Traffic 360 & Callsigns |
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FabioL
P/UT Joined: 04 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Points: 98 |
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Posted: 07 Nov 2012 at 11:02am |
Thank you for a much improved product from Traffic X; I'm enjoying the improved schedules and liveries.
Many FS users have (probably) updated their ATC files using Editvoicepak, so that we end up with FSX ATC able to voice airline names. I installed T360 on a brand new installation, therefore without voicepak amendments; as expected, ATC did not speak airline names, until I updated the ATC file and copied in an updated airlines.cfg file into FSX root directory. Now, ATC will use some but not all AI airline names, as many AI traffic aircraft are still called by their flight number, which is unrealistic, and it's also hard to pin-down which airline it is that needs investigating and updating. For instance, Flybe uses the ATC call-sign "JERSEY", but the aircraft CFG files in T360 use "FLYBE". I have updated Flybe's Dash & Embraer T360 fleet so that ATC uses the correct Flybe [JERSEY] call sign. My question concerns why T360 uses incorrect call-signs in its aircraft CFG files, and should it not update the ATC voice file and airline CFG file too? Perhaps there is a way for T360 users to indicate such changes to help JF make available updated CFG files, or perhaps for them to post updated CFG files? Thanks again, Fabio |
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freddy
Chief Pilot Joined: 29 Nov 2008 Location: Melbourne, Aust Points: 1339 |
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I don't have Traffic 360 ... so I cannot comment on how well (or not) the ATC callsigns work with that.
However, as a user of Traffic X, I can confirm that Traffic X was or is no different. It too, out of the box, had a lot of "incorrect" airline names set in its various aircraft.cfg files, thus resulting in ATC not calling the correct names for the respective airlines. Just as you are describing for Traffic 360. I found no easy way to pin-down which airlines and aircraft.cfg files needed changing or updating. But, that said, I often found myself using Editvoicepack and making changes, before editing the relevant aircraft.cfg files. I found it easier to simply do the airlines that were important to me, and then do the others when and if I needed. For example, as an Australian, I worked hard on editing and modifying Australian flight plans in Traffic X, but did less work on flight plans for other countries. And, for ATC, using Editvoicepack, I worked hard on ensuring that the ATC callouts were correct for the Australian airlines, and only did overseas airlines if I noticed them flying to the Australian airports without the correct callsigns (ie, I did the International flights that flew to Australia, but really had no need to worry about the rest).
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FabioL
P/UT Joined: 04 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Points: 98 |
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Hi,
That's pretty much what I'm doing, and I recall Traffic X being much the same. I'll carry on with this routine, but I do wish there was an easy way to identify which airlines need fixing; I usually end up cycling through the AI traffic views, and seeing which is ascending, descending, turning, or moving about on the ground. It'd be easier if the CFG files were more accurate. Fabio |
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Soaranden
P1 Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Points: 627 |
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Searching for aircraft.cfg files that need to be changed to give them correct call signs, can be made much easier by discontinuing use of Windows' built-in search facility. Install and use the freeware Agent Ransack, instead. Yes, I know, the program has a name that makes it sound as though it could be malware, but I assure you that it is a very trustworthy and powerful search program.
Agent Ransack can easily search multiple files within a folder. It can also search multiple files within all of a folder's subfolders. You could enter the correct call sign as a search term to see if any aircraft.cfg files contain the correct call sign. Alternatively, you could enter the incorrect call sign that Just Flight is using for the airline, and Agent Ransack would provide a list of all aircraft.cfg files that contain the incorrect call sign. TIP: Agent Ransack defaults to searching the entire drive. To specify that Agent Ransack search only a specific folder and all of its subfolders, put a checkmark in the "Subfolders" box, and click on the "Browse for single folder" icon. Dan |
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FabioL
P/UT Joined: 04 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Points: 98 |
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Hi Dan,
That sounds perfect, I'll try it out. Thanks, Fabio |
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Soaranden
P1 Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Points: 627 |
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Hi, Fabio,
Another program to keep in mind for future use is the freeware TextCrawler. I say "future use" because the newest version of TextCrawler is version 2.2, and an online manual for version 2 and above does not yet exist. TextCrawler has the advantage of being able to search and replace across multiple files. In the case of searching and replacing call signs, you would need to include the entire "atc_airline=" phrase along with its incorrect Just Flight call sign as a search term. If you only searched for the incorrect call sign, without including "atc_airline=" as the first part of the phrase being searched, you could end up with all instances of the airline's name being replaced in the aircraft.cfg files. I've downloaded and installed TextCrawler 2.2, myself, but I'm awaiting the new manual before attempting to use it. Dan |
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FabioL
P/UT Joined: 04 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Points: 98 |
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Thanks, I'll keep a lookout for it.
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Soaranden
P1 Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Points: 627 |
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Fabio, There is still no manual for TextCrawler 2. However, another free program that can search and replace across multiple files is the open source Notepad ++. I've downloaded Notepad ++, and the executable installer includes a manual. Dan |
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Soaranden
P1 Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Points: 627 |
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There is a downloadable user manual available for Notepad++ that is much more extensive than the Notepad++ online manual to which the Notepad++ program links. The file name for the downloadable manual is NppHelp.chm. Click on the "User manual - v6.2.2 (CHM)" link at Notepad++ Guides/User Guides.
