A little project of mine for simpit builders. ngxSDK2Lua

[dazz 69]

Hi fellow simmers.

I have developed an NGX-FSUIPC4 integration to facilitate access of the NGX data from FSUIPC/Lua.

The idea is to allow developers to implement their own modules to support panels taking advantage of the facilities that FSUIPC provides.

It's a modular design and the installer includes some devices, ready to use (ok, only one so far hehe).

 

So far the only fully functional module included is the GoFlight MCP, which is an adaptation of Stephen Munn's Lua script. All credit for that module goes to him.

If anyone develops a module for a new device, please let me know so I can add it to the installer.

 

Instructions and description bellow:

 

 

 

ngxSDK2Lua ----------- version 0.5

 

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Hey guys & gals.

This is a dll I've programmed that allows to read the PMDG NGX data from FSUIPC4/Lua.

There's no support for sending stuff to the NGX as that's already covered by FSUIPC4 / LINDA.

It's an interface, a "link" between the NGX SDK and FSUIPC4, but the installer includes some modules

ready to use for some devices. I plan on including new modules as (if) they become available.

 

It's worth noting that at the time of writing this (March, 2012), PMDG and Pete Dowson are

supposed to be in talks to reach an agreement that may allow Pete to provide native support for

the NGX in FSUIPC4, so you may want to check out his forums and use that instead if available.

I started with this a couple of days before that happened so decided to finish it anyway.

I want to thank Pete for his time and awesome help, PMDG for their SDK and both of them for their

great products.

Also thanks to Paul Dumke for helping in the testing & debugging process.

 

Whatever you do, make sure you abide by everything in PMDG's SDK EULA and terms of use,

that you must agree to upon installation of this software.

 

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REQUIREMENTS

 

- FSX

- PMDG 737NGX - SP1c

- FSUIPC4, registered & up-to-date

 

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SUPPORTED DEVICES / INCLUDED MODULES IN THIS VERSION

 

- GoFlight MCP

 

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HOW TO USE THIS THING

 

Simply run the installer and pick the modules for the devices you want to use with the NGX.

If you want to modify the installation, simply re-run the installer and add or remove the modules

as required.

 

After running the installer you will get a number of files copied to you FSX installation:

<FSX ROOT>/Modules/lua/ngxSDK2Lua.dll -> the module library

<FSX ROOT>/Modules/ngxSDK2Lua -> every folder here is a module installed, typically you have one

module per device.

<FSX ROOT>/Modules/startNGXSDK2Lua.lua -> the initialization script for the module

 

In the installation folder you'll have this Readme, the uninstaller and some other files the

installer and uninstaller need.

 

The installer will edit your <FSX ROOT>/PMDG/PMDG 737 NGX/737NGX_Options.ini to include the entry:

 

[sDK]

EnableDataBroadcast=1

 

to enable the data communication output with the NGX.

 

It will also add (or edit) the file <FSX ROOT>/Modules/ipcReady.lua to launch the dll when you start

a flight with the NGX.

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PROGRAM YOUR OWN MODULES

 

Each module should go in it's own folder at <FSX ROOT>/Modules/ngxSDK2Lua. For example, the sample

module included in the installer is in the folder called "sample module". In that folder you should

create a lua script called "moduleConfig.lua" with the module implementation.

 

When the NGX starts running, the dll will look for folders/modules in <FSX ROOT>/Modules/ngxSDK2Lua,

and will load the moduleConfig.lua script.

First thing the dll does with moduleConfig.lua is to call a function moduleConfig(). There you can

start other scripts, register offsets (more on this later) or whatever you need.

 

There are 3 things you can do:

 

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A) Implement a set of Lua functions that will run automatically every time a certain item in

the SDK changes value. Example:

 

require "ngxSDK2Lua" -- loads the module

 

function IRS_DisplaySelector(param)

ipc.log("IRS_DisplaySelector: " .. param)

end

 

This function will run every time the IRS DisplaySelector switch changes position. In the example

it simply will print the value in the FSUIPC log.

The names of the functions should match exactly the names of the items as defined in the NGX SDK

that you should already have.

 

For array members like IRS_ModeSelector[2] the convention for the function names is to add "_index#":

 

IRS_ModeSelector_0 for the first member of the array IRS_ModeSelector[0]

IRS_ModeSelector_1 for the second member of the array IRS_ModeSelector[1]

 

And so on:

 

function IRS_ModeSelector_0(param) ipc.log("IRS_ModeSelector_0: " .. param) end

function IRS_ModeSelector_1(param) ipc.log("IRS_ModeSelector_1: " .. param) end

 

You can use the moduleConfig.lua file provided in the sample module as a template,

implement the functions you need and delete the rest.

