Outline
Those familiar with the SDK for Peter Dowson's FSUIPC will most likely also know the program FS-Interrogate that has been bundled with the SDK since 2000. FS-Interrogate is for Developers and Cockpit-Builder who want to learn/see which data Microsoft Flight-Simulator (MSFS) has to offer (via FSUIPC and/or WideFS - both by Peter Dowson). Basically the program consists of a "list of variables" (with description for each) and it lets your read/write these variables from/to MSFS. This way - hopefully - giving a better understanding of how it works and what is possible. For the last 4 years FS-Interrogate version 1.xx has been bundled with the FSUIPC SDK, however September 2005 FS-Interrogtate2 was made public available with the 26th release of the FSUIPC SDK.
Payware or Freeware ... No, both !!!
There will be 2 separate versions of FS-Interrogate a free Standard- to be part of the FSUIPC SDK for all to use for free and a Professional- version that will be offered as Payware (Shareware). The Freeware version will be completely free whether or not you use it assisting you writing freeware or big/expensive commercial add-ons (however if using it for Shareware/Payware the least you could do is to offer me a free version/license <G>). The Freeware version will not be crippled and with a single exception (the Export feature) it will be able to do the same as FS-Interrogate 1.08 (and then some). I don't expect that the Professional version will make me rich (there are only so many Developers making add-ons for MSFS) however over the years I have had various expenses of which some are directly related to the creation of FS-Interrogate. Also I guess many of the tools/add-ons that I have bought over the years have been written by people who have had a better understanding of FSUIPC through the use of FS-Interrogate, so on some level its only fair I get paid as well !?
Download
Here at this site the latest version of FS-Interrogate will always be available, however the latest version will also be available with the FSUIPC SDK (at least the latest version when the SDK was released). Even though you can download the latest version of FS-Interrogate here, I urge you to ensure that you get the latest version of the FSUIPC SDK as its the only place to get the updated FSUIPC.FSI file as well (FS-Interrogate can load older FSI-file formats however these files will naturally not contain the latest changes).
FSInterrogate2Std.ZIP (Version 2.00, also bundled with the 26th FSUIPC SDK).
Whats new in version 2.00
This new version of FS-Interrogate still sets out to be a tool for Developers of MSFS add-ons and Cockpit Builders, however its a complete rewrite of the old program and features a brand new (hopefully) more appealing and crisp GUI. Its not all whistles and bells but this new version also features some new additions trying to make up of some of the shortcomings of the old version:- New MS-Office'like GUI build around a NavBar giving easy access to the features of FS-Interrogate.
- The old Variables are "out the window" and a new list has be made based on "FSUIPC Monitor" (a feature build into FSUIPC). This means that FS-Interrogate now support all the various types that are available via FSUIPC (e.g. the previous version didn't have support for 32 bit Floating Point, 64 bit Integers nor Strings).
- Also users will be able to select how these various type names are shown. The default is "FSUIPC Monitor" e.g. S8, U8, S32, ASCIIZ, FLT32 and FLT64. However I as a Delphi Developer might prefer to see the same appear as: ShortInt, Byte, Integer, String, Single and Double. The following languages are supported (however not all languages have these various types): C/C++, C#, Delphi, VB and VB.Net (also they can be shown in their Descriptive form, e.g. "32 bit Signed Integer [S32]").
- More info for each variable (e.g. Supported versions of FS, Token ID/Name, Array, 3rd Party and "See Also" links to other variables).
- In addition to the old/known way of interrogating (per variable) this new version also features a HEX-Viewer (still not sure whether this feature will be reserved for the professional/payware version).
- The new GUI features Grids (tables) that lets you Sort, Filter and Group the variables so you can easily find/monitor the variables you need.
- A Scratch-Pad lets you take notes while you use FS-Interrogate (e.g. which offset values to use in your project, and how to use them).
Status
As such FS-Interrogate 2.00 is a "finished version", however there are still various improvements I want to implement and these will be made available here at my site in form of new releases and the latest version of FS-Interrogate will always be made available as a part of the FSUIPC SDK. The list below contains a few of the standing tasks to improve in future versions:- The Hex-Viewer is WORK IN PROGRESS
- The Manual is WORK IN PROGRESS
- Better integration between the Variable-, Interrogate- and HexViewer- WORK IN PROGRESS
Future of FS-Interrogate / Additional features
Beside the items mentioned above I don't have a fixed list of items to add to FS-Interrogate, nor do I have a fixed plan as when to make the Professional version that will contain more features. However already I have a lot of ideas for additional features that will be aimed at the Professional version. Time will show if my skills and the time I can set aside for FS-Interrogate will allow me to implement these additional features but the list below contains some of the ideas I got for improving (the Pro. Version of) FS-Interrogate. As always feel free contacting me with requests/suggestions (I won't promise that these will be implemented, however I do promise that I will listen to your comments/suggestions and if I like the ideas, and it is both within my skills and the time I have to set aside of FS-Interrogate, they might find their way into the final product <G>):
- Export (as known from FS-Interrogate 1.x).
- Import (Compare 2 FSI-files and import the differences).
- Watch-Dog (monitor select variables and log changes).
- Log-File interpretations (makes it easier for Developers to Debug their software using FSUIPC's log-files).
- Build-in Scripting Engine (Beats loading up your Development-platform, and compile each time you just want to test a simple feature).
How does it look / Screenshots
Click the thumbnails below to see a fullsize screenshot.:
Main-Form (4 different Views)
Version 2.x of FS-Interrogate is build around a NavBar (as known e.g. from S Outlook) and through this NavBar the different "views" of FS-Interrogate is available: the Variable-View (for maintaining the variables), the Interrogate-View (for "interrogating" MSFS - reading data/locating changes), the HexViewer-View (as HexViewer approach to the Interrogate Processs), and finally the Tools-View (that currently only contains the Scratch-Pad where you can take notes along the way).
Variable-Maintenance:
New fields has been added when describing the features regarding each variable, among these the possibility to describe arrays (e.g. there are 96 identical slots for TCAS Ground/Airborne -Traffic), check in which version of FS the variable is supported, and you can note if a vaiable is for a particular 3rd party product. Also variables can link to other related variables (called "See Also Variables").
