P3D v5 Is there a way

[euroastar350]

Howdy y'all,

Is there a way to load model(s) with different configurations based on one model/different liveries instead of using multiple models? For example, my work in progress Squirrel has multiple parts coded in and controlled via a tablet/gauge, but the part(s) selected will not be saved if the model is reloaded. In X-Plane and depending on the model, some authors use an "ini" or "dat" configuration file to achieve these results and I need something similar for P3D. Any help is appreciated

 

[tgibson]

What I have done is to code the config gauge to detect certain words in the title= line in the aircraft.cfg file. That allows me to customize the configuration for each livery.

 

[tgibson]

Here is an example. This tests if the title= line has the word military in it:

(A:Title, string) lc 'military' sstr -1 !=

lc sets all characters to lower case, then sstr searches the title= string for the word military. If this is present, the test is true. If not, false.

Hope this helps,

 

[Tako_Kichi]

The late (and very great) Roman Stoviak (Spokes2112) wrote what he called a 'logic gauge' in XML that we used on several of the LDR Development projects (modified to suit each release). It would remember all sorts of configurations and settings. Here is an example of the saved states on the LDR C-119 Boxcar:


All Variants

ASI Bugs	Heater Zone Switches	Oil Dilution Switch
Astro-dome Light Switch	Hydraulic Brakes Switch	Oil Transfer Switch
Auto-pilot Inverter Switch	Interphone Selector Switches	Parking Brake Latch
Auto-pilot Slave	Interphone Switches	Passing Light Switch
Cargo Heat Switch	Interphone Volume Knobs	Sunglasses
Cockpit Air Switch	Inverter Switches	Switch Toggle Guards
Code Select Switch	JATO Control Switch	Torquemeter Heater Switch
DME Source	Light Code Switch	Windshield De-Ice Switch
Engine Accessory Heat Switch	Magnetic Compass Light Switch	Windshield Wiper Switch
Formation Light Switch	NAV Slave	Yoke Visibility
Fuselage Signal Light Switch	NAV 2 Slave
Heater Master Switches	Oil Cooler Switch

Non-Tanker Specific

Cargo Options	Jump Control Co-pilot Jump Switch	Jump Control Pilot Jump Switch
Clamshell Visibility	Jump Control Co-pilot Jump Master Switch	Jump Control Pilot Jump Master Switch
JATO Availability	Jump Master Control

Tanker Specific

Cheat Option	Radar Contrast (Non-FFX)	Tank Arm Master Switch
FFX Option	Radar Power (Non-FFX)	Tank Quantities
Nose Selection	Radar Range (Non-FFX)	Tank Selected Switches

The gauge would remember all of those states when you exited the aircraft and would set the states accordingly when you went back into it so it always remembered how you had configured the aircraft previously.

As it was all written in XML it could be used in all versions of FSX and P3D but I am not sure if XMLTools is/was a requirement for this specific gauge but it was a required part of the aircraft install overall.

If you think it might be useful to you I could post the cab file or you could just download the released aircraft from the Sim-Outhouse library (https://sim-outhouse.org/sohforums/resources/ldr-c-119-boxcar.28179/) and crack open the CAB to see how it was done.

The bottom line is yes it can be done, yes we did it on several different aircraft, but don't ask me what witchcraft Roman used to do it as I am a modeller not a coder!

 

[euroastar350]

What I have done is to code the config gauge to detect certain words in the title= line in the aircraft.cfg file. That allows me to customize the configuration for each livery.

Hi Tom,

Do you mind sharing some examples that I can work with? I'm still weighing out my options for the final build(s) as xmltools barely works in P3DV6 and most similar DLLs aren't compatible with later versions of the platform

 

[tgibson]

I did post example code. You would use that in your cfg gauge. If true, display the desired part(s). Multiple words could be checked to allow a mix of variations.

To be more specific, I would need to know the gauge code you use to display a specific part, as an example.

 

[euroastar350]

I did post example code. You would use that in your cfg gauge. If true, display the desired part(s). Multiple words could be checked to allow a mix of variations.

To be more specific, I would need to know the gauge code you use to display a specific part, as an example.

This is one of many that's controlled via a config gauge with associated click spots

<Element>
      <Position X="432" Y="400"/>
      <Select>
         <Value>(L:wirecutter, bool)</Value>
         <Case Value="0">
            <Image Name="check.bmp"/>
         </Case>
         <Case Value="1">
            <Image Name="checkb.bmp"/>
         </Case>
      </Select>
   </Element>

<Area Left="432" Top="400" Width="15" Height="15">
         <Cursor Type="Hand"/>
         <Click>(L:wirecutter, bool) ! (>L:wirecutter, bool)</Click>
      </Area>

 

[tgibson]

OK, here is my first attempt.

<Value>(A:Title, string) lc 'military' sstr -1 != if{ 1 (>L:wirecutter, bool) } els{ 0 (>L:wirecutter, bool) } </Value>

This would be placed in an additional Element. Using your Element section above as a template this would replace the Value line in your code. Delete the Case and Position lines. No extra mouse section required.

If the word military appears in the title= line, the variable is set to 1, if not it’s set to 0.

Note that this would override your onscreen cfg option, so if retained a flag variable would need to be set in the cfg code mouse section when clicked. That would then be used as a check in my code to see if the onscreen cfg has been used instead.

Example:

<Click>(L:wirecutter, bool) ! (>L:wirecutter, bool) 1 (>L:cfgcheck, bool) </Click>

And

<Value>(A:Title, string) lc 'military' sstr -1 != (L:cfgcheck, bool) ! &amp;&amp; if{ 1 (>L:wirecutter, bool) } els{ 0 (>L:wirecutter, bool) } </Value>

This would be irreversible in this code. Once the onscreen cfg is used my code is inactivated.

Hope this helps,