Is it possible to "reverse engineer" guages and mdl files? If so please tell me how. I have been working with panels for a long time but have hit a wall and need the ability to go farther. Thanks in advance.James

>Is it possible to "reverse engineer" guages and mdl files?Yes & Yes. But it depends on the coding language and model format. >If so please tell me how.This is not a hacking forum.

>Is it possible to "reverse engineer" guages and mdl files? >If so please tell me how. I have been working with panels for>a long time but have hit a wall and need the ability to go>farther. Thanks in advance.As was pointed out in the other reply, it is possible (barely), but quite frankly it is far less work and infinitely more rewarding to do as the rest of us here do:learn how to build your own gauges and aircraft models!It would take longer to "reverse engineer" a gauge than it would to build it from scratch to begin with, and the same is true of mdl files...Trust me on this one, as I've had to 'untangle' more than one aircraft model when the author has run into a problem, and I can warrant that it's no easy task, even WITH the original source file![/n]BillAVSIM OmbudsmanFounder and Director,Creative Recycling of Aircraft Partshttp://catholic-hymns.com/frbill/FS2002/images/fartslogo.jpg

Even if you would succeed, you won't learn anything from it. Every designer or programmer has own ways in solving issues. You'll end up pulling your hair trying to figure out why it's implemented that way. Like Bill said it's far better to try to learn how to do something from scratch.

Hey James,There are several tool syou can use. I am no good at it, but have picked up a word of wisdom here or there, from people like Etienne and Jean-Luc.To look at what processes, and even functions are being called by an .EXE, try OllyDbg at http://home.t-online.de/home/Ollydbg. Here is a short description fromt heir readme: "OllyDbg 1.09d is a 32-bit assembler-level analyzing debugger for Microsoft® Windows® with intuitive interface. Emphasis on binary code analysis makes it particularly useful in cases where source is unavailable. It predicts contents of registers, recognizes procedures, API calls, switches, tables, constants and strings, locates routines from object files and libraries, allows custom labels and comments in disassembled code, writes patches back to executable file and more."Another good tool is Resource Hacker. Do a search on gooogle for it. Just drag and drop files in it to see the inners of each of them.Finally, I have started to use a new tool called Dependency Walker. This tool is useful to see what libraries a file is using. It is even recommended by Microsoft. Their website seems to be down, but just do a search on Google for depends.exe and you should find it. i did ;).All that being said, I agree with Bill. It is easier to learn by trial than by trying to open these files. Jean-Luc and I were talking, and he mentioned the great ammount of time it takes to understand how something simple works inside FS. just ask Pete Dowson, and he will tell you how hard it can get ;).Plus, keep in mind all of this should not be used to steal code. As long as you don't do that, I have no problems with you opening even my gauge files.

Thanks Fabio, I don't want to be misunderstood. My intent here is not to become a resource thief. I respect all the work that everyone puts into their projects. I am simply looking to get my foot in the door. An avionicsman by trade, I have a lot of ideas about guage integration, probably leap years away from what I can do now but its worth a look. Why I wanted to the program's was to have a look at what other designers code looks like. I agree, its always easier to do ones own work than to tangle up others, besides, more sense of accomplishment comes from it. Thanks for everyones candicy! James

Hey James,No worries. Knowing you a little as I do, I figured that is all you wanted to do.Have you dropped by the beta forum lately? Also, I would like to discuss some of these gauge ideas with you. Why don't you send me an e-mail and we will take it from there. I can delve deeper into gauge programming too if you'd like.