How to move the status bar?

[jiblet]

Because I run a dual monitor config with very different aspect ratios/orientation the status bar (I'm not not sure what else you might call it but the bottom bar that shows in external views and displays alt, hdg, spd of the currently viewed aircraft) doesn't get rendered to my screen.

 

Is anyone able to point me at the right .lua file to hack about with it's position so I can move it to the top of the screen?

It's quite useful when helping others to land and such.

[GregP]

I haven't heard of anyone figuring out how to do this, but I can at least tell you that with multimonitor configs the info bar generally shows up on the bottom of the lowest screen...so I would think that you'd be seeing at least part of it on one of the screens.

 

What're the screen resolutions / aspect ratios and what exactly is your setup?

[jiblet]

That's true actually, but doesn't help due to the config:

 

I have a screen directly in front that is 1920x1200 in landscape orientation. I use this for the main viewport.

To my right is a 1050 x 1680 in portrait (hence the backwards numbers!). This gets my MFCDS, left at the top and right at the bottom.

 

So DCS is rendering a total of 1920 + 1050 horizontally by 1200 vertically in a shape like: ¬

 

So there's a portion of the virtual "screen" that is 1600 by (1680-1200) pixels underneath my central monitor that is being rendered by the engine but has no physical screen to be mapped to, and that's where tat status bar is.

 

Does that make sense?

[GregP]

Yup, I know exactly what you mean, because although my setup is different, I ran into exactly the same problem you're having.

 

How are you running these two monitors, though? SoftTH? Or just native within DCS?

 

I presume you meant that the virtual screen is 1920x480, not 1600x480. How about just putting that virtual screen on top, instead of at the bottom?

[WildBillKelsoe]

Because I run a dual monitor config with very different aspect ratios/orientation the status bar (I'm not not sure what else you might call it but the bottom bar that shows in external views and displays alt, hdg, spd of the currently viewed aircraft) doesn't get rendered to my screen.

 

Is anyone able to point me at the right .lua file to hack about with it's position so I can move it to the top of the screen?

It's quite useful when helping others to land and such.

 

You're looking for Toggle Info Bar command. Default LCtrl+Y twice. If not working, try LShift+Y twice.

[jiblet]

You're looking for Toggle Info Bar command. Default LCtrl+Y twice. If not working, try LShift+Y twice.

 

Thanks but I think you've missed the point: the info bar (thanks for the right name!) is being rendered to empty space because of the way I have my monitors configured, so I wanted to move it from being displayed at the bottom of the screen to the top instead.

 

Yup, I know exactly what you mean, because although my setup is different, I ran into exactly the same problem you're having.

 

How are you running these two monitors, though? SoftTH? Or just native within DCS?

 

I presume you meant that the virtual screen is 1920x480, not 1600x480. How about just putting that virtual screen on top, instead of at the bottom?

 

Monitors are being driven through native DCS and I may have misled you about "virtual" screens.... I meant just the way the entire 2970 x 1680 "virtual" screen that DCS renders is mapped to my two monitors.

 

Picture's a thousand words right? Here's my setup:

 

 

The red lines show the resolution of each monitor.

The Pink bit is the section that gets rendered by DCS but not mapped to a screen.

The thick white line is where the info bar is being rendered to, and hence why it doesn't show :)

 

Now... How do I shift that sucker? If that's even possible...

[PeterP]

Please post your (use the attachment function >> just load it up!)

1. options.lua >>> C:\Users\>your username<\Saved Games\DCS Warthog\Config

2. post your uniqe "Monitorsetup".lus that is in use >>> ...\Eagle Dynamics\DCS A-10C\Config\MonitorSetup

3. Which Operating System ?

 

I will have a look at it and compose a setting that will work for your set-up , so you will have the info-bar always in sight.

[GregP]

Hehehe, yup, I knew it was just a matter of time before good old PeterP came to the rescue. You're in capable hands now, jiblet--if he can't do it, no one can. :)

[Kuky]

I did this before and moved the statusbar to shot on main monitor (I have 2 small monitors bellow the main monitor) and the file you need to edit is

 

.../FUI/Resources/Statusbar-Plane-1024.res

 

I forgot what line though.

