Cab files.

[Boikat]

I'm trying to modify the panel for the XB-52, which uses the panel for the B-47.

[Alejandro Rhodes]

whoa! , Let me try to help you , you need a cab compressor like a cabdir
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526962.aspx

anything its possible with a gauge in *.cab ,Do not confuse *.zip and Cab are two diferent files ,FSX gauges uses Cab you can dis compress it with winzip and then recompenses back again ,I do it all the time Buddy

Important ,all the drawings Bmp are just a part of something much more important ,The XML file ..there are very good material in the FSX-SDK

Hagar its an expert in these maybe he might me able to help you better

[Boikat]

I was wondering why it said "extract".

Thanks Amigo!

Chasing download now...

I should already have that with the SDK, right? (looking there...)

Added:  Ah!  There it is.

[Hagar]

Hagar its an expert in these maybe he might me able to help you better

Steady on Alex. I'm no gauge designer & this is way above my head.

If the VC gauges work in FSX I don't see why you can't use those on the 2D panel. Rename them if you wish but it shouldn't be necessary. There's no need to include them in the CAB file with the other gauges. If you did want to do that I would rename the CAB file to avoid conflicts with the original gauge.

PS. You can extract CAB files just like zipfiles. The gauges will work if you paste the extracted folder into FS\Gauges. The folder must have the same name as the CAB file.

[Boikat]

Hagar its an expert in these maybe he might me able to help you better ;)

Steady on Alex. I'm no gauge designer & this is way above my head.

If the VC gauges work in FSX I don't see why you can't use those on the 2D panel. Rename them if you wish but it shouldn't be necessary. There's no need to include them in the CAB file with the other gauges. If you did want to do that I would rename the CAB file to avoid conflicts with the original gauge.

Ah, that's the thing about the X-b52:  The b-47 gauges are a bust, being FS98 or earlier, and the VC is just for looks, the gauges are non-functional to begin with (Says so in the "Read Me").  But that's not the "problem", it's a matter of mocking up the 2D to look similar to the VC. (Later I plan on takeing a screenie of the VC and using it as the base for a BMP for the 2D....)

So, I'm guessing I can just copy the gauges and BMP's from the cab I'm using as a source, along with making copies and renaming the gauges for 5->8, into a Text doc (Notepad) the convert that into a cab?

[Boikat]

PS. You can extract CAB files just like zipfiles. The gauges will work if you paste the extracted folder into FS\Gauges. The folder must have the same name as the CAB file.

That sounds easier. :)

But I'd still have to make a (example) a RPM5->8 and so on gauges, yes?

[Hagar]

Hagar its an expert in these maybe he might me able to help you better ;)

Steady on Alex. I'm no gauge designer & this is way above my head.

If the VC gauges work in FSX I don't see why you can't use those on the 2D panel. Rename them if you wish but it shouldn't be necessary. There's no need to include them in the CAB file with the other gauges. If you did want to do that I would rename the CAB file to avoid conflicts with the original gauge.

Ah, that's the thing about the X-b52:  The b-47 gauges are a bust, being FS98 or earlier, and the VC is just for looks, the gauges are non-functional to begin with (Says so in the "Read Me").  But that's not the "problem", it's a matter of mocking up the 2D to look similar to the VC. (Later I plan on takeing a screenie of the VC and using it as the base for a BMP for the 2D....)

So, I'm guessing I can just copy the gauges and BMP's from the cab I'm using as a source, along with making copies and renaming the gauges for 5->8, into a Text doc (Notepad) the convert that into a cab?

I don't think renaming the gauges will do the trick. It's not quite as simple as that. There must be a way of defining the engine number in the XML code. Remember that FS only caters for a maximum of 4 engines. That's always been the problem with aircraft like the B-47 & B-52.

[Boikat]

No, wait, it's the xml's that say extract....  I figure this out somwhow...  :P

[Boikat]

Hagar its an expert in these maybe he might me able to help you better

Steady on Alex. I'm no gauge designer & this is way above my head.

If the VC gauges work in FSX I don't see why you can't use those on the 2D panel. Rename them if you wish but it shouldn't be necessary. There's no need to include them in the CAB file with the other gauges. If you did want to do that I would rename the CAB file to avoid conflicts with the original gauge.

Ah, that's the thing about the X-b52:

[Hagar]

Don't take my word for it. Wait for someone that knows what they're talking about.

[microlight]

Hi Boikat.

I think we may be talking about apples and oranges here.

Apples: FS9 only models four engines maximum, so that any aircraft with more engines than this (e.g. the Antonov An225) has to work with four. One way around this is to gang the engines in pairs, so in your example, you could have two FS engines on the left replacing four actual engines, and the same on the right. This is also the reason that you'll never see gauges for any engine numbered higher than four. Each gauge is specifically referenced to an internal FS command for that gauge number, so even renaming a no. 1 gauge to 5 or higher (for example) will still read the engine 1 parameters. To get the right number of gauges in the panel, you can insert each individual 1-4 gauge twice, giving you your eight gauge total - but each pair will read identically, and you can ony start/stop them in pairs, as it's actually only one FS engine you're dealing with.

Oranges: You don't need gauges in CAB files for them to work. As Doug said, if you want to change something, unzip the cab using Winzip or similar into a folder with the same name as the CAB file and in the same location. Move the original CAB file to a safe place, make the change in the unzipped file and then use FS normally. FS will run the gauges from the folder rather than the CAB file. This works fine. You can of course re-compress with cabdir but there's no real point if it's just for your use. I did this exact thing with an Airbus panel that I wanted to add a fuel dump visual effect to, and have never bothered to re-compress it.

Hope this helps.

[Boikat]

Yup, that helps.  I'll give that a try.  Thanks