Add TrackIR Center & Pause on 1 Joystick button

[CubPilot]

Cool, I will have to give this a try.

 

I'm not a programmer and I always said my way was not elegant!

 

Where were you when I needed you?? :smilewink:

 

 

 

:pilotfly:

[sobe]

CubPilot

A simple but perhaps stupid question. Do you need F15 and F16 on your keyboard to have your script work?

[GregP]

Guys, just wanted to point out that Joy2Key can be used to get this same functionality, but is much, much simpler to set up. Might be worth a try. I've been using it for a month now after ditching TARGET a while back, and it works great. With J2K you can have any joystick button essentially use what's called a TEMPO command in TARGET, by setting a time threshold after which that button now generates some other character.

 

So, for example, I've got my TrackIR pause and center commands bound to my Warthog's Left Throttle Button. If I hold it less than 0.4 second, it generates 'z', which pauses my TrackIR; longer than 0.4, it generates 'x', which centers it.

[CubPilot]

CubPilot

A simple but perhaps stupid question. Do you need F15 and F16 on your keyboard to have your script work?

 

Nope, you won't need those keys on your keyboard because you will assign F15 & F16 to the lever (or button) on the Warthog joystick and in the Track IR software, you won't use the keyboard to send these keys.

 

F13 thru F24 are valid "keys" to the OS, even if your keyboard only has F1-F12 keys (of course if your keyboard only has 12 "F" keys that is all that will be available to you on that keyboard). But, F13-F24 keys can be used by a programmable keypad (at least the one I'm using) and by controller buttons along with some additional programming as has been done here. The nice thing about using the F13-F24 keys is they should never conflict with any current or future key assignments that DCS uses for other keyboard key assignments (unless keyboard makers add these keys to their future standard keyboards & DCS uses them).

 

This works with the TrackIR v 5.1 software, but the newest 5.2 version has been a problem according to a previous poster. I haven't tried the 5.2 version yet.

 

PeterP's method my be easier for you if you have trouble with mine, or want to use his instead. He is more programming savy than I am.

 

 

 

:pilotfly:

Edited December 11, 2012 by CubPilot

[bomber]

Thank you very much cub pilot. Gerry abbott's video started me off in VAC and now autohotkey. Scavenging through all you guys work has been interesting and benefits my flysim hugely!

 

Question please.- have ahk script to start TIR and VAC and load profile from A10c, but unclear how to switch VAC on. Your example is a bat. file. and seems to work differently.

Ps- have added a little beep via - soundbeep when joy key is activated /deactivated for VAC.

All works very nicely from startup otherwise.

Pretty new to this but keen to learn.

[PeterP]

 

Question please.- have ahk script to start TIR and VAC and load profile from A10c, but unclear how to switch VAC on.

 

 

You can send a specific key-command to a active-window by adding a

 

"#IfWinActive / #IfWinExist" command in your script.

 

 

This can be used to send a command to a specific program - and also only to VAC while DCS is running.

 

 

Please open the AHK help and search for "#IfWinActive" to get a detailed instruction how to use this command properly.

 

The #IfWin directives make it easy to create context-sensitive hotkeys and hotstrings. For example:

#IfWinActive ahk_class Notepad #space::MsgBox ;You pressed Win+Spacebar in Notepad.

The #IfWin directives are positional: they affect all hotkeys and hotstrings physically beneath them in the script. They are also mutually exclusive; that is, only the most recent one will be in effect.

To turn off context sensitivity, specify any #IfWin directive but omit all of its parameters. For example:

#IfWinActive

When #IfWin is turned off (or never used in a script), all hotkeys and hotstrings are enabled for all windows (unless disabled via Suspend or the Hotkey command).

 

...

Edited December 11, 2012 by PeterP

[bomber]

Thanks Peter P.

[CubPilot]

Thank you very much cub pilot. Gerry abbott's video started me off in VAC and now autohotkey. Scavenging through all you guys work has been interesting and benefits my flysim hugely!

 

Question please.- have ahk script to start TIR and VAC and load profile from A10c, but unclear how to switch VAC on. Your example is a bat. file. and seems to work differently.

