FSX-MS GE View: Google earth viewer for FSX and P3D

[JSkorna 137]

 

 

Does that means that this idea won't work after Dec 15th?

 

That is correct along with the fact that the version 42 of Chrome has already disabled the plugin.

[whitav8 98]

@Bob McElrath and propwash,

     Is there any chance that this type of interface could be developed to drive the full (non web-based) GoogleEarth application - so we could continue to utilize the concept past Dec 15th, 2015? Would that be the same as FS Earth? Not sure if the access to sim variables could be similar.

[gustavoortenzi 0]

It would be wonderful whitav8!

I can no longer use the GEVIEW by now, with the atualization of Chrome! The simulation lost all the enjoyment.

[clayton4115 56]

does this plugin work or no longer working with chrome or firefox? 

[JSkorna 137]

Not with Chrome.

[clayton4115 56]

ok thanks so works with firefox?

dont understand how this works,  i did all as per the instructions and when i double click the earth file i get this in the  address bar

 

 

 

and then a globe of the earth

 

using firefox.

[clayton4115 56]

ok i figured it out, had one < too many when typing all that stuff in, well it looks amazing in google earth! however too many blurries and shimmering, and the textures take ages to load, also lose all clouds, weather and papi lights etc, however does have enormous potential !

[Propwash 2]

@Bob McElrath and propwash,

     Is there any chance that this type of interface could be developed to drive the full (non web-based) GoogleEarth application - so we could continue to utilize the concept past Dec 15th, 2015? Would that be the same as FS Earth? Not sure if the access to sim variables could be similar.

All,

 

Apologies for not following this thread as closely as I should have been doing.

 

Regarding the non-web based Google earth question, Robbie kind of agreed to work on it, although I know he's busy.  Refer to next response...

 

He also provided some general background on the plug-in problem for me and I attach it here.  I realize many of the readers of this thread know about web applications and the plug-in issues, but it was mostly new to me, hence Robbie's mini-tutorial for my benefit.

 

BTW, he's a Google software engineer (though not on the Maps team) which explains his remark "and of course if I did I couldn't say" - confidentiality, and "we're killing the plug-in", (next response..).

 

Being optimistic, it sounds like Google very well might have an alternative they are already working on... we will all find out.  I hope so.  Bob

 

There are a few different APIs involved, and I think explaining them will help clarify things:

• NPAPI: An API developed by Netscape in the 90s that standardized an API for "plugins" that users would install. The most common plugin has been Flash, but there are many others. These plugins would implement NPAPI, which would let them handle certain file types or interact with the page, but other than that they were just arbitrary programs that could do whatever they wanted. This freedom allowed them to do things websites couldn't do before, like play video/animations (flash), render pdfs (adobe reader), or display 3d models of the earth. More on this later.
• Google Earth Javascript API: A javascript API that Google provides to let you embed the Google Earth browser plugin in a webpage. This is what Google will be deprecating in December.
• Google Earth server API: This doesn't have an official name and isn't exposed to the public. This is whatever the plugin and desktop client use to talk to Google's servers. Given that the desktop client isn't being deprecated, this API will still be running past December (I'm assuming here that the plugin and desktop client use the same API to talk to the servers).
• WebGL: A newish API added to browsers that basically just wraps OpenGL and allows programs written in javascript to use OpenGL to get hardware accelerated rendering.

For some background, you can sort of think of javascript (at the time) as the browser equivalent of the FS XML gauge scripting language - it can do all the common things, it's sandboxed/safe (you can't write code that will crash FS or install a virus), but it's slow and can't do fancy things. Plugins are a lot like the C++ gauges - they have a specific API they use to talk to FS, but outside of that API there aren't any rules and they can do whatever they want. In browsers, NPAPI is the equivalent of the C++ gauge APIs, and among other things it allows websites to communicate with these plugins via javascript. The main problems with plugins were that users had to install them on their computer, which was kind of annoying, but far more importantly, they were the cause of most browser vulnerabilities. Companies making web browsers try very hard to make them secure, but if attackers (i.e. people writing malicious javascript and getting it to run on a page you visit) can find a vulnerability in a plugin that they can trigger through javascript, then by just browsing to a site they can do whatever bad thing they figured out to your computer.

