Overview

Compiling BGL

The BGL Compiler is primarily used to compile scenery and airport data into files that ESP can read. It is also used for creating Rewards files for the mission system, and adjusting time zone information.

See Also

Table of Contents

The Compiler and File Formats

  • Backwards Compatibility
  • GUID Formats
  • Compiler Usage
  • About the XML Format
  • Scenery File Format
  • Entries in the ESP.cfg File

Scenery Objects

  • BiasXYZ
  • Effect
  • GenericBuilding
  • LibraryObject
  • Trigger
  • Fuel
  • TriggerWeatherData
  • Windsock
  • Beacon
  • AttachedObject
  • ModelData
  • ExclusionRectangle

TimeZone

ExtrusionBridge

Facility Data

  • Airport
  • Jetway
  • BlastFence
  • DeleteAirport
  • DeleteRunway
  • DeleteStart
  • DeleteFrequency
  • Tower
  • Runway
  • Markings
  • Lights
  • OffsetThreshold
  • BlastPad
  • Overrun
  • ApproachLights
  • VASI
  • ILS
  • GlideSlope
  • VisualModel
  • RunwayStart
  • RunwayAlias
  • Start
  • Helipad
  • Com
  • Approach
  • ApproachLegs
  • MissedApproachLegs
  • TaxiwayPoint
  • TaxiwayParking
  • TaxiwayPath
  • Transition
  • TaxiwaySign
  • Aprons
  • Vertex
  • ApronEdgeLights
  • Boundary
  • Vor
  • Dme
  • Ndb
  • Marker
  • Waypoint
  • Route
  • Geopol

Using the BGLScan Tool

The Compiler and File Formats

  • GUID Formats
  • Compiler Usage
  • About the XML Format
  • Scenery File Format
  • Entries in the ESP.cfg File

GUID Formats

GUIDs are now entered in the following format (complete with curly brackets and dashes): {93802d8b-ba4f-45eb-a272-9f029a0feeb3}. The example shows a GUID for a water tower. In earlier versions of ESP, GUIDs were entered as a 32 character hex string.

See the SDK Overview section on Generating GUIDs to access a tool that will generate new style GUIDs. If for any reason GUIDs need to be converted from the old format to the new, or vice versa, use the following piece of C# code. If an old format GUID is provided as the parameter, a new format GUID will be returned, and if a new format GUID is provided as the parameter, an old format GUID will be returned.

        public static Guid ChangeGuidFormat (Guid guid)         {             string guidString = guid.ToString ("N");               guidString = string.Format ("{0}{1}{2}{3}{4}{5}{6}{7}{8}{9}{10}",                 guidString.Substring (0, 8),                 guidString.Substring (12, 4),                 guidString.Substring (8, 4),                 guidString.Substring (22, 2),                 guidString.Substring (20, 2),                 guidString.Substring (18, 2),                 guidString.Substring (16, 2),                 guidString.Substring (30, 2),                 guidString.Substring (28, 2),                 guidString.Substring (26, 2),                 guidString.Substring (24, 2));               return new Guid (guidString);         }

Compiler Usage

If you are running an operating system earlier than Windows XP you will need to ensure that MSXML4 is installed on any machines that will run BGLComp.  You can find MSXML4 on the Microsoft web site: https://www.microsoft.com.

If you are running the Windows Vista operating system you will need to be working as an administrator for BGLComp to work correctly.

The BGL compiler is invoked with the command:

bglcomp.exe <filename>

To make batch file processing easier, the compiler will accept wildcards to process multiple files per invocation.  Invoking the compiler without any parameters will print version and usage information for the compiler.  Along with the compiler is the file BGLComp.xsd, this file must be located in the same directory as BGLComp.exe for the compiler to function properly.

About the XML Format

The scenery format is XML-based and follows a strict file structure with regards to element hierarchies, case sensitivity, and the contents of elements (potentially including white space).  XML is a text-based file format consisting of elements and attributes.  The XML specification also allows for comments, to allow scenery files to be annotated.  At this time elements, attributes, and values are all case-sensitive.  The XML convention used is as follows:

  1. All significant words in elements capitalized.
  2. The first letter of an attribute is not capitalized, but the successive significant words are.
  3. All letters of an attribute "value" are capitalized (unless otherwise specified) and words are separated by underscores.
  4. It is OK to include blank lines in the XML files to improve readability.
  5. The order that attributes appear for any one object is arbitrary.
  6. The keywords "YES" and "NO" have the same meaning as "TRUE" and "FALSE".

