Bringing HTML5 into FSX/Prepar3d add-ons

[Guest]

2) a gift for Rob, Silverlight example

 

I figured it'd be possible if you can do HTML5 ... probably can't run SL5 in OOB mode under this context ... or can you?

 

But the door of possibilities just got a lot bigger! 

 

EDIT: Can it work in P3DV2.x?

[Jimmy RFR 406]

This keeps getting more and more amazing.  I could see myself using the PDF viewer a lot as a 2D gauge.  Give it a nice frame to make it look like a tablet, grab the charts you need and away you go.

 

I also was thinking this would be a great interface for ATC chatter.  I've already written some extensive Lua scripts for FSUIPC that automatically send control / play commands to various standalone media players (VLC media player works the best) to stream ATC chatter from the internet based on what freq. your radios are tuned to... I think a person could make this work a lot 'cleaner' with this interface, and remove the need for the standalone media player to be running.  I was playing around with the idea of writing it, but if someone beats me to it, I really wouldn't mind! ^_^

[WebSimConnect 6]

I figured it'd be possible if you can do HTML5 ... probably can't run SL5 in OOB mode under this context ... or can you?

 

But the door of possibilities just got a lot bigger! 

 

 

WSB can only render plugins that supports windowless rendering. Silverlight does, so we can embedd it in the panel. Standard PDF plugin can't but fortunatelly there is HTML5 reader as well. As for Silverlight I did not even know it could be used as well, so SL5 support somehow was a nice surprise   For building addon it might be even better as HTML could be capriocius sometimes while Silverlight is well integrated into Windows. Pity, there's unclear future for SL... The problem is windows dependency.

 

Anyway, few thigns need to be taken into consideration before developing Silverlight addon to be rendered with WSB.

- Silverlight integration is built on NPAPI which is supposed to be removed from future Chromium releases. It can be still used with the current libraries I released with WSB, however when  I decide to use new release due to some extra functionality, there would be no more support from future WSB releases.

- Integration. At the moment WSB can interact with HTML with JS code from custom DLL module. I have no idea whether Silverlight can communicate with the web page it is embbeded into. However WSB can be used just for rendering while SL5 with Simconnect wrapper could do the job of FSX communication.

 

I searched the net, however could not find any addons built with SL. I've seen one try of fleet tracker but could not find a follow up.

 

 

 

EDIT: Can it work in P3DV2.x?

 

I have not got it yet, but my bet is YES.

 

 

This keeps getting more and more amazing.  I could see myself using the PDF viewer a lot as a 2D gauge.  Give it a nice frame to make it look like a tablet, grab the charts you need and away you go.

 

Jimmy, sounds like a cool idea to track real ATC chat based on your radio settings...

 

br

 

Marcin

[Guest]

For building addon it might be even better as HTML could be capriocius sometimes while Silverlight is well integrated into Windows. Pity, there's unclear future for SL... The problem is windows dependency.

 

It's pretty clear, no further development of SL, there will be no SL6.  This might change in the future with Ballmer gone, but seems unlikely given the direction of Win8.x and Win9.  There was some talk about integrating SL into the Browser IE12+ so it's not technically an "add-on" and hence will satisfy Apple and the Sandbox ... but of course that means reduced functionality and reduced hardware acceleration support.

 

SL isn't Windows only, it runs fine on OSX (even in OOB mode) ... it would work on iOS but Apple will not allow it (the business side of killing technology advancements).

 

I know the XPlane route is multi-platform and frankly I think it cost them ALOT of development "progress" (in terms of moving the platform forward) by maintaining multi-platform support.  Hardware is just too specialized to be generalized into OS independence -- pipe dream IMHO -- it can be done, but it's almost always at the cost of not supporting accelerated features as code is generalized to LCD.  

 

 

 

I have no idea whether Silverlight can communicate with the web page it is embbeded into.

