source: doc/manual/en/index.html@ 194:daa841678660

Last change on this file since 194:daa841678660 was 194:daa841678660, checked in by István Váradi <ivaradi@…>, 13 years ago

Added the English-language user's manual
File size: 31.9 KB
RevLine 
[194]1<html>
2 <head>
3 <title>MAVA Logger X User's Manual</title>
4 </head>
5<body>
6 <h1>MAVA Logger X User's Manual</h1>
7
8 <h2>Overview</h2>
9
10 <p>
11 MAVA Logger X is an application that monitors the execution of a
12 Malév Virtual flight, and collects data that can be sent to the MAVA
13 website for further evaluation. This manual describes how to use
14 this program. To be able to use the program properly, you need to
15 have a working Internet connection, even if you don't fly on-line on
16 VATSIM or IVAO.
17 </p>
18
19 <p>
20 While monitoring your flight the program continuously checks if your
21 airplane's configuration is always within the parameters prescribed
22 by the airline's operating procedures. For example, you have to turn
23 on or off the various lights of your aircraft according to rules,
24 you cannot exceed certain weight or speed limits, and so on. Any
25 deviation from the expected parameters, also know as a fault, can
26 result in points subtracted from the initial 100 points (or
27 percentage). The result is your <i>flight rating</i>. Some
28 deviations are so serious, that they are deemed <i>NO GO</i> faults
29 and result in the rejection of your flight.
30 </p>
31
32 <p>
33 Besides the faults the program also monitors many other parameters,
34 which are recorded in a textual <i>log</i>. This log is sent as a
35 part of your PIREP (<b>PI</b>lot's <b>REP</b>ort), and will be
36 analyzed, and possibly commented on by more experienced pilot's of
37 Malév Virtual. This way you can perfect the way you execute your
38 flights.
39 </p>
40
41 <p>
42 The application breaks up your flight into
43 several <i>stage</i>s. The advancement from one stage to another is
44 detected automatically. These stages and the conditions under which
45 they are entered are as follows:
46 <ol>
47 <li><b>boarding</b>: This is the initial stage when you start the
48 flight.</li>
49 <li><b>push-back and taxi</b>: If you release the parking brakes
50 or your ground speed becomes 5 knots or greater during the
51 boarding stage, your flight enters this stage.</li>
52 <li><b>takeoff</b>: If you turn on the landing and/or the strobe
53 lights or your ground speed exceeds 80 knots during taxi or after
54 a rejected takeoff (RTO).</li>
55 <li><b>climb</b>: When you retract the gears or you reach 3000
56 feet altitude AGL with a positive climb rate after takeoff.</li>
57 <li><b>RTO</b>: If you switch off both the landing and the
58 strobe lights, and your speed is reduced below 50 knots while on
59 the ground during takeoff.</li>
60 <li><b>cruise</b>: When the aircraft's altitude is within 2000
61 feet of the cruise altitude and you are climbing.</li>
62 <li><b>descent</b>: If the altitude decreases to more than 2000
63 feet below the cruise altitude during cruise.</li>
64 <li><b>landing</b>: If the gears are lowered and the altitude is
65 less than 2000 feet AGL during descent or go-around.</li>
66 <li><b>go-around</b>: If you retract the gears during landing.</li>
67 <li><b>taxi after landing</b>: When the aircraft is in the
68 ground and its ground speed is below 50 knots after landing.</li>
69 <li><b>parking</b>: If the parking brake is activated after taxi.</li>
70 <li><b>end</b>: If the N<sub>1</sub> of the turbines becomes
71 less than 0.5, or the RPM of the piston engines becomes 0 during
72 parking. This is the final stage.</li>
73 </ol>
74
75 <p>
76 To enhance the simulation, the program can play various sound files
77 during the various stages of your flight, such as the announcements
78 made by the flight attendants. These files are supplied with the
79 application, and they can be played automatically, or when you press
80 a certain hotkey in the flight simulator. You can also organize
81 pre-recorded sound files into checklists for the each aircraft
82 type, and these files can also be played back one-by-one when you
83 repeatedly press a key combination in the simulator. See below for
84 more information on this.
