Chasing PMDG 777 workings

[EmileB 15]

Hi Guenther,

 

I've started to use LINDA's console capabilities to find the functions that PMDG's 777 uses for the CDU buttons (of course).  You told me at the time for the 737 NGX CDU that I would need to find the FSX controls as well as the LVars.  So I did, and I've got that working very well as you know.  But now with the PMDG 777 I'm a bit stuck :

I have found the LVars that are addressed by two of the CDU buttons (sofar, just for testing).  When I press these CDU buttons with the mouse, the LINDA console shows the LVars being written to but I can't see an FSX control being written as well.  Consequently, the small Lua plug-in I've written for test purposes does indeed write the LVars OK, but this does not operate the actual CDU buttons.

 

Is the 777 any different from the NGX in this regard ?  Am I missing something ?  If so, can you point me in the right direction ?

 

Thanks heaps.

[guenseli 1,577]

Hello Emile,

 

 

 

Is the 777 any different from the NGX in this regard ? Am I missing something ? If so, can you point me in the right direction ?

 

Yes, No and no

 

Unfortunately, the 777 seems to be something complete different.

The functions which are included currently in the module are the only ones I could gather. And for some of them I even had to use mouse Macros.

 

The 777 is a mixup between "normal" LUA variables, macros, and something magically different.

I haven't found anything else. That doesn't mean there isn't something, but it is beyond my current capabilities. So I hope for the SDK ... however I fear this will also mean that we have to wait another year :(

 

 

 

What I have indeed not tried are the FMCs.

I think they could work with mouse macros... you could try that.

[EmileB 15]

Hi Guenther,

The 777 is a mixup between "normal" LUA variables, macros, and something magically different.

I haven't found anything else. That doesn't mean there isn't something, but it is beyond my current capabilities. So I hope for the SDK ... however I fear this will also mean that we have to wait another year :(

 

What I have indeed not tried are the FMCs.

I think they could work with mouse macros... you could try that.

Many thanks for your prompt reply.  You've confirmed what I had already suspected.  I imagine that PMDG would have had good reasons to do things differently AGAIN compared with the JS4100 and then the NGX, but it's not overly helpful for people with modest home cockpits such as myself.  I hadn't tried mouse macros yet - that may be the solution for now.  Many of the functions I need, will be covered with the key commands accessible through the 777's CDU anyway.  At least I can stop wasting time trying to make something work that won't !

 

Addition : just found that mouse macros do seem to work with the CDU buttons, so that'll help me out at least for now.

Edited October 27, 2013 by EmileB

[guenseli 1,577]

Hello,

 

have you seen the current LINDA 777 module with the mouse macros?

Would be nice, if you'd like to add your findings.

 

On a later stage, the functions could be changed to run without macros... hopefully.

 

[EmileB 15]

Hello, have you seen the current LINDA 777 module with the mouse macros? Would be nice, if you'd like to add your findings. On a later stage, the functions could be changed to run without macros... hopefully.

 

Hi Guenther,

 

Thanks, I'll have a look at it.  I'm not doing much with the 777 yet due to limitations on how much time I can spend on the hobby at the moment.

[EmileB 15]

Hello, have you seen the current LINDA 777 module with the mouse macros? Would be nice, if you'd like to add your findings. On a later stage, the functions could be changed to run without macros... hopefully.

 

Hi Guenther,

 

I've had a chance to check out what you've done sofar with the mouse macros : thanks, I've learnt something new again !  I was planning to at least record mouse macros for the 777's captain and FO CDUs for my own use but I will be happy to send them to you so that you can add them to the one you've set up already.  Until such time that someone works out how PMDG have done it and make that accessible to the masses, mouse macros would be a suitable alternative (Pete Dowson to the rescue again :clapping:!).  Will try to sit down to that task in the next week or so.

[guenseli 1,577]

Great Emile!

 

 

 

Until such time that someone works out how PMDG have done it and make that accessible to the masses, mouse macros would be a suitable alternative

 

Yes, and not the badest. Once we have hopefully a SDK, the functions are all already there and assigned.

We then just change the functions containing code