Touch Portal App

[virgo47]

4 hours ago, xoomigo said:

Yes, I had taken a look at doing the inverter function to reverse the min/max value for certain parameters. It was not a straight-forward change as anticipated earlier. And it will create additional CPU cycles in the processing of each DCS-BIOS event and action - which I fear may impact its performance in lower spec PCs.

Hi, thanks for the update. About the inversion - do you mean that having an inverted value would cost for any other action as well, not only when the slider changes? And if so - only if used or even if added as a feature (minus some if check, perhaps)?

[xoomigo]

On 5/14/2024 at 2:14 PM, virgo47 said:

About the inversion - do you mean that having an inverted value would cost for any other action as well, not only when the slider changes? And if so - only if used or even if added as a feature (minus some if check, perhaps)?

Rough cut answer is yes and yes. Need to build mechanism to "remember" the parameters which requiring inversion. All incoming DCS-BIOS events and outbound actions to DCS-BIOS need to be checked each time against a list to determine whether they require inversion and then perform the inversion if matched. Of course, there can be an initial check on the aircraft parameters being loaded to determine whether any requires inversion and then set a global variable accordingly. If there's none, then the variable will not trigger the logic block to check and perform the inversion.

I thought you no longer need the inverter function in the plugin since you will be working with the DCS-BIOS folks to correct them. No?

[virgo47]

3 hours ago, xoomigo said:

Rough cut answer is yes and yes. Need to build mechanism to "remember" the parameters which requiring inversion. All incoming DCS-BIOS events and outbound actions to DCS-BIOS need to be checked each time against a list to determine whether they require inversion and then perform the inversion if matched. Of course, there can be an initial check on the aircraft parameters being loaded to determine whether any requires inversion and then set a global variable accordingly. If there's none, then the variable will not trigger the logic block to check and perform the inversion.

That sounds taxing. Of course this is only for "sliderable" things, that is ctr(...). Not sure how that is handled. Currently, there is no sync from cockpit (you mentioned that caused some performance problems too), so it should only be relevant for outgoing changes. But I don't know the architecture and possibilities, so I'm not sure whether this can be optimized.

BTW: Wouldn't a separate ictr(...) control type help?

3 hours ago, xoomigo said:

I thought you no longer need the inverter function in the plugin since you will be working with the DCS-BIOS folks to correct them. No?

This is the tricky one... so far I only worked on some description fixes - this doesn't break anything. I may also suggest those default switch positions we talked about for L-39, that should also be OK - but for now, please leave the PP file "patches" there. But inverting a value - that breaks all existing panels built for UH-1H. Not sure how many people have that. I'll ask how they see it. For what I know the inversion may come all the way from DCS, it wouldn't be the first element that is inverted (wheel brake axes in various planes work opposite for whatever reason).

I had also another idea, to suggest this to TP directly. For them it should be reasonably easy to invert the slider and it should also be efficient enough. The question is what's their backlog and when they get to it, of course.

So, let's not sweat it on your end right now, unless you find some nice and easy solution , and I'll talk to TP guys first on their Discord. Even if it's not done, one can still create those top-to-bottom "inverted" sliders with a hack (inverting the value/background color) - so it's no show stopper.

Edited May 16, 2024 by virgo47

[xoomigo]

On 5/16/2024 at 1:57 PM, virgo47 said:

BTW: Wouldn't a separate ictr(...) control type help?

Perhaps. I will review it again after I am done with my current project.

On 5/16/2024 at 1:57 PM, virgo47 said:

But inverting a value - that breaks all existing panels built for UH-1H. Not sure how many people have that. I'll ask how they see it. For what I know the inversion may come all the way from DCS, it wouldn't be the first element that is inverted (wheel brake axes in various planes work opposite for whatever reason).

Ah, okay. Missed that. I had assumed that it was an issue for others as well.