Ps- have added a little beep via - soundbeep when joy key is activated /deactivated for VAC.

All works very nicely from startup otherwise.

Pretty new to this but keen to learn.

 

The statement in the bat file to load & turn VAC I found in the VAC documentation:

VAC System can take two command line parameters separated by a comma (,).

1. Profile as parameter one can be a valid VAC profile description or profile name existing in the VAC Builder list of profiles.

2. A "True" can be sent to start VAC System with VAC On set.

Some examples of using parameters with VAC System:

Start VACSystem and load the IL2 profile using the file name with VAC active.

VACSystem.exe IL2.xml,True

Start VACSystem and load FS2004 profile using the profile description with VAC off.

VACSystem.exe FS2004

 

This works in a windows bat file, I'm not sure how to do the same within a AHK file. PeterP would probably know without even thinking about it. I'm not the programmer here (I would be considered a hack)! :smilewink:

 

 

:pilotfly:

Edited December 12, 2012 by CubPilot

[sobe]

CubPilot

 

I have looked at your tracker programs for A10 and have a few questions:

1. Is PeterP's change only for the program that you run in A10 and you still need your 3 programs for tracker and Vac?

 

2. Your tracker programs changes the default keys in tracker. I assume that this will cause all my tracker profiles that use the default key assignments in tracker to no longer work. Correct? If so, I guess that I can simply change your programs to make the defaults in tracker work again and run it when I need to. Is there a simpler way to go back and forth with perhaps some sort of a bat file?

 

Thanks for sharing your files and ideas.

[CubPilot]

CubPilot

 

I have looked at your tracker programs for A10 and have a few questions:

1. Is PeterP's change only for the program that you run in A10 and you still need your 3 programs for tracker and Vac?

 

2. Your tracker programs changes the default keys in tracker. I assume that this will cause all my tracker profiles that use the default key assignments in tracker to no longer work. Correct? If so, I guess that I can simply change your programs to make the defaults in tracker work again and run it when I need to. Is there a simpler way to go back and forth with perhaps some sort of a bat file?

 

Thanks for sharing your files and ideas.

 

I can't comment on PeterP's programming as I have not tried it. Basically it's a different way to do a similar thing. I think it takes care of only the TrackIR. VAC would be something else. But I could be wrong about this.

 

I use the bat file that I posted in an earlier thread to make it easy for me to load the two AHK scripts, one for TrackIR Pause, Center and the other to load the proper VAC profile and have it turned ON with one click of my mouse. I only load these when I want to use DCS. Then I open DCS normally.

 

As for my modified keys that I use in TrackIR I can switch back to the Default TIR Center & Pause key assignments within the TIR software easily, and it only takes a moment to do so (it's on my SSD drive & opens immediately).

 

In the TIR software under the Profile Tab, and in the Profile drop down window in which you will see "Default", "One to One", and "Smooth" I added a new profile with my modified Pause & Center key assignments and named it CubbyDCS , which now also shows up in the drop down. When I want to fly DCS I choose "my" DCS profile in TIR .

 

If I want to go back to the TIR default Pause & Center keys I choose "Default", One to One", or "Smooth" which will still have the default keys (or if you have other custom TIR profiles for other sims, choose one of them, assuming you haven't changed the default TIR keys in the profile).

 

I guess that my wordy explanations make it seem really complicated, but it really isn't that bad.

 

 

:pilotfly:

Edited January 6, 2013 by CubPilot

[sobe]

CubPilot

In your revised instructions, you have the following:

 

7. Right click on "WH_DCS_A-10_TrackIR_Pause_F16.exe".

Select Properties/Compatability Tab/Privilege Level, and check the

"Run this program as an administrator" box.

 

This program was not in your most recent download. What is it?

[sobe]

CubPilot

by the way, is your VAC profile on the forum?

thanks

sobe

[CubPilot]

CubPilot

In your revised instructions, you have the following:

 

7. Right click on "WH_DCS_A-10_TrackIR_Pause_F16.exe".

Select Properties/Compatability Tab/Privilege Level, and check the

"Run this program as an administrator" box.

