An Overview of SimConnect

[jcboliveira 1]

Not sure about that. D/L the DirectX SDK and see the managed code examples. Jos

[Guest Joris]

I agree that managed code is also for hobbyists cause its easier to use. But in the case of payware addons, we want quality and code efficiency, and that's why I will never buy FS addons written in .NET. People keep complaining about FPS in Microsoft's original product, but what's the point in MS optimizing its code for fluid execution when addon developers dont care a thing? There's by the way nothing wrong with stuff in .net that doesn't run at the same time as FS, ie Editvoicepack.

[Dillon 2,198]

I'm really excited to see how all this is going to come together. Looks like SimConnect and FSUIPC will be the things to watch in the coming months...

[DadJokeCinema 145]

>I agree that managed code is also for hobbyists cause its>easier to use. But in the case of payware addons, we want>quality and code efficiency, and that's why I will never buy>FS addons written in .NET. People keep complaining about FPS>in Microsoft's original product, but what's the point in MS>optimizing its code for fluid execution when addon developers>dont care a thing? There's by the way nothing wrong with stuff>in .net that doesn't run at the same time as FS, ie>Editvoicepack.I'm sorry you feel that way.

[ahuimanu 50]

If SimConnect works with C# and .NET managed code, then there IS A GOD!!!This is great news. The gauges API has always been attrocious, I am so glad that a modern and tidy API will be available. If I am lucky, I can use SimConnect to do gauge work and bypass RPN/XML and the C gauge API.

[ahuimanu 50]

>I agree that managed code is also for hobbyists cause its>easier to use. But in the case of payware addons, we want>quality and code efficiency, and that's why I will never buy>FS addons written in .NET. People keep complaining about FPS>in Microsoft's original product, but what's the point in MS>optimizing its code for fluid execution when addon developers>dont care a thing? There's by the way nothing wrong with stuff>in .net that doesn't run at the same time as FS, ie>Editvoicepack..NET is the future - mark my words... Yes, native will always kick tail, but I believe we can expect to see optimizations that make the difference very minimal. Consider a gauge, once it is initialized and is JIT converted, it IS native.

[n4gix 4,955]

>If SimConnect works with C# and .NET managed code, then there>IS A GOD!!!>>This is great news. The gauges API has always been>attrocious, I am so glad that a modern and tidy API will be>available. If I am lucky, I can use SimConnect to do gauge>work and bypass RPN/XML and the C gauge API.Since SimConnect clients are served asynchronously and are not "in-process" at all, how then do you imagine writing gauges for use "in process" would be a good thing?External "gauges" such as produced by Project Magenta and others will be able to exploit SimConnect, but no "panel.cfg" mounted gauge will ever benefit from SimConnect.SimConnect is designed to interface external applications and/or processes to FSX. It is not designed or intended to be of any benefit to processes that take place IN the sim. ;)

[Guest qurious]

Simconnect does work with C# and .NET, but we haven't seen the Gauges SDK yet - so there may not be a .NET interface for those.My guess at this point is that DLLs that are to be loaded into the FSX address space, such as gauges, will probably still need to coded in native C/C++.Meanwhile Simconnect makes writing external programs that interface with FSX a lot easier - a program that shows your position in Google Earth is almost trivial to create and would make a good tutorial for configuring SimConnect access from a second box.

[DadJokeCinema 145]

>Simconnect does work with C# and .NET, but we haven't seen>the Gauges SDK yet - so there may not be a .NET interface for>those.>>My guess at this point is that DLLs that are to be loaded into>the FSX address space, such as gauges, will probably still>need to coded in native C/C++.>>Meanwhile Simconnect makes writing external programs that>interface with FSX a lot easier - a program that shows your>position in Google Earth is almost trivial to create and would>make a good tutorial for configuring SimConnect access from a>second box.A flightaware.com type website would be cool too.

[jcboliveira 1]

Not so sure. Personally I serious began to think about external to FS process (to implement the state machine) and XML code (to display). If the hardware tendency is multiple processors then maybe it's time to think about a new paradigm. In this case the impact of the managed code lack (!!) of performance will be negligible. At least right now coding in C# is faster and that could imply less development costs. Made some tests in Dreammanager, took me 1/4 of the time to develop in C# and the frame impact isn't noticed and we are talking about model display and texture conversions all in DirectX.Jos

[DadJokeCinema 145]

>Yes. It works just great.>>Jos

[ahuimanu 50]

>>If SimConnect works with C# and .NET managed code, then>there>>IS A GOD!!!>>>>This is great news. The gauges API has always been>>attrocious, I am so glad that a modern and tidy API will be>>available. If I am lucky, I can use SimConnect to do gauge>>work and bypass RPN/XML and the C gauge API.>>Since SimConnect clients are served asynchronously and are>not "in-process" at all, how then do you imagine>writing gauges for use "in process" would be a good thing?>>External "gauges" such as produced by Project Magenta and>others will be able to exploit SimConnect, but no>"panel.cfg" mounted gauge will ever benefit from SimConnect.>>SimConnect is designed to interface external applications>and/or processes to FSX. It is not designed or>intended to be of any benefit to processes that take place>IN the sim. ;)>Hi Bill,I wasn't making an apples to apples with my statement so much as applauding an API in a saner environment than C and MACROS gauge development. I am also hoping that a C#/Managed code approach is the way of the future.Your points are taken, however I still think .NET is a future direction for game development for Micrsoft.

[Guest Lee]

>What level of programming knowledge should I assume when>writing tutorials?Hi Brian, I would think a level appropriate to use the SDK effectively. While that may make it difficult for many folks to use, if they study and learn what they need, then they will figure it out. If you make it to simple, the tutorial may not be very valuable for us true geeks. Besides, complex tasks can usually be made easier when you have the correct knowledge and time to create tools. Look what Lee Swordy did for traffic files and airport scenery with traffic tools and AFCAD. He made a difficult task very simple because he learned what he needed to do to create the tools. By providing as high a level of technical knowledge as you can, you will help others in the community make the tools that can help the folks that are not as technically proficient.My bit of philosophy.Lee Steffensen.

[Guest 2002cbr600f4i]

>Great post. I agree the Simconnect SDK is great!>>Looking forward to Icarus. Need a beta tester? :)>>Hope you can incorporate SIDs/STARs.>>Speech to text (ie using SAPI) is also a good option. Many>high quality voices available from Cepstral >(www.cepstral.com)>>With dual core now becoming common place I dont see any>performance problems.>>What do you think?>>Dont go down the RC4 route with prerecorded WAV files. Too>hard! Just support text to speech.>>Yeah, I agree! Something that hooks into the SimConnect API that does voice recognition so you can REALLY talk to ATC (AI-ATC that is) and have it understand you would be FANTASTIC!!!!Is somebody writing down all these project ideas somewhere so we're not all working on the same things seperately??? We need a sourceforge setup!!!! HAHAH--2002cbr600f4i

[DadJokeCinema 145]

I appreciate it.I was more wondering if I should be explaining the basics of classes and event driven systems and stuff like that, but I figure this isn't a programming forum, it's a SimConnect specific forum, so I'll just explain what I'm doing with the code and everyone can get up that point themselves. There are much more qualified people writing books and posting tutorials on the internet to teach you how to use C# or C++.