 

If you need those functions in a different Lua script for whatever reason, you can instruct the dll

to look for the functions in another script adding something like this to the moduleConfig() function:

 

ngxSDK2Lua.registerLuaFile("<path of the script relative to the modules\ngxSDK2Lua folder>")

 

for instance:

 

function moduleConfig()

require "ngxSDK2Lua"

ngxSDK2Lua.registerLuaFile("sample module\\myFunctions.lua")

end

 

Remember to use double back-slashes

 

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B) Register items to be written to specific offsets in FSUIPC every time they change.

This will keep the NGX items you want in the offsets of your choice.

For all I know this is how opencockpits devices work.

 

An example of the moduleConfig() function with an item registration:

 

function moduleConfig()

require "ngxSDK2Lua"

ngxSDK2Lua.registerOffsetMap("IRS_DisplaySelector", 0x66C1) -- store the item IRS_DisplaySelector in the offset 0x66C1

end

 

It will map internally to the appropiate data size depending on the item type at hand:

 

unsigned char -> writeUB

char -> writeSB

float -> writeFLT

unsigned short -> writeUW

short -> writeSW

unsigned int -> writeUD

boolean -> setbitsUB for 0 <= bitPos <= 7, setbitsUW for 8 <= bitPos <= 15 or setbitsUD for 16 <= bitPos <= 31

 

For boolean items you need another parameter to inform the bit position in the offset:

 

ngxSDK2Lua.registerOffsetMap("IRS_SysDisplay_R", 0x66C0, 0)

 

This keeps the value of the boolean item "IRS_SysDisplay_R" in the least significant (0) bit of the

offset 0x66C0. So the third parameter (0 in the example) is the bit position where the item will be

stored.

 

You can combine A) and B), meaning that you can have some items processed in the lua

functions and some others stored in offsets, or even have items use both.

 

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C) The last thing you can do is to call "get" functions to retrieve the data at will from your own scripts.

You can do this from any Lua script in your modules/LINDA folders adding a "get_" prefix to the name of

the item that should follow the same naming convention as in the callback.lua functions for array items:

 

require "ngxSDK2Lua" -- loads the module

resp = ngxSDK2Lua.get_IRS_SysDisplay_R() -- retrieves the "IRS_SysDisplay_R" data

ipc.log("get_IRS_SysDisplay_R() = "..resp)

 

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UNINSTALLING:

 

From the control panel -> uninstall a program, look for ngxSDK2Lua in the list and uninstall it.

 

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DOWNLOAD LINK

[IFR7700 228]

This is slightly over my head, but I'm intrigued. So I'm going to do a little research and if I think it is in my eventual reach, I am going to give it a try. I'll keep an eye on this PMDG - FSUIPC collaboration. Hopefully, it will come to my rescue. Thanks for your great work.

[dazz 69]

This is slightly over my head, but I'm intrigued. So I'm going to do a little research and if I think it is in my eventual reach, I am going to give it a try. I'll keep an eye on this PMDG - FSUIPC collaboration. Hopefully, it will come to my rescue. Thanks for your great work.

 

Thanks to you Dennis. Truth is I tend to make things look more complicated than they are or should be. Sorry about that.

Actually this is just a "panel driver installer", meaning that if you have a panel or a number of them (GoFlight MCP, OpenCockpits overhead, VRInsight Combo...) you run the installer, pick the panels you own from the list, and they will work right away with the NGX, provided that you have a registered copy of FSUIPC, that is.

 

 

It also provides developers with the means to program their own modules for new panels. It only takes a Lua script to get one module running.

Since FSUIPC may do that natively soon anyway, I will include modules for devices in the installer even if they don't use the features in my dll, so this can maybe become a compilation of panel drivers for the NGX that one can install with just a few mouse clicks

[GAE074 0]

Hi Dario,

 

first of all, thanks for your work and the fast answer to my pm. I have a second question. I try to understand, what your LUA script does but i am a complet newbie in that LUA language. So what i´m asking myself, does your script send data to the GF-MCP, to bring information to the display´s of the MCP? In the past i used the gfdisplay.exe from Pete Dowson, but this worked just with the LGT module of GoFlight. If i now use your script in combination with the gfdisplay.exe i get the display´s of the MCP active and the NAV and HDG display showing the right values. So my question, should the ngxSDK2Lua itself bring information to the display´s, because if not i will try to work on the gfdisplay.ini, to get information on the rest of the display´s.

 

Greets Sebastian