults in the airport, to avoid the AI traffic stopping working. I really don't know how extense and complexe is that function, but is very important to verify some rules to be followed, as nodes disconnected and many others.

Perhaps, if FSXPlanner had that option implemented, the user could test his/her work before saving it and find if something has been deleted from the project unwillingly.

Are you thinking about that?

Thanks,

José
Click to expand...

Absolutely. We are adding several tests to help the user find faults with the airport. Several are already implemented, and more are on the way.

-Russell
 
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