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This page is intended to keep you up-to-date as to what has been included in the latest release of
FSX Planner.
Updates in Build 28 (For more detailed information click here)
The User Interface has been completely redesigned to set a new standard in FSX airport CAD applications.
The intention is to make FSX Planner a much more user friendly and professional looking application. There
are several new displays within the menus that we hope will make creating your airport easier. These include
the ability to visually select runway types, taxiway types, specific parking locations. In addition the
secondary menu options are now more obvious, such as connecting to FSX, the various plane makes available,
etc. The tool tips have also been significantly expanded so that they are much more of a help option,
rather than a simple tool tip. These enhanced tool tips are shown to help you understand how a tool works,
and what it is meant to do. With all these aspects of the new interface we hope that FSX Planner succeeds
in setting a new standard of ease of use, thereby making airport design as fast and easy as possible.
You can now rotate the airport display. To do so hold down the shift key while moving the scroll button
on the mouse. Alternatively you can click on the rotating North icon and enter a specific value in the
properites display.
Updates in Build 27
Fixed a bug which created duplicate scenery objects, windsocks, etc, when saving a file that had been
created from either decompiling a bgl file that contained more than one airport, or from opening an xml
file that contained more than one airport. This bug would manifest itself in xml files that would double
in size every time you saved the airport.
Taxiway paths can now be highlighted by clicking on the Highlight Taxiway Path button in the Taxiway
Path properties display. This option will highlight every taxiway path that has the same name as the
currently selected taxiway path.
Improved the graphics engine to provide for better performance when scrolling. This varies from about
2x to 10x faster than the previous versions, and is much more apparent at big airports.
Improved the graphics engine to allow for clip rectangles to be used when dragging certain items. This
provides for approximately a 2x to 4x improvement when dragging these items. This is more apparent when
multiple items are displayed on the screen at once.
The open dialog displayed when opening BGL files now returns to the last directory used when it is displayed.
The text area in the compile dialog now displays which elements of the airport were included in the BGL file
so that you can easily ensure the BGL file contains the appropriate elements.
Right click popup menus have been added to all text fields. The popup menu allows you to cut, copy, paste and
select all text in the text field.
Exclusion Rectangles now save whether or not they should be displayed as a border only or as a full rectangle.
Fonts can now be customized by the user via the Fonts tab in the Preferenmces Dialog. Fonts for the following
items can be specified: Menus; the Latitude and Longitude coordinates drawn on the map; the Parking Location
descriptions; the Jetway descriptions; the ILS ICAO codes; the Scenery descriptions; the VOR ICAO codes; and
the NDB ICAO codes. Note that font sizes are scaled up or down based upon the current scale of the map. Data
is not displayed if the resulting font size is less than 6 point.
Object locking can now be controlled from the object properties display as well as the Object Locking dialog.
Clicking the padlock icon will lock or unlock the object. If the padlock is locked then the object cannot be moved.
If the padlock is unlocked then the object can be moved.
Parking locations are now color coded to their airline code. If no airline code is associated with the parking
location then the default green color is used. If more than one airline code is associated with a parking location,
then the color of the first airline code is used. A new 'Select' button is now included next to the airline code
text field. Clicking this button displays the airline code chooser. This chooser can be used to easily select the
airline code associated with over 6,000 different airlines.
A new object count display is now available. Selecting Edit -> Display Counts will show a window that displays
the current totals of each type of object (aprons, runways, etc). This window is constantly updated whenever a new
object is added or removed from the airport, allowing you to easily see the total number of objects being used.
Fixed a bug that caused negative altitudes to be incorrectly read from bgl files.
There is now an option in the Compile Dialog to create an additional airport elevation bgl file. This small bgl
file is necessary if you change the elevation of the airport. If you select this option, FSX Planner will automatically
create the BGL file and place it in the specified folder, which by default is the Scenery\World\scenery folder within
your FSX installation directory.
Updates in Build 26
Parking locations now display the gate name and number, parking location type and airline codes when
you zoom in close enough. This make it easy to quickly see if the parking location is assigned correctly
without having to select it.
Fixed a bug that prevented certain navigation aids, such as NDBs and VORs, as well as certain scenery
items such as windsocks, from being properly displayed at some airport.
Improved handling of memory during the decompiling process so that less memory is required to decompile
the file.
Fixed bug which caused memory not to be reclaimed after opening large bgl files.
Significantly increased the speed with which stock airports are opened through the Find Airport dialog.
The SimConnect functionality has been improved. When connecting to FSX runnning on the same computer
as FSX Planneer, the SimConnect.xml file is no longer necessary. FSX Planner will determine the correct port
and automatically connect on that port. You still have the choice to use the SimConnect.xml file if you prefer,
or if FSX Planner is unable to locate the correct port. Remote connections still require the use of the
SimConnect.xml file. Note that Vista users will need to run FSX Planner using the Run As Administrator option
in order for this to work properly.
