Introducing Pilot's Deck, a StreamDeck Plugin

[ark1320]

25 minutes ago, Fragtality said:

Download the Dev-Build (-latest File) again, I had a Typo in the Path 🙄
The Installer Issue should now be fixed.

Yes, both sims where found, but see red box below.

 

[Fragtality]

And what exactly should I see there ...? 

[Fragtality]

Uhm ... please do not tell me that all your Profile Switching Tests where done in 2024?!?

[ark1320]

1 hour ago, Fragtality said:

And what exactly should I see there ...? 

You should see the info in the red box. I'm just reporting what I find in case it might be useful to you -- I am not in a position to determine what might be helpful, and what not. You are the Pilots Deck expert, not me.

And NO, I have not been using MSFS2024 for any of these tests.

 

[ark1320]

2 hours ago, Fragtality said:

But I am still waiting for the Logs of the Plugin not switching. I don't understand any of that, because it doesn't make any Difference either Code-Wise or in my Tests which Case-Style the Search-Strings have. Even Camel-Case works.

Did some more testing, and as long as I use a "profile term" from the long or short aircraft string, switching is working independent of whether the term is upper or lower case, as you expected.  It would be a lot more user friendly if a term from something like the aircraft/livery "name" from the sim's aircraft selection matrix on the World Map page could be used instead of a term from the aircraft string. Don't know if that would be possible.

Thanks for all the help.

Al 

[Fragtality]

20 hours ago, ark1320 said:

You should see the info in the red box. I'm just reporting what I find in case it might be useful to you -- I am not in a position to determine what might be helpful, and what not. You are the Pilots Deck expert, not me.

And NO, I have not been using MSFS2024 for any of these tests.

 

I wondered what you wanted to point out / ask with that. I mean I have written the Code and Text 😉
And the message is also explained why it is and what to do. So really couldn't figure out what was meant.

But if it was just some form of Confirmation / Status-Update: Yeah looks good now 😅

 

19 hours ago, ark1320 said:

Did some more testing, and as long as I use a "profile term" from the long or short aircraft string, switching is working independent of whether the term is upper or lower case, as you expected.  It would be a lot more user friendly if a term from something like the aircraft/livery "name" from the sim's aircraft selection matrix on the World Map page could be used instead of a term from the aircraft string. Don't know if that would be possible.

Thanks for all the help.

Al 

You are following the wrong Approach, unless you really want to possibly waste *your* Time ?!

It could be a possible Bug, maybe some kind of unexpected Situation / Input / Data from the Sim which results in a Situation that doesn't match. PilotsDeck has Logs for Reasons. For example to better troubleshoot Issues.

But instead of bringing me in the Situation to help you (=>Logs) you attempt it for some Reason all by yourself.
It is totally fine if you want it that Way, but then please don't update me about it - I can not help you like that.
If you actually want it to be troubleshoot, please give me the Information I requested.

 

For the Request Part: sorry, but (mostly and for the Moment) - Nope.
The Title is rather "dynamic" - you can have the exact same Aircraft with totally different Names. You could title the Fenix as PMDG even. The new Component Model of 2024 makes it even weirder.
And partly also because you are rating the new System while still having an Issue - so it not really works as intended in your Setup.

The current Source - the actual Path of the Aircraft - is just more reliable. You could have a totally "fancy" Livery for the Fenix titled (!) "PMDG House Colors" and the Fenix would be matched as Fenix (or to be more specific "FNX_3" - which btw never was an Issue for me).
And compared with the old Approach it is so much easier now. I mean you got two Sources for the current Aircraft's Path, one of which you can copy & paste the Text out of it (makes me think - would be good Idea to make it copyable from the Dev UI). When having multiple Decks (so multiple Profiles to be switched) you can just copy & paste the Settings between them. You can multiple totally different Strings per Profile to match multiple Aircrafts to the same Profile (e.g. mapping Asobos, Horizons and Kuros 787 to one Profile)

But I could look into the work needed to have different Sources. There is already something like that for XP, since Versions below 12 don't have a Aircraft-Path-Ref so the Plugin uses a different Source for anything below 12. But there would be some Constraints for MSFS:
- It has to be a SimVar / SystemState / something that I get through SimConnect. So anything read from FSUIPC is already out.
- The Aircraft Path is part of the State-Checking (e.g. is the Session Ready) so whatever other Source must draw the same Conclusions.
But if it is possible, then I could add it as an "advanced" Option to the Config File (but the Path will stay the default!)

 

[ark1320]

3 hours ago, Fragtality said:

You are following the wrong Approach, unless you really want to possibly waste *your* Time ?!

It could be a possible Bug, maybe some kind of unexpected Situation / Input / Data from the Sim which results in a Situation that doesn't match. PilotsDeck has Logs for Reasons. For example to better troubleshoot Issues.

But instead of bringing me in the Situation to help you (=>Logs) you attempt it for some Reason all by yourself.
It is totally fine if you want it that Way, but then please don't update me about it - I can not help you like that.
If you actually want it to be troubleshoot, please give me the Information I requested.