 

EDIT: now I remember I was able to move the text but not the image position... so in the end I gave up on the idea

Edited May 5, 2012 by Kuky

[PeterP]

How about just putting that virtual screen on top, instead of at the bottom?

This will bring another problem at Jiblets setup - because the Map view (F10) has the info-bar including buttons at the top.

So moving the camera-view to the bottom will trigger other problems...

 

I did this before and moved the statusbar to shot on main monitor (I have 2 small monitors bellow the main monitor) and the file you need to edit is

 

.../FUI/Resources/Statusbar-Plane-1024.res

 

I forgot what line though.

 

EDIT: now I remember I was able to move the text but not the image position... so in the end I gave up on the idea

 

There is a way to do this - but it is very complicated and has do be done for each setup in a different way, so its not worth the hassle if there are more convenient ways like to do it with SoftTH.

 

 

Jiblet!

I gathered enough info from your postings to simulate your set-up.

I assume you are using a 64bit OS and the left Monitor is set as your "primary/Main screen" in windows properties.

 

 

This following files and instruction will cure your problem and also enable you to run DCS in fullscreen.

As I know nothing about your GPU/CPU , it might higher also your overall frames - if not - it sure should enable you to set the eye-candy one or two notches up without seeing a drop in performance.

 

Unzip the attached file and follow the instructions of the included "Read This.txt":

Hello Jiblet!

 

Copy the DCS A-10C folder in your install directory and let the files integrate and overwrite.

- only one file will be overwritten . It is the "optionsData.lua" and its save to do it . I only added on line that will ad a custom resolution to your in-game options menu.

 

Files that will be added are:

 

DCS A-10C\bin folder >>

config.SoftTHconfig

d3d9.dll

readme_SoftTH2.txt << Read this txt!!!

 

DCS A-10C\Config\MonitorSetup folder >>

Jiblet SoftTH.lua

 

Files that will be overwritten are:

 

DCS A-10C\MissionEditor\data\scripts >>

optionsData.lua

 

It's save to overwrite it. I only added one line that will ad a custom resolution to your in-game options menu.

 

 

Once you copied everything in place , start DCS as usual but choose

"SoftTH 2520x1200" from the resolution drop-down Menu and

set "SoftTH MFCDs on right" as your monitor config.

 

Finally check Fullscreen and press "OK".

 

Than start a mission and be amazed. :)

 

 

 

What I did :

I chooped away the waste of reselution space outside your screens and cut down your overall res from 2970x1680 to 2520x1200 without a loose in image quality.

 

 

Use the Aplication+S key to draw the whole render at your primary screen - this is useful for the F10 map view. So it is not spawned across two screens.

 

 

More info about SoftTH : http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=71710

Have a look at this thread if everything works for you.

 

Please keep in mind that SoftTH is donation-ware , and if you like it, send some love to Kegetys (www.kegetys.net).

 

 

Peterp 05-05-2012

Btw : to disable SoftTH : simply delete/rename the "d3d9.dll" in the bin folder e.g. "d3d9.dll_off"

 

@ all others

you sure can download and study my files/edits , but don't expect that this will work for you if your setup don't matches the one of Jiblet.

Edited May 5, 2012 by PeterP

[jiblet]

Perfect. Absolutely perfect; thank you so much PeterP!

I was hoping you might show up after following your guide on altering the NVG template and some other things.

 

Beer tokens on the way to Kegetys.

 

Is it my imagination playing tricks on me... my MFCDs (the ones on the right monitor rather than the in cockpit ones) appear to be every so slightly blurry. Like when you run windows in a low resolution and it scales to fit the monitor.

 

Its certainly not unplayable, but it's ever so slightly odd.

 

Still, brilliant job and thanks again to everyone who's helped here.

 

 

EDIT:

Ah is it because it's set to draw the MFCDs at 600x600 (ie 1200px vertical space) rather than 840x840 (1680px vertical) but is still being scaled up to fill the two 840x840 spaces on the right monitor?

 

Can anything be done about that or is that simply a limitation of the setup I have?

Edited May 5, 2012 by jiblet

[PeterP]

Thanks for your nice words,

 

your MFCDs are now rendered in 600x600 each and spanned across your vertical 1680. - so your screen runs now in 600x1200...