Updates in Build 25
Fixed some bugs associated with the selection and dragging of the vertices of exclusion rectangles.
Exclusion rectangles can now be drawn as just outlines, by selecting the Display Border Only checkbox
in the Exclusion Rectangle Data display. This allows you to have multiple exclusion rectangles over each
other and still be able to select and work with all of them.
Fixed a bug that caused the helipad closed flag to be incorrectly decompiled from bgl files.
Moving an exclusion rectangle is now an undoable event.
Improved the display of Helipads to properly show closed, transparency, circles, H, medical and square
helipad markings.
Adding a fuel trigger, scenery object or ILS beam using the buttons in the object data display now sets
the display option for the items (ie fuel triggers, scenery objects or ils beams) to be turned on to ensure
you can see the newly created object.
After exiting the Background Images dialog, the display flag for background images is now turned on the
ensure you can see the background images.
Fixed a bug that prevented Runway Fixed Distance marks from being correctly read from and written to the
xml files.
Fixed a bug that caused meter or feet measurements to be incorrectly changed if you selected Meters from
a combobox that was already set to Meters; or Feet from a combobox that wa already set to Feet.
Fixed a bug that caused measurements to be incremented by varying multiples of 3.28 if more than one airport
was open at a time, or if more than one airport had been open at any time since FSX Planner was opened.
There is now an option to display the lighting of the airport. This is available by selecting Navigation
-> Display Lighting. All taxiway and runway lighting will then be displayed.
FSX Planner now checks for background images in a folder called FSXPlanner located within your My Pictures
folder. Note that FSX Planner does not automatically put images in this folder, instead it leaves them in their
original location. However, if they are not found in their original location, then FSX Planner checkes the above
folder for them.
Approach Transition Legs can now be edited. Transitions are displayed in a third table in the Approach
Editing Dialog. You can double click on a transition to edit it in a similar fashion to editing an approach.
Fixed a bug that caused some VASI types to be incorrectly decompiled form bgl files. This could result in
compile time errors stating that the VASI did not have a valid type assignment.
Updates in Build 24
Fixed a bug which prevented runway taxiway path numbers for runways between 1 and 9 from being displayed in
the properties display after an airport had been decompiled form a bgl file.
Fixed a bug which caused the approach leg fix type to be occassionally incorrectly read.
Fixed a bug that caused certain jetway scenery objects to be read inccorectly, resulting in errors when trying
to compile the airport to a bgl file.
Fixed a bug that caused FSX Planner to hang while certain airports, such as PAWD, were being decompiled if the
runway contained certain objects.
Fixed a bug that was due to rounding errors causing incorrect altitude warnings when running error checking.
Fixed a bug that caused Tower altitude checks to be calculated as above sea level instead of above ground level.
Synchronizing the tower scenery object to the tower viewpoint now only tracks the latitude and longitude.
This allows for different altitudes between the viewpoint and scenery object.
Fixed some bugs associated with object locking that allowed aprons and fuel triggers to still be moved even
if they were locked.
When opening xml files, both the airport icao code and the file name are now used to see if the airport is
already open. This allows for multiple versions of the same airport to be open simultaneously as long as they
are saved in different files.
Scenery objects did not have the display name set when an xml file was opened. This resulted in blank display
names for all scenery objects until the scenery object's properties were displayed. This bug has been fixed.
Fixed a bug that caused GUIDs to be decompiled incorrectly.
A button labeled 'add names' has been added next to the name field of the taxiway path properties display.
This button is a shortcut to the add taxiway path names dialog.
When FSX Planner is closed a dialog will be displayed for each open airport asking whether or not you want
to save the airport.
Moving an apron or a fuel trigger is now an undoable event.
The type and size of the plane used to represent the simulator plane is now remembered between sessions.
Background images can now be turned on or off individually. This lets you have multiple images associated
with an airport, but only have certain ones displayed at one time.
An update feature has been incorporated into FSX Planner. This is available by selecting File -> Check For
Updates. This allows you to download and install future updates without having to redownload and install the
entire FSX Planner application.
Updates in Build 23
BGL files can now be opened directly. There are two ways to do this:
1) File -> Open Airport BGL - This option should be used if you know the exact BGL gile you wish to open.
You will have to navigate to the file, select it, and then it will be decompiled and opened. If the file
contains more than one airport, then you will be presented with a list of the airports it contains, allowing
you to choose the one you want to open.
2) File -> Find Airport - This option should be used if you want to open a default FSX airport, and don't
know where it is located. This dialog can search the airports by scanning the scenery files themselves,
or by using the SDK's fs10.Airports.dat file. The latter is only necessary if you are using FSX Planner
on a machine that does not have FSX installed. (If this is the case, then you won't be able to open the
airport after finding it.)