Sorry, but I don't understand what you are saying here.  What I said above is I now find using a term from the aircraft path works, and it makes no difference if I use it in caps or not. I used a term from the path, tried it as caps, tried it as lower case, and both worked. I do not see any cases now that do not work. My understanding is that is exactly how it should work according to you, that is, upper or lower case should not make a difference since your code checks for that. So since it all seems to be working I don't know what logs you are asking for. I am not currently seeing any profile switching failures. 🙂

[Fragtality]

5 minutes ago, ark1320 said:

I don't understand what you are saying here. 

Hmm well, the Reason could be that most of my Response to that was completely pointless, because I did not properly read your Post - sorry 😔
I was still in the State of "mysterious lower/upper case issue where I really need logs to go further" and you responding with Experiments did not match the expected Input. 😅

But then I don't understand now, how the Issue has suddenly gone away?! I mean it made a Difference in your Setup if "learjet" or "LEARJET" was used. 🤔

[ark1320]

8 minutes ago, Fragtality said:

But then I don't understand now, how the Issue has suddenly gone away?! I mean it made a Difference in your Setup if "learjet" or "LEARJET" was used. 🤔

I agree, I also don't understand why that happened, especially since "learjet" is in the long path, and "LEARJET" is in the short path.

[ark1320]

I don't know if it makes any difference somehow (timing issue maybe?), but just in case wanted to let you know that usually the sim starts FSUIPC7 via the exe.xml file, and there is a section in the FSUIPC7.ini file that will start Stream Deck IF Stream Deck is not already running. 

 

 

 

[Fragtality]

Well, maybe, that is why I request Logs usually 😂

But it shouldn't - the Intention is that the Plugin can be (re)started at any Time.
The only known Difference is that MSFS Issue of reporting different Paths depending on the Situation - that it is why that is documented.

Further thinking about it, maybe it would be good Idea to shorten the Path on Purpose. So the User just always see the "reliant" Part of the Path 🤔

[ark1320]

18 hours ago, Fragtality said:

I mean it made a Difference in your Setup if "learjet" or "LEARJET" was used. 🤔

Just tried to see if I could force a profile switching failure by trying neither all caps or all lower case, so tried the term "LeArJeT". 
Still worked.  😀

[ark1320]

On 11/28/2024 at 4:40 PM, Fragtality said:

Download the Dev-Build (-latest File) again, I had a Typo in the Path 🙄
The Installer Issue should now be fixed.

Had a strange problem. Almost none of the Command type FSUIPC Control as shown below for HDG, were working . This problem existed across multiple aircraft. The profiles were not new, they all worked with previous versions of Pilots Deck. Other FSUIPC related Commands, such as FSUIPC SCRIPT, did still work for these aircraft as expected, as did other commands like Calculator/RPN code.  Pushing a Stream Deck button using FSUIPC Control resulted in the yellow triangle error icon with the black exclamation point inside.

When I looked at the log, there was no Command Address value shown for these control commands:

Turns out the problem was the option Toggle Switch with two different Commands based on value had been turned on somehow ,but was not being used, there was no second command.  Maybe this happened when these profiles were "brought over" from the older version of PilotsDeck to this new version, or else the option being on didn't make any difference in the older version of PilotsDeck. 

Just reporting this in case anyone else runs into a similar problem.

Al
 

Thanks,

Al

 

[Fragtality]

So it wasn't a Toggle Switch before or what and after the Update it was enabled?

Wouldn't know how that would be possible, when pre-0.8.0 Actions are loaded, the ToggelSwitch Option isn't touched.
Do you still have that Profile in its not-updated Form? If so, please share so I can take look.

[ark1320]

11 hours ago, Fragtality said:

So it wasn't a Toggle Switch before or what and after the Update it was enabled?

Wouldn't know how that would be possible, when pre-0.8.0 Actions are loaded, the ToggelSwitch Option isn't touched.
Do you still have that Profile in its not-updated Form? If so, please share so I can take look.

 No, these FSUIPC Control commands where never a toggle switch -- pushing the associated button on the Stream Deck simply always sent the same control code.
 

Sorry, I don't have the not-updated profiles.

