I’m able to work around the missing airport data through the SimConnect interface and already have a prototype to fetch all I need. This is doable.
What would really help is documentation of the changes in the BGL files.
Alex
Request to provide not encrypted airport data.
I’m the developer of Little Navmap trying to adapt my program to MSFS 2024. This is currently not doable.
Unfortunately I noticed that the most important folder fs-base-genericairports is now an encrypted file fs-base-genericairports.fsarchive in the streaming folder and according to its size not complete.
This effectively prevents me from adapting Little Navmap to MSFS 2024.
Request to provide:
fs-base-genericairports.fsarchive in a complete and not encrypted state using discrete BGL files as it is with MSFS 2020.
Documentation for the BGL format or at least for the changes made in MSFS 2024.
Point one would allow me at least to continue development.
Point two would save other add-on developers and me a lot of time.
Help him! Yesterday I had to install msfs2020 just to get the database into Little Navmap. 160GB. I’m sure I am not the only one. The flightplanner app is getting there, but not yet as sophisticated as Little Navmap. Profile mode is missing for one. Thx
Your issue is that fs-base-genericairports is streamed, it’s on purpose, we don’t want player to download airports that they don’t use. But even if you have access to this package, you will not have access to encrypted third party package that contain airport. It was like that in FS2020, that’s why we have developed a SimConnect API to retrieve airport data.
Parsing BGL is not a sustainable way to retrieve airports. The format keeps changing and so addon based on that keeps getting broken.
We know some data can be missing in the SimConnect API. Can you do a list of data you are not able to retrieve ?
I can live with fetching airports and procedures via SimConnect and already have a working prototype.
Here is a list of missing features in the SimConnect facility API in order of importance (based on user requests and my opinion) .
Runway lighted (has center and/or edge lights) - Needed to find airports for night operation
Airport closed state
Airport add-on state (true if placed in community folder)
City, state and country for airport (if available)
Airport aprons
Runway closed flag
Runway open for takeoff or landing
Airline codes for gates
None of this is a show stopper, obviously.
Navdata
I have to read the navdata (waypoints, VOR, NDB, ILS, airways and airspaces) from the BGL files due to the limitation of the “reality bubble” of 200 NM around the user aircraft. I cannot add navaids to the LNM database once they appear. This is not doable. Like the airports, I need navaids worldwide. Also airspace boundaries are missing in the facility API.
If the issues above are fixed (fetch world-wide instead of reality bubble and boundaries) I can also read the navaids via SimConnect and don’t have to deal with changes in the BGL files.
Just noticed the navdata moved to StreamedPackages but now the airspaces are missing.
Any chance to get these files back?
BoundariesAlert.bgl
BoundariesCenter.bgl
BoundariesClassA.bgl
BoundariesClassB.bgl
BoundariesClassC.bgl
BoundariesClassD.bgl
BoundariesClassE.bgl
BoundariesClassF.bgl
BoundariesClassG.bgl
BoundariesDanger.bgl
BoundariesMoa.bgl
BoundariesProhibited.bgl
BoundariesRestricted.bgl
BoundariesTraining.bgl
BoundariesWarning.bgl
Are there any plans to lift the 200 NM bubble limitation for navdata?
This would allow me to load waypoints, airways and other navaids from SimConnect too.
We are working to enable more NavData (according to the list you made previously) through the NavData API. A way to access boundaries’ data will also be provided. For now, we cannot give any ETA about the release of those features.
I think there is a confusion about the 200 NM area that prevent you to request NavData.
The “reality bubble” is a legacy we got from FSX that we had to keep to preserve backward compatibility. So legacy functions about facilities such as :
SimConnect_SubscribeToFacilities(_EX1)
SimConnect_UnsubscribeToFacilities(_EX1)
SimConnect_RequestFacilitiesList(_EX1) : exception with SimConnect_RequestFacilitiesList and airport which returns the entire list of airport across the world
works in a 200 NM area around the player.
But this is not the case for SimConnect_RequestFacilityData(_EX1) which can request every airport, vor, ndb, waypoint around the world no matter the player position.
Samples such as FacilityDataDefinition or FacilityDataDefinition2 might help too (the second one shows a way to build airways… using an entry point)
If you have more request, please don’t hesitate to fill this post.
thank you for getting back to me about this. Appreciate it.
I looked at the examples and tested the functions but there are still problems.
To get navaid details I need to know ICAO and region for all waypoint, VOR and NDB first.
SimConnect_RequestFacilitiesList gives me only waypoints in the bubble. Four waypoints somewhere while MSFS shows the start menu and around 3500 if the user aircraft is placed at EDDF. There are around 250000 worldwide.
The sample code in FacilityDataDefinition2 traverses the airways to get all waypoints, VOR and NDB which omits a lot of navaids. There are waypoints not connected to procedures or airways like in the North Atlantic (e.g. 5420N/EG) which are required to build NAT tracks, for example. Similar for VOR and NDB.
For now I can still read the navaids from the BGL files from the StreamedPackages folder but I think the SimConnect solution is more future proof.
Latest update today removed all the BGL files I used to read the navigation data.
I’ll put the whole LNM and MSFS 2024 project on hold now until either of the problems below is fixed:
The navigation data is delivered without spatial limitations (reality bubble) through SimConnect_RequestFacilitesList for the request types SIMCONNECT_FACILITY_LIST_TYPE_WAYPOINT, SIMCONNECT_FACILITY_LIST_TYPE_NDB, SIMCONNECT_FACILITY_LIST_TYPE_VOR, on the SimConnect interface. The full list is needed to request details using SimConnect_RequestFacilityData.
The BGL files in .../Microsoft.Limitless_8wekyb3d8bbwe/LocalState/StreamedPackages/fs-base-nav/content/scenery/ are put back in place.
Until then I simply cannot continue.
Edit: I’m trying another approach similar to the one in the above mentioned sample. This is based on navaid references in procedures and airways but the result will still be incomplete.
Still point one above should be really fixed to get a complete set of navaids.