85 </p>
86
87 <p>
88 Malév Virtual has implemented an <i>Online ACARS System</i>, which
89 displays the status of the flights in progress. The data appears on
90 the front page of the MAVA website and on a map accessible from the
91 inner page.
92 </p>
93
94 <p>
95 Malév Virtual has also implemented an <i>Online Gate System</i>
96 which maintains a database of the aircraft in the airline's fleet
97 and their location. An aircraft may be parked at the Budapest
98 Ferihegy Airport, in which case the number of the gate or stand it
99 is located at is recorded in the database. If so, this number is
100 displayed to you when starting your flight, and you are recommended
101 to place your aircraft at the indicated gate or stand in the
102 simulator. If your flight begins at Ferihegy and the aircraft is
103 away (usually due to someone else's flight), you can select from
104 which gate or stand you start your flight. The database of the
105 Online Gate System can also be displayed by using the application.
106 </p>
107
108 <p>
109 The program can automatically update itself. When it starts up, it
110 checks if there is a newer version available. If so, it downloads
111 its files and replaces the program's current files with the new
112 ones. Then the program is restarted so that you can use the new
113 version. Besides acquiring bug fixes, updating is also important,
114 because the program can be extended with new checks or more refined
115 checks, and if you are using too old a version, the PIREP reviewers
116 may refuse your flight.
117 </p>
118
119 <h3>Graphical User Interface</h3>
120
121 <p>
122 The GUI of the application is made up of traditional building blocks
123 (buttons, checkboxes, lists, text entry boxes, etc.) found in other
124 applications as well. Many such controls have informative tooltips
125 that supplement the contents of this User's Guide in helping you
126 using the application. Many controls are also accessible by pressing
127 the <b>Alt</b> plus the underlined letter in the control's label.
128 </p>
129
130 <p>
131 The most often used part of the program is the main window, to be
132 described in detail below. When you minimize or close the window, it
133 disappears by default, but the program continues to run. You can
134 redisplay the window by clicking on the tray icon of the program,
135 which looks like the one on the picture below.
136 </p>
137
138 <p>
139 If you click on the tray icon when the program's window is hidden,
140 the window will be displayed. If you hover the mouse pointer over
141 the icon, the flight stage and the current rating will be
142 displayed. The tray icon has a right-button menu as well with the
143 following items:
144 <ul>
145 <li><b>Show main window</b>: displays or hides the main window.</li>
146 <li><b>Show monitor window</b>: displays or hides the monitor
147 window (see below).</li>
148 <li><b>Quit</b>: quit the application. A confirmation window will
149 be displayed.</li>
150 </ul>
151 </p>
152
153 <p>
154 You can also quit the application by selecting the <b>File/Quit</b>
155 menu item, or by pressing <b>Ctrl+Q</b>.
156 </p>
157
158 <p>
159 If you start the application, when it is already running, the main
160 window of the already running instance will be displayed instead of
161 starting a new instance of the program.
162 </p>
163
164 <h2>The Main Window</h2>
165
166 <p>
167 The figure below depicts the main window of the application. The top
168 of it contains the usual menu bar, which will be describe in more
169 detail later.
170 </p>
171
172 <p>
173 The content area consists of several tabs the use of which is
174 described below.
175 </p>
176
177 <p>
178 The bottom of the window is a status bar. Its left end contains the
179 icon indicating the status of the connection to the simulator. Since
180 the application continuously monitors the parameters of your
181 aircraft, it needs to communicate with the simulator. The icon's
182 colour indicates the health of this communication channel.