See the Microsoft website (www.microsoft.com) for more information about XML.

Scenery File Format

The following is a sample of the XML file structure used for scenery files.  Note the use of "<!--" and "-->" to start and end comments.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <FSData      version="9.0"      xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'      xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="bglcomp.xsd" > <!-- Facility and scenery data goes here --> </FSData>

  • The first line of the file indicates the XML version and character encoding to use for the rest of the file.  This line is not strictly required by XML parsers, but is strongly recommended to ensure the XML parser produces expected results.
  • The second indicates the start of the data.  The tag FSData is considered an element and indicates what kind of data is present in the file. 
  • Following the FSData tag is an attribute: version.  Attributes are immediately followed by a value enclosed in quotes.  For scenery, the FSData element must be followed by a version attribute and that version must be "9.0".
  • The remaining attributes on the line are directives to the XML parser that tell it how to validate the contents of the XML file.  These attributes must be present in all scenery XML files and match the above sample.  Once all of the attributes for the FSData elements have been specified, the element is closed with "/>". 
  • Following the declaration of the FSData element will be the XML that defines the contents of the file.  In this example the file content is simply a comment. 
  • To finish off the file, the </FSData> element is specified. 

For more information on how to create new terrain refer to the Terrain and Scenery document.  Both facility and scenery information may be contained in a single .XML source file and this practice is encouraged.

Spatial Sorting

Spatial sorting is important to reduce file size and increase engine efficiency.  It is up to the scenery creator to break the source into geographically related areas to optimize how the scenery is loaded into memory.  When deciding on boundaries it is beneficial to avoid overlapping file bounds between files.

Common Errors

The XML compiler has been designed to be very strict in an effort to avoid ambiguity.  As a result, the strings used for XML elements and attributes are treated as case-sensitive.  The compiler will report such errors at compile time.

Some scenery elements are not allowed to contain other sub-elements.  The form of the XML is used to distinguish between these types of elements. 

Elements allowed to have sub-elements take this form:

<Element attribute="value">       <SubElement>             <!-- Sub element data -->       </SubElement> </Element>

Elements not allowed to have sub-elements take this form:

     <Element attribute="value" />

If an element that is not allowed to have sub elements isn"t closed with "/>" or contains any data (including white space) before the closing element tag, the following error will result:

ERROR: 19, 66, Text is not allowed in this context according to DTD/Schema.

The XML standard is very strict in this regard and it is essential to have the proper closing on an element. If the element is allowed to contain data, the element is closed with a declaration of the element prefixed with a "/" character (i.e., </ClosingElement>).  If the element is not allowed to contain sub-elements the declaration is closed with "/>".  This is an important distinction that will be checked during XML validation.  The appropriate structure of these elements will be shown in their descriptions.

When errors are reported from the compiler, they generally start with the line number and character position on the line where the error occurred.  This format is mainly used when an XML format error occurs and sometimes when a data content error occurs. All of the .XML content is validated against an .XSD to ensure proper file structure before processing in the compiler.  As a result, ordering of sub-elements is verified.  If elements are found to be out of order, the following error will result:

ERROR: 5, 48, Element content is invalid according to the DTD/Schema. Expecting: Effect, GenericBuilding, LibraryObject, Trigger, Windsock, AttachedObject.

This is .XSD validation code reporting what it expects to see next.  Check the XML at the line noted and see if there is an element that might be out of order, or whether multiple instances of a sub-element are allowed. 

Entries in the ESP.cfg File

Some of the entries in the ESP.cfg configuration file reference scenery, terrain and graphics issues. The ESP.cfg file is found in the C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Microsoft\ESP folder (for Windows XP) or the C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\ESP folder (for Windows Vista).

[Scenery] Section

MissingLibraryAlert=1
Receive error messages when library objects are referenced but not found, or when library objects that have bounds are referenced outside of those bounds (for example, the Seattle Space Needle model can only be referrenced in the Seattle locality).
ShowMissingTextureAlert=1 Receive warnings when one or more scenery object or aircraft model textures are missing. Note that setting this will not trigger an error message for missing terrain textures.

[Graphics] Section

Day_Threshold A value between 0 (total darkness) to 65535 (full day sun at noon in summer) that represents the amount of ambient light to apply to textures at the end of the day/night threshold. The default value is 32768 (50 percent of full brightness). The smaller the difference between Day_Threshold and Night_Threshold, the quicker twilight and sunrise will be.
Night_Threshold The default value is 4096 (6.25 percent of full brightness).