Scanning the airports is the easiest way to go. Before searching for an airport for the first time
you must scan all the airports. Click the Scna Airports button to do this. After this one time scan,
you can search for an airport by either ICAO code or by name. A list of airports that partiall or
fully match the entered ICAO code or name will be displayed. To open an airport double click on its
name in the table.
Updates in Build 22
Fixed a bug that caused the New Airport functionality to fail.
Fixed a bug that caused background images to be displayed incorrectly at certain zoom levels.
ILS Hold Short Lines are now displayed at the appropriate taxiway nodes.
Fixed a bug that caused single digit runway numbers to be read incorrectly and not display properly.
There is now an option which allows the user to set the diameter of a vertex point. This is five
feet by default but can be changed under the Defaults tab of the Preferences dialog.
There is now a series of set up screens that are displayed the first time FSX Planner is run.
These are intended to show the various configuration options available within FSX Planner, and to
allow the user to set them to their preference. These options can be set in the set up screens,
or at any time in the future.
Apron and Fuel Trigger vertices are now highlighted when they are selected.
An error check has been added to check for altitudes that do not corrispond with the airport altitude.
Fixed a bug that prevented the tower scenery object from being recorded when clicking the Display
Tower Scenery Object checkbox in the Tower Data display.
Fixed a bug that caused a copied scsnery object to be pasted as a tower.
Fixed a bug that prevented certain values from being recorded if the user entered a new value for
an object and then clicked on a different object before hitting return.
Updates in Build 21
Fixed a bug that caused some of the VASI light spacing to be drawn inaccurately at certain zoom
levels.
Object Locking has been implemented. This dialog, located under Edit -> Object Locking, allows
you to specify which objects should be locked. A locked object cannot be dragged, enabling you to
prevent objects from being unintentionally moved. A locked object will have its lat/lon coordinates
displayed in a text field with a red background. A locked object may still be moved by manually typing
in new lat/lon coordinates.
Fixed a bug with the zoom functionality that caused the airport to shift to oneside when at maximum
zoom.
Adjusted the zoom in and out tools so that they zoom in and out on the location that was clicked.
Fixed a bug that caused the edge lines of taxiway paths to be drawn even if the taxiway path type
was not being displayed.
The boundary fence, blast fence and apron edge light tools would sometimes not start or select new
fences if another fence was currently selected without clicking multiple times to clear the currently
selected fence. This has been fixed.
Hold short lines are now displayed on taxiways.
There is now a Create Image button in the Background Image dialog. This will display the zBlueSoftware
FSX Planner maps page with the map centered over the current airport.
FSX Planner now connects to FSX via SimConnect. FSX Planner uses a java library to connect to FSX.
(It is available here and is a fantastic library: http://lc0277.nerim.net/jsimconnect.) FSX Planner
supports both local and remote connections. FSX Planner will still run just fine without FSX being
present (you just won't be able to connect to FSX obviously). A brief overview of how to use the
SimConnect funtionality of FSX Planner follows.
-The SimConnect.xml file must be placed in the
C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX folder for FSX Planner to access FSX.
This is needed for both local or remote connections. The ip address and port number used in FSX Planner
must match the ones specified in the xml file. If a SimConnect.xml file already exists in the folder,
then make sure it contains the appropriate information.
-To connect to FSX select SimConnect -> FSX Connection Status. Then make sure the ip address and port
number are set properly to match those in your SimConnect.xml file. Then click connect. If all goes
well FSX Planner should connect instantly to FSX.
-The position of the FSX plane is displayed within FSX Planner by a small plane icon. You can display
this even if you are not connected to FSX. Choose SimConnect -> Show Plane (or right click anywhere on
the airport and choose "Show Plane"). The plane icon can be set to any of the default FSX planes. Each
one is drawn to approximately the correct size giving you an idea of how much space the plane needs.
(The sizes are accurate to within a foot).
-Right click options explained:
Move Cursor To FSX Plane: This will center the airport over the current location of the plane from FSX.
The plane icon will be repositioned to the correct lat/lon and heading as well. You need to have loaded
a flight within FSX for a valid position to be read from FSX. If the plane is outside of the airport
test radius then it will not be displayed.
Move FSX Plane To Icon: This will move the plane within FSX to the current lat/lon and heading of the
plane icon as it is currently positioned within FSX Planner.
Move Plane To Here: This will move both the plane icon in FSX Planner and the plane within FSX to the
current location of the cursor. If you are not connected to FSX, then only the plane icon in FSX
Planner will be moved.
-There are two checkbox options in the Plane Data properties display. They are:
FSX Plane auto follows cursor: This option will update the position of the plane within FSX whenever
you drag the plane icon within FSX Planner. The position of the plane within FSX is updated when you
release the mouse button.