183 </p>
184
185 <p>
186 If it is grey, the program is not connected. This is normal before
187 and after the flight. If it is green, the connection is alive and
188 working properly. If it is red, the connection is broken. In this
189 case a dialog window is displayed. The most likely cause for such a
190 disruption is the crash of the simulator. If this is the case,
191 restart the simulator and try to restore the flight to a state as
192 close to the one before the crash as possible. Then click
193 the <b>Reconnect</b> button, and the program will try to
194 re-establish the connection to the simulator. It preserves all data
195 of your flight, so you can continue where you left off easily.
196 </p>
197
198 <p>
199 If the reason for the failure of the connection is something else,
200 do whatever is needed to be done to restore it. Of course, it is
201 possible that the logger application itself fails, in which case
202 you, unfortunately, have to restart the flight. Do not forget to
203 notify the author if this happens.
204 </p>
205
206 <p>
207 If you click the <b>Cancel</b> button in the reconnection dialog,
208 the logger will be reset as if it were stopped and restarted.
209 </p>
210
211 <p>
212 To the right of the connection status icon, you can see the current
213 stage of the flight, if the monitoring has begun. Otherwise it is a
214 single dash. It is followed by the simulator time, if the program is
215 already connected to the simulator. Then comes the current flight
216 rating.
217 </p>
218
219 <p>
220 The right if the status bar is normally empty, but if there is some
221 potentially long operation going on (typically communicating with
222 the MAVA servers), information about the operation is displayed
223 here. This is accompanied by the cursor becoming that of signaling
224 a busy state and most parts of the main window becoming
225 unresponsive.
226 </p>
227
228 <h3>The Flight Tab</h3>
229
230 <p>
231 The flight tab is the most import tab. It consists of a sequence of
232 pages similar to wizards found in many programs. The first several of
233 these pages guide you through the various steps of the preparations
234 for your flight, while the last pages allow you to enter some
235 information about your flight necessary for its evaluation and to
236 send the PIREP (Pilot's Report) assembled by the program to the MAVA
237 website.
238 </p>
239
240 <p>
241 Each page has a title at the top indicating the purpose of the
242 page. There is a short text below this, which describes what the
243 page contains and/or what is expected from you to do with the page.
244 Below the text you can find the main information and possibly data
245 entry areas for the page. Finally, you can find the button row at
246 the bottom.
247 </p>
248
249 <p>
250 Most of the pages contain two buttons: <b>Next</b> and
251 <b>Previous</b>. These help in navigating between the pages. In most
252 cases you can go back to previously visited pages by using
253 the <b>Previous</b> button, although you cannot edit the contents of
254 those pages once finalized by moving to the next page using
255 the <b>Next</b> button. There are a few exceptions though, as
256 detailed below.
257 </p>
258
259 <h4>The <i>Login</i> Page</h4>
260
261 <p>
262 Each flight starts with the Login page where you can enter the your
263 pilot's ID and password for the MAVA website. Both data are given
264 to you when joining Malév Virtual. The pilot's ID usually starts
265 with the letter <q>P</q> followed by three digits.
266 </p>
267
268 <p>
269 If you check <b>Remember password</b>, the password will be saved by
270 the program, so you don't have to enter it all the time. Note,
271 however, that the password is saved plainly into a configuration
272 file, so you this possibility only if your home directory can be
273 accessed only by people you trust. The pilot's ID is saved anyway.
274 </p>
275
276 <p>
277 If you are about to perform the entrance flight, check
278 <b>Entrance exam</b>. In this case you don't have to (and cannot)
279 enter the password, as that is not needed for the entrance exam.
280 </p>
281
282 <p>
283 The login to the MAVA server, and proceed to the next page, press
284 the <b>Login</b> button.
285 </p>
286
287 <h4>The <i>Flight selection</i> Page</h4>
288
289 <p>
290 This page displays the list of the flight you have booked previously
291 on the MAVA website. You can also upload a flight from a file by
292 pressing the <b>Load flight from file</b> button. This displays a
293 file selection dialog where you select the flight file (usually with
294 a suffix of <code>.vaflight</code>). Since you cannot
295 send the PIREP for such flights, this is mostly useful during the
296 entrance exam.
