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Check out the following program... http://www.kensalter.com/fsautostart/ Cheers, Matt.

All Peter was pointing out is the obvious things in log files that we post (edit: and the manuals) that should give us hints as to what our problem is. Peter didn't put the logging functionality in just so we can copy and paste it into forums and expect Pete to do the dirty work for us. They are there to give us hints too. Some of the recents posts seem to indicate we have unlimited expectations of the support we receive. Pete is very generous with his support, but we shouldn't abuse his generousity, which some recent posts have. If you don't know what I'm talking about, have a read of some of the questions posted in this forum and how many of the answers you find in the manual. Then have a look at the qeustions that aren't covered the documentation and how generous Pete is in his support. Matt.

If developers write their software to use the FSUIPC interface, and not the new MS SimConnect interface, then there software will be compatable with both FSX and FS9. If we chose to just use SimConnect, then our products will work with FSX only. Give that a significant amount of the FS community will still run FS9 for a while yet, it makes sense to support both platforms. FSUIPC provides this without having to write 2 interfaces at our end. Matt.

I'll second that! Useful help is in abundance, but it's a 2-way deal. You have to put in an effort by looking for the answer yourself before asking busy people to dedicate time to answer it. People have better things to do than do someone's searching for them. That the point of having forums for support instead of e-mail. Matt.

A few observations: - trying to install FSUIPC4 with only FS9 installed will not work - the installer won't even try. - Give 3rd Party developers some time to make there software compatable. The software I have written now works with FSX with no modifications thanks to FSUIPC4. Other software, especially those with custom gauges will take some time to convert. - Anytning you buy, print out the receipt with the reg codes. - If you log into SimMarket, click on "Your Account" link, log on, then go to "Your Order Details & Downloads", you'll be able to get your keys there. - It is pretty obvious to me what versions FSUIPC is for which versions of Flight Simulator. If you're not sure, why not try it out before paying for it? (see my first point). Cheers, Matthew.

Looks like I'll have registered FSUIPC 4 before FS X is in my hands. I think my pre-order is delivered in about a week. :)

See... http://forums.simflight.com/viewtopic.php?t=56252 and also see... http://blogs.msdn.com/tdragger/archive/-Here.aspx

Good point - I didn't think of that. Thanks Pete!

Sorry, I meant that my installer will detect that FSX is installed and execute your installer as necessary, or just copy the .dll for FS98-2004. :) Thanks for the info though - it shows how much thinking is behind the various processes - both from yourself and Microsoft - and gave me a greater understanding of what is happening... Cheers, Matt.

No worries - My installer will be able to check the version of FS. Thanks for your top support. Matt.

Sorry Pete - another question. Will the installer detect previous versions of Flight Sim and install FSUIPC Version 3 for FS98-2004, or will it be seperate install packages - one for SimConnect (v4) and one without (v3)? Thanks, Matthew.

I agree a merge medule would be handy, but Pete's suggestion is fine. The FSX installer (for the betas anyway), does launch the installation of the C++ runtimes as seperate, so it can't be a big issue. In the long run; as long as everything installs correctly, the customer will be happy. :) I'm sure people have posted problems regarding FSUIPC installation in these forums when they have been installed by our 3rd Party installers. I think it is in Pete's best interest (and the customer's) that he have full contol over how his product is installed. Matt.

Thanks for the answers here Pete. I had the same questions in my mind. Matt.

After re-reading the documentation, this implementation is very well put together. I'll be trashing my FSUIPC access code and use this object instead. Top stuff! Matt.

Thanks - I spent a few weeks figuring out how to use FSUIPC properly in .NET using some of the libraries provided in the SDK - your implementation looks really good. I might change my code to be based off it. I see many benefits.. Thanks for providing it! Matt.

The SDK supplies pretty good implemetations of those methods. Look in the C# example. You have to do a bit of research on the C# types that are returned, since nearly everything is return as an int. I'm happy to give examples of a clean way to process them. Cheers, Matt.

A cleaner way to convert from a string an an array of bytes: System.Text.ASCIIEncoding ASCII = new ASCIIEncoding(); byte[] bytMessage = new Byte[128]; int bytesEncodedCount = ASCII.GetBytes(Message, 0, Message.Length - 1, bytMessage, 0); Again, you'll need to check for strings greater than 128 chars...

I don't use VB.NET (usually C# and sometimes C++), but the following proceedure should get you started: - extract the UIPC_SDK VB .Net Shell Revision 2.004.zip to a folder - in VB .NET Express, choose "Open Project" - in the "Open Project" dialogue, choose "FSUIPC Shell.sln" - The conversion wizard will appear. Follow the prompts. You should now have a new Solution called FSUIPC Shell. The "FSUIPC Shell.vb" will have all the sample code, and it should run with no errors. Good luck! Matt.

This works, but needs some tidying (such as checking for strings greater than 127 chars, error handling, etc). You'll get the idea... The answer to your question is that you need to convert your string to an array of bytes. BTW - the fsuipc object is the one included in the C# example of the SDK. Cheers, Matt. (assumes fsuipc.FSUIPC_Open has been called...) public bool WriteMessageToFS(string Message, int Duration) { int dwResult = -1; bool bResult = false; if (ConnectToFS()) { Message += "\0"; byte[] bytMessage = new byte[128]; for (int intCurrentChar = 0; intCurrentChar < Message.Length; intCurrentChar++) { bytMessage[intCurrentChar] = (byte)Message[intCurrentChar]; } lock (fsuipc) { // Set Message bResult = fsuipc.FSUIPC_Write(0x3380, 128, ref bytMessage, ref token, ref dwResult); // set Text display control word bResult = fsuipc.FSUIPC_Write(0x32FA, Duration, ref token, ref dwResult); // Write the data to FS bResult = fsuipc.FSUIPC_Process(ref dwResult); } } return bResult; }