On 5/16/2024 at 1:57 PM, virgo47 said:

I had also another idea, to suggest this to TP directly. For them it should be reasonably easy to invert the slider and it should also be efficient enough. The question is what's their backlog and when they get to it, of course.

So, let's not sweat it on your end right now, unless you find some nice and easy solution , and I'll talk to TP guys first on their Discord. Even if it's not done, one can still create those top-to-bottom "inverted" sliders with a hack (inverting the value/background color) - so it's no show stopper.

Yes, good idea. It will probably be useful for others as well.

[virgo47]

11 minutes ago, xoomigo said:

Perhaps. I will review it again after I am done with my current project.

Ah, okay. Missed that. I had assumed that it was an issue for others as well.

Yes, good idea. It will probably be useful for others as well.

Thanks for the info. DCS-BIOS profiles don't seem to handle neither axis inversion nor default switch positions. (I may be wrong, but there doesn't seem to be any parameter for these.)

So for L-39 (and in the future perhaps other modules), patching/amending/extending DCS-BIOS config with PP files seems to be the only way.

As for the TP-end for slider inversion, the feature request was acknowledged... but god knows when/if that is implemented.

That's just an update from me, no pressure.

Edited May 21, 2024 by virgo47

[Kyle_Katarn]

Hi guys, I'm having troubles with the plugin.

I dont know if is because touch portal has changed or because hte last update broke somthing and maybe the DCS-BIOS version must be updated, but I think that this last version wwill not work at all with DCS-COINS because the said that everything has been refactorized and I have zero expectation with a backwards compatibility

 

I'm in touch portal 4.1 build 2

 

I find out the problem, need to update DCS-BIOS and COINS 

Edited July 13, 2024 by Kyle_Katarn

[virgo47]

10 hours ago, Kyle_Katarn said:

I'm in touch portal 4.1 build 2

I find out the problem, need to update DCS-BIOS and COINS 

If you have any old panels, they will work, but the DCS-COINS actions there are obsolete and non-editable now. If you need to change something, just delete it and find the new version of the related action.

[Kyle_Katarn]

Some old things are working and some new ones don't but I'm changing all actions to the new ones

Where I'm finding more broken things is in the A10CII.

The F18 looks like is working every thing. I must to test it in deep

And I must to send to Xoomigo an adjusted aircraftEnums file with some tweaks. It's something pendind from a long time ago

Edited July 14, 2024 by Kyle_Katarn

[Kyle_Katarn]

Anyone could hint me why if I set this event I dont get any reply?

 

I'm doing something similar with the TACAN channels and I get something between 0 and 9, but the ILS always return 0 or nothing

Edited July 14, 2024 by Kyle_Katarn

[xoomigo]

On 7/14/2024 at 7:18 PM, Kyle_Katarn said:

Some old things are working and some new ones don't but I'm changing all actions to the new ones

Where I'm finding more broken things is in the A10CII.

The F18 looks like is working every thing. I must to test it in deep

And I must to send to Xoomigo an adjusted aircraftEnums file with some tweaks. It's something pendind from a long time ago

 

Welcome back to TP! Adding to virgo47's response, Skunkworks (formerly Flight Panel) did a major revamp of DCS-BIOS which involves standardization of the naming convention of parameters. Check out https://github.com/DCS-Skunkworks/dcs-bios/wiki/Release-notes - latest DCS-COINS is packaged with DCS-BIOS v0.8.0. Hence, unavoidable to remap the non-working controls.

DCS-COINS v0.8.1 has been released 2 days ago - virgo47, you are listed in the credits!. Will need to find time the next few days to test out and issue a repack. virgo47 and Kyle_Katarn, you can send me your aircraft eNums file if it's ready for inclusion.

 

On 7/15/2024 at 12:52 AM, Kyle_Katarn said:

I'm doing something similar with the TACAN channels and I get something between 0 and 9, but the ILS always return 0 or nothing

Could be a DCS-BIOS bug. Need to feedback to the Skunkworks team.