297 </p>
298
299 <p>
300 Select a flight from the list, and press <b>Next</b> button to
301 proceed with that flight.
302 </p>
303
304 <h4>The <i>LHBP gate selection</i> Page</h4>
305
306 <p>
307 This page is displayed after the flight selection page only if your
308 flight starts at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport and the number of the
309 gate or stand at which your aircraft is located cannot be
310 determined.
311 </p>
312
313 <p>
314 Select a number from the list presented, and press <b>Next</b>.
315 </p>
316
317 <h4>The <i>Connect to the simulator</i> Page</h4>
318
319 <p>
320 This page displays some important information about your flight,
321 such as the type and tail number of the aircraft to use, the
322 departure airport and possibly the gate.
323 </p>
324
325 <p>
326 Select the aircraft indicated and park it at the departure airport,
327 then press <b>Connect</b> to establish the connection with the
328 simulator. If the connection cannot be established, a dialog will be
329 displayed about it, and you can <b>Try again</b> the connection
330 or <b>Cancel</b> to go back to the login page.
331 </p>
332
333 <p>
334 Note, that after a successful connection, the monitoring of your
335 flight does not begin immediately, but some data can be queried by
336 the logger at this stage.
337 </p>
338
339 <h4>The <i>Payload</i> Page</h4>
340
341 <p>
342 This page displays the components of the flight's payload and the
343 calculated Zero-Fuel Weight (ZFW). You can enter here the cargo
344 weight you determined for your flight. You can also press the <b>ZFW
345 from FS</b> button, which queries the ZFW from the simulator and
346 displays the retrieved value. If the ZFW calculated from the payload
347 data differs too much from the queried one, the calculated value is
348 displayed in red. This the right time to set up the payload in the
349 simulator. If you forget about it, it will be a NO GO fault.
350 </p>
351
352 <p>
353 If you have finished with this page, press the <b>Next</b>
354 button. At this point, the <i>Help</i> tab becomes available, which
355 you can use if you have failed to set up the correct payload in the
356 simulator. See a more detailed description of it below.
357 </p>
358
359 <h4>The <i>Time</i> Page</h4>
360
361 <p>
362 This page displays the departure and arrival times of your
363 flight in UTC. Press the <b>Time from FS</b> button to query the
364 current UTC time of the simulator. To be able to simulate the real
365 lighting circumstances of the flight, the simulator's time should mach
366 the time of the flight according to the schedule. Therefore you are
367 expected to set the simulator's time properly. It is recommended to
368 set it to about 15 minutes before the departure at this stage so
369 that you have enough time to set up your flight.
370 </p>
371
372 <p>
373 When you have set the time of the simulator properly, press
374 the <b>Next</b> button.
375 </p>
376
377 <h4>The <i>Fuel</i> Page</h4>
378
379 <p>
380 This page contains a graphical representation of the fuel tanks of
381 your aircraft. The yellowish colour represents the current level of
382 the fuel in the tank, and turquoise slider is the expected level,
383 which is also displayed numerically (in kilograms) below each graph.
384 </p>
385
386 <p>
387 You can enter the requested amount of fuel numerically, or you can
388 set it by the turquoise sliders, though this method less accurate. The
389 lever can be moved by clicking in the fuel tank's representation,
390 and you can drag it if you keep the button pressed. If your mouse
391 has a wheel, that can also be used to modify the expected level. To
392 use the wheel, keep the mouse pointer within the fuel tank's
393 graphic. Each click of the wheel increment or decrements the amount
394 by 10 kilograms. If you hold down the <b>Shift</b> key, the
395 increment will be 100, if you hold down the <b>Ctrl</b> key, the
396 increment will be 1.
397 </p>
398
399 <p>
400 When all tanks have the correct amount of fuel set, press
401 the <b>Next</b> button. This causes the pumping of the fuel to
402 start. The progress is represented by the yellowish fuel bars
403 growing or shrinking (fuel may be pumped out of a tank as
404 well). This is a relatively quick process and should finish within a
405 few seconds.
