Touch Portal App

[Kyle_Katarn]

On 9/29/2022 at 6:30 AM, xoomigo said:

Please attach the entry.tp file for me to check.

In the meantime, run DCS-COINS_Setup (no need Admin access as it was not an issue) and select only one or two aircraft that you had used earlier eg. F/A-18C and import the plugin into TP.

If it works, then I suspect it could be something to do with the untested SA342 module. I will test this on my side later.

 

Here you have attached the .tp file of my last try of install the plugin, is the same of my last post with the log.

The only aircraft different from when I was using the plugin is that I had included the AH-64D.

I'm gonna try without this particular module.

entry.tp

Despite having selected only the A-10, F18, Apache and Supercarrier, looks like the plugin setup were including the C-101, F14, L-39, Mirage, SA342 because when I have deselect the supercarrier and the Apache it has removed all others modules which I didnt have include never before.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Kyle_Katarn

[Kyle_Katarn]

Bug found.

Now only with A-10 and F18 the plugin were imported without any issue

[Kyle_Katarn]

The next I have try is include the Apache and create the tp file. Everything goes fine.

Later I have included the Supercarrier. TP file created and plugin imported.

This two steps were done within the same run of the plugin setup.

Looks like for some reason the first time I deselect all the modules I didn't wanted, the setup didn't removed correctly and where included in the tp file. I did created the tp file again but without any change in the modules selected because those 4 were what I wanted. Once I have start to play with the selected modules the application have resorted my options correctly and have created the tp file with the desired modules and the bugged have been removed from the tp file.

[xoomigo]

17 hours ago, virgo47 said:

I was using L-39 just fine with DCS-COINS version 2. What does the exclusion mean to the future? Will COINS be unusable now with that or can I somehow add the plane there later?

L-39 is good. Only the variant L-39ZA is not. As long as DCS-BIOS keeps it up-todate/working with DCS World updates, it should continue to work in future DCS-COINS releases.

Work on DCS-COINS Version 3 is progressing well. The package will include user-friendly AH-64D values and pre-defined aircraft control as connectors for TP sliders (operates similarly to starship controls we see in Star Trek ). Assuming no unforeseen hiccups, expect it to be released either this weekend or early next week.

Edited September 30, 2022 by xoomigo

[xoomigo]

9 hours ago, Kyle_Katarn said:

Here you have attached the .tp file of my last try of install the plugin, is the same of my last post with the log.

 

Ah, I see that the module that broke your installation was actually the Supercarrier. Will investigate it on the sidelines of my development work later.

Edited September 30, 2022 by xoomigo

[xoomigo]

9 hours ago, Kyle_Katarn said:

Despite having selected only the A-10, F18, Apache and Supercarrier, looks like the plugin setup were including the C-101, F14, L-39, Mirage, SA342 because when I hace deselect the supercarrier and the Apache it has removed all others modules which I didnt have include never before.

This is strange but could be due to an unexpected error which did not kill the program execution.

[Kyle_Katarn]

@xoomigo your plugin now works like a charm. I'm redoing a lot of thing a much less time. Awesome dude 

[xoomigo]

11 hours ago, Kyle_Katarn said:

@xoomigo your plugin now works like a charm. I'm redoing a lot of thing a much less time. Awesome dude 

Errr... I did not do anything yet. If there' was any performance improvement, it's due to the DCS-BIOS update.

 

I have found the cause of the issue that you had encountered earlier when installing the plugin into TP. I did not realized that there were format changes to a few entries in the BIOS.lua file from the last DCS-BIOS update in my last release. Selecting the impacted aircraft module will resulted in a corrupted entry.tp file, which will hang the TP plugin installation.

Anyway, the upcoming DCS-COINS release within a day or so will address it.