Scenery Objects

  • XML Format
  • BiasXYZ
  • Effect
  • GenericBuilding
  • LibraryObject
  • Trigger
  • Fuel
  • TriggerWeatherData
  • Windsock
  • Beacon
  • AttachedObject
  • ModelData
  • ExclusionRectangle

XML Format

Scenery objects are placed inside of the <FSData> elements.  The following XML shows the XML file structure used for scenery objects and will put an oil drilling rig next to the runway at SeaTac airport.

<?xml version="1.0"?> <FSData      version="9.0"      xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'      xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="bglcomp.xsd" > <SceneryObject       lat="N47 25.89"       lon="W122 18.42"       alt="0"       altitudeIsAgl="TRUE"       pitch="0"       bank="0"       heading="0"       imageComplexity="NORMAL">       <LibraryObject             name="{93802d8b-ba4f-45eb-a272-9f029a0feeb3}"             scale="1.0"/> </SceneryObject> </FSData>

All scenery objects are contained within a SceneryObject element.  The SceneryObject element has several required attributes that define the placement of the object in the world.  For this sample, the SceneryObject contains a LibraryObject that represents a water tower. 

  1. Copy the above sample into Notepad (or another text editor) and save it to disk.
  2. Run the BGLComp compiler on the file and a resulting .BGL file will be created.
  3. Copy the .BGL file to the Scenery\Generic\Scenery directory, and run ESP.
  4. Select the default startup flight and you will see a placement of the drilling rig in just off the runway at Seattle Tacoma International airport.

The following sections list the elements and associated attributes that can be used to create scenery.  Some scenery XML elements are used to contain other elements, while others are not.  This distinction is shown by the form of the data.

SceneryObject

This element is used to designate an object"s placement in the world.  It can be used to specify the lat, lon, alt position of the object, and the pitch, bank and heading to be applied.    This element is allowed to contain Bias, Beacon, Effect, GenericBuilding, LibraryObject, Trigger, Windsock, AttachedObject data and should not be terminated with "/>". The AttachedObject entry must be the last.
 
<SceneryObject       lat=" 32.69398294"       lon=" -16.77601783"       alt="0"       altitudeIsAgl="TRUE"       pitch="0"       bank="0"       heading="0"       imageComplexity="NORMAL">       <!-- Scenery object data elements -->       <BiasXYZ           biasX="0"           biasY="0"           biasZ="0"/>  <!-- Optional -->       <LibraryObject           name="GUID"           scale="1.0"/>       <AttachedObject ......>       <!-- Optional -->       </AttachedObject> </SceneryObject>

instanceId Optional GUID that identifies this SceneryObject entry. GUID in the format: {nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}
lat Latitude of object -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of object -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of object Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
altitudeIsAgl Boolean indicating whether altitude is AGL or MSL TRUE = alt is AGL
FALSE = alt is MSL
pitch Pitch applied to object 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
bank Bank applied to object 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
heading Heading applied to object 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
imageComplexity Minimum image complexity setting for the objects to appear. For example, objects set at NORMAL will appear if the setting is DENSE, but not appear if the setting is SPARSE. VERY_SPARSE
SPARSE
NORMAL
DENSE
VERY_DENSE

The following elements can be added to a SceneryObject, but contain no additional attributes or elements, so are entered into the XML, for example, as <NoAutogenSuppresion/>.

NoAutogenSuppression Do not suppress Autogen created objects that might be on the same terrain as the scenery object.
NoCrash Aircraft do not crash if they hit this object.
NoFog Fog does not affect the object at render time (useful for the virtual EFIS objects that draw in the sky).
NoShadow Objects do not create a shadow.
NoZWrite Allows an object to draw into the scene but not write to the ZBuffer. Note that there is no control over the draw order.
NoZTest Allows an object to draw into the scene without testing against the ZBuffer. This causes objects to draw on top of others. Note that there is no control over the draw order.