406 </p>
407
408 <h4>The <i>Route</i> Page</h4>
409
410 <p>
411 This page displays the cruise level and the flight plan route. The
412 cruise level starts out at FL240, but the route comes from the
413 booked flight. Set the cruise level to the one you have calculated
414 with, and modify the flight plan if needed. For example, if you will
415 enter some airspace that will require you to change the flight
416 level, you should add that here.
417 </p>
418
419 <p>
420 When satisfied with the information on the page, press
421 the <b>Next</b> button to advance. Note, that these data can be
422 edited later as well if you come back to this page.
423 </p>
424
425 <h4>The <i>Briefing</i> Pages</h4>
426
427 <p>
428 These pages display the NOTAMs and the METAR for the departure and
429 the arrival airports. You can edit the METAR if your network
430 provides a different weather, or you do not fly with real
431 weather. The METAR of the arrival airport will be updated when
432 entering the landing stage, unless you have edited it before. The
433 METARs can be edited during the whole duration of the flight. If you
434 do so, please, comment it in the <i>Comments</i> sections of
435 the <i>Flight info</i> tab.
436 </p>
437
438 <p>
439 On the second briefing page (that of the arrival airport), confirm
440 that you have read the briefing and are ready to start the flight by
441 clicking the button. This begins the monitoring of your flight with
442 the boarding stage.
443 </p>
444
445 <h4>The <i>Takeoff</i> Page</h4>
446
447 <p>
448 On this page you have to enter the name of the departure runway, the
449 name of the Standard Instrument Departure procedure you follow after
450 takeoff and the takeoff V-speeds. While you can edit these data
451 anytime, it is recommended to do so before takeoff.
452 <p>
453
454 <p>
455 You can proceed to the next page after takeoff, and if all data has
456 been entered, by pressing the <b>Next</b> button.
457 </p>
458
459 <h4>The <i>Landing</i> Page</h4>
460
461 <p>
462 On this page you have to enter the name of the STAR and/or transition followed
463 (if you get vectors from ATC, enter <q>VECTORS</q> here), the
464 approach type (e.g. <q>ILS</q>, <q>VOR</q>, <q>VISUAL</q>, etc.),
465 the name of the landing runway, and the landing reference speed,
466 V<sub>ref</sub>. You can enter this data during the flight, or after
467 you have landed at your discretion.
468 </p>
469
470 <p>
471 When you have entered all data, press the <b>Next</b> button. It is
472 active only, if the flight has ended.
473 </p>
474
475 <h4>The <i>Finish</i> Page</h4>
476
477 <p>
478 This is the final page of the flight wizard. It contains a summary
479 of your flight: the rating, the flight and block times, the distance
480 flown and the amount of fuel burnt.
481 </p>
482
483 <p>
484 You also have to provide a few pieces of information. You have to
485 select the type of the flight from the list provided (scheduled,
486 old-timer, VIP, charter) and whether it was an online flight or
487 not. If you arrive at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport, and are using
488 the Online Gate System, you also need to specify the number of the
489 gate or stand you have parked you aircraft at.
490 </p>
491
492 <p>
493 With all data entered, you may want it review your flight, then save
494 or send the PIREP created from it. These can be accomplished by
495 pressing one of the buttons at the bottom. A saved PIREP can be
496 loaded later and sent, if the sending fails for some reason. When a
497 PIREP is sent, it becomes available for review by the designated
498 PIREP reviewers of Malév Virtual.
499 </p>
500
501 <h3>The Flight info Tab</h3>
502
503 <p>
504 This tab allows one to enter some additional information about the
505 flight, if necessary.
506 </p>
507
508 <p>
509 The <i>Comments</i> text area should contain any general information
510 that you would like the PIREP reviewer to know about. For example,
511 why you changed the METAR, why you lowered the gears accidentally
512 (i.e. pressed the wrong key on the keyboard), etc.