 

Over the last 5-10 years however, javascript has actually gotten really fast - still not in the same ballpark as C++, but good enough for 99% of even fancy things you want to do on a website. Also, browsers have added dozens of new APIs that let you do things like access the file system, play videos/audio, draw 2d images, draw 3d images (WebGL), etc.. This means that a lot of the reasons for having plugins are going away, since you can now implement most of the things that previously needed to be in plugins directly in javascript. Also, Apple never added Flash or other plugin support to iOS, so plugins don't really exist on mobile web. So, the huge security holes, unavailability on mobile, cumbersome installation, and increasing power of javascript make people want to move away from plugins, which is what they're doing. That is the main reason the Google Earth plugin is going away. It's probably also a really old codebase that no one understands anymore, but the bigger issue is it just can't work in Chrome once they kill NPAPI.

 

Now, the new(ish) google maps site has an earth-like mode in it, which is rendered using WebGL, so the code to render the Google Earth data with web technologies is already written, they just need to add all the other earth features to it, like kml support, and then wrap that in the existing earth javascript api. I don't know the plans, and of course if I did I couldn't say, but hopefully that explains why they're doing what they're doing.

 

Many thanks to Robbie for providing the background information.

 

Regards,

 

Bob

 

Can GE View be used with Google earth desktop client?

 

Please see this post.  Response #24.

[GaryGB 10]

FS9: If anyone wants GE View for FS9, please respond and an FS9 http.dll will be posted (FS9 requires a different http.dll than FSX / P3D).

 

 

 

This is a brilliant and fascinating add-on for FSX and P3D ! :smile:

 

I also utilize FS9 as well, and would greatly appreciate having the ability to utilize "a different http.dll than FSX / P3D" for my FS9 GA flying.

 

 

Many thanks in advance for your consideration in making this work with FS9 too ! :wink:

 

GaryGB

[Propwash 2]

 

 

I also utilize FS9 as well, and would greatly appreciate having the ability to utilize "a different http.dll than FSX / P3D" for my FS9 GA flying.

 

Hello Gary,

 

Unfortunately, as it turns out, it's not available for FS9.  Please see this post.  Response #11

 

Bob

[Propwash 2]

Not with Chrome.

Jim,

 

The suggestion found in this link (Response #24) might offer temporary work-around for Chrome.

 

Bob

 

And, AVSIM forum admins... apologies for bouncing around with a bunch of links instead of just posting the stuff directly here, BUT, I have tried for the last two days to include the contents of that post in this forum, but something is clearly preventing me from doing that.  Tried all of the copy/paste buttons with no luck. 

[GaryGB 10]

Hello Gary,

 

Unfortunately, as it turns out, it's not available for FS9.  Please see this post.  Response #11

 

Bob

Thanks for the clarification; hopefully we'll see this further developed for use with the "stand-alone" Google Earth application in the future (that would likely be preferable for my own purposes, anyway).  :smile:

 

GaryGB

[Propwash 2]

Good news.  I just tested Robbie's beta version of GoogleEarth View which uses the earth desktop client (aka 'stand-alone' Google earth) and it works fine.  It doesn't use earth plug-in so when that goes away at the end of this year, we will still have a way to view Google earth as FS flies.

 

Shouldn't be long before it's released.

 

Bob

[nosecone 1]

Hi Propwash 

Do you have any more info on the GoogleEarth View which uses the earth desktop. I have the plugin which no longer works on chrome and really enjoyed flying in GE view 

 

Cheers

Rhys  

[Propwash 2]

Hi Propwash 

Do you have any more info on the GoogleEarth View which uses the earth desktop. I have the plugin which no longer works on chrome and really enjoyed flying in GE view 

 

Cheers

Rhys  

Hi Rhys,

 

Please see this FSDeveloper post for an update (scroll down to response 27) .... in summary, GEView for Earth desktop client is working and will be released before December

 

Bob