Cursor auto follows FSX plane: This will recenter the airport over the current position of the plane
within FSX and update FSX Planner's plane icon to the correct lat/lon and heading of the plane from
FSX whenever the plane moves in FSX. This is useful if you want to slew around your airport and have
that position constantly updated in FSX Planner. The location of the plane is sampled and updated
once a second.
It is probably not a good idea to check both of these at the same time.
-If you have problems getting SimConnect to work first check your ip address and ports from FSX Planner
and the SimConnect.xml file. They must be the same. Then make sure your SimConnect.xml file is located
in the correct folder, as stated above. FSX must obviously be running for a connection to be established.
Updates in Build 20
Fixed a bug that caused the Find Airport dialog to occasionally incorrectly identify airport bgl
files for airports in the southern hemisphere.
Fixed a bug which caused the Secondary Landing attribute of a runway to be incorrectly recorded.
Background images are now supported. You can have as many background images as your copmputer's
memory and cpu speed can support. Each one should be a 72 dpi jpg. You will also need to know the
lat/lon coordinates of the top left and bottom right points of the image. The images can be displayed
either above or below the aiport diagram. This, along with the transparency of the images can be
specified in the Preferences dialog. To add or remove background images from the airport select
Edit -> Manage Background Images. Images are also saved with each airport.
Airport Fuel Services can now be edited. Select Edit -> Airport Services to open a dialog that
allows you to modify the fuel services available at the airport. Note that this does not create
locations at the airport where a plane can refuel, but rather controls the list of available fuel
options that is displayed for the airport in the gps.
Tower properties have been updated to allow you to edit or add tower scenery objects for each
tower. A list of stock tower scenery objects is available for you to choose from, or you can create
your own and use that. This allows for you to have a physical tower associated with the tower viewpoint.
Fixed a bug that caused FSX Planner to freeze during compilation if BglComp.exe was not found.
The corners handles of exclusion rectangles have been made much bigger in an effort to make it
easier to grab and resize them when zoomed out.
Fuel Triggers are now supported. You can add a fuel trigger by selecting the fuel trigger tool
from the navigation tool bar (View -> Navigation Toolbar) and then drawing the fuel trigger in the
same fashion as you would draw an apron. Fuel triggers are necessary in order to have your plane be
refueled at a fuel parking location. You should create one that covers at least the fuel parking space.
Fuel triggers can be displayed or hidden by selecting Display -> Show Fuel Triggers, or by using the
ctrl-shift-F key command. They are hidden by default.
The color used to draw the Fuel Trigger polygons can be set via the Colors tab of the Preferences
Dialog (File -> Preferences).
The color used to draw the Exclusion Rectangles can be set via the Colors tab of the Preferences
Dialog (File -> Preferences).
The color used to draw the Scenery Objects can be set via the Colors tab of the Preferences
Dialog (File -> Preferences).
You can automatically add a fuel trigger to a parking location by pressing the fuel icon in the
parking location properties display, or by selecting Add Fuel Trigger from the right-click drop down
when a parking location is selected.
Scenery Objects are now supported. You can add a scenery object by selecting the scenery object
tool from the navigation tool bar (View -> Navigation Toolbar) and then clicking on the airport where
you want to add the scenery object. After placing the scenery object you have to specify what it should
be. You can do this by selecting from a drop down of default flight simulator scenery objects from the
Scenery Type drop down. If you want to enter a specific GUID for the object, then choose Custom Scenery
Object from the drop down and enter the GUID into the Name text field. Scenery Object can be displayed
or hidden by selecting Display -> Show Scenery Objects. They are hidden by default.
You can automatically add a fuel station scenery object to a parking location by pressing the scenery
icon in the parking location properties display, or by selecting Add Fuel Station from the right-click
drop down when a parking location is selected.
You can automatically add a localizer array scenery object to an ILS Feather by pressing the scenery
icon in the ILS properties display, or by selecting Add Localizer Array from the right-click drop down when
an ILS feather is selected.
You can automatically add a VOR Station scenery object to a VOR by pressing the scenery icon in the VOR
properties display, or by selecting Add VOR Station from the right-click drop down when a VOR is selected.
You can automatically add an NDB Antenna scenery object to an NDB by pressing the scenery icon in the
NDB properties display, or by selecting Add NDB Antenna from the right-click drop down when an NDB is selected.
An example background image for LaGuardia airport is included. It covers the end of runway 31. To view
it select Edit -> Manage Background Images. Then click the Select Image button and browse to and select
the LaGuardia1.jpg image file. It should be in the same folder as the FSX Planner application. The top
left lat/lon is 40.7746187308/-73.8644635677. The bottom right lat/lon is 40.7697436836/-73.8558804989.
Make sure that background images are set to be displayed (Display -> Show Background Images) otherwise you
won't see the image.
