KB Quick – Quick and Easy Kneeboards – Create/Edit/Organise/Publish

[horstweihrauch]

Hi @ShaunX, thanks for sharing your hard work Is it possible to import pdf documents to the KB Quick?

[ShaunX]

7 minutes ago, horstweihrauch said:

Hi @ShaunX, thanks for sharing your hard work Is it possible to import pdf documents to the KB Quick?

 

Hey @horstweihrauch, sorry, no can do. I did think about it but AlaskanGrizzly's excellent Kneeboard Builder App already has that functionality covered.

 

You can certainly use the Snip! function to capture individual PDF pages

[horstweihrauch]

Thanks for your answer. I will probably use both apps than:) The snipping thing is gold

[Fakum]

Thank you very much for this utility! I have been fiddling with it and I believe I have a misconception? There does not appear to be any means to select the ability to omit the OEM kneeboard files from popping up when I open the Kneeboard. in other words, Im trying to make do when I open up the Kneeboard in game, all I get are the custom pages I created. Is that possible with this utility?

[ShaunX]

On 8/10/2021 at 9:52 PM, Fakum said:

Thank you very much for this utility! I have been fiddling with it and I believe I have a misconception? There does not appear to be any means to select the ability to omit the OEM kneeboard files from popping up when I open the Kneeboard. in other words, Im trying to make do when I open up the Kneeboard in game, all I get are the custom pages I created. Is that possible with this utility?

 

Hi Fakum,

 

This app just creates kneeboard pages I'm afraid. I can't affect what DCS decides to load into your kneeboard in addition to what you place in your own kneeboard folders.

 

If I remember rightly however, I think the only way to achive what you want is it to go into the DCS installation folder, then to mods\terrain\caucasus for example, and rename the kneeboard folder there to something like kneeboard_old, then create an empty kneeboard folder there instead. That is where DCS loads all of the airfield kneeboard images from. Do the same for other terrains.

 

I actually think AlaskanGrizzly's  Kneeboard Builder App does exactly that if you ask it to.

 

Don't quote me though, I'm sure there are more knowledgeable folk on the forum who could confirm.

[Fakum]

ah, ok,,, and I appreciate the tip. Thank you and thank you for your contribution to the community sir!

[Salter10]

Hello! Tried running the application per instructions, was prompted for .NET install, which I did from the prompt's dialogue linked page. It shows that .NET is running. But for some reason when trying to run KBQuick.exe, the same message shows up - indicating I must install .NET. I rebooted my system just in case, but it's not working. Thanks in advance!!

[ShaunX]

19 hours ago, Salter10 said:

Hello! Tried running the application per instructions, was prompted for .NET install, which I did from the prompt's dialogue linked page. It shows that .NET is running. But for some reason when trying to run KBQuick.exe, the same message shows up - indicating I must install .NET. I rebooted my system just in case, but it's not working. Thanks in advance!!

KB Quick is a Microsoft Visual Studio .NET application. As such it requires the Microsoft .NET framework installed on your machine in order to run.

The message you're seeing is being generated by Microsoft rather than my app. Can I ask, which version of .NET did you select to be installed ? The app requires a minimum of .NET 5.0. I believe it will now recommend .NET 6.0 which is also fine.

..you can check to see which versions are installed by opening a Windows PowerShell and entering the command

dotnet --list-runtimes <enter>

Edited May 13, 2022 by ShaunX

[Salter10]

3 hours ago, ShaunX said:

Can I ask, which version of .NET did you select to be installed ?

Thank you @ShaunX for following up! Here's what I see when running the command: 

Quote

Microsoft.NETCore.App 3.1.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.NETCore.App 5.0.17 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 3.1.6 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]

When I installed the runtime via the link in the error dialogue box - it went for the version listed on line 2 above (5.0.17). 

[ShaunX]

2 hours ago, Salter10 said:

Thank you @ShaunX for following up! Here's what I see when running the command: 

When I installed the runtime via the link in the error dialogue box - it went for the version listed on line 2 above (5.0.17). 

There's your problem, you should also see an entry like this..

Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App 5.0.7 [C:\PROGRAM FILES\DOTNET\shared\Microsoft.WindowsDesktop.App]

You only have the .NET 5.0 core runtime. You're missing the .NET 5.0 desktop runtime.

Not sure how that would happen. Must relate to what you chose to install when prompted.

Go to the official Microsoft .NET 5 download page : https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/5.0

Install the .NET Desktop Runtime from that page. (The x64 version if you have 64 bit windows, x86 if you have 32 bit windows)

reboot and you should be good to go

 

 

 

 

[Salter10]

2 hours ago, ShaunX said:

You only have the .NET 5.0 core runtime. You're missing the .NET 5.0 desktop runtime.