513 </p>
514
515 <p>
516 The <i>Flight defects</i> text area should contain information about
517 any problems you encountered with the plane during the flight. For
518 example an engine stopped and why (if known), that flaps could not
519 be extended or retracted, etc.
520 </p>
521
522 <p>
523 In the <i>Delay codes</i> area you can mark one or more reasons why
524 the flight was delayed, if it was. The options are self-explanatory.
525 </p>
526
527 <h3>The Help Tab</h3>
528
529 <p>
530 This tab provides some help for calculating and setting the payload
531 weight of the aircraft. It can be used once the <i>Payload</i>
532 (i.e. the cargo weight) is finalized. To use this tab, check
533 the <b>Using help</b> checkbox. It causes the page to become
534 sensitive and filled with data. Note, that the fact of using the
535 help is logged, so the PIREP reviewers will know about it.
536 </p>
537
538 <p>
539 The most important information is after the <i>Payload:</i> label,
540 which is the payload weight of the aircraft. This value should be
541 set in the simulator as the airplane's payload weight. By pressing
542 the <b>Simulator data</b> button, the data on the right coming from
543 the simulator can be queried and displayed. If the data is out of
544 the tolerances, it is displayed in red, otherwise in green.
545 </p>
546
547 <p>
548 The gross weight is also displayed with some maximum weights of the
549 aircraft, so it can be checked or estimated if you will remain within
550 those maximums during the flight.
551 </p>
552
553 <h3>The Log Tab</h3>
554
555 <p>
556 This is the main log of your flight that will be analyzed by the
557 PIREP reviewers. Its contents is generated automatically by the
558 program, and most lines are prefixed by the simulator times the
559 information in the given line belongs to.
560 </p>
561
562 <p>
563 While the log's contents is mainly useful for PIREP reviewers, it
564 can come handy when things start to happen very fast, and you have
565 no time check each fault message passing by (if you have enabled
566 such messages at all). Later, when things calm down, you can check
567 the log to see what happened exactly, so that you know why so many
568 fault points have been awarded. For example, you may even decide to
569 abort the flight, if you think some of the faults are to
570 embarrassing :)
571 </p>
572
573 <h3>The Gates Tab</h3>
574
575 <p>
576 This tab displays information retrieved from the MAVA Online Gate
577 System. If the program needs to retrieve data, this tab's contents
578 are refreshed automatically, but you can refresh them anytime using
579 the <b>Refresh data</b> button.
580 </p>
581
582 <p>
583 The left side of the tab contains the fleet information. The tail
584 number of each aircraft is listed with the plane's status, as known
585 by the Online Gate System. The two major statuses are <i>LHBP-nn</i>
586 and <i>AWAY</i>. The former indicates that the aircraft is parked at
587 the Budapest Ferihegy Airport at gate or stand <i>nn</i>, while the
588 latter one denotes that the airplane is parked at another
589 airport. Another possible status is <i>PARKED</i>, which means that
590 the airplane is parked somewhere at the Ferihegy Airport, but we
591 (or at least the Gate System) don't know where. It may happen that
592 several aircraft are parked at the same gate or stand at
593 Ferihegy. In this case the tail numbers and the statuses of those
594 airplanes are displayed in red.
595 </p>
596
597 <p>
598 The right side contains the list of the numbers of the gates and
599 parking positions. A number is black if no aircraft is positioned at
600 the corresponding gate or stand, and it is orange, if the location
601 is occupied.
602 </p>
603
604 <h3>The Debug log</h3>
605
606 <p>
607 This tab is not visible by default, but can be displayed by
608 selecting <b>View/Show debug log</b> or by
609 pressing <b>Ctrl+D</b>. It is another kind of log, which is mainly
610 useful for debugging. If you experience some problem with the
611 program, please, include the contents of this log with your bug
612 report. It can help a low with finding a solution to the problem.
613 </p>
614
615 <h2>Loading PIREPs</h2>
616
617 <p>
618 Saved PIREPs can be loaded and sent by the program loader. This can
619 become necessary, for example, if you cannot send a PIREP due to
620 some network problem right after your flight.
