Multiple copies of same AI aircraft

The aircraft registrations in Traffic X are like the ones shown in your screenshot ... generally all the same. And, based on your screenshot, it looks like Traffic 360 is no different. It's nothing you've done. It's just the way Just Flight have done it. The planes will all be flying to different destinations and using different routes, they just happen to all be set with the same registration tail number in the AI traffic database. It's a little annoying at first, but over time you get used it and eventually you don't even think about it.

Yes, it is reassuring when you know it's nothing that you yourself have done.   

Ray,

The duplicated aircraft registrations shown in my photo were not specifically generated by me using T360 (different aircraft types to my flight plans).

Normally I let T360 generate its own registrations, however I have tried on a couple of occasions to generate specific aircraft registrations without success. I haven't looked into it as I've not been too concerned (at this stage). Anyway. to test it out I'll have a go at generating a couple of flight plans with specific aircraft registrations and let you know how I get on.

Bruce

HOT TIP

When you enter an aircraft registration in to the entry field, type blank SPACES after it. This way you can KEEP what you type.

This works with Traffic X. I don't have Traffic 360, but I am willing to guess that it will be the same.

Two examples:

1) I want FSX to show "VH-RIE" ... so I type "VH-RIE   " in to the entry box. See the THREE blank spaces after the "RIE"? The compiler will keep the VH-RIE part, and randomly assigns "invisible" letters/numbers to the three spaces. I have no idea what happens with these three blank spaces ... I think the sim just throws them away. Suffice to say you will NOT see them in the sim and it doesn't adversely affect anything.

2) I want FSX to show "E-G1J4" ... so I type "E-G1J4    " in to the entry box. See the FOUR blank spaces after the "G1J4"? The compiler will keep the E-G1J4 part, and randomly assigns "invisible" letters/numbers to the four spaces. As I said above, I have no idea what happens with these four blank spaces ... I think the sim just throws them away. Again, you will NOT see them in the sim and it doesn't adversely affect anything.

Try it. It works. (Well, it does for Traffic X.)

You don't worry about putting in spaces for the "VH-" or the "E-" part (as in my examples) because the traffic program has those pre-programmed and set already for the relevant country. So it's only just the END letters/numbers that you need to type the spaces for.

I used your recommended method of entering 3/4 space characters after the registration number and it worked perfectly. It's an odd/puzzling workaround but the important thing is that it works.

Thanks again for your help freddy.

Bruce

Freddy,

that is more than a HOT TIP - it is a major breakthrough as far as I am concerned even though it means that I will have to go through loads of schedules to 'correct' the anomaly as I am not happy to keep 'bumping' into loads of a/c with the same registration. THANK YOU.



Ray

starling wrote: Soaranden - Thanks for the info. Bruce

You're welcome, Bruce.

I use Traffic X rather than Traffic 360, but if Traffic 360 has .tcc files for individual airlines/carriers, then it should be possible to use a technique that I use to automatically create unique aircraft registration numbers.

If Traffic 360 does not use tcc files for airline flight plans or if the contents of the Traffic 360 tcc files are organized in a way that is significantly different from Traffic X, then the following suggested procedure may apply only to Traffic X. However, ff Traffic 360 has airline tcc files, and if the files are very similar to Traffic X tcc files, then the following procedure should work for both Traffic X and Traffic 360.

The procedure involves making a backup copy of an existing airline's .tcc file. (The backup is necessary only for users who are not familiar with my procedure).

I use TextPad to modify .tcc files and my instructions are specific to TextPad. I use TextPad version 7.0.4.

After opening an airline's .tcc file, sort the file if it is not already sorted.

With the aircraft sorted within TextPad, click on Search > Replace. In the Replace window, under "Conditions," select "Text" and "Regular Expression." Under "Scope," select "Active document." The foregoing items are the only items that should be selected.

Click in the Replace window's "Find what:" field, and press the Delete key on your keyboard to clear the field. Do the same in the "Replace with:" field.

Highlight the first occurrence of the aircraft to which you wish to assign a series of unique registration numbers. Highlight the from the left over through the registration number.



Copy the highlighted text, and paste it into the "Find what:" field.

Paste the same copied text into the "Replace with:" field.

If all occurrences of the selected aircraft currently have the same registration number, there is nothing more that needs to be done to the "Find what:" field. However, if some of the  same aircraft have different registration numbers, then replace the registration number in the "Find what:" field with periods. The periods function as wildcards and have the affect of telling TextPad to find all occurrences of the selected aircraft regardless of the registration number.



In the "Replace with:" field, we are going to provide a new registration number and a means for TextPad to increment registration numbers. As an example, I have decided the registration number for the first occurrence of the aircraft in the .tcc file should be "ZK-100." I am going to use "\i" to tell TextPad to begin incrementing. I am going to use braces to contain the number that TextPad is to increment. Since I am only incrementing the last 3 digits of the registration number, I enter "ZK-\i{100}."



To complete the procedure, click the Replace window's "Replace All" button.



Finally, close the Replace All window, save the modified .tcc file, close TextPad, and recompile your AI traffic.

With a little experience, you'll find you can complete the procedure very quickly.

freddy,

Since you mentioned the RegTemplates.tcc file, freddy, I should point out that I pay no attention to the contents of that file when I assign registration numbers using my procedure. I have found no adverse affect from ignoring the RegTemplates.tcc file, and I have never had Traffic X reject any of the registration numbers that are created using my procedure. The only constraint I place upon myself with regard to registration numbers is the constraint imposed by FSX, which is that FSX will use no more than seven alphanumeric characters for a registration number.

Dan

starling wrote: I'll download/install Textpad later today and work through the steps you've described. I'll be sure to backup beforehand. Bruce

Bruce,

Let us know how it goes. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Although I usually change the last three characters in an aircraft's registration number, for example, "ZK-\i{100}", "ZK-\i{100}G" would work fine, too, if you wanted the last character in all of the aircraft's registration numbers to be "G." In additon to numeric characters, alphabetic characters can be incremented, too. However, since many aircraft have many scheduled flights, it's best to increment using numeric characters rather than alphabetic characters. As a rule of thumb, I increment three-digit numbers, since many aircraft have more than 100 flight plans.

Dan

Soaranden wrote: freddy, Since you mentioned the RegTemplates.tcc file, freddy, I should point out that I pay no attention to the contents of that file when I assign registration numbers using my procedure. I have found no adverse affect from ignoring the RegTemplates.tcc file, and I have never had Traffic X reject any of the registration numbers that are created using my procedure. The only constraint I place upon myself with regard to registration numbers is the constraint imposed by FSX, which is that FSX will use no more than seven alphanumeric characters for a registration number.

I too ignore the RegTemplates file. Like you, I just type in the tail registrations and they work fine. It probably should be noted that I use the SPACES method when I need to keep a tail number intact whilst using the Traffic X interface. But, mostly, I MANUALLY edit the AI files and simply type in my own registrations at will.

starling wrote: freddy - T360 uses a very similar (maybe identical) RegTemplate file - thanks for drawing my attention to it. I've carried out further tests using your spaces method and it appears that it works fine for certain Airline/Carriers - for example "VFR traffic France,jf_VFR_FRA, France" and "VFR traffic United Kingdom, jf_VFR_GBR, United Kingdom . It doesn't seem to work for non VFR Airline/Carriers such as "Binter Canarias, NT, Spain". Further testing needed to confirm that this is definitey the case.

Similar file eh? I suspected as much. I'm glad to see your latest post confirming you've got it working with Soaranden's method.