FSDreamTeam forum

Developer's Backdoor => GSX Backdoor => Topic started by: mroschk on August 12, 2014, 06:28:16 pm

Title: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 12, 2014, 06:28:16 pm
Hello,

in real live the Pilot's get's the gates via Acars.

Now i want to ask if it is possible to have the following in GSX:

During the Flight we select a Gate at the Destination Airport. If GSX did not know
the Destinatiion Airport we enter the ICAO Code.
The GSX can read the available Gates and Parkings and we can select one of These.

Then after landing we must only call the GSX Window and have a new Menu entry like "Preselected Gate".
Or better , if ist possible, we call this via a Shortcut.

So we dont have to stop Taxiing and this was very more real.

Thx
Matthias
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: Bruce Hamilton on August 12, 2014, 07:05:10 pm
But unless you know where you're going, you'll still have to stop and wait for the follow me...
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 12, 2014, 07:09:18 pm
Hello,

yes, but it is much much faster ( and even mor real ) as to go thru the Menu's to
select the Gate and Follow me.

Matthias
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: streichholz on August 12, 2014, 07:20:52 pm
This would be nice to know if this is possible.
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: virtuali on August 12, 2014, 07:58:39 pm
GSX doesn't do anything if you are not parked on an airport (for example, flying), and it works only at the airport you are currently landed on, one airport at time.
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 12, 2014, 08:13:48 pm
Hello,

i dont want to work GSX with more then one Airport.
As i explain...select the Airport via the ICAO code.
That means only ONE Airport and GSX should do nothing else then
Reading the available Gates/Parkings after getting the ICAO.
Then AFTER LANDING ( on the Ground ) we only have to call one Shortcut or Menuentry.

Would be great to have

Matthias
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: virtuali on August 12, 2014, 11:41:00 pm
i dont want to work GSX with more then one Airport. As i explain...select the Airport via the ICAO code.

It would have to, in order to do what you are asking, because the moment you insert an ICAO, before you would be able to pre-select your gate, GSX should:

- Scan the WHOLE airport database, to find if you entered a valid ICAO. All 20.000 of them, of course. The GSX airport cache is not optimized to lookup an arbitrary ICAO all over the world, but it's optimized to search the ICAO closest to the area nearby your position, which is what it needs now. This means this search might be slow, compared to the immediate results you get now, after landing.

- Get the name of all the matching AFCADs for that ICAO. Sort them according to the Scenery Library priority.

- Open that AFCAD momentarily, to load a list of the available parkings.

This, while you are still flying, meaning you could always change your mind later and be able to switch to a different airport and/or switch to a different parking.

To allow for a fast ICAO search, we would need to have the airport cache structured in a different way, with data organized in multiple ways, depending on the kind of search needed, but this will have of course an impact on the cache creation every time you change something in the Scenery Library, so users that won't mind waiting to land to select the parking, will be annoyed by this "feature", that will affect the cache regeneration time.

You are asking for fairly large chances, with potentially annoying side-effect such as the increased cache regeneration time, with very little payoff in term of added features, when we could spend our time doing something more useful, like new service vehicles, new models, new liveries, new sounds, that *everybody* will notice.
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 13, 2014, 12:06:44 am
Hello,

ok, that's right. I did not know that you have not created an optimized Cache of the Airport's. I thought you have.

So..if it is like this you have to had first to optimize you code.

Matthias
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: virtuali on August 13, 2014, 12:27:26 am
ok, that's right. I did not know that you have not created an optimized Cache of the Airport's. I thought you have.

And why should we ? We don't need it, except for the ability to let you search for an ICAO all over the world, which is not how GSX ever worked so far.

Quote
So..if it is like this you have to had first to optimize you code.

First, it's not the "code", it's more like the airport database, and that IS optimized, to be as fast as possible when *returning* the ICAO code of the airport closest to you, which is entirely different (it's the opposite, basically), as if it was optimized to search *starting* from an ICAO.

And it's BECAUSE is optimized, that we don't have an additional database organized in a way we don't need, that would only result in a slower cache regeneration time, because each time you change something in the Scenery Library, more data would need to be recreated, slowing the cache regeneration for everyone, even those not interested in pre-selecting the parking,
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 13, 2014, 12:32:17 am
take a range of .. lets say 20 or 30 NM araound the airplane.
So you have a small list of Airports to search without any changes.

Also you can have , for all those things not every one want to have, a litle litle Enable/Disable Option
in the Addon Manager .. easy or :-)

Matthias
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: virtuali on August 13, 2014, 12:45:29 am
take a range of .. lets say 20 or 30 NM araound the airplane. So you have a small list of Airports to search without any changes.

Doesn't make much difference, the issue is not just searching if an ICAO exists in the whole world. In order to allow you to select its gates in advance, there must be a pre-generated database that matches that ICAO with its own AFCAD, and that IS the airport cache I keep discussing. And again, THAT one is optimized to give you the name of the AFCAD closest to you, as fast as possible, which is the only thing that GSX needed.

Without even mentioning that it would be frustrating, having the gate pre-select feature, but not being able to select an airport until you are "in range".

Quote
Also you can have , for all those things not every one want to have, a litle litle Enable/Disable Option
in the Addon Manager .. easy or :-)

As explained many times already, it's just wrong having options in the program that MIGHT allow it to behave erratically, because if that option ever existed, users will turn it off in order to have the cache regeneration as fast as possible, but will then forget to turn it back on when they need to preselect a gate, going back here asking for support why they see the wrong gates listed.
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 13, 2014, 12:54:49 am
...again, if you dont want it it is ok for me if you say that.
But i have also a bit programming knowledge in C# and i know how easy it is to have a
litle List<String, int> to hold the Airport ICAO and ist ID or Coordinates. ( as a class )

Now, when we Need the Airport from the Cache we only have to search this list, which is very fast.
Then we have the ID to seach in the Cache or the coordinates of the Airport. With
the coordinates GSX can work as it works when the plane is on Ground.
So .. ist easy and take not so much time.