BiasXYZ

This element is used to add an X, Y, Z bias in meters to the placement of an object.  The acceptable range of values is unbounded, but it is recommended that biases only be applied for small distances.  If this element is used inside of a SceneryObject it must come before any instances of AttachedObject, Effect, GenericBuilding, LibraryObject, Trigger, or Windsock.  This bias is not affected by pitch, bank, or headings applied to the base scenery object. This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<BiasXYZ       biasX="0"       biasY="0"       biasZ="0"/>

biasX Bias along the longitudinal axis in meters Floating point value
biasY Altitude bias in meters Floating point value
biasZ Bias along the latitudinal axis in meters Floating point value

Effect

This element is used to add a scenery effect to the scene.  See Creating Special Effects for more information about creating and using scenery effects.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Effect       effectName=" FW_Controller"       effectParams=" MOY=01,01;DOM=01,01;HOD=00,00;MOH=00,20;"/>

effectName Name of the effect String (up to 80 characters)
effectParams (optional) Parameters for the effect. See the Special Effectsdocumentation for more information. String of parameter settings, may be empty.

GenericBuilding

This element is used to add a generic building to the scene.  The building type and parameters are set as sub-elements.  This element is allowed to contain RectangularBuilding, PyramidalBuilding, and MultiSidedBuilding data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<GenericBuilding       scale="1.0"       bottomTexture="68"       roofTexture="25"       topTexture="68"       windowTexture="41">       <!-- building data --> </GenericBuilding>

scale Scale value for building that represents the number of meters per unit. Set to 1.0 for the building to be modeled in meters. Floating point value.
bottomTexture ID of texture to use on bottom layer. Integer. See Generic Wall Textures.
roofTexture ID of texture to use on roof Integer. See Generic Roof Textures.
topTexture ID of texture to use on top layer Integer. See Generic Wall Textures.
windowTexture ID of texture to use on window layer Integer. See Generic Window Textures.

The textures for walls for generic buildings are divided into two. The lower half provides textures for one design of building, and the upper half for another. The textures for roofs and windows are not divided into two, the whole texture is used. In the examples in this document the following textures are used:

68/69 This texture is for skyscraper buildings, and is divided into four regions. The lowest shows the bottom layer (street level) of a building. Just above it is the top layer that is rendered above the windows. The third layer is an alternative lower level (street level again), and above that another top level. The texture number 68 references the bottom layer, and number 69 the top layer. This texture is 128x128 pixels,
68/69 This texture is used for the building walls at night time.
25 A roof texture, clearly designed as the flat roof top of a skyscraper, although we use it for many of the building examples here. This texture is used for both day and night time. The texture is 128x128 pixels.
41 This texture is used for skyscraper windows. It is 64x64 pixels.
41 This is the window texture used at night time.

RectangularBuilding

This element is used inside of a GenericBuilding element and is used to describe a rectangular building.  Rectangular buildings have many possible attributes and the availability of attributes is determined by one of four roof types: (FLAT, PEAKED, RIDGE, SLANT).
This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".  The following is a list of the valid roof types and their attributes:

Rectangular Building: Flat Roof

<RectangularBuilding          roofType="FLAT"       sizeX="44"       sizeZ="44"       sizeBottomY="5"       textureIndexBottomX="512"       textureIndexBottomZ="512"       sizeWindowY="250"       textureIndexWindowX="1024"       textureIndexWindowY="2048"       textureIndexWindowZ="1024"       sizeTopY="5"       textureIndexTopX="512"       textureIndexTopZ="512"       textureIndexRoofX="256"       textureIndexRoofZ="256"/>

sizeX Size of base along longitudinal (east-west) axis in meters. Non-negative floating point value
sizeZ Size of base along latitudinal (north-south) axis in meters. Non-negative floating point value
sizeBottomY Height of bottom layer in meters. The lowest region of the wall texture is used here. Often the intended value for this is 5 (5 meters), but if you enter 10 for example, the texture will be stretched to fit. Non-negative floating point value
textureIndexBottomX The Texture Ratio for the bottom wall in the X direction of the building. Non-negative integer
textureIndexBottomZ The Texture Ratio for the bottom wall in the Z direction of the building. Non-negative integer
sizeWindowY Size of window layer in meters. For a skyscraper this is often several hundred meters. Non-negative floating point value
textureIndexWindowX The Texture Ratio for the window texture when being rendered along the X direction of the building. Non-negative integer
textureIndexWindowY The Texture Ratio for the window texture when being rendered along the Y direction (up) of the building. Non-negative integer
textureIndexWindowZ The Texture Ratio for the window texture when being rendered in the Z direction of the building. Non-negative integer
sizeTopY Size of top layer in meters. Again for a skyscraper this number is often 5 meters. Non-negative floating point value
textureIndexTopX The Texture Ratio for the top of the wall in the X direction of the building. Non-negative integer
textureIndexTopZ The Texture Ratio for the top of the wall in the Z direction of the building. Non-negative integer
textureIndexRoofX The Texture Ratio for the roof texture in the X direction of the building. Non-negative integer
textureIndexRoofZ The Texture Ratio for the roof texture in the Z direction of the building. Non-negative integer

