Error in the DCS.log concerning my montor file.

[MAXsenna]

I just want to get rid of this error. The file is made by Helios.

 

 

EDIT: Marking @jonsky7's post as the solution, because he made me investigate further. The actual error was that I had another file placed there, that was not a monitor file in any form or shape. I thought DCS complained about the file currently in use, while it actually parses ALL the files in the directory!

Edited December 16, 2024 by MAXsenna

[jonsky7]

Can we see the config file please?

[MAXsenna]

17 minutes ago, jonsky7 said:

Can we see the config file please?

 

 Absolutely! Here you go, thanks in advance!

 

Helios.lua

[jonsky7]

15 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

 

 Absolutely! Here you go, thanks in advance!

 

Helios.lua 8.25 kB · 0 downloads

I've made a few changes bringing it in line with the description that was found in one of the original config files.

Not sure if FC3 was a usable unit type, so added them separately for each aircraft.

Removed the duplicate entries for the Mirage F1 exports.

On a side note, the whole point of the configure for unit type was so you didn't have to modify the export names for any default exportable display. Most of your aircraft have mods applied for the RWR etc, so it's a bit redundant.

Helios2.lua 
 

Give a try I suppose, there wasn't anything glaringly obvious, name in settings menu = Helios2

When I asked ChatGPT to compare it said:

Helios2.lua is now better written, more efficient, and easier to maintain than the original Helios.lua. With additional comments and modularization, it could be even more user-friendly and robust. 


edit: error in the above file at line 128, corrected below
 

Helios3.lua

Edited December 16, 2024 by jonsky7

[MAXsenna]

16 minutes ago, jonsky7 said:

On a side note, the whole point of the configure for unit type was so you didn't have to modify the export names for any default exportable display. Most of your aircraft have mods applied for the RWR etc, so it's a bit redundant.

Thank you! I will test and compare with the file I actually use, (which is a modified copy). The file was written by Helios, and shows the same error, which obviously was copied over, so I'm sure I'll find the culprit when comparing with your edits.

Cheers!

[MAXsenna]

1 hour ago, jonsky7 said:

I've made a few changes bringing it in line with the description that was found in one of the original config files.

Not sure if FC3 was a usable unit type, so added them separately for each aircraft.

Removed the duplicate entries for the Mirage F1 exports.

On a side note, the whole point of the configure for unit type was so you didn't have to modify the export names for any default exportable display. Most of your aircraft have mods applied for the RWR etc, so it's a bit redundant.

Helios2.lua 
 

Give a try I suppose, there wasn't anything glaringly obvious, name in settings menu = Helios2

When I asked ChatGPT to compare it said:

Helios2.lua is now better written, more efficient, and easier to maintain than the original Helios.lua. With additional comments and modularization, it could be even more user-friendly and robust. 

LOL! Well, I'm not complaining, but that file didn't work on my DCS for some reason. Can't even select it in the settings.

Very strange!

[jonsky7]

2 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

LOL! Well, I'm not complaining, but that file didn't work on my DCS for some reason. Can't even select it in the settings.

Very strange!

Oops,

Justs needs a "then" adding after the Ka-50 at line 128

from
 elseif unit_type == "Ka-50" or unit_type == "Ka-50_3"
 

to
  elseif unit_type == "Ka-50" or unit_type == "Ka-50_3" then

Edited December 16, 2024 by jonsky7

[MAXsenna]

Oops,

Justs needs a "then" adding after the Ka-50 at line 128
from
 elseif unit_type == "Ka-50" or unit_type == "Ka-50_3"
 
to
  elseif unit_type == "Ka-50" or unit_type == "Ka-50_3" then

Thank you!

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[MadKreator]

@jonsky7 Really curious.. Any specific reason to move the Center Viewport definition to the beginning of the file? Also does it serve a better purpose  to remove the "or false" and "return / end" statements from the monitor file?  Honest questions. Curious on if that has an advantage over the way Helios currently writes them? Or is it just to simplify the file a bit?

 

Edited December 16, 2024 by MadKreator

[MadKreator]

@MAXsenna your original looked like it had quite a few viewports in the old Helios format at the end ( just a list of custom named viewports). Were those written in by you on top of the Helios generated file?

 

 

Edited December 16, 2024 by MadKreator

[MAXsenna]

3 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

Oops,

Justs needs a "then" adding after the Ka-50 at line 128

from
 elseif unit_type == "Ka-50" or unit_type == "Ka-50_3"
 

to
  elseif unit_type == "Ka-50" or unit_type == "Ka-50_3" then

As expected, that did the trick.

Anyways! I've sent you on a wild goose chase!!!! I thought DCS was ONLY complaining about the current Monitor file in use, while it actually parses ALL the files. And it was complaining about a temp dummy file I had placed there for convenience!
I'm editing my OP and will mark your post as the solution, as that made me fix it!

Cheers!

PS: Could you replace your file with an updated correct one for future reference?

[MAXsenna]

18 minutes ago, MadKreator said:

@MAXsenna your original looked like it had quite a few viewports in the old Helios format at the end ( just a list of custom named viewports). Were those written in by you on top of the Helios generated file?