Updates in Build 19
Adding objects and copying and pasting objects was causing extra unneccessary undo/redo events to be
generated. This has been fixed.
The 'smart' taxiway option has been added. This option will set the properties of a taxiway drawn on
top of a runway to inherit the properties of that runway. This should reduce the time needed to develop
an airport as the taxiway will automatically be assigned as a RUNWAY type as well as being assigned the
correct width, surface type, runway number and designator. This option will override the option of inheriting
the properties of the previous taxiway path if the new taxiway path is drawn over a runway. This option can
be turned off by unchecking the 'Taxiways drawn on runways should inherit the runways properties' checkbox
in the Properties dialog.
Fixed a bug associated with the airport test radius. FSXPlanner was not converting nautical miles to
feet or meters. This had a side effect of not reading in VORs, NDBs, Markers and Windsocks if the airport
test radius was in nautical miles.
Fixed a bug associated with writing the XML code for approach Leg segments when the leg had a distance
of zero.
Fixed a bug associated with writing the XML code for approach Leg segments when certain optional parameters
were blank.
Runway VASI, PAPI, etc lights are now displayed as appropriate.
Runway precision and alternate precision markings are now displayed properly.
Inserting an new object will now cause that type of object to be displayed if it is not already so.
This is intended to remove issues resulting from trying to insert a VOR, for example, when the Display
VORs option is not selected.
Runways numbers (idents) are now displayed on the runways as appropriate.
You can now cut apron edge light strings, boundary fences and blast fences into multiple segments.
To do this, select the apron egde light string, boundary fence or blast fence you wish to cut, and then
select the vertex that you want to cut the item at. The vertex must be displayed in the object properties
display for the cut button to be enabled. Clicking the cut button in the object properties display with
cut the object into two after the selected vertex. This is useful for many things such as correcting apron
edge light strings that are incorrectly read, or for creating space in an existing fence for a road, etc.
The selection and dragging of vertices has been improved. Aprons, apron edge lights, boundary fences,
blast fences and their vertices are all now displayed using the same visual style when they are selected.
Vertices associated with boundary fences, blast fences and apron edge lights can now be moved with the
generic pointer tool. Just click on a edge light string or fence to select it, then you can click and
drag a vertex. You still need to use the specific tools to create, add and remove vertices. This also
allows you to cut these strings and fences into two parts without having to use the specific tool.
Single ended runways are now displayed properly.
There are now shortcut buttons for adding and ILS to a runway. These appear in the runway properties
display and allow you to add an ILS, with DME and Glide Slope, to either the primary or secondary end of
the runway.
The Clean Up Aprons option has been enhanced to also check for Apron Edge Light strings that have only
one vertex. Any that are found will be deleted.
You can now join two boundary fences, blast fences or apron edge light strings together. To do this drag
an end vertex of one fence over an end vertex of another fence and hold the shift key down as you release the
mouse button. The two fences, or apron edge light strings, will be joined at that vertex into one longer fence,
or apron edge light string.
Updates in Build 18
The undo/redo/history functionality was not recording or undoing some of the runway details. This has
been fixed and now all runway details are undoable.
You can now specify whether or not the DeleteAirport information should be written to and/or read from
the airport xml file. This option can be set in the preferences dialog and is on by default. This allows
for xml source files shared between different users to maintain what parts of the airport should be deleted
instead of just blindly setting all delete flags to true.
Added error checks for ILSs without Idents; and taxiway points that have incorrect types or orientations.
Windsocks can now be added or edited.
Cleaned up some of the UI to be more user friendly.
Modifyied the add taxiway tool so that holding the shift key down when you are creating the start or
end point of the taxiway will allow you to insert the start or end point into the middle of an existing
taxiway.
Added an error check for parking locations that don't have an appropriate Type assignment.
Airports can now be printed. You can specify the size of the page, allowing you to print from a regular
letter size sheet up to a huge banner size many feet across.
The latitiude and longitude coordinates of a vertex associated with an Apron, Boundary Fence or Blast
Fence are now displayed in the properties display when a specific vertex is click on during the editing
process of the apron or fence. This allows for fine control over the exact placement of a vertex associated
with the apron or fence.
Apron Edge Lights were not being handled correctly. They were being loaded as individual points instead
of as a string of lights. This has been fixed. Apron Edge Lights are now treated similarly to fences in that
they consist of a series of vertices which are connected by a 'string.' They are midified in the same fashion
as a fence. To create a new string of edge lights, select the Apron Edge Light tool and click where you want
the first vertex to be, then click at the location of each additional vertex. Double click to end the string.
If you hold down the shift key when double clicking the string of lights will be closed by adding an end vertex
at the same location as the start vertex. To insert a vertex into an existing string of edge lights, select
the apron edge light tool, then click on the string of edge lights to select them, then shift-click at the
location on the string where you want to insert the new vertex. To delete a vertex, follow the same procedure,
but control-click on the vertex to be removed.
