suggestions?

[Tucsoncoyote]

Gates that are not Just numerical (Concourse Gates)

TucsonCoyote here, and I got a suggestion

Rather than just a gate number, what about a way to put in a "Concourse" and "Gate Setting"

(After all with the Current ADE all yo can do is put in Gate Numbers, But some larger airports, (Like Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and now Tucson) they use a gate designation due to the concourse. (For Example at Phoenix Sky Harbor they name the gates as A1, A2, Etc (Where A is the Concourse and the number is the gate number..)

To get a better idea here's Tucson's equivalent (We used to have just straight numbering but now they have them letered and Numbered).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Terminal_Map_082.jpg

So maybe that can be incorporated in a major update..

Tucsoncoyote--

 

[scruffyduck]

TucsonCoyote here, and I got a suggestion

Rather than just a gate number, what about a way to put in a "Concourse" and "Gate Setting"

(After all with the Current ADE all yo can do is put in Gate Numbers, But some larger airports, (Like Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and now Tucson) they use a gate designation due to the concourse. (For Example at Phoenix Sky Harbor they name the gates as A1, A2, Etc (Where A is the Concourse and the number is the gate number..)

To get a better idea here's Tucson's equivalent (We used to have just straight numbering but now they have them letered and Numbered).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Terminal_Map_082.jpg

So maybe that can be incorporated in a major update..

Tucsoncoyote--

We will certainly take a look at this. The issue here will be what FSX will actually accept. There are a fixed set of values that we can use.

 

[Tucsoncoyote]

Scratch that!

Tucsoncoyote here

Disregard my last post.. Seems that you got that already..(Name Drop down menu..(I opened KLAS and it's under name..(So that's how you do it.. Huh, Silly me! DOH!)

Tucsoncoyote--

 

[scruffyduck]

Tucsoncoyote here

Disregard my last post.. Seems that you got that already..(Name Drop down menu..(I opened KLAS and it's under name..(So that's how you do it.. Huh, Silly me! DOH!)

Tucsoncoyote--

Yep - that is how you do it

 

[Tako_Kichi]

Is it possible for a future release to have the ability to draw curves when using polys or 'fence' items? At the moment we can only draw in straight lines which makes curved areas look a bit 'jaggy'. If the current points were able to be converted to bezier points than you could pull on the 'handles' to adjust the curve.

Something else to look at if possible is the 'layering' ability. Currently we can only 'bring to front' or 'send to back' and it would be nice if we could also have 'bring forward' and 'send backward' so that you can control more easily which parts are sitting on top of/under others. I find that I sometimes have multiple objects coving the same area and it is difficult to select a lower object when it is obscured by a higher one. Being able to move a selected object up or down a layer would be a great help.

Just some thoughts.

 

[GHD]

Hi Larry,

Is it possible for a future release to have the ability to draw curves when using polys or 'fence' items? At the moment we can only draw in straight lines which makes curved areas look a bit 'jaggy'. If the current points were able to be converted to bezier points than you could pull on the 'handles' to adjust the curve.

Unfortunately it is a limitation of the FSX SDK which allows only polygons for flattens and aprons and polylines for blast fences and boundary fences.

George

 

[Tako_Kichi]

OK I can understand that and it makes sense.

Does the SDK also limit the vertices to being fixed points or can they be bezier points? Allowing a fixed vetex to be converted to a bezier point would allow smooth curves to be created.

I come from a graphic design background originally and programs like Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw use polygons and polylines all the time to do just this. You can click on a vertex and convert it to a bezier point and then pull on the 'handles' to create the curve.

Just asking questions to get things clear in my own mind.

 

[GHD]

Does the SDK also limit the vertices to being fixed points or can they be bezier points?

Look at the schema for BGLComp (bglcomp.xsd) this defines all elements of an airport facilities file. The definition of a boundary fence is:

<xs:element name="BoundaryFence" type="ctVectorPlacement" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" />

<xs:complexType name="ctVectorPlacement">
    <xs:sequence>
      <xs:element name="Vertex" type="ctVertexLL" minOccurs="2" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
    </xs:sequence>
    <xs:attribute name="instanceId" form="unqualified" type="stGuid" use="optional" />
    <xs:attribute name="profile" form="unqualified" type="stGuid" use="required" />
</xs:complexType>

<xs:complexType name="ctVertexLL">
  <xs:attribute name="lat" form="unqualified" type="stLatitude" />
  <xs:attribute name="lon" form="unqualified" type="stLongitude" />
</xs:complexType>

