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FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

FGRun is a no-longer maintained graphical frontend to run FlightGear.

Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby Hooray » Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:50 am

I guess it all boils down to this:

openflight wrote in Sun Jul 26, 2020 1:53 am:UPDATE: fgo works out of the box - I just had to open fgo from pythonw (remember I am running in WINE) , and the blank selection boxes show that I have not set the paths correctly, in fact it says so when I try to run it. Added paths and it says "cannot find apt database". Didn't know there was one. It starts Flight Gear with the default c172 at KSFO. So it works.. Maybe I could do something with this.


I think you might be the first person to actually run a Qt-enabled fgfs binary under Wine. Qt is a monster of a dependency, it it can be difficult to get it to work even on a conventional system, I am pretty sure that the Qt5 launcher has never been tested under WINE so far. If in doubt, I'd suggest you raise this on the devel list. But then again, why on earth would you use an emulator to run fgfs ??
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby wlbragg » Sun Jul 26, 2020 5:58 pm

Just to be sure it's not something simple that maybe you missed, what is your aircraft path structure and which point in the path are you trying to point at?

My example structure is...

Image

where the top folder for example is /AirCrane-compaddon
inside comp addon is /AirCrane-compaddon/AirCrane

I point to them like this

Image

Also do you have the default hanger under "Aircraft hangers" active and you don't see those aircraft either?

Note with aircraft that are duplicates only maybe different versions how it points to their individual folders. An important point is that those folders have a folder inside them with the duplicate aircraft name or designation, ie;

mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft/AirCrane-git/AirCrane
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft/AirCrane-compaddon/AirCrane

But in the launcher I am pointing at one folder back, that is important, you are always pointing at one folder back of the actual aircraft folder.

So
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft
gives me every aircraft folder in Development Aircraft
but it wont give me the aircraft in
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft/AirCrane-git/AirCrane
or
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft/AirCrane-compaddon/AirCrane
for those I add another line to the addon aircraft, ie:
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft/AirCrane-git
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft/AirCrane-compaddon
those lines give me the aircraft in
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft/AirCrane-git/AirCrane
mnt/IDrive/FG/Aircraft/Development Aircraft/AirCrane-compaddon/AirCrane

This gives you more details than you need, but the important part is that you do not point at the aircraft folder, you point to the folder the aircraft folder is in. The launcher searches that folder for aircraft folders inside it. If you point to the actual aircraft folder you will get a "not found" because it is looking one folder past that for the aircraft folder name.
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby Hooray » Sun Jul 26, 2020 6:07 pm

Speaking in general, if the $FG_ROOT environment variable (wiki) is properly set up, pretty much all existing launcher will pick that up automatically, and won't need to be set up separately.
Typically, that will be the case if you are able to run fgfs without any startup options, unless you've set up fgfsrc to point to the base package
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby openflight » Fri Jul 31, 2020 8:13 am

I think you might be the first person to actually run a Qt-enabled fgfs binary under Wine


That was for the FG 1 version --- some clarifications are due

1. In Linux Mint 19.3, the Flight Gear launcher starts up fine, shows the Cessna 172, default airport. I cannot change anything, select anything - other aircraft, not even airports. Will get back with an exact list

2. I am running two versions of Flight Gear :

a) Linux Mint 19.3 installed Flight Gear 2018 through software manager and it works fine except for aforementioned QT Launcher problem

b) WINE under Linux Mint 19.3 running Flight Gear 1.0 . Performance was comparable to native versions (back then). The FGO was used for this one. I plan to use FG1 mainly due to performance factors and for development of scenery and aircraft.
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby Hooray » Fri Jul 31, 2020 10:14 am

I think, it's safe to say that at the time (back in 2018) the Qt launcher was still experimental, i.e. an early prototype that might not have received sufficient testing, so I would definitely suggest a more recent version.
That being said, the concrete use-case at hand is obvious a bit unusual, or rather it goes to show that using a separate/external launcher (binary) does make sense under certain circumstances, since I doubt that the integrated Qt launcher is easily updated without also updating the underlying fgfs binary, which is to say that you may be much better off using fgrun or some other external launcher, rather than the integrated Qt based one

Regarding fgfs 1.1/wine, I would actually expect that a native binary runs much better on the actual system rather than being emulated.

