Coordinates format of PLN file for MSFS

[matifoopong 1]

MSFS uses * ’ " as coordinates format when generating a flight plan file (*.PLN), whereas all others including LNM use ° ’ ".
A flight plan that has ° ’ " can be loaded by MSFS, but one or more waypoints will be translated into wrong coordinates (thousands of miles away from the correct waypoint) more often than not.
While we are waiting for MSFS developers to fix the bug, we can avoid it by replacing ° with * using a text editor.
For example, you have to change 11° 22’ 33" to 11* 22’ 33" before loading it into MSFS.
This problem has been known for years, but surprisingly I cannot see many people complaining about it.
So I wonder -- Is there anyone who uses LNM and MSFS without experiencing it?
Is there a more convenient way than using Notepad?

[albar965 1,047]

MSFS also uses ° in its saved files. Never seen this or heard about this issue.

Can you post a plan where this replacement fixes an issue with coordinate translations? Is this with Navigraph navdata installed?

Alex

[matifoopong 1]

I cannot attach PLN files onto this post, so let me send you an email, Alex.

I created A.pln with LNM and loaded it from MSFS. The result is not good:

I changed ° to * and saved the file as B.pln. The result is good:

Also for your reference, I created a flight plan from within MSFS and saved it as C.pln, which contains * instead of °.

By the way, based on the fact that your MSFS uses ° unlike mine, I began to suspect it only happens in Asian languages environment.

While experimenting with various Windows language settings, I found that the problem disappears if I check the box.

I am not sure if I can call it a good solution, because I have no idea exactly what it does.

[albar965 1,047]

Thanks you a lot for the files. I'll have a look at it.
I can test MSFS only with a German or English environment. Will try. The UTF-8 does not appear with Windows 10. I suppose you use 11.

I'm sure there is a bug in MSFS where they use user locale to read numbers. This is normally an absolute no-go for data formats like PLN or CSV where one should always use English number formats.

Such things are particularly funny in German, as the meaning of "," and "." is twisted compared to English.

Alex

[albar965 1,047]

Changed the output to use * instead of ° . Seems to work fine.

Alex

[matifoopong 1]

On 3/5/2024 at 12:13 AM, albar965 said:

The UTF-8 does not appear with Windows 10. I suppose you use 11.

I use Windows 10. Please refer to:

https://www.gaeb-online.de/hilfe2014/nounicode_en.html

[albar965 1,047]

Ok. Anyway, the files are stored as UTF-8 and not the local code page. The files should work in all environments. This is most likely a bug in MSFS.

Try a pre-3.0.4 here: https://k00.fr/q8vl9pyl

Keep in mind that this version will not remind you if the final 3.0.4 is released. Better check the Avsim forum or the feed on my site.
I'll probably have to do more more updates if there are bugs.

Alex

[matifoopong 1]

Thank you so much for this change. It works perfectly in my environment.

Also I noticed that I don't have to do anything with this version in order to see airport names in English.

I really appreciate it.

Matifoopong

[albar965 1,047]

Thanks for confirming the fix, Matifoopong!

4 hours ago, matifoopong said:

Also I noticed that I don't have to do anything with this version in order to see airport names in English.

As intended. Perfect.

Alex

[albar965 1,047]

Here is a release candidate for 3.0.6: https://k00.fr/3liopl2z

Sorry, I had to revert back to the ° sign because the change cause issues with third-party applications like Navigraph Charts.

But I added a multexport format "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 format using "*" as degree sign." which can be used if you run into issues.

Alex