There is a new preference in the Preferences Dialog that allows you to specify if lines should be drawn
between the vertices of an edge light string when it is not selected. This option is off by default.
The Taxiway Names menu item has been moved to the Edit menu. The Lists menu has therefore been removed
as it only had that one option under it.
Improvements have been made to the Taxi Name dialog to make it easier to handle taxi names. In addition
the default blank taxi name is now assigned properly to all new taxiways even if no taxi names have been created
for the airport. Note this does not affect taxiways that are being copied or created by extending an existing
taxiway.
Exclusion Rectangles are now created by using the Exclusion Rectangle tool from the toolbar. You click and
drag the create the rectangle. To modify the size of the rectangle after it is created you can either enter
exact lat/lon coordinates into the Exclusion Rectangle properties display, or when using the exclsuon rectangle
tool, you can click and drag a vertex. The Exclusion tab of the Prepare Options dialog is now no longer included
as it has been replaced by this functionality.
There is a new preference option under the Option tab of the Preferences dialog which allows you to specify
whether or not you want to read and write exclusion rectangles from/to the airport's xml file.
Updates in Build 17
FSX Planner was looking at file names in a case-sensitive manner. This would cause it not to display files
with .XML extensions in the open dialog. This has ben fixed and file names are now case insensitive.
Tweaked the object property displays to help keep similar properties together.
Fixed a bug in the Error Checking display that prevented taxiways, runways, NDB and VORs from being displayed
when you clicked on their name in the results table.
Added the ability to specify default values for Runway Threshold Offsets, Blast Pads, Overruns and VASIs.
These are available under the Runway tab of the Preferences dialog.
Fixed a bug that caused VASI values to be read incorrectly from the XML file.
The Clean... checks menu options have been moved to the Compile menu from the Edit menu. The Find Airport
menu option has been moved to the File menu from the Compile menu. This was done to better group similar
functionality.
A Clean Taxiway Points check has been added. This searches the airport for taxiway points and parking
locations that have no taxiways associated with them and deletes them.
A Clean All check has been added. This is a convenience option that runs all the Clean... checks.
Modified the handling of NDBs so that terminal NDBs can now be opened, saved and edited.
The cut/copy/paste feature has been implemented. You can now cut, copy and paste most objects. To copy
or cut an object select it then use the right click popup menu or the ctrl-x or ctrl-c commands, When pasting
an object it will be pasted at the current cursor location. Aprons and fences are pasted so that the center
of the apron or fence is at the current cursor location.
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused incorrect taxiways to be deleted when a taxiway point or a taxiway parking
location was deleted.
A dialog is now displayed when you close an airport display within FSX Planner to ask you if you want to
save the airport before it closes, or to cancel the close action.
The color used to highlight selected objects is now user definable via the Colors tab of the Preferences
dialog.
FSX Planner now recognizes Latitude/Longitude coordinates in five different formats. These formats can be
used to enter lat/lon coordinates in any lat/lon text field within FSX Planner. They are: N40 46.6345,
N40 46 38.07, 40 46.6345N, 40 46 38.07N and 40.77724167.
The user can now specify whether selected objects should be outlined or highlighted. The default is to
outline a selected object. This can be changed in the Display tab of the Preferences dialog.
The Compile Dialog has been adjusted to allow for more user configurability with regards to the final
placement and name of the compiled BGL file.
Exclusion Rectangles have been added, allowing you to delete taxiway signs, windsocks, etc. To include
an exclusion rectangle use the Exclusion tab of the Prepare Options dialog. You can specify the exact location
of the rectangle, or have one created that covers the entire airport. You can also specify exactly what this
rectangle should delete.
Updates in Build 16
The xml code write engine has been completely rewritten. The extra lines that were created before are no
longer created. Attributes are now output in the order specified in the SDK documentation. There is now an
option to display each attribute on a separate line (default), or all on one line. This can be adjusted via
the preferences dialog.
Markers and VORs are now saved to the airport xml file.
There was a bug which would make the Find Airport feature give incorrect file/folder results for certain
airports. This has been fixed.
You can now specify the default tee 1 - tee 4 offsets for a parking space. This is accessible through the
Defaults tab of the Preferences Dialog.
All values that are displayed in spinners (ie altitudes, widths, lengths, etc) are now displayed and can
be edited to 3 decimal places.
Modified how apron vertices, boundary fence vertices and blast fence vertices are added and deleted. To
add a vertex, use the appropriate tool and shift-click where you want the vertex to be added. Note that you
must click on a valid location for a vertex. To delete a vertex, control-click on the vertex you want to delete.
This change was made to create a more uniform approach to adding and removing vertices throughout FSX Planner
and also to allow for the right click popup menu.
