An Overview of SimConnect

[DadJokeCinema 145]

It's never really been my intention to have Icarus provide ATC to the user. I think Radar Contact does that well, and I'm happy with concentrating on one thing, making the AI act more according to realistic operations.But, the beauty of this system is that anyone can go and make whatever they want.Have at it.

[scruffyduck 4]

>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 EditvoicepackWe will have to agree to disagree on that one. You are assuming that it is not possible to optimize managed code and that developers don't care about the speed of execution of their code. I use profiling software to identify the slow spots in my code and use techniques like refactoring. An obvious slow point is that NET exectuables usually compile to machine at load time, but then how long does your FS take to load? It is possible to pre-compile to get over that one as well.It is just as easy to write poor C++ code as it is C# or VB. Certainly the Express editions of VS2005 are aimed at hobbyists but that nas nothing to do with the underlying code - it is the IDE. Some of the tools to make development easier are missing but the implementation of C++ or C# is the same as for the full VS2005. Anyway there is little point in arguing the issue as we could go round and round in circles for ever and you view is just as valid as mine :-)

[Egbert Drenth 250]

>>> I agree that managed code is also for hobbyists cause its easier to use <<<:-lol :-lol :-lolBelieve me... regardless which programming language is used, it is always possible to write carbage/inefficient code in C, C++, C#, VB, ....It depends on the developer and not on the programming language.Besides that, C# resembles C++ a lot (the language itself, not how's it processed), one of the main differences is the way how memory usage needs to be handled. C# takes care of this, in C++ you have to do it yourself.

[beatle 0]

Hey Brian,Nicely written overview, I especially liked the "Why is SimConnect a good thing?" section :->.Glad I got to hang out with ya some at the conference, and I just wanna say thanks for hanging out here and passing on what you've learned so far and congrats on becoming one of the forum moderators.Now when ya gonna have that tutorial done so I can learn how to use this stuff too :->.Tim

[Guest]

> Now when ya gonna have that tutorial done so I can learn how to use this stuff too :->.funny stuff :-lol

[DadJokeCinema 145]

I started writing up the tutorial to go with the code I wrote a few days back, a real simple "Hello SimConnect" type program. All it does is check to see if you're above transition altitude, and if you are, automatically sets your baro to 29.92.However, I thought my explanation was convuluted so I want to start over on that part.In the mean time, I'm a few lines of php and javascript away from having a FlightAware.com type website that tracks current FSX beta flights with a tiny little program. Hopefully that should go up tomorrow.

[Guest JuiceRabbit]

Could you could make Icarus customisable so that the user can configure Icarus to use whatever TTS voices they own (whether it be Cepstral or other vendors)?I am taking this TTS approach with a cockpit environment (ie virtual co-pilot) application I am writing. Just been side tracked lately with some fun stuff in the terrain SDK :)

[Guest ziporama]

Brian,I was thinking that the code sample (tidbits) should have enough complexity to demonstrate the .NET wrapper in use. The goal is not to teach C# or .NET, but show how the API is used.Thanks!

[Guest N6722c]

>I started writing up the tutorial to go with the code I wrote>a few days back, a real simple "Hello SimConnect" type>program. All it does is check to see if you're above>transition altitude, and if you are, automatically sets your>baro to 29.92.>>However, I thought my explanation was convuluted so I want to>start over on that part.>>In the mean time, I'm a few lines of php and javascript away>from having a FlightAware.com type website that tracks current>FSX beta flights with a tiny little program. Hopefully that>should go up tomorrow.I keep seeing mentions of VB with simconnect, but all the examples I have seen are in c or xml.The learning curve for VB is far less than c, so it might be attractive to the less technical. It would be nice to see some examples on how to use VB to write simconnect clinets & to write Gauges.I imagine a VB Gauge would run significanly faster than an XML Gauge, although not as fast as one programmed in C ??Geoff

[DadJokeCinema 145]

That's what I'm going for, pretty much.

[DadJokeCinema 145]

ATC interaction with the user really isn't in the current plans for Icarus, however, I may consider it in the future. I want get the AI working right first.

[Pete Dowson 558]

>I started writing up the tutorial to go with the code I wrote>a few days back, a real simple "Hello SimConnect" type>program. All it does is check to see if you're above>transition altitude, and if you are, automatically sets your>baro to 29.92.Might be a tad over-complex as a starter example, as you'd need a database of correct TA's for all the different airports in FSX -- unless you are going to restrict it to USA/Canada where it's all fixed at 18000? You can't even do it by Country -- TA's vary from about 3000 up to 6000 just in this little ol' UK! ;-)Regards,Pete

[DadJokeCinema 145]

>>I started writing up the tutorial to go with the code I>wrote>>a few days back, a real simple "Hello SimConnect" type>>program. All it does is check to see if you're above>>transition altitude, and if you are, automatically sets your>>baro to 29.92.>>>>However, I thought my explanation was convuluted so I want>to>>start over on that part.>>>>In the mean time, I'm a few lines of php and javascript away>>from having a FlightAware.com type website that tracks>current>>FSX beta flights with a tiny little program. Hopefully that>>should go up tomorrow.>>I keep seeing mentions of VB with simconnect, but all the>examples I have seen are in c or xml.>The learning curve for VB is far less than c, so it might be>attractive to the less technical. >It would be nice to see some examples on how to use VB to>write simconnect clinets & to write Gauges.>>I imagine a VB Gauge would run significanly faster than an>XML Gauge, although not as fast as one programmed in C ??>>Geoff>>For gauges, I have no clue. Haven't really delved into that aspect of things, however, SimConnect is for external programs. It does support a managed wrapper that can be programmed in C# or VB .NET.

[DadJokeCinema 145]

>>I started writing up the tutorial to go with the code I>wrote>>a few days back, a real simple "Hello SimConnect" type>>program. All it does is check to see if you're above>>transition altitude, and if you are, automatically sets your>>baro to 29.92.>>Might be a tad over-complex as a starter example, as you'd>need a database of correct TA's for all the different airports>in FSX -- unless you are going to restrict it to USA/Canada>where it's all fixed at 18000? You can't even do it by Country>-- TA's vary from about 3000 up to 6000 just in this little>ol' UK! ;-)>>Regards,>>Pete>Sorry, Pete, I should have been more clear. I was going to go with the USA standard 18000. All I want to illustrate is getting and setting variables in the sim.

[Guest 2002cbr600f4i]

Yeah, if you can show us how (using C#) to get/set variables in the sim, I think that would go a long way towards giving me an idea on how to do the project I want to undertake:I want to make an interface so you can hook up multiple instances of FSX on multiple PC's and slave them to a "master" PC. Think Project Magenta, but without having to have custom coded panels and such. Just load up FSX on another machine, slave that machine to the master and bring up whatever additional displays you want. The "master" is doing all the heavy lifting and the slaves are just receiving variable data from the master for things like position/orientation/control settings, etc. and sending the occational keypress/user interaction update back...I know that back in older versions of FS this sort of thing was done (using WideView???) I'd just like to see an updated and cleaner implementation.I just got the Beta yesterday and quickly glanced at the SimConnect documentation last night around 11:30pm. I'll try messing around with their example code this weekend.--2002cbr600f4i