Edited October 1, 2022 by xoomigo

[CARTOK]

How is it possible to get/set the state of buttons when you connect to DCS and start flying? I note that 'DCS-COINS -v' captures the following (extract):

DCS-COINS v.2.2202.02: Verbose mode enabled.
2022-10-01T12:12:19.237Z [INFO]  dcs-bios-api: parsed aircraft JSON - A-10C
2022-10-01T12:12:19.346Z : Munt.G_DCS-COINS :INFO: Connected to TouchPortal
2022-10-01T12:12:19.349Z : Munt.G_DCS-COINS :DEBUG: Info Message received
Aircraft: [A-10C_2]
CommonData:
Loading aircraft parameters from ./acdb/A-10C.pp
Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aircraft_connection [ON] (a-10c: A-10C Thunderbolt/II)
ALT_MSL_FT: 1
HDG_DEG: 1
HDG_DEG_FRAC: 0
DCS_BIOS: 0
PILOTNAME: 0
LAT_DEG: 0
AAP_CDUPWR: 1
AAP_EGIPWR: 1

Later on, and sometimes, all initial events are triggered:

Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aap_cdupwr [ON]
Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aap_egipwr [ON]

For instance, I want to set the an "EGI" and "CDU" button status, respectively, to 'On' as per the information received (AAP_CDUPWR: 1, AAP_EGIPWR: 1, and the later received events). However, these initial events don't always get triggered, and when they do they don't seem to get processed.

Any guidance/suggestions for setting initial status of buttons/text when starting a flight is appreciated.

Edit: I had a log indicating that numerous initial events were triggered, including the EGI/CDU PWR events - however, re-running/starting they don't seem to happen any more. So not sure what is going on. Attached a log with some random output, search for "EGI" or "CDU" as a starting point to locate where the events were triggered.

2022-10-01 DCS-COINS log.txt

Edited October 1, 2022 by CARTOK

[CARTOK]

Noticed difference in function naming (the same is applicable for both Action and Event):

null

[Kyle_Katarn]

4 hours ago, CARTOK said:

How is it possible to get/set the state of buttons when you connect to DCS and start flying? I note that 'DCS-COINS -v' captures the following (extract):

DCS-COINS v.2.2202.02: Verbose mode enabled.
2022-10-01T12:12:19.237Z [INFO]  dcs-bios-api: parsed aircraft JSON - A-10C
2022-10-01T12:12:19.346Z : Munt.G_DCS-COINS :INFO: Connected to TouchPortal
2022-10-01T12:12:19.349Z : Munt.G_DCS-COINS :DEBUG: Info Message received
Aircraft: [A-10C_2]
CommonData:
Loading aircraft parameters from ./acdb/A-10C.pp
Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aircraft_connection [ON] (a-10c: A-10C Thunderbolt/II)
ALT_MSL_FT: 1
HDG_DEG: 1
HDG_DEG_FRAC: 0
DCS_BIOS: 0
PILOTNAME: 0
LAT_DEG: 0
AAP_CDUPWR: 1
AAP_EGIPWR: 1

Later on, and sometimes, all initial events are triggered:

Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aap_cdupwr [ON]
Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aap_egipwr [ON]

For instance, I want to set the an "EGI" and "CDU" button status, respectively, to 'On' as per the information received (AAP_CDUPWR: 1, AAP_EGIPWR: 1, and the later received events). However, these initial events don't always get triggered, and when they do they don't seem to get processed.

Any guidance/suggestions for setting initial status of buttons/text when starting a flight is appreciated.

Edit: I had a log indicating that numerous initial events were triggered, including the EGI/CDU PWR events - however, re-running/starting they don't seem to happen any more. So not sure what is going on. Attached a log with some random output, search for "EGI" or "CDU" as a starting point to locate where the events were triggered.

2022-10-01 DCS-COINS log.txt 81.53 kB · 0 downloads

 

I don't know if could be created an event that refresh all the events in the current page if the aircraft connecton is On

[xoomigo]

4 hours ago, CARTOK said:

How is it possible to get/set the state of buttons when you connect to DCS and start flying? I note that 'DCS-COINS -v' captures the following (extract):

No idea how to invoke this from DCS-BIOS. Need someone familiar with Lua to probe the codes and advise.

Anyway, the latest DCS-BIOS seems to generate more states/events on aircraft start-up. You can check it out with the version 3 release of DCS-COINS soon.