Also, even a recent fgfs version can be heavily tweaked - so I guess my suggestion would be to use the latest version and then start a new topic to walk you through the process of customizing fgfs according to your needs.
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby openflight » Fri Jul 31, 2020 10:35 am

Yes, the latest version - of the Qt Launcher downloaded and installed separately? Do I have to compile the thing?

Found the latest version on Source Forge:

https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fl ... e/src/GUI/

The aircraft selection window is totally blank for me. Screenshot hosted here: https://sites.google.com/site/fgwalk/th ... t-launcher
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby Hooray » Fri Jul 31, 2020 10:48 am

No you should not have to compile anything at all, the launcher is part of each fgfs release - the leading core developer also happens to be the leading release manager, while also being the primary person to develop the Qt5 stuff, so it's all nicely integrated actually (that is, if you are into huge monolithic applications and enormous dependencies ...)

regarding any issues, that's best discussed in a new/separate topic, but I suppose the launcher might have to download some package/catalog data to populate its lists (?)

I think there people here who are in a much better position to help with Qt5 issues (if in doubt, post on the devel list).

The point being, using Qt5 to create an optional but built-in launcher was/is a controversial issue at the time for a plethora of reasons highlighted by many senior contributors (among them, build issues, window manager issues, multi-threading issues, QT/OSG/OpenGL issues, dependency hell etc) - that is also why the launcher was required to remain optional by other core devs, but everything that I've seen recently, would actually seem to suggest it's nicely integrated and should simply "work as is" - many of the original issues seem to have been sorted out over the years, which is why I think that James (the leading core developer who also happens to develop the Qt5 launcher), would undoubtedly be interested in any remaining issues - especially because the "long-term" plan communicated on the devel list/project roadmap respectively, has been that the optional Qt5 integration is also going to be used for the future PUI replacement, i.e. the built-in GUI engine.

Background:

http://wiki.flightgear.org/PUI
http://wiki.flightgear.org/QtQuick_use_in_FlightGear
http://wiki.flightgear.org/FlightGear_Qt_launcher
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby openflight » Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:02 am

I took a little time to review my requirements vs Qt5, my launcher has at least one supporter - myself, and I believe there are instances where others may need to use a text based launcher or to be more accurate a shell-script based launcher in case the regular one does not work.

To be fair, I realize the Qt5 launcher is much faster as it is not multipage but multi tab, and you can just click 'fly' and be up and away. It would help to have 'recent flights' listed in a separate window like recent documents in a word processor. Also pressing a single key such as F5 to start would really speed things up along with a 'restart last flight' option.

For me the launcher was not the most important part: I simply require a fast launcher for repeat testing of scenery models added on and so on, but the most important part is adding scenery objects and aircraft in detail. 2018 FG has made huge strides in this regard.

Steps for the Text Based Launcher
Locate the launcher icon on the menu bar
Click the launcher icon
View the aircraft options list
Select an option using the keyboard

Additionally I would require:
Setting of other options - airport, time of day, etc - additional menus

Ability to view maps of the area, including airports, nav aids distances. I am looking at taking screenshots of navigational plans
and maps and storing them in a separate folder to be viewed using an image viewer for quick, reliable reference. This is one thing I need, the planning stage.

This map really helps:

https://scenery.flightgear.org/map/ also, of course, Skyvector, but images from that site are copyright so I will have to keep them locally and not share them.
Last edited by openflight on Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby Hooray » Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:11 am

most/all of these are supported by any of the existing launchers, so I would encourage you to check out those - unless you really WANT to write a launcher from scratch.
For the built-in Qt launcher, it would make sense to review the wiki article I linked to, because I doubt that it's anywhere else documented properly.

Like I said previously, a fgfs launcher is primarily work via the command line interface, i.e. invoke fgfs itself (or rather it main function) by passing an array of whitespace separated startup parameters (argc/argv).

The only other "front-end" that does not use this interface, is the Phi/mongoose layer, which runs via fgcommands and AJAX calls - but obviously that requires a running fgfs session (admittedly, that's also how the original Canvas/Nasal based aircraft center used to work).