[virgo47]

59 minutes ago, xoomigo said:

DCS-COINSBIOS v0.8.1 has been released 2 days ago - virgo47, you are listed in the credits!. Will need to find time the next few days to test out and issue a repack. virgo47 and Kyle_Katarn, you can send me your aircraft eNums file if it's ready for inclusion.

Hello, great to hear from you! I'm attaching my "patch" for L-39, it's only default value changes - DCS-BIOS does not support it in their configs.

My DCS-BIOS contributions are for different entries (mostly back cockpit switches) so if you didn't change the PP structure you can use the patch as-is.

L-39.pp.mods

[xoomigo]

On 7/17/2024 at 11:23 AM, virgo47 said:

Hello, great to hear from you! I'm attaching my "patch" for L-39, it's only default value changes - DCS-BIOS does not support it in their configs.

My DCS-BIOS contributions are for different entries (mostly back cockpit switches) so if you didn't change the PP structure you can use the patch as-is.

Virgo47, thanks for correcting my typo above.

Great to know of your contributions there.

Nope, no change to PP structure. Will review/integrate your attachment - hopeful over the coming weekend.

Cheers!

[Kyle_Katarn]

@xoomigo Here there are the modfications I made for the F18 to the aircraftEnums and to the specific airplane in the pp files of the plugin.

The aircraftEnums have some modification for the A10 but I'm still cleaning up the pages for this plane so forget it by now.

If you think that some of the changes could brake something I think that the entry could be duplicated with a suffix to have multiple posibilities to actuate over the same control.

When the changes could be integrated I'll share my pages but a treaser is

 

 

F18.rar

Edited July 24, 2024 by Kyle_Katarn

[Kyle_Katarn]

@xoomigo every time I open DCS-COINS setup, it ask me to select Export.lua file.

Could you know why is not saving the path of the file? I'm running the application as Admin.

Thanks!

[xoomigo]

On 7/25/2024 at 5:43 AM, Kyle_Katarn said:

@xoomigo Here there are the modfications I made for the F18 to the aircraftEnums and to the specific airplane in the pp files of the plugin.

The aircraftEnums have some modification for the A10 but I'm still cleaning up the pages for this plane so forget it by now.

If you think that some of the changes could brake something I think that the entry could be duplicated with a suffix to have multiple posibilities to actuate over the same control.

@Kyle_Katarn I wasn't expecting you to do your version of aircraftEnums for Hornet as I had already done so - and it's already in use by other users. If you had started afresh without the packaged aircraftEnums, then it's definitely going to conflict. And it's not a good idea to duplicate impacted parameters as they would appear multiple times in the plugin options, confusing to users who's trying to create their own TP pages for the aircraft concerned. I will need to review and let you know.

On 7/27/2024 at 5:19 PM, Kyle_Katarn said:

@xoomigo every time I open DCS-COINS setup, it ask me to select Export.lua file.

Could you know why is not saving the path of the file? I'm running the application as Admin.

Thanks!

The setup program approach was simple and "quick-and-dirty" tool to do a one-time job. Hence, it does not save the path for the Export.lua file. I can add that feature later. But for now, if you are using a non-standard default folder location,  you will need to select it each time the setup is run.

 

All,

Sorry for the delay as I have other urgent stuff on my plate. Will target the coming weekend to review (test) the latest stable DCS-BIOS release before repackaging it with the plugin. Stay tune.

[OSchmidt]

I can't establish a connection to the NS430! Is this not possible or is there an error?

[Kyle_Katarn]

On 7/29/2024 at 3:40 AM, xoomigo said:

@Kyle_Katarn I wasn't expecting you to do your version of aircraftEnums for Hornet as I had already done so - and it's already in use by other users. If you had started afresh without the packaged aircraftEnums, then it's definitely going to conflict. And it's not a good idea to duplicate impacted parameters as they would appear multiple times in the plugin options, confusing to users who's trying to create their own TP pages for the aircraft concerned. I will need to review and let you know.