 

This needs to be done - to have the top (f10) and bottom status bar in sight.

And you will not loose any info.

 

- I think it's a fair trade-off to fix your problem and higher the performance.

 

Don't miss to subscribe to the SoftTH News thread - as I will add info regrading DCS:World and managing different display layouts across the modules in near future.

Edited May 5, 2012 by PeterP

[PeterP]

Perfect. Absolutely perfect; thank you so much PeterP!

I was hoping you might show up after following your guide on altering the NVG template and some other things.

 

Next time open a thread or post in a appropriate one and give me a PM where to find it (many do it this way) - so you are not left in uncertainty for several days.

 

 

EDIT:

Ah is it because it's set to draw the MFCDs at 600x600 (ie 1200px vertical space) rather than 840x840 (1680px vertical) but is still being scaled up to fill the two 840x840 spaces on the right monitor?

 

Can anything be done about that or is that simply a limitation of the setup I have?

 

Sure it can be done...

To get them back to native res would mean that we have to squeeze 1920x1680 in your primary - but this would be of no much benefit for your performance.

 

Now that you can study my files - and you know now the SoftTH News thread you can find out how it is done yourself. ;)

(keep in mind I have a baby on my left arm while writing this...)

 

And keep in mind that a Real A-10 don't have such high resolution on the MFCDs as you have now.

Edited May 5, 2012 by PeterP

[jiblet]

I'm pretty sure I understand how this is all setup now, so thanks for that - and I agree that rendering the MFCDs to 600x600 and having them slightly aliased is a decent trade-off.

 

I thought about trying to get softth to render them to the 600x600 so they would be smaller but sharper, but I'm not actually sure I even want to do that so I'm sticking with what I have for now, and its great.

 

Thanks again for your time and effort!

[PeterP]

to get them on a smaller/native res "window"at you second screen,

lower the destRect function in the line #36 of the config.SoftTHconfig:

from this:

destRect=105,0,840,1680

to this:

destRect=255,240,600,1200

you can also think about turning you second screen 90° and place the MDFCs in the top left/right corner..., and mounting your TM-MFDs on it...,

and in-cooperate Helios >>>.... -- you made right now just one step into a bigger world :D. - the possibilities are endless...

 

>>> http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1054272#post1054272

 

 

I also prepared ready to use files for this purpose:

enabling Cockpit Exports in DCS-A10

 

and when you want to slip in this "rabbit-hole" you may want change also your default cockpit-view:

Tweaked Cockpit view for DCS A-10C

 

 

 

 

here is a small guideline for the config.SoftTHconfig :

Edited May 5, 2012 by PeterP

[jiblet]

Hah! I cant really move my monitor beneath as I use the same rig for work during daylight hours an a screen there would be no use.

 

out of interest though how did you mount your cougar MFDs to the screen? Particularly what are you using to support them at the corner thats actually over the screen rather than the bezel? I've wondered about doing that on my setup but couldnt come up with a decent way to mount them.

[PeterP]

Velcro (hook'n'loop fastener) sticker are always a good thing to have in a house - right next to gaffer-tape of course.

 

Btw this is not my rig - I use a touch-screen underneath a Triple head set-up and only the virtual cockpit to manipulate the switches directly just like GregP (my brother ?!;)).

 

>>>http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=82552&page=3

And now you can finally see what he meant as he said that he had also issues with the info-bar...

 

 

 

(now I start to show off!:))

and of course some other gadgets that makes live simpler:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=86015

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=83814

... funny thing about all this that 5years ago I didn't know how to hold a screw-driver straight, ... and now it's just a demand to get through a happy simming-time....:)

 

There ale also bigger plans for a semi-cockpit build in the shelf, but social live and family have higher priority right now.