About the users who Forget to enable or disable something.
Thats a reason which you talk about to find a reason for what you say. For This users .. please RTFM. (sorry)

Matthias
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: virtuali on August 13, 2014, 01:02:33 am
But i have also a bit programming knowledge in C# and i know how easy it is to have a litle List<String, int> to hold the Airport ICAO and ist ID or Coordinates. ( as a class )

Now the programming lesson...LOL

Of course it's easy to use a list, ONCE YOU HAVE IT! In fact, it's even easier in Python than in C#, but the issue you keep missing, is that list must be generated each time the Scenery Library changes, THAT'S precisely what the cache regeneration does but, instead of having a relationship with the ICAO, it's organized to get just the ONE AFCAD which is closest to you.

Again, for the 3rd time, to do what you are asking, we would have to keep YOUR "list", which is basically another cache, with the ICAO as the key instead, and of course BOTH must be generated at the same time and kept in sync, each time the Scenery Library changes.

Quote
Now, when we Need the Airport from the Cache we only have to search this list, which is very fast.

Again, you are still missing the point. Of course it's fast and easy, once you HAVE the list ready. The point is precisely having that list always updated to the current Scenery Library.

Quote
So .. ist easy and take not so much time.

Just stop repeating it, it might be easy to code, but it will slow down cache regeneration, and that's already something that many users find "annoying", so we don't really need new ideas how to make it even slower, for a very marginal feature.
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 13, 2014, 01:07:51 am
How often are you changing the Scenery Library????

Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: virtuali on August 13, 2014, 01:16:21 am
How often are you changing the Scenery Library????

There has been several threads in just the last few days, that users are using external utilities to turn on JUST the sceneries they need for a flight at EACH FSX startup, in order to save the last bit of memory for the sim and not getting OOMs.

And the request was, of course "could we make the GSX cache regeneration any FASTER" ? If we would had to explain that, it will instead become slower, because of this feature, I'm not sure it will be taken very well.
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 13, 2014, 01:19:39 am
How often are you changing the Scenery Library????

There has been several threads in just the last few days, that users are using external utilities to turn on JUST the sceneries they need for a flight at EACH FSX startup, in order to save the last bit of memory for the sim and not getting OOMs.



LOLOLOL... Thats really not a normal use of the flightsim. Even not for the old FSX.
For all positive you have something against.

Take P3D and you did not have any Problems like a slow Performance or a OOM or something.

Matthias
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: virtuali on August 13, 2014, 01:27:51 am
LOLOLOL... Thats really not a normal use of the flightsim. Even not for the old FSX.For all positive you have something against.

That's the main issue, users use FSX in very different ways, and must make compromises for every available option.

Quote
Take P3D and you did not have any Problems like a slow Performance or a OOM or something.

P3D has even less VAS space than FSX, because it's still a 32 bit app, and it does so much more. You don't see so many reports about OOMs, only because a popular brand of memory-hungry airplanes is still not available there...
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 13, 2014, 01:33:05 am
.. as of now i found only 1 thread about disabling the Scenery :-)

Quote
That's the main issue, users use FSX in very different ways, and must make compromises for every available option.

It's not an issue. Ist like i say...if anyone not want to have what i request they can disable it and use FSX in his own way.

Quote

P3D has even less VAS space than FSX, because it's still a 32 bit app, and it does so much more. You don't see so many reports about OOMs, only because a popular brand of memory-hungry airplanes is still not available there...

Same here, if the Plane you want is too hungry of Memory .. easy you can not use it :-)

But this should not be a reason for that you reject all my request's, even for now then for later.


Matthias

Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: virtuali on August 13, 2014, 02:04:39 am
.. as of now i found only 1 thread about disabling the Scenery :-)

There are many more about the generic issue that the cache regeneration might be annoying. Two pages of threads, in fact.

The thread that has only ONE request, instead, is THIS one...

Quote
It's not an issue. Ist like i say...if anyone not want to have what i request they can disable it and use FSX in his own way.

And as I've said already, we'll never, ever, put an option that might result in the program not working correctly, only because the user forgot to turn if on when he should have.

And no, if users actually READ the manuals, 90% of the supports threads in this forum would never appeared.

Quote
Same here, if the Plane you want is too hungry of Memory .. easy you can not use it :-)

People don't like to be told what airplane they should use, and nobody like to spend money on something that he can't use it.

Quote
But this should not be a reason for that you reject all my request's, even for now then for later.

Yes, it is.

Just stop beating this dead horse. This option is of marginally utility, way less useful than many things we ARE working on right now, and it would only cause more grief to those that don't like the cache regeneration.
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: Hnla on August 13, 2014, 05:12:49 am
Quote
You don't see so many reports about OOMs, only because a popular brand of memory-hungry airplanes is still not available there...

Probably by the time PMDG changes the EULA to allow their planes into PMDG, P3D will be 64-bit.. (So i'm hoping..)
Title: Re: Preselect Gate
Post by: mroschk on August 13, 2014, 09:16:21 am
Probably by the time PMDG changes the EULA to allow their planes into PMDG, P3D will be 64-bit.. (So i'm hoping..)

??

..so, it seams to complicated for you to implement this , in my eyes, nice and real live Feature.

But please dont Forget my others

GPU/ASU/CHOCKS

There is no database, no Cache, no stress if you implement a enable/disable function for those who dont want it.
There is only the willing of YOU to implement this.

Bye
Matthias