 

 

Well, it "is/was" a work in progress. If you read my post above, it's clear what the error was. I really need to sit down sometime and understand what is really happening.

Thanks to @jonsky7 it will push me ahead!

I'm not sure if I added stuff that Helios didn't touch. I will delete the original Helios file, and see what happens when it generates a completely new one.

Cheers!

 

EDIT: This file is brand new generated by Helios.

 

Helios.lua

Edited December 16, 2024 by MAXsenna

[MadKreator]

48 minutes ago, MAXsenna said:

Well, it "is/was" a work in progress. If you read my post above, it's clear what the error was. I really need to sit down sometime and understand what is really happening.

Thanks to @jonsky7 it will push me ahead!

I'm not sure if I added stuff that Helios didn't touch. I will delete the original Helios file, and see what happens when it generates a completely new one.

Cheers!

 

EDIT: This file is brand new generated by Helios.

 

Helios.lua 8.25 kB · 0 downloads

I saw the error found. Jonsky nailed it.. I was just curious about the added extra lines, nothing more… just being nosey

[MAXsenna]

5 minutes ago, MadKreator said:

I saw the error found. Jonsky nailed it.. I was just curious about the added extra lines, nothing more… just being nosey

Hehe! No problem!
Learned something more today. You can't have a file in the MonitorSetup folder with all the lines commented out. DCS will not start the GUI. Took me a while...

[jonsky7]

6 hours ago, MadKreator said:

@jonsky7 Really curious.. Any specific reason to move the Center Viewport definition to the beginning of the file? Also does it serve a better purpose  to remove the "or false" and "return / end" statements from the monitor file?  Honest questions. Curious on if that has an advantage over the way Helios currently writes them? Or is it just to simplify the file a bit?

 

I'll be totally honest and say I'm not 100% sure. I'm not really a coder, I can generally muddle my way through.
The viewports are always first in the DCS original files, so I followed that order.

What I did first was upload Max's file into chatGPT and asked it to check for any errors, it said the false statements are redundant

As I don't know lua, I don't know if certain things make a difference or not, sometimes the order doesn't seem to make a difference and with other things I've tried (not monitor related) it has done.

Changing it to have elseif statements instead was just following the way the "instructions" that can be found in the original 3cameras.lua file use it.

 

Other thing I wasn't sure of was the use of commas instead of semicolons, and missing semicolons

_  = function(p) return p end
name = _('Helios')
description = 'Generated from compatible Helios Profiles'

instead of       

_  = function(p) return p; end;
name = _('Camera + RMFCD(on left side)');
Description = 'Right MFCD on the left and camera on the center'

 

5 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

Well, it "is/was" a work in progress. If you read my post above, it's clear what the error was. I really need to sit down sometime and understand what is really happening. Thanks to @jonsky7 it will push me ahead!
I'm not sure if I added stuff that Helios didn't touch. I will delete the original Helios file, and see what happens when it generates a completely new one.

Cheers!

EDIT: This file is brand new generated by Helios.

 

Is it still modifying display names? As I mentioned earlier, not necessary with configure for unit type.

Doesn't make a difference to you really, but if someone just wants to use Helios to position default displays, then that is a un-necessary modification that will break IC on pure scripts servers. I don't know if that is an option as I don't use it.

Edited December 16, 2024 by jonsky7

[jonsky7]

6 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

PS: Could you replace your file with an updated correct one for future reference?

@MAXsenna Done, called Helios3, in the "solution" post


@MadKreator Whatever Helios is doing, it's obviously working even though it is different to what I'm used to. 

Edited December 16, 2024 by jonsky7

[MadKreator]

5 hours ago, jonsky7 said:

@MAXsenna Done, called Helios3, in the "solution" post


@MadKreator Whatever Helios is doing, it's obviously working even though it is different to what I'm used to. 

Okay no worries, I’m not sure why Helios writes it the way  it does either, I’m not a lua guy myself. The Helios dev has a much better understanding of it than I. I’m going to forward your remastered ones to him ad see what he thinks of the difference. Again, just my own curiosity on the subject.

- as far as the Helios “Custom Names” for some viewports. It does still write them this way as that is the way the viewports are created in the profiles.. Up until recently, Helios did not use the “Display Tables” format, individualizing each aircraft. It just wrote a big list of custom named viewports so that things like mfd’s could be used on multiple airrcraft, in different sizes and locations all in the same monitor profile. Now with recent changes, it sbeparates each aircraft so any default naming like LEFT/RIGHT/CENTER_MFCD can be used in each aircraft. However those still need to be changed in each profile manually. Other viewports that aren’t native( DED, RWR’s, IEFI,EUFD,  most of the CH-47 etc) still need the custom names to function… IC breakers.. However the viewports can be removed easily from a profile and Helios “Patches” ( viewport lua modifications) can be undone with a couple button clicks if the user wishes. Thats why you see lots of mix and matching going on with custom named ones. For anything DCS allows as a “Native” export, the custom names are not needed and the “patches” can be removed from the luas, but its expected that the user do this themselves if desired.. at this point in time. 

Edited December 16, 2024 by MadKreator