Author Topic: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?  (Read 4252 times)

Flying Dutchman

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How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« on: January 13, 2018, 12:33:57 pm »
Flytampa Amsterdam uses 4 different AFCADS + 1 overall AFCAD for all runways. Every time I change the AFCAD using the Flytampa Configurator due to changed wind directions, I have to restart Couatl and to rebuild the airport cache. Otherwise GSX does not recognize my favourite starting position which is gate C12. This gate is added to the scenery by Flytampa. It's not in the standard P3D database. How can I avoid this?

Hans Hartvelt
The Netherlands

virtuali

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2018, 02:59:47 pm »
I'm not sure if you are asking if it was possible for GSX NOT update the cache at all, which is clearly not possible, since it must do it when an AFCAD changes, or if you want to find a way for not doing it manually.

The reason for having to do it manually, it's related to the way GSX checks for file modifications: which is NOT checking each and every file, one by one but, instead, checking the time for the last modification date for each scenery *folder*, which is many times faster than checking each single file.

The downside of this, is that Windows doesn't change the last modification date for a folder, if you just rename files inside of it, so you must trigger a manual cache rebuild in this case.

Having to choose between a *much* slower cache rebuild time in every situation and having to manually trigger a regeneration after a file rename, we obviously chose the fastest solution, since most of the sceneries out there don't have multiple AFCAD that keeps changing, so we clearly gave priority to the most common case.

If your issue it's just that doing a cache regeneration is annoying or slow (regardless if you do it manually or not), you can speed up the time required (by a factor of 10x in certain cases), by adding the whole simulator folder to the list of the antivirus exclusion and, if you have sceneries installed outside the sim folder, add them too.

Flying Dutchman

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2018, 03:15:04 pm »
Hello Umberto,

Thank you very much for this clarification. It's not the time for rebuilding the airport cache, it's just the fact that I have to rebuild the airport cache each time the wind direction has changed which annoys me. I think that I will use the overall AFCAD which can be used for all wind directions, till I maybe have found another solution.

Regards Hans

virtuali

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2018, 03:25:19 pm »
It's not the time for rebuilding the airport cache, it's just the fact that I have to rebuild the airport cache each time the wind direction has changed which annoys me.

You might try this workaround:

- Create an empty text file in the folder that contains the FlyTampa configurator .EXE and named it something like START.BAT (the eventual .TXT extension should be changed into .BAT)

- Open the file with any text editor, even Notepad, and type the following lines:

FlyTampa-Configurator.exe
rd %PROGRAMDATA%\Virtuali\Couatl /s


- Save the file

- Change the shortcut for the icon that start the configurator from FlyTampa-Configurator.exe to the START.BAT file, assuming you place it in the same folder as the .EXE

This way, each time you run the configurator, the GSX cache will be removed, so it will be rebuilt automatically on the next startup.

Flying Dutchman

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2018, 04:17:56 pm »
Hello Umberto,

Thank you very much for this very personal advice. I tried and I can tell you that it works. When I start P3D the airport cache is automatically rebuild in 1 second.

But when I start the Flytampa configurator in the new way, besides the FTC window also a MS-DOS window opens. And when I close the FTC window after having changed the AFCAD, a question arises in this MS-DOS window 'Are you sure (Y/N)?' Is there a possiblity to avoid this question or even to avoid this MS-DOS window?

PS Unfortunately, I cannot upload this post with a screenprint of the MS-DOS window.

Regards, Hans Hartvelt

JESEVI

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2018, 01:01:58 pm »
Hi Hans,

I think you can solve this last issue by adding the /q modifier to the rd command

http://www.abrirllave.com/cmd/comando-rd.php

Regards
Jesus Serrano

Greetings from sunny Spain

Flying Dutchman

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2018, 03:13:01 pm »
Hello Jesus,

Thanx for this tip. It works well.

Greetings from a rainy Netherlands.

Rhett

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2018, 07:53:49 pm »
Hi Virtuali,

I have just implemented this batch file exactly as instructed.

Is the path still correct ? The reason why I ask is because:

1. On my PC, the Couatl.exe file in in the following directory on my SSD: E:\Addon Manager\couatl (& my Windows 10 operating system is running on C: and and the FlyTampa Configurator is on E:)
2. There are no files in the folder C:\ProgramData\Virtuali

So I am not sure whether the batch file will run anything.

Please kindly confirm if the intention is to run the Couatl.exe file (with /s) - or advise where the couatl file is located. Thanks

Regards,

Rhett

Flying Dutchman

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2018, 10:18:06 pm »
Hello Rhett,

I also have no files in C:\ProgramData\Virtuali.

Nevertheless I made this Start.bat file (with /s and /q) as Umberto has described and placed it in the FlyTampa folder. In my case D:\Prepar3D v4.2\FlyTampa. The FlyTampa configurator.exe is also in this folder. It has nothing to do with the couatl.exe file.

Everything works flawless, so give it a try.

Hans Hartvelt
The Netherlands

Rhett

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Re: How to avoid rebuilding airport cache at Flytampa Amsterdam?
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2018, 11:24:05 pm »
Hello Rhett,

I also have no files in C:\ProgramData\Virtuali.

Nevertheless I made this Start.bat file (with /s and /q) as Umberto has described and placed it in the FlyTampa folder. In my case D:\Prepar3D v4.2\FlyTampa. The FlyTampa configurator.exe is also in this folder. It has nothing to do with the couatl.exe file.

Everything works flawless, so give it a try.

Hans Hartvelt
The Netherlands

Thanks Hans ! Much appreciated.