<xs:simpleType name="stLatitude">
  <xs:union>
    <xs:simpleType>
      <xs:restriction base="stLatitudeAsDouble" />
  </xs:simpleType>
    <xs:simpleType>
      <xs:restriction base="stLatitudeAsString" />
    </xs:simpleType>
  </xs:union>
</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="stLatitudeAsDouble">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:double">
    <xs:minInclusive value="-90.0" />
    <xs:maxInclusive value="90.0" />
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="stLatitudeAsString">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="stLatitudeAsString">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="stLongitude">
  <xs:union>
    <xs:simpleType>
      <xs:restriction base="stLongitudeAsDouble" />
    </xs:simpleType>
    <xs:simpleType>
      <xs:restriction base="stLongitudeAsString" />
    </xs:simpleType>
  </xs:union>
</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="stLongitudeAsDouble">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:double">
    <xs:minInclusive value="-180.0" />
    <xs:maxInclusive value="180.0" />
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="stLongitudeAsString">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

As you can see, there is no concept of a point (fixed or otherwise), the fence is composed a a set or vertex(es) with a minimum of two. Each vertex is composed of a latitude and longitude. Latitude and longitude are composed of either a string or a double with limits of +/- 90 for latitude and +/- 180 for longitude.

George

 

[scruffyduck]

Larry

I understand what you are saying. As George says FSX works by drawing straight lines between vertex points on things like aprons, fences and so on. It does understand bezier curves but only for taxi way junctions as far as I know - and it often does not draw those as we might expect

 

[GHD]

It does understand bezier curves but only for taxi way junctions as far as I know - and it often does not draw those as we might expect

Not quite, internally it creates Bezier curves at junctions but the user has no control over these.

George

 

[scruffyduck]

Not quite, internally it creates Bezier curves at junctions but the user has no control over these.

George

Quite right George - that is what I meant to say

 

[Tako_Kichi]

Thanks both, I now have a better understanding of what is going on internally.

 

[Mace]

Jon,

Does ADE presently have the ability to make and view ExclusionRectangles? Or have I missed this?

 

[GHD]

Jon,

Does ADE presently have the ability to make and view ExclusionRectangles? Or have I missed this?

Why not try it

George

 

[scruffyduck]

Jon,

Does ADE presently have the ability to make and view ExclusionRectangles? Or have I missed this?

Yes and No. It makes what you need automatically but does not give the user the option to make their own I think what it does is described in the manual

 

[Mace]

Why not try it

George

I have tried it George. Well, more accurately, I should say that I do not see an option for it.

I am still decompiling and making my own ExclusionRectangles.

It's also nice to see that ADE is not destroying my custom xml code when I open my xml from within ADE.

 

[Mace]

Yes and No. It makes what you need automatically but does not give the user the option to make their own I think what it does is described in the manual

It makes what I need automatically? How does it know what I need? I need a dark stout beer, that's what I need!

Hm, well, if I might, I will enter a 'suggestion' for a mouse-click-and-drag method of creating a rectangle...an ExclusionRectangle. I think it would be neat for the ADE gui to be capable of doing every bit of xml contained in the SDK/schema.

Also, I had another thought (a rare moment of clarity )
Wouldn't it be nice to have an "XML Viewport" where the raw xml would be viewable, possibly in a child window of sorts? I can see BGL2XML being called when this menu choice is selected. Something along those lines...

 

[scruffyduck]

Wouldn't it be nice to have an "XML Viewport" where the raw xml would be viewable, possibly in a child window of sorts? I can see BGL2XML being called when this menu choice is selected. Something along those lines...

Try selecting an object and hitting the 'x' key or Right Clicking and selecting Show XML. Is that what you mean?

Select the Airport Reference Point to see the xml for the whole airport including any exclusion rectangles and other objects.

 

[scruffyduck]

It makes what I need automatically? How does it know what I need? I need a dark stout beer, that's what I need!

Good point, but what exclusion rectagnles do you need?

 

[Mace]

Good point, but what exclusion rectagnles do you need?

Good point about the stout beer? Yes for sure.

I was looking for a way to click-n-drag to create an <ExclusionRectangle> with a ExcludeGenericBuildingObjects=TRUE for example.

I am not seeing this anywhere, but perhaps I am missing it? I've been known to miss my share of obvious things.