Al

[Fragtality]

Would have been helpful, can't replicate that:
- Created a Simple Button Action (Control, 65798, no Toggle) on 0.7.12
- Installed 0.8.4
- Checked Action: Toggle still disabled

So for the Moment I can just assume you had actually set a Toggle Switch unintentionally. And that a Setup of
Toggle Switch enabled +no Alternate Command+ no Monitor Address + no Monitor Value/Comparison
just behaved differently with a on pre-0.8.0 Versions 🤔

[Fragtality]

Small Bump: 0.8.5

Just checking for and installing FSUIPC 7.5.0 😉

https://github.com/Fragtality/PilotsDeck/releases/tag/v0.8.5

[ark1320]

On 12/7/2024 at 11:45 AM, Fragtality said:

Small Bump: 0.8.5

Interesting problem. I have two displays connected to my computer. If I start the sim on the smaller display that has a resolution of 1920x1080, I get the first PilotsDeck display below on the StreamDeck. If I start the sim on the larger display that has a resolution of 3840x2160, I get the second PilotsDeck display below on the StreamDeck where the font size has changed and no longer "fits" within some of the buttons. In addition, when this happens, some PilotsDeck controls, like an encoder on a StreamDeck+ unit that uses a FSUIPC7 Lua script, no longer works correctly.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Al

 

[Fragtality]

Yeah, just got another Report on x-plane.com that there is something going on with Font Scaling, gotta look into this 🤔

But: I don't really know if that has really any Connection to Commands not working - It's different Parts/Threads doing different Things. So I'd need the PilotsDeck-Logs and one Action covering that Issue (attach the whole File, paste the Action here).

The Information/Description you gave on the Scaling Issue was really helpful and vital for Troubleshooting - for the Commands not working unfortunately not.

[ark1320]

1 hour ago, Fragtality said:

Yeah, just got another Report on x-plane.com that there is something going on with Font Scaling, gotta look into this 🤔

But: I don't really know if that has really any Connection to Commands not working - It's different Parts/Threads doing different Things. So I'd need the PilotsDeck-Logs and one Action covering that Issue (attach the whole File, paste the Action here).

The Information/Description you gave on the Scaling Issue was really helpful and vital for Troubleshooting - for the Commands not working unfortunately not.

I was wrong above regarding Commands not working -- they work regardless of the display being wrong.  I was fooled because with the large, incorrect font size certain numerical values will no longer "fit" and the displayed values get truncated. But the value actually set in the sim is correct. I should have realized that -- sorry.

If I start the the computer with the smaller display as the main display, then the PilotsDeck displays are correct even when I move the sim window to the larger 4k display. But if I start the computer with the 4K display as the main display, I get the oversized font on the PilotsDeck. The 4K display setup values are shown below. The 175% scale setting I use is quite a bit less than the Win11 recommendation of 300%.
 

[Fragtality]

Please run that Command in Windows Powershell and tell me the Number (with your usual Display-Setup/-Settings - e.g. when the Actions in Question where created)
 

(Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics').AppliedDPI

 

[ark1320]

44 minutes ago, Fragtality said:

Please run that Command in Windows Powershell and tell me the Number (with your usual Display-Setup/-Settings - e.g. when the Actions in Question where created)
 

(Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics').AppliedDPI

 

 I don't know what you are asking, I know nothing about Powershell, sorry.  In the picture below, the displayed altitude value is supposed to be 12000, but the right most digit was dropped because the font is larger than "normal".  However, the altitude values of 1000 to 11000 were displayed correctly in PilotsDeck, so I assume the display of 12000 required a bit more space and so didn't fit.  And as I mentioned above, the altitude values actually set in the aircraft in the sim are always correct. The labeling above the 1200, the ALT ALERTER, is also larger than "normal".

[Fragtality]

Type "Windows Powershell" in the Start Menu and copy & paste the Command there.

Else let it be and just stand by (no further troubleshooting and descriptions).

[ark1320]

1 hour ago, Fragtality said:

Type "Windows Powershell" in the Start Menu and copy & paste the Command there.

When the computer boots with the smaller main display and I move the sim window to the 4K display, the PilotsDeck displays are still correct and Powershell reports a DPI of 96.
When the computer boots with the larger 4K main display and the sim is running and the PilotsDeck fonts are too large and the ALT VALUE is truncated, Powershell reports a DPI of 168.

I noticed the 168 value is 175% of 96.

In the first case above I am accessing Power Shell using the smaller display since that is where the Start Menu is, and in the second case above I am accessing Power Shell using the 4K display since again that is where the Start Menu is.

Hope I did that right, and that is the info you wanted.
 

[Fragtality]

Attention, you need to follow these Instructions very closely now:
(Instructions only for ark1320)

• If you changed them, ensure your Windows Display Settings are as they were before (when you created the Profile)
• Create an empty Profile on all your StreamDeck(s)
• Copy at least one Classic Action (any will do) containing Text and at least one Composite Action containing Text to this empty Profile(s) (Actions you have created)
• Ensure such an empty Profile is set as the current Profile on all your StreamDeck(s)
• Install this Version: https://www.mediafire.com/file/7yd9ziol5iphqai/Install-PilotsDeck-latest.exe/file
• Do not switch Profiles on any Deck
• How do the (copied) Actions look (in Terms of Font-Size)? Maybe they slightly changed in Size* but are they about the same - not overly small or large? (* = visually, the actual Font-Size in the Settings will be different!)
• Export that empty Profile, with the copied Actions (regardless of the Answer to the previous Questions) and attach it here (change the Extension as needed, doesn't hurt).
• Install the Release Version (0.8.5) again
• Done, all good again