621 </p>
622
623 <p>
624 To load a PIREP select the <b>File/Load PIREP...</b> menu option or
625 press the <b>Ctrl+L</b> key. A file selection dialog appears, from
626 which you can select the PIREP to load. If you select a valid PIREP
627 file, it will be loaded and a new window will be displayed with the
628 most important data of your flight. By clicking <b>Send
629 PIREP...</b>, the PIREP will be sent (or at least an attempt will be
630 made at sending it). A dialog window will be displayed about the
631 results of the attempt.
632 </p>
633
634 <h2>Editing checklists</h2>
635
636 <p>
637 The checklists are lists of audio files. When checklist playback is
638 enabled (see the description of the Preferences window below), and
639 there is a checklist for the type of the aircraft used for the
640 flight, the files constituting the checklist can be played
641 one-by-one by pressing the checklist hotkey repeatedly.
642 </p>
643
644 <p>
645 The checklist editor dialog box allows for editing the checklist. It
646 can be displayed by selecting <b>Tools/Checklist Editor...</b> or
647 pressing <b>Ctrl+C</b>. The top of the window contains an aircraft
648 type selector.
649 </p>
650
651 <p>
652 The files making up the checklist for the currently selected flight
653 are displayed on the right. You can move a file up or down by
654 dragging it with the mouse. You can also select one or more files
655 from the list. Then you can remove them with the <b>Remove</b>
656 button, or move them up or down by pressing <b>Move up</b>
657 and <b>Move down</b>.
658 </p>
659
660 <p>
661 To add new files to the checklist, select them in the file selector
662 on the left, and press <b>Add to checklist</b>. The file(s) will be
663 appended to the end of the checklist.
664 </p>
665
666 <p>
667 Note, that any changes you make are effective only if you press
668 the <b>OK</b> button when having finished the modifications. If the
669 flight has already started, no changes made to the corresponding
670 checklist have any effect during the flight (i.e. you will still use
671 the old checklist, or no checklist if there was none).
672 </p>
673
674 <h2>The Preferences Window</h2>
675
676 </p>
677 The Preferences window can be displayed by
678 selecting <b>Tools/Preferences</b> or by
679 pressing <b>Ctrl+P</b>. Here you can set options that you usually
680 don't have to change for every flight. This window also consists of
681 tabs grouping the options logically.
682 </p>
683
684 <h3>The <i>General</i> Tab</h3>
685
686 <p>
687 These are some general settings for various parts of the
688 program. The <i>GUI</i> frame contains options regarding the
689 behaviour of the graphical user interface. The <i>Language</i> combo
690 box can be used to selected what language the program should
691 use. Currently English and Hungarian are supported. The value
692 of <i>system default</i> means that the operating system's default
693 language is used if it is one of the supported ones or English
694 otherwise. Note, that the program must be restarted for the change
695 to take effect if you modify this setting. If the <b>Hide main window
696 when minimized</b> checkbox is checked, and you minimize the window
697 it will actually disappear completely (i.e. not appear among the
698 other minimized windows). You can make it appear by using the tray
699 icon.
700 </p>
701
702 <h3>The <i>Messages</i> Tab</h3>
703
704 <p>
705 The program can display messages about certain events in the
706 simulator and/or it can play a warning sound when those events
707 occur. The tab allows configuring this.
