Recovering lost airport source and recompiling - need help on exclusion

[Boeing247]

Hi all!

Last year I updated an area airport, Majerle Field, for MSFS and posted it. Unfortunately, in a reinstall I lost the original project files and I just have the distributable folders.

Happily, I was able to use the msfsbglxml app (thanks, Spike!) to decompile the sources to XML. However, my project had two files, the airport BGL, and another BGL that had the excludes I did to remove foliage that was blocking the runway and taxiway, and fix some water issues.

WA17.xml is the main airport
cvx0017.xml is the file with the excludes and terraforming

I was able to create a new project and substitute the XML contents with a copy/paste from WA17.xml to get my object placements, runway, etc. back from the original project. However, I can't figure out how to get the contents of cvx0017.xml into the projects as well, to save having to redo all the foliage thickness adjustments and other tweaks.

Any thoughts from the experts here? I know this is probably simple stuff, but I just made the one airport and then got super-busy with life, so it's been about 8 months since I've looked at any of this and I'm just getting restarted.

Thanks much!
Denny

 

[rhumbaflappy]

The cvx0017.xml is a description of the shapefile of the project. It shouldn't be too hard to redraw adequate polygons and assign the properties in DevMode.

 

[Boeing247]

Ah, so I do need to re-do that work. Bummer. I spent a fair amount of time comparing photos of the real field and tweaking the foliage levels to match, so I was hoping not to have to re-do that.

Appreciate the confirmation, @rhumbaflappy! At least I'm not having to restart completely from scratch.

 

[GaryGB]

Hello:

As a 'test of concept' for vertex 'data recovery', using CvxExtractor, I extracted a ESRI *.SHP file from the OP's CVX0017.BGL in his package available here:

GitHub - DennyAtkin/WA17-Majerle: WA17 Majerle Field for Microsoft Flight Simulator

WA17 Majerle Field for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Contribute to DennyAtkin/WA17-Majerle development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

I then Appended the resulting FLX0017.shp into a SBuilderX project, assigning the same FLX GUID / UuID as the original objects.

NOTE: Appended CVX vectors are displayed in their original EPSG:4326 projection; satellite imagery background map tiles are projected in EPSG:3857


Before exploring this potential work-flow further, I am curious as to what Dick and Jon might think of the following as a possible 'data recovery' option?

Using CvxExtractor, if I extracted a *.XML file from the OP's CVX0017.BGL in his package, can these be imported into ADE as 'pre-MSFS' SDK FSX / P3D format XML, to derive vertices with X,Y,Z (Lon/Lat/Alt) values for "primitive" polygons ...to which one then necessarily must add new MSFS-2020 project "Attributes" ?


Assuming this works, does ADE internally re-project such XML code from EPSG:4326 to EPSG:3857 ...before vertices are committed / displayed in its GUI ?


PS: I understand the number of vertices for the OP's project is relatively 'small'; but I am also interested in this to help FS developers recovering big projects.

GaryGB

 

[rhumbaflappy]

Hi Gary and Denny.

Gary, you have found the solution, but not as you imagined. The polygon importing of MSFS is fairly robust. I took the CVXExtractor shapefile output, and added it directly to a project as Denny described above. In DevMode, the polygon happily loads, simply awaiting the properties to be added.

So Denny, grab a copy of the CVXExtractor

 

[GaryGB]

Thanks, Dick, for further expanding on our vector 'data recovery' and data I/O options with Patrick Germain's excellent CvxExractor utility (aka "CVXE").


Regarding GIS projection:

MSFS-2020 run time display of its 2D and 3D scenery world model is, of course, rendered in a mapped non-warped EPSG:3857 GIS format.


Since AFAIK, FSX / P3D and MSFS SDK-compiled CVX BGLs are in EPSG:4326, so is de-compiled CvxExtractor output.


As with the SBuilderX GUI workspace display of background map tile images and all newly-created content, ADE workspace display is in EPSG:3857.

IIUC, CVX vectors Appended to SBuilderX, will still be displayed in their original EPSG:4326 GIS projection format.


AFAIK, that EPSG:3857 GIS projection must be internally changed into EPSG:4326 prior to submission to (FS) SDK BGL compilers.

Does ADE do that GIS re-projection internally prior to submission to SDK compiler(s), or does the (FS) SDK BGL compiler do that GIS re-projection ?


I am hoping we might explore this sub-topic further as a prospective work-flow to utilize 3rd party tools for scenery content creation of vector "primitives".

If appropriate, I'd be glad to pursue this related sub-topic in a separate thread elsewhere.


One might consider potential benefits of generating vectors via ScenProc, Global Mapper, QGIS, Sketchup (via plugin Ruby script*.SHP exports ) etc..


Your description above cites a direct addition of the CVXE-derived example *.SHP to a project using the MSFS-2020 SDK DevMode.

But I am also wondering if the *.XML work-flow I am alluding to above, may be a way to allow import of vertices for polygons etc. into the ADE GUI.

Perhaps this "imported" content can then be committed to the ADE project's intermediate work and various saved 'project source data' files ?


Do you think the latter *.XML work-flow I cited above may be feasible as a (limited) work-around for IMHO, longstanding limitations of ADE data I/O ?


Thanks again in advance for any additional insights you may be willing to share on this aspect of vector data recovery / derivation / export / import.

GaryGB