 

This program was not in your most recent download. What is it?

 

:poster_oops:, forgot to change that. Sorry about the typo, it has been corrected. The typo above was used to change the default Pause key assignment in Track IR, but it did not always do the job and assigned a DirectX button sometimes instead of the F16 key. So, I'm not using that method or file anymore. That's why I suggest editing a user DCS profile manually, that always works.

 

The .exe in step 7 should be "WH_DCS_A-10_TrackIR_short_long.exe". Thanks for pointing out my brain fart.

 

My VAC profile isn't on the forum. It is pretty basic and still needs a lot of work & updated for DCS World. But, there should be some great ones in a sticky thread on these forums (I think in the Input & Output thread or elsewhere on the forums).

 

 

:pilotfly:

[sobe]

CubPilot

When you say that you used a dx button, what did you mean? Just pressed one of the buttons on the WH and used that for Tracker pause?

[CubPilot]

CubPilot

When you say that you used a dx button, what did you mean? Just pressed one of the buttons on the WH and used that for Tracker pause?

 

Sorry if I confused you. Don't worry about the DirectX button comment.

 

What was happening is I originally had the two additional AHK scripts that I used only once to change the default Pause & Center key assignments in TrackIR (One AHK script for Pause, one AHK script for Center, after TIR was setup I didn't need to use these AHK scripts again). Sometimes these would work correctly changing the TIR Pause & Center key assignments to F15 & F16 ( I ran one AHK script, opened TIR and changed the default key assignment to F15 by pressing the Warthog pinky lever, closed the AHK script, then opened the second AHK script and did the same thing for the F16 key assignment in TIR).

 

However, sometimes the AHK scripts and Warthog pinky switch would not assign F15 & F16 to TIR, but instead assign the DirectX button pressed on the Warthog to the TIR key assignments ("joystick4" in this case if I remember correctly). This would usually result in assigning the same key assignment for Pause & Center, "Joystick4" in TIR because we are using the same button to send two different commands. TIR will not allow the same key assignment for two different actions. Also the "Joystick4" TIR assignment would not work with the AHK script used with DCS as it would send F15 or F16, but TIR was looking for the DirectX button (joystick4) that was incorrectly assigned to it. To get around this "flaky" TIR key assignment behavior (I think related to TIR) I changed the method to creating a TIR "DCS" profile and then manually editing the DCS TIR profile to change the Pause & Center TIR key assignments. If done correctly this will work every time.

 

Bottom line is don't worry about the reference to DirectX buttons. My new method takes that out of the equation and it is no longer a problem. Only one AHK script is needed, the one in the zip file, and it needs to be run every time before opening DCS World.

 

I hope this cleared this up for you and again, sorry if I confused you.

 

 

:pilotfly:

Edited January 6, 2013 by CubPilot

[CubPilot]

I just updated the first post and the readme in the zip file dated 1/6/2013.

 

The readme in the zip file has the info in my first post and also includes pictures to help get this setup properly.

 

 

:pilotfly:

[docbrown]

Thanks CubPilot, got this working on my T-Flight HOTAS X. Very happy =)

[CubPilot]

Docbrown, glad to see that you got it setup and working.

 

I assume that my new instructions were clear enough to get it working with not much trouble.

 

Cheers :beer:

 

 

 

:pilotfly:

[logion]

Nice post CubPilot, got it running on my Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X.

 

However I do have a question. I've changed the key number to 6, which is one of the buttons on my joystick. While button 6 itself isn't assigned in DCS, it is assigned with modifiers. I.e. Button9 and button6 is TMS UP, button10 and button 6 is DMS UP. The problem is that whenever I press HOTAS TMS/DMS UP, Track IR is recentered. As I'm not that familiar with Autohotkey syntax I wonder if it is possible to specify that certain modifiers should NOT be pressed in order for the key stroke to register? I've done some googling, but have come up empty thus far. Any suggestions? As the number of buttons is limited on the T-Flight, I would prefer not having to sacrifice a dedicated button for this.