The setup program approach was simple and "quick-and-dirty" tool to do a one-time job. Hence, it does not save the path for the Export.lua file. I can add that feature later. But for now, if you are using a non-standard default folder location,  you will need to select it each time the setup is run.

For the aircraftEnum I didn't start a fresh new, just added some new enums which I thought were missing. When you check it, if you found that what I have added, you have done in your side, of course use your modification and I'll change my pages when you release your changes.

For the duplicated parameters I mean to set a proper name/description to let clear the behave and purpose of use for each variant. If you think it could be problematic, then I'm good to keep my modification only on my side, but there are parameters in DCS-BIOS that are men to be used as rotaries that select directly that requested value and to use in a couple of buttons with Touch Portal is much better that those values are configured as increment/decrement values so you can cycle through them more easy.

If you compare the F18 file I send to you with the original one, you can check some parametners that were changed from 4 to 2.

My proposition is to keep both modes with a proper description and comment the mode the user dont want to use.

But you're are the lead of this so I'll do what ever you decide 

 

Regarding the setup program, I ask about that becasue I remember that it didnt request to me for that path every time, but I have moved the Saved Games folder to another drive, maybe this is bothering to it. No problem on selecting the right path when I run the setup 

[OSchmidt]

Am 30.7.2024 um 19:40 schrieb OSchmidt:

I can't establish a connection to the NS430! Is this not possible or is there an error?

I can connect to the SA 342 but not to the SN 430! I think the plugin is not right? Can anyone help?
The picture is the first version!

 

null

[virgo47]

53 minutes ago, OSchmidt said:

I can connect to the SA 342 but not to the NS 430! I think the plugin is not right? Can anyone help?

I've never tried it before, so I don't know whether this ever worked. I tried it now, I got negative/no connection info for NS430 and no actions worked. I checked with dcs-coins.exe -v and nothing was going on for NS430 when I moved some of the knobs in-game.

While setting up the test, I was surprised by the offer of actions for MENU button. It's a simple button and I don't know what this means:

This may be a deeper DCS-BIOS problem, I don't know. @xoomigo have you tried NS430? I've got only the basic level without the 3D models for some plane, but I believe that should make no difference.

[OSchmidt]

vor 38 Minuten schrieb virgo47:

I've never tried it before, so I don't know whether this ever worked. I tried it now, I got negative/no connection info for NS430 and no actions worked. I checked with dcs-coins.exe -v and nothing was going on for NS430 when I moved some of the knobs in-game.

While setting up the test, I was surprised by the offer of actions for MENU button. It's a simple button and I don't know what this means:

This may be a deeper DCS-BIOS problem, I don't know. @xoomigo have you tried NS430? I've got only the basic level without the 3D models for some plane, but I believe that should make no difference.

Ok...thanks! I've assigned it keyboard commands! I don't think it's working befor! Thanks for your help!

[xoomigo]

On 7/31/2024 at 4:34 AM, Kyle_Katarn said:

For the aircraftEnum I didn't start a fresh new, just added some new enums which I thought were missing. When you check it, if you found that what I have added, you have done in your side, of course use your modification and I'll change my pages when you release your changes.

For the duplicated parameters I mean to set a proper name/description to let clear the behave and purpose of use for each variant. If you think it could be problematic, then I'm good to keep my modification only on my side, but there are parameters in DCS-BIOS that are men to be used as rotaries that select directly that requested value and to use in a couple of buttons with Touch Portal is much better that those values are configured as increment/decrement values so you can cycle through them more easy.

If you compare the F18 file I send to you with the original one, you can check some parametners that were changed from 4 to 2.

@Kyle_Katarn, I have gone through your files and I get what you are doing. They look okay and should not impact other users.