From the manual contained in the NppHelp.chm file, I found that setting the Notepad++ "Search Mode" to "Regular expression" is very helpful. Doing so enables periods to be used as wildcards. I recently used Notepad++ to find all instances of a particular aircraft livery that existed in any .tcc file within the Traffic X "Flight Plans" folder. My objective was to have Notepad++ replace all of the aircraft liveries it found with a different aircraft livery within all of the files that contained the original aircraft livery. It was easy enough to get Notepad++ to find all instances of the original livery by simply providing the name of the livery as a search term. After Notepad++ provided a list of files, I had Notepad++ open all of the listed files at once. Before I had begun the "Find in Files..." operation in Notepad++, I had opened a couple of .tcc files so that I could view, highlight, and copy the name of the aircraft livery that I wanted to replace. I copied everything from the name over to the right through the tail number. I wanted to replace the tail number of the original livery with the tail number of the new livery. Now with all the files open that Notepad++ had found, I pasted my previously copied description of the original livery into the "Find what" field within the Notepad++ "Replace" operation. Since my previously copied description contained a tail number, and since I had realized that the tail number of the original livery varied within the .tcc files, I manually replaced each digit of the tail number with periods within the "Find what" field so that the new livery's tail number would replace the tail number of the original aircraft, regardless of what the original aircraft livery's tail number had been. Then it was simply a matter of entering the description of the new livery over through the new livery's tail number into the "Replace with" field within the Notepad++ "Replace" operation. The final step was to click on the "Replace All in All Opened Documents" button. Obviously, I saved many hours of work by using Notepad++ to do the finding and replacing. (I was replacing a VFR GA aircraft livery that was found in numerous countries). I only wish I could have given each instance of the new livery a unique tail number by doing automatic incrementing, but such incrementing is not enabled in Notepad++. Dan |
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FabioL
P/UT Joined: 04 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Points: 98 |
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Hi,
That sounds like a great plan; I will look into it. I have been using Agent Ransack to search through T360 aircraft.cfg's for AI aircraft flight numbers that ATC calls without an airline name (eg. "1125", descend FL150). To do this, I use Super Traffic Board to find the airline associated with the AI flight number, and then I search for all instances of this airline under the T360 directory. I then check this against the airline.txt file from EditVoicePack for the ATC phraseology FSX uses, and then I edit all aircraft.cfg files. This is fairly long winded, but at least I'm correcting them as I go on; for instance, in T360, Flybe is wrongly listed as Flybe in the cfg files, and this should be changed to Jersey. From then on, hopefully all other Flybe flights will be correctly called by ATC as Jersey. I will look into your method as well, thanks. Good luck! Fabio |
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Soaranden
P1 Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Points: 627 |
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Yes, Fabio, Notepad++ should work great for what you're doing. For example, once you realized that cfg files were using "atc_airline=Flybe," you could have used the Notepad++ "Find in Files..." function to find all instances of
"atc_airline=Flybe" in the cfg files of multiple aircraft models. (Since I use Traffic X, I searched all aircraft files within all TrafficX subfolders within the SimObjects folder by selecting the TrafficX directory within the Notepad++ "Find in Files..." function. You would have needed to use the entire
"atc_airline=Flybe" phrase, since you were wanting to find and replace the word "Flybe" only in the "atc_airline=Flybe" line. By using the entire phrase "atc_airline=Flybe," instances of the word "Flybe" in other lines within cfg files would remain intact when replacing.
After Notepad++ had found all files that contained "atc_airline=Flybe," you would simply instruct Notepad++ to open all files found. (To open all files found, right-click in the "Find result" window and select "Open All"). With all found files open, then you could have used "Replace," entered "atc_airline=Flybe" in the "Find what" field of "Replace," and entered "atc_airline=Jersey" in the "Replace with" field. Following that with a simple click of the "Replace All in All Open Documents" button would have replaced "Flybe" with "Jersey" in each "atc_airline=Flybe" line found. To save the changes, go to the Notepad++ "File" tab and select "Save All." Dan |
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Soaranden
P1 Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Points: 627 |
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Fabio,
I have made corrections to my two most-recent above postings. Originally, in each posting, I had referred to the Notepad++ "Find" function. I should have stated the "Find in Files..." function, instead. I apologize for misleading or confusing you or anyone else. It is the "Find in Files" function that enables Notepad++ (after pointing Notepad++ to a parent directory) to search for and find all instances of a search term within all files within the indicated directory...including all files containing the search term within any subfolders contained within the parent folder. Dan |
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FabioL
P/UT Joined: 04 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Points: 98 |
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Hi Dan,
Many thanks for the update, it's appreciated. I haven't managed to investigate Notepad++ yet, but it does sound like a formidable utility for this purpose. Thanks and best wishes, Fabio |
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freddy
Chief Pilot Joined: 29 Nov 2008 Location: Melbourne, Aust Points: 1339 |
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When it comes to editing MANY text files, or editing LARGE and COMPLICATED (lots of data) text files, Notepad++ is the ONLY way to go.
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