I was just wondering what the cab files in the gauges directory are for, as they seem to be in .xml format. What are they for and more importantly, I guess, do I need to unzip them into the gauges folder, or can they be deleted. Regards Chris

ACK!!! Don't delete them... don't unzip them... just don't touch them at all!!!The CAB files are the new XML gauge format introduced with Fs2002. So if you delete these, you will probably be deleting a whole lot of gauges you need. The default Baron and 747 gauges are in CAB format, and many third-party designers are releasing gauges in CAB format as well.

The *.cab files you are seeing are gauge files, fs2002 introduced a new XML gauge format. These gauges are made up of XML "program" files which discribe the gauge and bmp files which make up the gauge. Multiple gauges can be in one *.cab file, you will find that the MS default 747 and Baron use this type of gauge, also the minipanel and the panel selection icons are XML.You do not need to unzip them, and if you delete them you would have no gauges for your 747/baron plus any others that use them.Simon.

Doh! You beat me to it! :-)Simon.

Thanks thunderchief and Eko. Well that answers that, thanks! So I gather that the gauges are read direct from within the cab file? I suppose its a space saver tho, so in future your gauge file wont look so busy. Thanks for the explanations!

Is there a source that I could go to that would help me to understand exactly how the .cab gauge files actually work? :-hmmm

When I made my ATR42-300, I included several custom gauges including one in the new xml format, as a .cab file. I said in the installation isntructions "...copy all files inside the gauges.zip archive into your gauges folder..." This of course included the .cab file. Well, I got around 150 e-mails from users who were missing half of the gauges in the panel. Most of them had extracted the xml and bmp files inside the cab, instead of just copying it as instructed. My conclusion is that there must be a natural tendency in the human being to decompress what is compressed, same as to dismantle any assembly :-)Paco

"Is there a source that I could go to that would help me to understand exactly how the .cab gauge files actually work?"Well you could try the Microsoft Panel SDK, it includes some documentation on the XML gauges, not a lot though.It is however fairly simple in principle:The *.cab file is a compressed archive that contains one or more *.xml files, these XML files are text files written using the eXtensible Markup Language v1.0. Each *.xml file in the *.cab is a gauge, the *.cab also contains any bitmap images used in the gauge(s).You can edit the *.xml files with a basic text editor, however there are some specific editors out there that may make this easier, as they can use the DTD schemes provided by Microsoft in the panel SDK. (DTD's are a kind of template file) The FS specific variables are also listed in the SDK.The Bitmap file are just standard windows *.bmp format, preferably palletised.The gauges are compiled into the *.cab file by using a suitable compression program, I use cabpack 1.4, a quick search on the web will find many suitable programs.I hope this is of some use?Simon.

In addition, d/l xmlgau10.zip from Arne Bartels (gauge hero ;-))!Regards :-wave from EDDFhttp://flightsimmers.net/airport/etti/signature_pro.jpg

"In addition, d/l xmlgau10.zip from Arne Bartels (gauge hero )!"Yes I agree, very usefull. But a slight correction the file name is xmlgau01.zip is it not?Simon.