2 hours ago, CARTOK said:

Noticed difference in function naming (the same is applicable for both Action and Event):

null

Yup, these parameter names are exactly as extracted from DCS-BIOS - albeit without the aircraft prefix. There are inconsistencies in the naming conventions by different DCS-BIOS coders.

[CARTOK]

13 minutes ago, xoomigo said:

No idea how to invoke this from DCS-BIOS. Need someone familiar with Lua to probe the codes and advise.

Anyway, the latest DCS-BIOS seems to generate more states/events on aircraft start-up. You can check it out with the version 3 release of DCS-COINS soon.

Yup, these parameter names are exactly as extracted from DCS-BIOS - albeit without the aircraft prefix. There are inconsistencies in the naming conventions by different DCS-BIOS coders.

Ah, thanks! I had a feeling it might be the case, appreciate your assistance and fantastic work on this!

[Kyle_Katarn]

I'm having an issue with the UHF preset channel selector

The logic of the button is like this

But the device in the cockpit only change one time from channel 01 to channel 02

The vervose mode report this

Edited October 1, 2022 by Kyle_Katarn

[Kyle_Katarn]

6 hours ago, CARTOK said:

How is it possible to get/set the state of buttons when you connect to DCS and start flying? I note that 'DCS-COINS -v' captures the following (extract):

DCS-COINS v.2.2202.02: Verbose mode enabled.
2022-10-01T12:12:19.237Z [INFO]  dcs-bios-api: parsed aircraft JSON - A-10C
2022-10-01T12:12:19.346Z : Munt.G_DCS-COINS :INFO: Connected to TouchPortal
2022-10-01T12:12:19.349Z : Munt.G_DCS-COINS :DEBUG: Info Message received
Aircraft: [A-10C_2]
CommonData:
Loading aircraft parameters from ./acdb/A-10C.pp
Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aircraft_connection [ON] (a-10c: A-10C Thunderbolt/II)
ALT_MSL_FT: 1
HDG_DEG: 1
HDG_DEG_FRAC: 0
DCS_BIOS: 0
PILOTNAME: 0
LAT_DEG: 0
AAP_CDUPWR: 1
AAP_EGIPWR: 1

Later on, and sometimes, all initial events are triggered:

Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aap_cdupwr [ON]
Event: mgdc_a-10c_st_aap_egipwr [ON]

For instance, I want to set the an "EGI" and "CDU" button status, respectively, to 'On' as per the information received (AAP_CDUPWR: 1, AAP_EGIPWR: 1, and the later received events). However, these initial events don't always get triggered, and when they do they don't seem to get processed.

Any guidance/suggestions for setting initial status of buttons/text when starting a flight is appreciated.

Edit: I had a log indicating that numerous initial events were triggered, including the EGI/CDU PWR events - however, re-running/starting they don't seem to happen any more. So not sure what is going on. Attached a log with some random output, search for "EGI" or "CDU" as a starting point to locate where the events were triggered.

2022-10-01 DCS-COINS log.txt 81.53 kB · 0 downloads

 

I have noted that if you force a reconnect from the desktop application, client get updated. I have asked in the TP discord if the reconnect could be invoked from a button in somehow

Edited October 1, 2022 by Kyle_Katarn

[virgo47]

On 9/30/2022 at 7:52 AM, xoomigo said:

L-39 is good. Only the variant L-39ZA is not. As long as DCS-BIOS keeps it up-todate/working with DCS World updates, it should continue to work in future DCS-COINS releases.

I still don't understand this - is this related only to the new versions of DCS-BIOS and/or DCS-COINS? There is a single file for both L-39C and L-39ZA planes (either L-39ZA.json in DCS-BIOS or L-39ZA.pp) and both planes work fine in version 2, I use one unified custom TP page with both and I'm very happy having this extension of the controls.

Now I'm confused whether I should stick to DCS-COINS version 2.2202.02 and not update in the future or what.

What is the problem and can someone with the L-39 Albatros module (like me) help in any way to fix it?

[Kyle_Katarn]

@xoomigo I have tunned the A-10C.pp file setting the UHF and both VHF preset channel selectors "action type" field to 3.