708 <p>
709
710 <p>
711 The categories of the message are listed on the left. These are the
712 following:
713 </p>
714
715 <ul>
716 <li><b>Logger Error Messages</b>: error messages about the
717 internal working of the logger.</li>
718 <li><b>Information Messages</b>: informational messages about,
719 e.g., the flight stage, the end of an audio checklist, etc.</li>
720 <li><b>Fault Messages</b>: messages about the non-NO GO faults the program detects.</li>
721 <li><b>NO-GO Fault Messages</b>: messages about the NO GO faults the program detects</li>
722 <li><b>Gate System Messages</b>: messages related to the Online
723 Gate System. For example, when you have landed at Ferihegy, it can display
724 the list of the available gates so that you can choose where to
725 park, if there is no ATC available.</li>
726 <li><b>Environment Messages</b>: other messages, e.g. the welcome
727 message when the flight has ended.</li>
728 <li><b>Help Messages</b>: help messages, e.g. warning about
729 entering the V-speeds into the Takeoff page before takeoff.</li>
730 <li><b>Visibility Messages</b>: messages about the visibility
731 during descent and landing.</li>
732 </ul>
733
734 <p>
735 There are two checkboxes associated with each messages category. If the
736 left one (<i>Displayed in FS</i>) is checked, the messages of the
737 category will be displayed in the simulator. If the right one
738 (<i>Sound alert</i>) is checked, and a message of the given category
739 is about to be displayed, a warning sound will be played. It is
740 mainly intended to accompany the text messages, but the two options
741 can be controlled separately, so you can select the sound alert, but
742 not the displaying of the messages. This may be useful if you don't
743 want these messages to clutter up the windscreen of your aircraft,
744 but still get some notification that some problem occurred.
745 </p>
746
747 <h3>The <i>Sounds</i> Tab</h3>
748
749 <p>
750 This tab controls how the sounds are played by the application.
751 </p>
752
753 <p>
754 The top part is for the background sounds. These are pre-recorded
755 sound files that are played when certain conditions hold during the
756 flight. Typical examples are the various announcements the flight
757 attendants make during the flight. The <b>Enable background
758 sounds</b> checkbox controls whether such sounds are enabled at
759 all. If the <b>Pilot controls sounds</b> checkbox is enabled, the
760 pilot should start the playback of these sound files by pressing a
761 hotkey in the simulator. Note, that you should still be in the right
762 flight stage (and sometimes fulfill other conditions) to be able to
763 play the sound files. Also, one file can be played only once. If you
764 enable this option, the hotkey to press in the simulator can be
765 selected below. You can choose one of the alphanumeric keys (0-9,
766 A-Z) optionally combined with one or both of the <i>Ctrl</i>
767 and <i>Shift</i> modifiers. If this checkbox is not checked, the
768 sound files will be played automatically.
769 </p>
770
771 <p>
772 If the <b>Enable speedbrake sound at touchdown</b> checkbox is
773 checked, you will here a distinctive sound when the spoilers deploy
774 automatically after touchdown.
775 </p>
776
777 <p>
778 The lower part, named <i>Checklist</i> contains some settings
779 related to the audio checklists belonging to the aircraft. They are
780 available only if the <b>Enable aircraft-specific checklist></b>
781 checkbox is selected. In this case another hotkey should be
782 specified. If you press this hotkey, the next file from the
783 checklist will be played.
784 </p>
785
786 <h3>The <i>Advanced</i> Tab</h3>
787
788 <p>
789 This tab contains some settings that you normally should not
790 change. Currently, these settings are related to the automatic
791 update. If the <b>Update the program automatically</b> checkbox is
792 not checked, the automatic update at program start-up will be
793 omitted. The <i>Update URL</i> text entry field contains the URL
794 from which to download the updates. Occasionally the developers of
795 the application may tell you to change this something else, e.g. to
796 test some development version. Or it may need to be changed due to
797 organizational reasons, such as moving to a new server, etc.
798 </p>
799
800 <h2>The Monitor Window</h2>
801
802 <p>
803 The monitor window can be used when debugging the program. You can
804 display it by selecting <b>View/Show monitor window</b> or by
805 pressing <b>Ctrl+M</b>. It displays the various parameters from the
806 aircraft as read from the flight simulator. During flight, it is
807 updated once per second. If something is not detected properly by
808 the logger, this window can be used to determine if the problem is
809 in interpreting and translating the data read from the simulator, or
810 when the translated data is being evaluated by other parts of the
811 program.
812 </p>
813
814</html>
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the repository browser.