ExcBuilder v2.0: Created bgl once, now it won't create another

[desertwind 0]

I'm using FS9. I decided to clean out the generic buildings cluttering the National Memorial Cemetery located in the 'Punchbowl' crater in Honolulu, HI. I used ExcBuilder to create a bgl file which didn't work. I had the bgl placed in ..fs9addon sceneryhawaiiscenery and have the hawaii folder installed in the Priority 1 slot (temporarily) in the scenery library.The weird thing is, I can't seem to get EB to produce another bgl file! I input the data, create the xml code and compile and nothing. No error messages but no bgl file either. I tried different areas besides Hawaii, but that didn't work. Any ideas as to what is going wrong here?Tawni

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Tawni,Would you please post the contents of the xml file? That would help us diagnose the problem.Some reasons why the file would not remove buildings: incorrect exclude flags, incorrect combination of flags, incorrect coordinates...I have never been able to get ExcBuilder to automatically create the bgl - don't know why. So, I just manually drop the xml file on BGLComp.Best regards.Luis

[desertwind 0]

Hi, Luis~Thanks for responding. Here's a paste of the xml code generated for the 'Punchbowl' area:<?xml version="1.0"?>I ran bglcomp from the DOS command window with the /v flag set so I could see the run time processing. It failed because latmin must be less than latmax. However, I was oriented N when setting the NW and SE coordinates; seems easy enough. Just to see what would happen, I flipped the coordinates (ie, the nw lat and se lat) and *still* got the same message. Tawni

[desertwind 0]

Also, in checking other posts, there seems to be some question as to the ability of EB to handle autogen created generic buildings versus xml placed GenericBuildings. I turned off autogen and the buildings are still there, so I assume this means they aren't autogen buildings? Or does it? ;)Tawni

[GHD 21]

Try the attached.George

[desertwind 0]

I'll try that this evening, George. Thanks for your response!Tawni

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Tawni,Let's see: 1. BGLComp does not seem to like the header - hard to say why. So I changed it to:<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>2. you use coordinate separators (period) that I have never seen used in Flight Simulator. Perhaps they are not allowed, so I changed the periods to a space as so:latitudeMinimum = "n21 18 51"latitudeMaximum = "n21 18 94"longitudeMinimum = "w157 51 06"longitudeMaximum = "w157 50 53"And the question arises: do you mean to use degrees minutes (eg.: N21 18.51) or degrees minutes seconds (eg.: N21:18:51)? I have never used the latter and do not know if BGLComp will accept it.After making these changes, the file compiled fine. But, I do not know if it will exclude anything.We have found after testing that BGLComp seems to require the use of all the Exclude flags to be present in the file in order to work correctly, if there is any flag that is False. So, you will have to see if this works or not, and then modify accordingly.Best regards.Luis

[GHD 21]

Hi Luis,BglComp will accept decimal degrees with either a sign or ordinal letter, eg "-12.12345" or degrees and decimal minutes, eg "12 23.456", or degrees minutes and seconds, eg, "12 23 45". I always use a space as a separator.George

[desertwind 0]

Hello, Luis and George~Using the format d mm.mm (e.g., N21 18.94) for the data arguments, the xml code compiled fine. I included all the flags in the xml code thusly:<?xml version="1.0"?>But, after moving the bgl file to my Hawaii scenery directory, it doesn't exclude anything. I have verified that my slew aircraft was oriented north as was the scenery (satellite view) and that my coordinates represent the correct NW and SE data points.I guess I'll have to do a bit more research on that problem now. I believe I've seen a number of threads regarding it. One dealt with the fact that there are different types of generic buildings. I guess not all excludable?Thanks for your feedback, guys, I really appreciate it.:-) Tawni

[desertwind 0]

Unfortunately, the following thread didn't help me but it might help others:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=26506&page=Basically, it raised the issue of compensating for magnetic variation when creating the NW and SE coordinates; something I definitely hadn't considered before. It can cause the exclusion area to be created in such a way that that it 'misses' the objects you're trying to exclude. Also, are there any 'groups' of buildings designed and placed as a single object in the fs9 default scenery? I ask this after reading about the subject of reference points. If the reference point for a pseudo group of buildings was offset, it wouldn't be readily apparent where one actually needs to create the exclusion zone, right?

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Ah! so that is it. Thanks very much, George.Best regards.Luis

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

Hello Tawni,There is only one type of generic building and it will always be excluded.So, if it is not an autogen object, nor a generic building, then it can only be a library object. These last are quite common in large urban areas, and represent landmarks or important buildings - either excludeAllObjects = "TRUE" or excludeLibraryObjects = "TRUE" will remove them.I have never had any problem with magnetic variation and cannot confirm that this is a problem with exclusion rectangles. And it should not make any difference, as long as the objects fall within the bounds of the exclusion rectangle, whatever they may be. I suspect the problem is elsewhere, either incorrect coordinates or exclusion flags.Why don't you just try excludeAllObjects = "TRUE" as the only flag, and see what happens?Best regards.Luis

[desertwind 0]

Hello, Luis~I did try the exclude all (single checked box) as well as individually checking each exclude item to create the bgl file and neither removed the buildings.I'm pretty sure I've got the coordinates set correctly, I'll post an image of the screens where I'm obtaining the coordinates and see if you concur. I'm sure it's got to be something stupidly simple that I'm overlooking, but so far I can't figure out what it might be.Tawni

[GHD 21]

Magnetic variation has no effect on coordinates, it is only the difference in degrees between true North and magnetic North at that point.George

[edgarone 0]

Hi Tawni,when you put the exclude file in the same folder like the original scenery, which creates the buildings, you must take care of the execution order: first create the scenery, then exclude the buildings.Inside a folder the execution is alphabetically ordered. So you must use an exclude filename like ZZ_exclude.bgl to put it at the end of the queue.Or use an additional scenery folder and give it a higher priority then the default scenery folder in the scenery manager.Or you might just use the addon scenery folder, which is usually on top of all default scenery folders.Best regards,Edgar