The Artful Dodger

THANK YOU!!

Just a quick addition - I added a PTT button and it went through the entire checklist (as far as I've gotten) without a hitch. That was obviously the problem. Thank you for you patience and your assistance!

Thinking about it, I think all that would be required would be to a. Provide a way to delay the execution of the [*check|repeat*] Section, much like the Wait statement. But that puts the onus for the delay time on the user. OR b. Provide an option to wait until the SPEAK command is complete - I would be surprised (but I've been surprised before) if you (behind the scenes not the users) didn't have the capability to wait until notified that a subthread is finished. I will look at your suggestions tomorrow. I was just in the process of telling you I would look at a ptt tomorrow too!

OK - I understand you don't like what I've done. So, please show me how to 'properly' program this item: 1. Copilot says: "Parking Brake". 2. Copilot waits until I respond either "Check" or "Repeat". 3.a. If I respond "Check", Copilot goes to 4. 3.b. If I respond "Repeat", Copilot responds with "I Say Again" and then returns to number 1. 4. Copilot then checks "(A:BRAKE PARKING INDICATOR, Bool)" - confirms that the parking brake is really set'. 5.a. If true, Copilot responds with "Parking Brake Confirmed Set" and continues with the next item. 5.b. If false, Copilot responds with "I say again" and returns to number 1. This is the most realistic scenario between a pilot and copilot I can think of - but I am not a real pilot. I am sorry but I came to AAO from SPAD (where I had a lifetime subscription) on the promise of an audible checklist and this is what I consider to be a checklist. If no one else has created a checklist like this, it's because either they didn't think of it or they couldn't be bothered. But, please know that I appreciate your help and I apologize for asking so many questions.

Here's one that I don't think is programming but I expect you have run into it before - Sometimes, right in the middle of a checklist item, the voice doesn't wait for me to respond - it simply repeats as if I have replied "repeat" when I haven't said anything. A number of the voices do it, but rarely at the same spot - So it isn't like a certain spot in the code has a problem. The only conclusion I can make is that the choice options (at point A in the code) occur before the voice is complete. I think it happens because I am using the loudspeakers - I just tried it with my headphones and the voice which has the most difficulty (by that I mean the voice that has this problem) performed perfectly. So, is there a way to delay processing the checking of responses - I haven't seen an option to do this that I know of. Here's my code for one of the most troublesome items: :Parking_Brake ; [*Check|Repeat*] (@C208B:Parking Brake - SET) (WAIT:10000) A (L:AaoClConfirm) 1 == if{ (GOTO:Brake_Check) } (L:AaoClConfirm) 2 == if{ (@C208B:I say again 1) (GOTO:Parking_Brake) } ; :Brake_Check (A:BRAKE PARKING INDICATOR, Bool) 0 == if{ (@C208B:I say again 2) (GOTO:Parking_Brake) } els{ (@C208B:Parking Brake Confirmed - Set) } ; ; ; :Fuel_Tank_Selection ; The phrase that causes the problem (with the WAIT Command) and the phrase following is the one I would like to delay. NOTE: I have placed the numbers 1 and 2 after the "I say again" so that I know the line with the "1" is the line that is repeated! The WAIT will delay later (at least I have tried to delay up to 10 seconds but the repeat happens almost immediately). Your suggestions will be most appreciated! I can record what's happening but I'll have to send it to you via e-mail. Let me know.

I was afraid that was the case. So, if I don't want Statement B to execute I would have to say: (CHECKLIST:My_Checklist.txt) (GOTO Somewhere_else) Statement B Is that how to prevent B from executing?

Statement A . . (CHECKLIST:My_Checklist.txt) Statement B I execute My_Checklist.txt but once My_Checklist is complete, does it now execute Statement B (effectively a call) or is Statement effectively dead (effectively a GOTO)?

Thank you so much - I guess I missed that paragraph. Another quickie: when you issue a (CHECKLIST:xxx) command, does that work like a 'call' or a 'goto'? In other words, is there a return from a (CHECKLIST:xxx) command?

Is it possible to replace the "VOICE:Microsoft Catherine" in the macro: <Macro Name="C208B">VOICE:Microsoft Catherine) (VOICERATE:0) (VOICEVOLUME:15) (SPEAK</Macro> with a string variable? To produce something like this: <Macro Name="C208B">VOICE:(L:Voice, String)) (VOICERATE:0) (VOICEVOLUME:15) (SPEAK</Macro> So that "Microsoft Catherine" (>L:Voice, String) would set it up.

I meant as an example - AAO works just fine for me just as it is - I just didn't program it correctly. But if someone wants a checklist like mine but thinks it's too complicated to try, you would have an example to show in your manual. Nothing for you to maintain.

I was more thinking of your AAO manual.

When I am done with it, I will give you a copy of it which you can do with what you will - throw away, use as an "advanced" audible checklist, or whatever.

By the way, I tried your suggestion "(L:AaoClConfirm) 3 == if{ (AAO_CL_PAUSE_TOGGLE) (GOTO:EIS_Complete) }" and it worked exactly like I intended it to! Now I have a working model for similar situations! And, just as an aside - my late wife and I heard more times than we could count that something we suggested or complained about was "the very first time we've heard that" - I guess we just did things that were (are) unexpected! I appreciate that you didn't give up on me though!!

I am concerned with your definition of a checklist item and here's why. :Fuel_Condition_Lever ; [*Check|Repeat*](@C208B:Fuel Condition Lever - Cutoff) (L:AaoClConfirm) 1 == if{ (GOTO:Condition_Check) } (L:AaoClConfirm) 2 == if{ (@C208B:I say again) (GOTO:Fuel_Condition_Lever) } ; :Condition_Check (IE:FUEL_1_Condition_Lever) 2 != if{ (@C208B:I say again) (GOTO:Fuel_Condition_Lever) } els{ (@C208B:Fuel Condition Lever Confirmed - Cutoff) } ; ; ; :Flaps The way I have written these checklist items (and I've written quite a few in the last day or two) is the above example - and all of them are similar. The "Fuel_Condition_Lever" item runs from the initial label until just before the "Flaps" label. What would you describe the "Condition_Check" and it's follow-on statement? It has no [...] parts yet it is very much a part of the "Fuel_Condition_Lever" item. So, I guess my problem is that, even though you call it a "pause", I don't think of it as a pause. By my definition, a true pause would simply stop in place and, once the flag was toggled back, execution would continue from there as if the pause had not happened. I still don't understand what yours does but in my mind it isn't a pause. I also realize it's not up to me - it's your software and I have to adjust to how it's written! I just wish you had called it something else! Because that's why I am having such a problem with it!

I am more confused than ever now, especially with regard to your comment above that it will "jump out of the current checklist item". When I run the code above and say "pause", the code immediately executes the next line of code (I presume it "executes the label next" ) . Are you telling me the code "knows" that the last line of code above is "part" of the current checklist item? I ask because the next line of code will be just another label.