Indeed. Thank you for the instructions. I'm now up and running! 

 

I noticed a couple of things:

1. I right clicked on the Kneeboard Name | Target Folder | KB top right "table heading" so to speak - when there were no kneeboards created yet. It gave me the error I attached below. Obviously I had no reason to do so functionally. But we users sometimes click anywhere and everywhere anyway  The issue goes away once one kneeboard is created and listed. 

2. More importantly: when prompted to select a kneeboard folder, I chose the folder (the relevant saved game - DCS - kneeboard ) a prompt that says something like "you can only choose a "kneeboard" folder" (I can't remember the exact wording) and then the app shut down. Interestingly, when I re-opened the app, the path to the chosen kneeboard folder showed up. I'm not sure if it was something I did wrong. It's easy enough for me to replicate. 

Thank you for writing this app. So very useful. I'll probably have more questions, but for now reading the manual to make sure I'm familiar with the app's options. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by Salter10

[ShaunX]

13 hours ago, Salter10 said:

Indeed. Thank you for the instructions. I'm now up and running! 

 

I noticed a couple of things:

1. I right clicked on the Kneeboard Name | Target Folder | KB top right "table heading" so to speak - when there were no kneeboards created yet. It gave me the error I attached below. Obviously I had no reason to do so functionally. But we users sometimes click anywhere and everywhere anyway  The issue goes away once one kneeboard is created and listed. 

2. More importantly: when prompted to select a kneeboard folder, I chose the folder (the relevant saved game - DCS - kneeboard ) a prompt that says something like "you can only choose a "kneeboard" folder" (I can't remember the exact wording) and then the app shut down. Interestingly, when I re-opened the app, the path to the chosen kneeboard folder showed up. I'm not sure if it was something I did wrong. It's easy enough for me to replicate. 

Thank you for writing this app. So very useful. I'll probably have more questions, but for now reading the manual to make sure I'm familiar with the app's options. 

 

I will fire my entire QA team immediately

I can recreate 1, fair enough, easy fix.

2 is weird, not previously reported, and I can't recreate, so kudos there.
The message and program termination is expected behaviour (my lazy coding) but that path should only be possible if you selected a folder not called 'Kneeboard". I can only assume a cosmic ray flipped a bit in your installation

I have been meaning to revisit the app (just noticed it's hit 1000 downloads) as I've some ideas for enhancements - PDF import/management, kneeboard grouping, map specific kneeboard assignment/management etc but the weather's way too nice at the moment.

Glad you got it working anyway. Try not to break anything else

[Salter10]

5 hours ago, ShaunX said:

Glad you got it working anyway. Try not to break anything else

"Bugs" humanize computers. My theory is that the perfect AI will require some form of imperfection to behave expectedly. Nature in all its vast complexity, is imperfect by design. My inevitable demise is one proof point. OK, enough philosophizing. I'm glad to hear you'll be adding functionality! One additional point of view: for an exclusive VR flyer like me (there are more and more of us), kneeboard is even more important. Maybe you could keep this in mind when adding functionality. I'd be happy to beta test for you. Cheers.

Edited May 14, 2022 by Salter10

[ShaunX]

1 hour ago, Salter10 said:

"Bugs" humanize computers. My theory is that the perfect AI will require some form of imperfection to behave expectedly. Nature in all its vast complexity, is imperfect by design. My inevitable demise is one proof point. OK, enough philosophizing. I'm glad to hear you'll be adding functionality! One additional point of view: for an exclusive VR flyer like me (there are more and more of us), kneeboard is even more important. Maybe you could keep this in mind when adding functionality. I'd be happy to beta test for you. Cheers.

 

I’m with you there brother. Haven’t  flown 2D once since my G2 arrived 18 months ago

[Salter10]

Your QA team reporting back

When selecting a table (all it's rows and columns) and trying to change font size, this error appears. I can press "Continue" and all's fine. Obviously it does not however change the font size of text in the table cells "wholesale". I need to select each cell's text entry and change it's size. By the way: this is a table I copied from MS Word. 

Otherwise, I love this thing! 

Salter. 

[ShaunX]

On 5/16/2022 at 5:24 PM, Salter10 said:

Your QA team reporting back

When selecting a table (all it's rows and columns) and trying to change font size, this error appears. I can press "Continue" and all's fine. Obviously it does not however change the font size of text in the table cells "wholesale". I need to select each cell's text entry and change it's size. By the way: this is a table I copied from MS Word. 