>>> spherical dome made out of satellite dishes

Edited May 5, 2012 by PeterP

[Kuky]

I found a way to get StatusBar to show on main monitor only

 

Edit following file (use Notepad++):

...DCS World/Scripts/UI/StatusBarDialog.lua

 

Line 29 change from:

window:setBounds(0, screenHeight - h, screenWidth, h)

to:

window:setBounds(0, 1200 - h, 1920, h) <-- here specify width & height of your main monitor

EDIT (thanks PeterP):

Line 33 change from:

window.time:setPosition(screenWidth - w, y, w, h)

to:

window.time:setPosition(1920 - w, y, w, h) <-- here specify width of your main monitor

Edited August 4, 2012 by Kuky

[PeterP]

I want to add something, so that the time shows up correctly:

 

I also found a way to get StatusBar to show on main monitor only (I'm on a good run today )

 

Edit following file (use Notepad++):

...DCS World/Scripts/UI/StatusBarDialog.lua

Line 29 change from:

 

window:setBounds(0, screenHeight - h, screenWidth, h)

to:

window:setBounds(0, 1200 - h, 1920, h) <-- here specify resolution of your main monitor

Line 29 change from:

to:

 

And set in line 33 your screenWidth to have the time show up correctly.

 

from this

window.time:setPosition(screenWidth - w, y, w, h)

To this:

window.time:setPosition(1920 - w, y, w, h)<-- here specify Width of your main monitor

Example on a 1024x768 camera-view-port and a 800x600 "main-screen size"

[HiJack]

I've seen some pictures with the status bar transparent (only shows flag, aircraft, name, speed, altitude and coordination), is it easy to remove the gray bar itself?

 

(HJ)

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

Can someone specify the path if you don't use DCS World? Just A-10C

[PeterP]

Can someone specify the path if you don't use DCS World? Just A-10C

 

No known workaround for pre 1.1.2.1

 

Some great chunks of the menu behaviour have been re-writen for 1.1.2.1.

- this is also why I posted the SoftTH workaround at first place.

- So until you don't download DCS:World and the A-10C 1.1.2.1 you can only use what's written until Kuky showed up.

 

... Well , as long someone proofs me wrong!

Edited February 20, 2013 by PeterP

[Loz]

I found a way to get StatusBar to show on main monitor only

 

Edit following file (use Notepad++):

...DCS World/Scripts/UI/StatusBarDialog.lua

 

Line 29 change from:

to:

 

Love it love it. :lol:

 

One of the things that has been annoying me since LOMAC, is now changeable.

I've always thought that if you go to exterior view (F2) that the status bar should NOT be visible and only selectable with CTRL + Y if you wish to view it, and now with a small change to the StatusBarDialog.lua it is.

 

I'm not a programmer so there may be a more elegant way to do this but by two small changes

from line 36 on, it now only shows the Status Bar when you want it.

Switch the "false" and "true" as highlighted in red below.

 

 

function show()

if not window then

create()

end

 

window:setVisible(false)

end

 

function hide()

if window then

window:setVisible(true)

end

end

 

 

I've also change where the status bar appears on my Eyefinity as shown below, and the

settings I've used in the StatusBarDialog.lua in the spoiler below.

(Edit: Note this is for my 6048x1200 setup with bezel managemnent)

 

 

 

 

function updateBounds()

-- TODO: êîãäà â GUI ïîÿâÿòñÿ layouts ýòîò êîä ìîæíî áóäåò óáðàòü

local screenWidth, screenHeight = Gui.GetWindowSize()

 

local w, h = window:getSize()

 

window:setBounds(2064, 1200 - h, 1920, h)

 

local x, y, w, h = window.time:getBounds()

 

window.time:setPosition(1920 - w, y, w, h)

end

 

 

Many thanks to both for the help. :)

Edited July 13, 2012 by Loz

[Loz]

Ooops That didn't quite work out as expected.

Now when selecting the Status Bar on in F2 view it also comes on and stays on in Cockpit view.

NOT what was wanted, back to the drawing board

 

Can anyone who know what they are doing with .lua programming tell me how to change the StatusBarDialog.lua to achieve it

being off by default and to come on when you select CTL=Y ?? Please.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Loz

[lrdangel]

I found a way to get StatusBar to show on main monitor only

 

Edit following file (use Notepad++):

...DCS World/Scripts/UI/StatusBarDialog.lua

 

Line 29 change from:

to:

EDIT (thanks PeterP):

Line 33 change from:

to:

 

Thank you Kuky and PeterP!! This has been great stuff. Thank you all for your hard work!

 

~ LA