 

Yes it can.  It can also be provided parameters.  SL can start either from a embedded or on it's own (if running on an IIS server).

 

Cheers, Rob.

[WebSimConnect 6]

Interesting, I did not know all of it. Thanks for explaining.

[WebSimConnect 6]

Hi All,

I finished the development of my WSB and WSC. I am taking 3 weeks break now from any development however I am thinking about new features to be added. Below you'll find the tentative list of things I have in mind. If you could help me prioritize them or even suggest new thing, I'd appreciate. The list is a mix of my ideas and feedback I already received.

I. WebSimConnect (WSC)

1. Full simconnect wrapper around WebSocket.

(As WebSocket allows duplex communucation between browser and server, the wrapper could be build in exactly the same way as simconnect.dll concept. It would still require ESP knowledge, however data processing would be done in JSON format. Names of functions and arguments would be the same as in simconnect SDK. It means, a web page could subsribe for events that are triggered by WebSocket protocol. It is heavy development and I am not sure would be useful as a lot can be achieved with current WSC and it would only be usefull for remote browsers as with WSG, a professional developer could use own DLL for add-on logic, connected the classic way with FSX and use WSG for rendering and UI interface.

2. Transform WSC API into RESTful interface. REST web interface is a nice combination of type of HTTP request (GET/POST/DELETE) and URI. more details here: http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2004/12/01/restful-web.html . Personally I am not in favour. A lot of changes for WSC and same result after all, however no doubt it would be a modern web design for a web service.

II. WebSimGauge (WSG)

1. Duplex communication of the WSB web page with WebSimClient (DLL add-on), For the moment, DLL can call JavaScript function of the page or load full HTML text, however a function from a web page cannot call a function within DLL. I could develop duplex, so UI HTML based could call C++ function of in-process DLL addon. (For me priority one)

2. Improve the peformance. I could still fine tune rendering process to save some FPS. I see three potential places of improvement.

3.Build internal simconnect.dll wrapper for JavaScript. It would be the same logic as in point 1 of WSC however without using WebSocket channel but direct web page - FSX interface, so without network layer in between. WSC would not be needed for WSG - FSX integration, WSC would be only for remote access from browser

4. Provide full setup for the WSC+WSB. Even though it requires only copy-paste to install WSC suite, some of you complained about manual setup.

5. Provide automatic tool for embedding WSB in the panel.cfg. Something similair like WXR_editor.exe (see the image) http://www.lisonek.com/recenzje/screeny/rwx/rwx5.jpg. In fact I was thinking maybe there is something generic that does the same thing for any gauge ?

III. WebSimClient (examples of usage)

1.PDF chart viewer that based on the selected destination in FSX opens a list of available charts for selected airport (maybe also based on selected approach, but that would limit charts to FSX database) . The user would see the list and could open PDF chart (based on http://aeronav.faa.gov//digital_tpp_search.asp?ver=1404&eff=04-03-2014&end=05-01-2014&fldIdent=KORD&fld_ident_type=ICAO&st=&fldCityName=&fldAPName=&fldVol=&submit1=Search data). I'm gonna sell it for 500 bucks 
2. 3D view of real terain that would show a 3d view based on your geographical location+alititude and current camera view. You could see real aerial data and with WSC you could share it online

any feedback, more than welcomed.

my priorities would be WSG point 1 & 2 and WebSimClient nr 2 or 1.

Marcin
 

[dragonflightdesign 98]

Silverlight is... somewhat buggy, shall we say. It's based on MSUIA which has a rather large bug in it that causes the application to navigate the entire object tree each time it wants to find an object, even if that object is the one you've just interacted with. It looks pretty but it's horrifically slow in execution. My RL job means I get to see all the bits of MSUIA that you never want to see. Steer clear.

[hesynergy 67]

This looks like FUN!!!

 

C

[AramilUktus 0]

Please advise on Kneeboard module.

[generale84 11]

working on P3Dv4?