The Navigation toolbar and the View -> Navigation Toolbar menu now communicate properly so that they stay
synched.
The Airport Data Display and the Object Data Display panels are now tear-offs and can be moved to other
locations on the screen, or to other monitors, or they can be hidden. To do so, click on the title bar of either
the airport data display or the object data display and drag it to the desired new location. Clicking the X in
the title bar will return the window to the docked location on the left. Clicking the X when the window is
docked will hide it. There are two new menu options under the View menu which also control the visibility
of these windows. If the panel is hidden and you want to see it, select the appropriate view sub-menu. If
you want to hide one of the panels, uncheck the appropriate View sub-menu option.
The NDB tool has been implemented. You can now add, view and edit NDBs for the airport. This tool is
available under the navigation Toolbar (View -> Navigation Toolbar).
A check for VORs and NDBs without Idenst has been added to the error checking dialog (COmpile -> Error
Checking).
A check for taxiway paths that have invalid start or end indices has been added to the error chekcing
dialog. (Compile -> Erro Checking).
The Clean Up Taxiways option, under the Edit menu, now also checks for taxiways that have non-existant
start or end points and deletes those taxiways.
The Find Taxiway Point dialog has been added. This is available under the Edit menu. It allows you to
enter the index number of a taxiway point or parking location and then have that location display if it exists.
This is intended to help in debugging errors within the airport due to incorrect or non-existant taxiway point
indices.
Updates in Build 15
Runway Markers can now be displayed, edited, and added to an airport. By default these are not shown.
To display them select the Show Markers option on the Display menu. To add a new Runway Marker click on the
Runway Marker icon on the Navigation toolbar, which can be displayed by selecting View -> Navigation Toolbar.
VOR beacons and their associated DMEs can now be displayed edited and added to the airport. By default
these are not shown. To display them select the Show VORs option on the Display menu. To add a new VOR
click on the VOR icon on the Navigation toolbar, which can be displayed by selecting View -> Navigation
Toolbar.
Fixed a bug that had crept in which prevented aprons from being able to be created.
Fixed a bug that made the recording of a taxiway point orienation inaccurate.
Fixed a bug in the undo/redo/history functionality that caused undo events to be generated when certain
models were being initialized.
Updated the xml written during a save so that the taxiway points and parking locations are now written
in numerical order.
The Prepare Options dialog has been enhanced to allow for specific runway, start location and frequency
deletions. To use these you must not check the Delete All Runways (or Start Points or Frequencies) but
rather check the rows within the table that you are interested in delting. The table is populated based
on the currently selected airport.
Updates in Build 14
The icon used to draw the jetways has been modified to make it easier to see where the jetway is located
and its direction relative to the parking space.
Adjusted the width of the properties windows to be fixed width regardless of screen size. This should
help provide enough room for all fields.
Fixed a bug with the undo/redo system that prevented items that had been undone from updating their displays
in the properties window.
The runway propeties display has been rearranged to group all the runway lights together and to allow for
VASI on both the left and right side of each end of the runway.
ILS Beams can now be added to the airport. You need to display the navigation toolbar (View -> Additional
Toolbars), then select the ILS CUrsor. Then an ILS beam will be added when tyou click on the airport. After
adding the ILS Beam, make sure you assign it to the correct runway.
Approaches can now be fully edited, added or deleted.
Fixed a bug that caused the undo/redo/history to ignore all changes (therefore making it impossible to undo
a change) after opening an xml file that contained more than one airport.
A bug which prevented an ILS Beam and its asociated Glide Slope and DME from being assigned to the selected
runway when the user modified the runway association from within the ILS properties display has been fixed.
Updates in Build 13
Pressing the delete key will now delete any selected item in the airport display.
Runway center lines are now displayed on runways as appropriate.
Runway closed markings are now displayed on a closed runway.
Runway STOL markings are now displayed on a STOL runway.
The buttons within the Taxiway Sign Wizard have been rearranged to provide for a better order.
Some slight display errors have been cleaned up within the Taxiway Signs that are displayed in the taxiway
sign properties display and in the Taxiway Sign Wizard.
Fixed a bug that set the default look and feel to "Metal" instead of "Windows". (For best performance you
should use "Windows" as the look and feel. Setting it to "Metal" causes some of the property windows to need
scrollbars which are not needed when using the "Windows" setting. This setting can be changed under File ->
Preferences, General tab.)
Fixed a bug which prevent having altitudes below sea level.
ILS Beams and their associated DMEs and Glide Slopes can now be displayed and edited. By default these
items are not displayed. To show them, select the Show ILS Beams option under the Display menu. The colors
used to render the ILS Beams, DMEs and Glide Slopes can be customized from within the Preferences Dialog
(File -> Preferences; Colors tab). When you select any part of the ILS (ie ILS, DME or Glide Slope) all
items associated with that ILS system will be selected and highlighted, making it easier to see which
components are part of the ILS system.
