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nmeier edited this page Mar 13, 2015 · 1 revision

Introduction

Sim Script is a standalone windows application written in Python that offers input/output automation for simulators.

Functionality Input/Output Comment Status
Joystick In Read from Joysticks Working
Phidgets In Read from Phidgets Working
Virtual Joystick Out Write to (VJoy) Joysticks Working
Keyboard In/Out Read/Simulate Keyboard input Working
Mouse In Read low level mouse data Working
FSX In/Out Read/write FSX Variables via Sim Connect, Send Simulator Events Working
Falcon In Read from Falcon BMS Shared Memory Working

Imagine a simulator that doesn't have a joystick axis for gear operation but your joystick tempts you with an extra axis:

..
value = joysticks.get("Some Joystick").axis(0)
# see below for example on how to use this value
..

Imagine a simulator that has multiple axis and you're building a custom cockpit with rotating phidgets (encoders).

..
value = phidgets.get("some-phidget-id").getInputValue(0)
# see below for example on how to use this value
..

Details

The scripts for Sim Script are python files (.py) that you place into the scripts folder. Sim Script looks for the these scripts and allows you to select one to be run. This script is executed automatically and repeatedly - it's fairly easy to access inputs and outputs from this sripts (see Examples below).

Follow these steps to get Sim Script

Then make sure to connect one or more Joysticks or Phidgets. Once you run Sim Script you'll see a status icon in the Windows Tray which allows you to pick which script to run.

Usage

Sim Script can be invoked with an optional name of a script that resides in the scripts folder as per

C:\simscript>simscript.[exe|py] --help
Usage: simscript.py -d|--debug [scriptname]

A Windows Tray icon shows actions in a popup when clicked on:

Action Comment
Quit terminate Sim Script
Edit show existing script files
Log show current log (contains important Warnings, Errors and script information)
somescript.py an entry for every provided script in the scripts folder (currently running script it checked

API

The scripts for Sim Script are normal python source code - the only difference is that a selected script is run automatically, repeatedly. Check the reference for capabilities and how to program in Python.

Provided are the following modules that come specifically with Sim Script - they can be imported via a statement like this, shown in the examples below and the provided out-of-the-box scripts:

import joysticks, phidgets, logs, fsx

...

Here is a list of modules and what they're there for:

Module Comment Example
joysticks access (virtual) joysticks joysticks.get("Name of Joystick")
phidgets access Phidgets phidgets.get("ID of Phidget").getInputState(0)
keyboard send keyboard events keyboard.click("SHIFT G")
state store cross invocation state oldValue = state.set("some key", newValue)
log log information log.info("Gear Up!")
fsx access FSX via Sim Connect freq = fsx.get("COM ACTIVE FREQUENCY:1","Frequency BCD16", fsx.bcd2khz)
falcon access Falcon BMS via shard memory - not available yet

Note: select the diagnose.py script to discover what devices you have. When you move/click inputs this script will identify how to access them.

Examples

A couple of introductory examples follow - for more in-depth examples check the supplied scripts, e.g. my FSX script and my Falcon BMS script.

Diagnose Inputs

Selecting Sim Script's supplied diagnose.py reports on connected input devices (Joysticks, Virtual Joysticks, Phidgets).

 C:\simscript>simscript.exe diagnose.py

TBD example output

Phidget Encoder to Axis

This example depends on VJoy, the virtual joystick driver, to be installed (see above). It reads from a phidget encoder

and calculates a virtual axis output-value out of the rotational position:

import joysticks, phidgets

encoder = phidgets.get(82141)
axis = phidgets.encoder2axis(encoder, 2) # 2 revolutions = range of axis

vjoy = joysticks.get('vJoy Device')
vjoy.setAxis(0, axis) # set first axis (x) of virtual joystick

This works great for any simulator that understands joysticks (of course) but has no support for phidgets (usually).

Axis to Buttons

This example also uses VJoy's output capabilities. It reads a physical joystick axis

and translates it into buttons 3 & 4, which for example can be mapped in Falcon BMS, unlike an explicit axis, for gear operations:

import joysticks

saitek = joysticks.get('Saitek Pro Flight Quadrant')
vjoy = joysticks.get('vJoy Device')

vjoy.setButton(4, saitek.getAxis(2) > 0) # gear up
vjoy.setButton(5, saitek.getAxis(2) < 0) # gear down

Phidget to FSX Radio Frequency Change

This example again reads from a phidget encoder (see above) but translates ticks rotated in counter/clockwise direction into radio frequency increments:

import phidgets, fsx

encoder = phidgets.get(82141)
delta = phidgets.encoder2delta(encoder)
for i in range(0,abs(delta)):
    fsx.send("COM_RADIO_WHOLE_INC" if delta>0 else "COM_RADIO_WHOLE_DEC")

The FSX event IDs are straight out of the Sim Connect documentation and are transmit automatically.

Read variables from FSX

This example is about reading a variable value from FSX through Sim Connect. All the detail of the protocol are handled:

import fsx
handle = fsx.get("GEAR HANDLE POSITION", "Bool")
freq = fsx.get("COM ACTIVE FREQUENCY:1","Frequency BCD16", fsx.bcd2khz)

Note how the FSX module knows how to receive variable values, the FSX variable names are straight out of the Sim Connect Aircraft Landing Gear Data documentation and Sim Connect Aircraft Avionics Data documentation. Note that units (2nd parameter) are important and have to be as documented. The FSX module comes with converters for common FSX units like BCD16 (0x2115 for 121.15khz).

Read variables from Falcon

Maybe you have some functionality that only kicks in when the ILS is active or when on the ground. This snippet shows how to access Falcon shared memory variables (see here for a list of available variables from Falcon's FLIGHTDATA structure)

import falcon
altitudeInFeet = -falcon.flightData().z
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