This allow me to go forward in both VHF preset channels, but not backwards. This happens also with the live preview tool of DCS-BIOS so I guest that the problem comes from DCS-BIOS.

But the UHF preset channel selector only advance to the 02 channel and doesn't bo backward, with the DCS-BIOS tool I can go freely forward and backward.

[xoomigo]

On 10/2/2022 at 1:21 AM, CARTOK said:

Ah, thanks! I had a feeling it might be the case, appreciate your assistance and fantastic work on this!

 

On 10/2/2022 at 3:17 AM, Kyle_Katarn said:

I have noted that if you force a reconnect from the desktop application, client get updated. I have asked in the TP discord if the reconnect could be invoked from a button in somehow

 

Hi CARTOK & Kyle,

I have found a way to handle this within the plugin. DCS-COINS v3 will include an action "Reset Aircraft States" for use with a button press, under category "Common Data" to reinitialize the values to default.

Edited October 3, 2022 by xoomigo

[xoomigo]

On 10/2/2022 at 2:44 AM, Kyle_Katarn said:

I'm having an issue with the UHF preset channel selector

The logic of the button is like this

But the device in the cockpit only change one time from channel 01 to channel 02

The vervose mode report this

 

Your logs shows the same "1" parameter for the action "UHF_PRESET_SEL" being triggered. Note that running DCS-COINS version 2 in verbose mode in the Command Prompt will trigger duplicate action commands to DCS-BIOS. Can you share the value you used for each of the actions?

[xoomigo]

13 hours ago, virgo47 said:

I still don't understand this - is this related only to the new versions of DCS-BIOS and/or DCS-COINS? There is a single file for both L-39C and L-39ZA planes (either L-39ZA.json in DCS-BIOS or L-39ZA.pp) and both planes work fine in version 2, I use one unified custom TP page with both and I'm very happy having this extension of the controls.

Now I'm confused whether I should stick to DCS-COINS version 2.2202.02 and not update in the future or what.

What is the problem and can someone with the L-39 Albatros module (like me) help in any way to fix it?

Sorry, my earlier statement about future DCS-COINS releases not supporting certain aircraft modules was made prematurely. I was thrown off by the unexpected errors encountered with the listed modules in my quick-and-lazy tests, and had concluded hastily.

Now that I have dived deeper into the issue, I discovered that Flightpanels' developers occasionally change aircraft lua filenames in between DCS-BIOS releases. This means that the library of PP files bundled with the plugin need to be tied to a specific FP's DCS-BIOS release. The dependency is such that the selected aircraft must have a DCS-COINS PP file mapped to a set of DCS-BIOS lua and json files - all must have a matching filename (minus the file extension). Otherwise, the DCS-COINS setup or the TP plugin installation will fail.

Bottomline is to avoid DCS-COINS installation issue, use the DCS-BIOS version (including BIOS.lua) which is the same as the one bundled with the DCS-COINS package concerned.

Future DCS-COINS releases will support aircraft modules supported by the latest version of DCS-BIOS of the day.

Yes, you should upgrade to DCS-COINS version 3 and the latest DCS-BIOS when the former is released. If L-39C and L-39ZA are supported by the same file set (pp, lua and json) per the DCS-BIOS concerned, you should not lose any functionalities you currently have. Instead, you will gain access to analog controls (currently disabled or restricted to a small number of controls) in both button and slider modes, updated DCS-BIOS, and other back-end fixes (incl. TP API). The cons are that you will need to test and may need to re-do (remove and add back) some of the controls (if they fail to not work with the new version).

Anyway, do a backup your BIOS.lua and DCS-BIOS in your DCS script folder, custom TP pages and TP Munt.G_DCS-COINS plugin folder, before you try out the new version - just in case you want to revert back later.

Edited October 3, 2022 by xoomigo

[Kyle_Katarn]

7 hours ago, xoomigo said:

Your logs shows the same "1" parameter for the action "UHF_PRESET_SEL" being triggered. Note that running DCS-COINS version 2 in verbose mode in the Command Prompt will trigger duplicate action commands to DCS-BIOS. Can you share the value you used for each of the actions?