Updates in Build 12
The color used to draw the taxiway lines can now be changed using the preferences dialog.
Aprons and Runways are now dragged based upon the point where you first click on them, rather than their
center point.
Fixed a bug that caused some taxiway lines not to be drawn correctly when connecting two parallel taxiways
of different widths.
Implemented the Move Airport feature (Edit -> Move Airport). This allows you to enter new latitude/longitude
coordinates for the center of the airport and then have the entire airport moved to corrispond to that new center
location.
A bug that prevented the Find Aiport feature from finding airports if you did not enter the ICAO code in
upper case has been fixed.
The file chooser displayed when selecting the Open Airport XML option now defaults to the directory of
the last opened airport xml file.
The File -> Close Airport option has been implemented.
The Open Recent File option has now been implemented. This remembers the last 10 file opened.
A 'View' menu has been added. This lists all the currently opened airports. Selecting that airport name
from this menu will make sure that airport is displayed in front of all other airports. This is intended to
make it easier when working with multiple airports simultaneously.
The Taxiway Sign properties display now also shows the taxiway sign as it would appear within flight
simulator. This makes it much easier to decode the cyptic label system used by flight simulator.
Fixed a bug that caused some taxiway signs to be orientated incorrectly by 180 degrees.
The Taxiway Sign Wizard has been implemented. This wizard is accessible by clicking the 'wizard' button
next to the taxiway sign label in the Taxiway Sign Properties display. It is a graphical tool to help you
create Taxiway Signs without having to keep looking up all the various characters used within a taxiway sign
label.
Updates in Build 11
The primary and secondary blast pads are now drawn on runways.
Fixed bug that caused some taxiway edge lines not to be drawn correctly.
Fixed bug that caused taxiway edge lines to ignore parking type taxiways.
Added a check to the taxiway creation tool to ensure that you can't have a taxiway start and end at the
same taxiway point.
Added an option to remove all taxiways that have the same start and end points (Edit -> Clean Up Taxiways)
The primary and secondary threshold offsets are now drawn on runways.
Runway threshold marks are now drawn on the runways.
Runway fixed distance marks are now drawn on the runways.
Runway touchdown marks are now drawn on the runways.
Runway precision marks are now drawn on the runways.
You can now 'close' a boundary fence by holding the shift key down when double clicking to finish the
fence. This creates a final vertex point at the same lat/lon coordinates of the first lat/lon point of the
fence.
There is now a preference to turn on or off the option of restoring the window size and location upon
starting FSX Planner to what is was when you last exited FSX Planner.
There is now a preference to clear the compile window when you open the compile dialog. This is on by
default.
Rearranged the Runway Markings properties display to better group like-properties together.
Approach information is now read and can be displayed by selecting Navigation -> Approaches. Double
clicking on the approach row within the table will then display the full approach information. This feature
is currently read-only. Approaches cannot be created or edited yet.
Updates in Build 10
Fixed some bugs associated with properties not being set to standard default values when creating a new
runway.
The main background color of the work surface that the airport is displayed upon can now be specified by
the user through the preferences dialog (File -> Preferences). The default is white.
You can now insert taxiway points into existing taxiways by holding down the Shift key when adding the
new taxiway point. If you click over the center line of a taxiway, then the new taxiway point will be inserted
into the taxiway at that point.
There is now an option in the preferences dialog to base the properties of new taxiways on existing ones.
If you create a new taxiway that starts at a taxiway point which has only one other taxiway connected to it,
then your new taxiway will assume the properties on that existing taxiway. This makes it very easy to add
a taxiway with many taxiway points and have each section of the taxiway use the same properties as the first
without the user having the manually set them over and over. This option is on by default.
There is now a preferences for the default taxiway weight limit. This is set to 500,000 by default and
can be adjusted by selecting File -> Preferences and clicking on the Defaults tab.
The 'New Airport' command has been implemented, allowing users to create airports from scratch.
XML files that contain multiple airports can now be opened. A list of all the airports witin the xml
file is displayed allowing you to choose the one or ones you want to open. FSX Planner supports opening
multiple airports simultaneously.
Airport attributes have been reordered within the XML file that is compiled in order to fix the issue
with items said to be erroneously outside of the airport test radius by bglcomp.exe
Modified the display to not show taxiway edge lines and parking location images if the user is zoomed
out enough on the airport. The idea is that the image will be less cluttered by removing items which you
can't really see at that zoom level anyway, and will also draw a little bit quicker. Let me know what you
think about this concept.
The build number is now displayed in the title bar. This will be removed once the application is completed
and released.
The size and location of the window is now remembered so that the next time the application is opened it
is displayed in the same location.
Download previous releases
Release 21
Release 20
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