 

This is the current state of the script:

 #NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
Process, Priority, , High

1Joy6::         ; y Joy x , y= controller ID number in windows, x= joy button number
KeyWait, 1Joy6 ; Wait for 2Joy4 to be releasd
 x := A_TimeSinceThisHotkey ; Just assigning x here, for shorter "if's"
 If (x < 500) ; If hotkey was held for less than 0.50 seconds, 500 ms
    Send {F15} ; Send the key F15
    Else if (x < 5000) ; If hotkey was held for more than 0.50 seconds, 500 ms & less than 5000 ms
    Send {F16} ; Send the key F16     
    return
return

[docbrown]

Hi Logion

 

I have a similar set up to you, however I am using button 1Joy11 with shift button 1Joy10 to trigger CubPilot's TrackIR script.

 

In your case, i believe AHK needs to be told not to do anything if 1Joy6 is pressed together with either 1Joy9 or 1Joy10. I hope this works for you. I haven't been able to test it though, since I'm at work. Let me know how you go.

 

1Joy6::
If GetKeyState ("1Joy9", "P") ; if 1Joy6 and 1Joy9 is pressed, do nothing
{
return
}
Else
If GetKeyState ("1Joy10", "P") ; if 1Joy6 and 1Joy10 is pressed, do nothing
{
return
}
Else ; If only 1Joy6 is pressed, centre or pause TrackIR
{
KeyWait, %A_ThisHotKey% ; Wait for 1Joy6 to be released
x := A_TimeSinceThisHotkey ; Just assigning x here, for shorter "if's"
If (x < 500) ; If hotkey was held for less than 0.50 seconds, 500 ms
Send {F15} ; Send the key F15
Else if (x < 5000) ; If hotkey was held for more than 0.50 seconds, 500 ms & less than 5000 ms
Send {F16} ; Send the key F16 
}
return

 

** Edit, just tested that and it doesn't work... sorry mate. I do however have it working on my HOTAS X without any conflicts, but my button layout could be different to yours. If you're interested in my control profile (slightly modified version of snafup's) and script let me know.

Edited February 13, 2013 by docbrown

[logion]

Thank you for pointing me towards GetKeyState. The C-like function variant was giving me strange results, so I switched to the version with comma separated arguments and now it's working fine. Also I believe you should put x := A_TimeSinceThisHotkey right after the KeyWait command!

 

This is my version that works:

1Joy6:: 	; y Joy x , y= controller ID number in windows, x= joy button number
KeyWait, 1Joy6 ; Wait for 1Joy6 to be released
x := A_TimeSinceThisHotkey ; Just assigning x here, for shorter "if's"
GetKeystate, Button9status, 1Joy9
GetKeystate, Button10status, 1Joy10
if (Button9status = "U") and (Button10status = "U")  { ; If only 1Joy6 is pressed, centre or pause TrackIR
if (x < 500) ; If hotkey was held for less than 0.50 seconds, 500 ms
	Send {F15} ; Send the key F15
else if (x > 500) ; If hotkey was held for more than 0.50 seconds, 500 ms
	Send {F16} ; Send the key F16 
return
}
return

 

Thanks again to the OP and for the additional help!

[snafup]

Thanks cub for this,

i edited it to use prtscrn and scrlck and it works just fine. (once i remembered to run as administrator).

[CubPilot]

Good to hear you got it working snafup. And Thanks to the others that posted with slightly different versions that worked in your situation. It gives others some options to better fit their needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

:pilotfly:

[charlesml3]

The .ZIP file attached to the original post seems to be bad. I've downloaded it several times now via Chrome and IE and WinZIP always reports it as corrupt. Can someone take a look and possibly reattach it?

 

Thanks a ton!

 

-Charles

[Milli]

I just downloaded it and unzipped it ok. No errors. I used 7-zip to unzip it - http://www.7-zip.org/

 

file: autohotkey-trackir-warthog_1-6-2013.zip

no errors in the 4 files.

 

Try clearing your internet browser cache and temp folder out before downloading again.

 

Regards,

Milli