Just installed the latest version of PBE and have a couple of questions:

1) I run MSFS in full-screen mode, but as soon as I click the PBE window, the lower taskbar appears - is this correct ?

2) I have assigned a new key combination to 'GEAR DOWN' within the Controls menu, but nothing happens after I press it. The manual states that a hotkey can be configured to, "RE-OPEN FS2CREW PANEL:", but to be honest, I'm not totally sure what this is stating should happen. For example, does is mean that if the panel is shut down (after clicking top right 'X'), the panel will reopen, or does is mean that it will expand, as per a double-click on the top banner ? Or does it mean something else ? 

Notwithstanding, pressing the 'GEAR DOWN' hotkey appears to currently do nothing ?

Many thanks

Edited December 27, 20205 yr by garydpoole
Just discovered that Hotkey only works if panel 'Locked' option hasn't been checked.

1. Most people will run PBE on a 2nd monitor, but if you run PBE in full screen screen mode on a single monitor, it will put the PBE window "in focus" when you click on it.  That's why you're seeing the taskbar.

I recall the taskbar will disappear once you put MSFS back in focus.

 

2. On the Settings panel, you'll notice a Lock button in the top right hand corner of the screen.  If you're running on a single screen, the PBE panel would normally automatically close when you put it in focus due to the way Windows works.

But by "locking" it we are forcing the screen to stay open.

The gear down hotkey is just a way for people to re-open the panel should it be in an "un-locked" state and it minimizes.

If you have "lock" selected, it's a meaningless hotkey since the panel will always be open.

The "X" button shuts the whole app down (and closes the secondary panel).

On 12/28/2020 at 3:31 AM, byork said:

1. Most people will run PBE on a 2nd monitor, but if you run PBE in full screen screen mode on a single monitor, it will put the PBE window "in focus" when you click on it.  That's why you're seeing the taskbar.

I recall the taskbar will disappear once you put MSFS back in focus.

 

2. On the Settings panel, you'll notice a Lock button in the top right hand corner of the screen.  If you're running on a single screen, the PBE panel would normally automatically close when you put it in focus due to the way Windows works.

But by "locking" it we are forcing the screen to stay open.

The gear down hotkey is just a way for people to re-open the panel should it be in an "un-locked" state and it minimizes.

If you have "lock" selected, it's a meaningless hotkey since the panel will always be open.

The "X" button shuts the whole app down (and closes the secondary panel).

Thanks for the replies.

I had actually worked out eventually that the panel shouldn't be locked and managed to get it working with a customised hot-key.

Regarding the taskbar and the "in focus" issue, could it in theory be possible to modify PBE to run on a client machine ?

Regards

I've never thought about running it over a network.

What would the point be?  PBE's overhead is very low.

Edited December 29, 20205 yr by byork

49 minutes ago, byork said:

I've never thought about running it over a network.

What would the point be?  PBE's overhead is very low.

I wasn't looking at this from a performance perspective, more from a cosmetic perspective to remove the panel from the main screen. This would also eliminate the 'in focus' issue with the taskbar - which I'm guessing is one reason why some folk choose to drag it onto a second monitor.

Also, putting it on a client machine negates the need for a hotkey.

Regards

You can drag the panel a 2nd monitor... that's what I do.

But I see your point.

Cheers,

 

 

Edited December 29, 20205 yr by byork

FYI, to save screen real-estate you can also "collapse" the panel by double clicking on the top bar...

 

1 minute ago, byork said:

You can drag the panel a 2nd monitor... that's what I do. 

That's the point, I don't use a second monitor, but I do use a client machine and use it to run several applications, or rather, did use it on P3D before migrating over to 2020.

Regards

3 minutes ago, byork said:

FYI, to save screen real-estate you can also "collapse" the panel by double clicking on the top bar...

I tried that and yes it does collapse, but it seems to leave the top bar 'floating'. If I then drag the collapsed bar to the bottom of the screen out of the way, then expand it, the main content of the panel is now no longer viewable as it's 'disappeared' below the bottom of the screen. I hope this makes sense! 

Regards 

9 hours ago, garydpoole said:

I tried that and yes it does collapse, but it seems to leave the top bar 'floating'. If I then drag the collapsed bar to the bottom of the screen out of the way, then expand it, the main content of the panel is now no longer viewable as it's 'disappeared' below the bottom of the screen. I hope this makes sense! 

Hey Gary,

Yes, we would need to make it so if it detects its nearby the screen's bottom to reallocate the window a bit more above so you could see the content when you expand it, this could be an improvement.

Cheers,

Manuel