Otherwise, I love this thing! 

Salter. 

Ouch, now this is why I retired early for that evil American corporate. Ah for the days when program changes were written on the back of beer mats over a few jars in a smokey pub, then banged into production without all that pesky user testing and business signoff

It's really nice to hear you're enjoying the app and your findings are much appreciated and duly noted. Makes it all worthwhile. I promise I will revisit but just now, it's gonna be 24 degrees today and the golf course beckons again (and that's in the non-virtual version of reality)

If you get bored with it, please give my Radio KAOS app a whirl for fun. I'm sure it's laden with juicy bugs for you.

[daka]

Hi,

I have downloaded and installed .NET but the QK installer says i need to install .NET every time I go to install QK.

Can you advise?

Regards

[ShaunX]

As stated in the posts above, you need to install the "Desktop" runtime.

[Sile]

Hi, great Tool, thank you!

Only drawback is, my set background colors don't save. 
After restarting the tool, the background is white and custom colors are lost.

[hsth]

Hi,

Could you please have a look at the dotnet specific version? The application requires the not-supported anymore version 5. Tried with dotnet version 6 or 7 but the application won't start.
I only ask because version 5 of DotNet will not receive future security updates from MS.
Thanks.

[ShaunX]

5 hours ago, hsth said:

Hi,

Could you please have a look at the dotnet specific version? The application requires the not-supported anymore version 5. Tried with dotnet version 6 or 7 but the application won't start.
I only ask because version 5 of DotNet will not receive future security updates from MS.
Thanks.

Yeah, on my list of things to do but I have limited time and developed the app on VS 2019 community edition which only suppoprt to .net 5. I haven't done any research so not sure how easy it will be to do. Maybe just need to upgrade to VS 2022 community edition and rebuild it there ?

If you or anyone has any idea how to do this easily I'll have a go when I get the time.

I actually have had version 2.0 of the app pretty much ready to go for a while now too. It has lots of new features including bulk kneeboard image import, multi snip! page import, PDF page selection and import, terrain map kneeboard folder management, kneeboard groups and a reworked interface. All done in .net 5 though.

time, time, time

Edited February 8, 2023 by ShaunX

[hsth]

Thank you for the update. Unfortunately I'm not that familiar with rebuilding so sorry that I cannot help you there.

If you get to it and are ready to release the new version you maybe also could have a look into this? In the KB_Quild screen I don't see any of the kneeboards I have in my directory. If I've read the manual correctly it should allow the import of existing .png files but the screen doesn't show anything.

null

[ShaunX]

5 minutes ago, hsth said:

Thank you for the update. Unfortunately I'm not that familiar with rebuilding so sorry that I cannot help you there.

If you get to it and are ready to release the new version you maybe also could have a look into this? In the KB_Quild screen I don't see any of the kneeboards I have in my directory. If I've read the manual correctly it should allow the import of existing .png files but the screen doesn't show anything.

null

It doesn't work like that. It won't automatically import all the .png kneeboards you already have in your saved games kneeboard folder. It will only manage the kneeboards you create or individually import in KBQuick and then selectively publish them into your chosen kneeboard folders. The actual KBQuick kneeboards are held as rich text files in the KBQuickFiles folder in Documents.

Try this. Move Russian Airfields.png out of your kneeboard folder into downloads or some other folder. Use "new" in KBQuick to create a new kneeboard and name it Russian Airfileds or whatever. Now click "import" and browse to the original png and import it and click save. That kneeboard is now in the KBQuick database (saved only in the KBQuickFiles folder). You can now select it's target kneeboard folder and when you click the box in the "KB" column a copy of it will be published to that kneeboard folder. Click that again and it will be removed.

In version 1, that is the only way to import all of your existing kneeboards into KBQuick.

[hsth]

Ok, thank you for the explanation. Obviously I did not understand the manual good enough.

If I read your last sentence I have good hopes that it will be easier in version 2.... (time, time, time  )

[ShaunX]

1 hour ago, hsth said:

Ok, thank you for the explanation. Obviously I did not understand the manual good enough.

If I read your last sentence I have good hopes that it will be easier in version 2.... (time, time, time  )

Well, you seem to have inspired me. Had a couple of hours free so installed Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition, opened KBQuick version 2.0 in it, changed its target .net version to 6.0, built and published it. Ported it to my other PC, ran it and it requested the .net 6.0 runtime download for that machine. Installed that and presto..it works perfectly.

So thanks for the prompt. I won't bother updating version 1, but version 2 will be .net 6.0..when I've finished testing it.