All, I have regenereated the PP files from the latest DCS-BIOS release and applied the customizations. However, I have yet to perform any basic sample tests - will do so within the next few days.

On 7/31/2024 at 1:40 AM, OSchmidt said:

I can't establish a connection to the NS430! Is this not possible or is there an error?

@OSchmidt, sorry, I do not have the NS430 module.

15 hours ago, virgo47 said:

I've never tried it before, so I don't know whether this ever worked. I tried it now, I got negative/no connection info for NS430 and no actions worked. I checked with dcs-coins.exe -v and nothing was going on for NS430 when I moved some of the knobs in-game.

While setting up the test, I was surprised by the offer of actions for MENU button. It's a simple button and I don't know what this means:

This may be a deeper DCS-BIOS problem, I don't know. @xoomigo have you tried NS430? I've got only the basic level without the 3D models for some plane, but I believe that should make no difference.

@virgo47, the NS430.pp was generated as its JSON file was located together with the aircraft modules in a DCS-BIOS folder. Similarly, did anyone try Supercarrier? Can you check whether "dcs-coins.exe -v" show any output on NS430 in the beginning when you first load an aircraft that it supports?

[virgo47]

6 hours ago, xoomigo said:

@virgo47, the NS430.pp was generated as its JSON file was located together with the aircraft modules in a DCS-BIOS folder. Similarly, did anyone try Supercarrier? Can you check whether "dcs-coins.exe -v" show any output on NS430 in the beginning when you first load an aircraft that it supports?

I'm attaching complete logs from starting the command, then loading the mission and pausing it after a few seconds. Both Supercarrier and NS430 only appear in the initial list of found modules, nothing after that (search "cvn" for Supercarrier actions, none found).

For L-39 with NS430, I also toggled the NS430 popup before the pause to ensure it worked - no reaction in the log for that.

coins-l39-ns430.log coins-supercarrier-case1.log

Edited August 5, 2024 by virgo47

[xoomigo]

19 hours ago, virgo47 said:

I'm attaching complete logs from starting the command, then loading the mission and pausing it after a few seconds. Both Supercarrier and NS430 only appear in the initial list of found modules, nothing after that (search "cvn" for Supercarrier actions, none found).

For L-39 with NS430, I also toggled the NS430 popup before the pause to ensure it worked - no reaction in the log for that.

@virgo47, I need to look into enabling NS430 support from DCS-COINS. I see DCS-BIOS configuration to pair specific aircraft with NS430.

On another note, I have discovered that the latest DCS-BIOS had signicant code change in its Lua script, which will require adjustments to the DCS-COINS setup program. So, this will involve more than a repack...

[xoomigo]

@virgo47 or @OSchmidt, can you please help do a test of NS430 functions using the attached DCS-COINS.exe?

1. Rename your current copy of the DCS-COINS.exe to a temporary name (eg. DCS-COINS_orig.exe).

2. And then extract DCS-COINS.exe from DCS-COINS_5Beta.zip here.

3. Load up Touch Portal as usual.

4. Run "Command Prompt" and navigate to your DCS-COINS folder where you have DCS-COINS.exe installed.

5. Run "dcs-coins -v".

6. Run DCS and start up any aircraft with NS430 support.

7. Invoke a few NS430 commands/functions in DCS.

8. Observe the command prompt window and see whether there's any NS430 events recorded. Capture a screenshot of the events - if available.

When done, quit DCS, close the command prompts, and delete the DCS-COINS.exe and rename your previous copy back to DCS-COINS.exe

Let me know if it works - please share the screenshot if so.

Thanks.

DCS-COINS_5Beta.zip

[virgo47]

1 hour ago, xoomigo said:

Let me know if it works - please share the screenshot if so.

Hi @xoomigo, there is some progress. I can see more lines with NS430 in the output now - see the attached log. It seems it knows about it now + the initial state is communicated. However, when I rotated a knob (encoder type) on NS430 no events were sent.

l39-ns430-try-2.log