Extending any of the existing front-ends (launchers, Phi or the Nasal/Canvas stuff) is going to be much less work, and going to provide more bang for the buck, unless you're really into it for the learning experience.

A number of users have previously built/run fgfs on rather low-powered hardware, including legacy notebooks, netbooks and more recently even embedded platforms like the RPi.

Which is to say, that with some tinkering (and some willingness to make concessions), it should be quite possible to customize even a release fgfs release to make it work on such hardware. Even if that means running fgfs on a laptop from 2007, with an nvidia go7600:

Image

http://wiki.flightgear.org/Minimal_Startup_Profile
Image
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby openflight » Fri Jul 31, 2020 11:39 am

regarding any issues, that's best discussed in a new/separate topic, but I suppose the launcher might have to download some package/catalog data to populate its lists (?)

I think there people here who are in a much better position to help with Qt5 issues (if in doubt, post on the devel list).


Will try a few things here, see even the default c172 does not show up in aircraft list

The point being, using Qt5 to create an optional but built-in launcher was/is a controversial issue at the time for a plethora of reasons highlighted by many senior contributors (among them, build issues, window manager issues, multi-threading issues, QT/OSG/OpenGL issues, dependency hell etc) - that is also why the launcher was required to remain optional by other core devs, but everything that I've seen recently, would actually seem to suggest it's nicely integrated and should simply "work as is" - many of the original issues seem to have been sorted out over the years, which is why I think that James (the leading core developer who also happens to develop the Qt5 launcher), would undoubtedly be interested in any remaining issues - especially because the "long-term" plan communicated on the devel list/project roadmap respectively, has been that the optional Qt5 integration is also going to be used for the future PUI replacement, i.e. the built-in GUI engine.


Yes I could get back to you with the remaining issues which would mean installing the latest version of FG I suppose, but actually my requirements for a launcher, and some of these have been fulfilled in part by existing launchers, I think will highlight what it is I am looking for and the gaps therein.

I have written my own launcher, yes it is text based and a few lines of code, but what I learn there maybe incorporated into future Qt5 launchers, for example, keyboard shortcuts and diagnostics, diagnostics would have really helped here.
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Troubleshooting the Qt5 FG Launcher --show-aircraft

Postby openflight » Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:36 pm

Ok so here is the result of fgfs --show-aircraft:

Code: Select all
~$ fgfs --show-aircraft
FlightGear:  Version 2018.1.1
FlightGear:  Build Type Dev
Built with GNU C++ version 7.3
Jenkins number/ID 0:none
platform default fg_root = Path "/usr/share/games/flightgear"
Reading global defaults
Finished Reading global defaults
Reading user settings from Path "/home/user1/.fgfs/autosave_2018_1.xml"
init package root at:Path "/home/user1/.fgfs/Aircraft"
No user specified aircraft, using default
Available aircraft:
   A300                         Airbus A300
   A300                         Airbus A300
   ATR-72-500                   ATR 72-500
   c172p                        Cessna 172P Skyhawk (1981 model, detailed)
   c172pN1234                   Cessna 172P Skyhawk test(1981 model)
   ch750stol                    Zenith Air CH750 STOL
   mibs                         FG video assistant
   PC-21                        Pilatus PC-21
   T38                          Northrop T-38 3DS Version
   ufo                          UFO from the 'White Project' of the UNESCO
Segmentation fault (core dumped)


Also restored default hangar:
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Re: FGRUN, Launcers, and writing a new Launcher

Postby openflight » Sun Aug 09, 2020 2:46 am

I have resorted to using the FGRUN launcher, since my FGTL text based launcher is not set up yet. There are strange gaps in scenery I have to sort out.
For navigation I have saved screenshots from SkyVector and other sites in a folder and using that. No copyright issues since it is personal use, and no issues in distributing maps. If the new launchers could have better maps, and not those confusing charts they use in real life:

Launcher Maps should have:
Airports
Nav Aids
Mountains (terrain contours map)
Distances and headings to airports

I don't use Atlas, since it is not realistic to have a map in cockpit but have been toying with the idea of a texture mapped knee pad or in cabin chart of some sort.
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