Those requested values are 1 because dcs-bios add the current preset channel value to the commanded preset channel value to calculate the desired preset channel value.

In the UHF I cant move ahead of channel 02, but in both VHF if I set the commanded value to 2, the preset jump in steps of 2 and so on, this is because my last post

13 hours ago, Kyle_Katarn said:

@xoomigo I have tunned the A-10C.pp file setting the UHF and both VHF preset channel selectors "action type" field to 3.

This allow me to go forward in both VHF preset channels, but not backwards. This happens also with the live preview tool of DCS-BIOS so I guest that the problem comes from DCS-BIOS.

But the UHF preset channel selector only advance to the 02 channel and doesn't bo backward, with the DCS-BIOS tool I can go freely forward and backward.

With the action type set to 3, thed cs-coins command add +1 or substract -1 to the current value and the VHF presets move fine when increasing but doesnt move when decreasing but looks like a dcs-bios problem.

But in UHF dcs-bios tool can manage correctly the increasing and decreasing values but dcs-coins get stucked in the preset 02 and dont go ahead or backward

[xoomigo]

5 hours ago, Kyle_Katarn said:

Those requested values are 1 because dcs-bios add the current preset channel value to the commanded preset channel value to calculate the desired preset channel value.

Errm..., this doesn't seem the same from my end. The drop-down list should show options from "[0] 1", "[1] 2", "[2] 3",...."[19] 20" - where the number within the square brackets is action value. There if channel selector is "2", then the action command "[UHF_PRESET_SET 3]" would be sent to DCS-BIOS.

The A-10C.pp file, line 670 should show:

UHF_PRESET_SEL|uhf_preset_sel|UHF Preset Channel Selector|1|0|UHFVHFAmFmPreset|1

Is yours the same?

 

[virgo47]

15 hours ago, xoomigo said:

...

Future DCS-COINS releases will support aircraft modules supported by the latest version of DCS-BIOS of the day.

Today is getting better and better. Great news, I hoped it had been just a hiccup and everything would be OK in the end. Thanks for the clarification. I install both from COINS, so I'll be fine.

Edited October 3, 2022 by virgo47

[Kyle_Katarn]

4 hours ago, xoomigo said:

Errm..., this doesn't seem the same from my end. The drop-down list should show options from "[0] 1", "[1] 2", "[2] 3",...."[19] 20" - where the number within the square brackets is action value. There if channel selector is "2", then the action command "[UHF_PRESET_SET 3]" would be sent to DCS-BIOS.

The A-10C.pp file, line 670 should show:

UHF_PRESET_SEL|uhf_preset_sel|UHF Preset Channel Selector|1|0|UHFVHFAmFmPreset|1

Is yours the same?

 

Yes mate, I have the pp file like you and this command ([UHF_PRESET_SET 3]) increase the current preset value in 3 if you're in the channel 1 the selector spin until it reach the channel 4 and I couldn't make the move the selector backward because the command always increase the current channel.

But the UHF preset selector is the worst to try this. I can't make it pass the channel 2.

However both VHF preset selectors behave as I noted before so I have changed the |1|0| by |3|0| so the command cand send [VHF_PRESET_SET +1] or [VHF_PRESET_SET -1] always doing the steps one by one and "in theory" allowing to move the preset backwards but this part either not works.

 

Another thing that didn't work very well is to include the current preset channel selector as text in one button.

I have try the Dynamic Text Updater, or to store the channel in a TP value as any kind of data allowed and then use this value as source for the text of the button but always get a fixed number that don't change no matter I do.

 

@virgo47 reading your posts I guess that you are working also with the A-10C, had you try to setup the radios in TP with DCS-COINS?

Edited October 3, 2022 by Kyle_Katarn

[virgo47]

On 10/3/2022 at 10:17 PM, Kyle_Katarn said:

@virgo47 reading your posts I guess that you are working also with the A-10C, had you try to setup the radios in TP with DCS-COINS?

That must be some misunderstanding, currently I'm only working on L-39, I don't own A-10C.