Texture Ratio

When referencing textures for GenericBuilding, a calculated ratio is used to determine how often the texture is repeated in the given space. The calculation is the given number, divided by 256. This evaluates to the number of times the texture is repeated. It does not matter if the texture is 64x64 pixels, or 512x512 pixels, the same calculation (division by 256) applies. So, for example, if the value for textureIndexBottomX is 1024, then the lower level texture is repeated four (1024/256 = 4)  times across the building. If the number 384 had been entered, then the texture would be repeated one and a half times across the building. If the number entered was 128, then half the texture would be rendered.
The same calculation applies for repeating textures in the Y (up) and Z directions. For most sections of the building, only one texture ratio is used to determine how the texture is handled, but for some two ratios are needed (for example, textureIndexRoofX and textureIndexRoofZ, determine how many times the single roof texture is repeated in the X and Z directions).

Many of the attributes for a flat roofed building are used throughout the other generic buildings; the flat roofed rectangular building is the simplest of the generic buildings.

Rectangular Building: Peaked Roof

<RectangularBuilding       roofType="PEAKED"       sizeX="44"       sizeZ="44"       sizeBottomY="5"       textureIndexBottomX="512"       textureIndexBottomZ="512"       sizeWindowY="225"       textureIndexWindowX="768"       textureIndexWindowY="384"       textureIndexWindowZ="768"       sizeTopY="5"       textureIndexTopX="512"       textureIndexTopZ="512"       textureIndexRoofX="256"       textureIndexRoofZ="256"       sizeRoofY="45"       textureIndexRoofY="256"/>

All the attributes of a flat roofed building See the descriptions above.  
sizeRoofY Height of the roof peak in meters Non-negative floating point value
textureIndexRoofY The Texture Ratio for the roof texture in the Y (up) direction of the building Non-negative integer

Rectangular Building: Ridge Roof

<RectangularBuilding       roofType="RIDGE"       sizeX="44"       sizeZ="44"       sizeBottomY="5"       textureIndexBottomX="512"       textureIndexBottomZ="512"       sizeWindowY="225"       textureIndexWindowX="768"       textureIndexWindowY="384"       textureIndexWindowZ="768"       sizeTopY="5"       textureIndexTopX="552"       textureIndexTopZ="552"       textureIndexRoofX="256"       textureIndexRoofZ="256"       sizeRoofY="45"       gableTexture="30"       textureIndexGableY="256"       textureIndexGableZ="256"/>

All the attributes of a flat roofed building See the descriptions above.  
sizeRoofY Height of roof in meters Non-negative floating point value
gableTexture ID of the texture to use on the gable. Non-negative integer. See Generic Wall Textures.
textureIndexGableY The Texture Ratio for the gable texture in the Y (up) direction of the building Non-negative integer
textureIndexGableZ The Texture Ratio for the roof texture in the Z direction of the building Non-negative integer

Rectangular Building: Slant Roof

<RectangularBuilding       roofType="SLANT"       sizeX="44"       sizeZ="44"       sizeBottomY="5"       textureIndexBottomX="512"       textureIndexBottomZ="512"       sizeWindowY="225"       textureIndexWindowX="768"       textureIndexWindowY="384"       textureIndexWindowZ="768"       sizeTopY="5"       textureIndexTopX="552"       textureIndexTopZ="552"       textureIndexRoofX="256"       textureIndexRoofZ="256"       sizeRoofY="45"       gableTexture="30"       textureIndexGableY="256"       textureIndexGableZ="256"       faceTexture="30"       textureIndexFaceX="100"       textureIndexFaceY="100"/>

All the attributes of a flat roofed building See the descriptions above.  
sizeRoofY Height of roof in meters Non-negative floating point value
gableTexture ID of texture to use on gable Non-negative integer. See Generic Wall Textures.
textureIndexGableY The Texture Ratio for the gable texture in the Y (up) direction of the building Non-negative integer
textureIndexGableZ The Texture Ratio for the gable texture in the Z direction of the building Non-negative integer
faceTexture ID of texture to use on the vertical face. Non-negative integer. See Generic Wall Textures.
textureIndexFaceX The Texture Ratio for the face texture in the X direction of the building Non-negative integer
textureIndexFaceY The Texture Ratio for the face texture in the Y (up) direction of the building Non-negative integer

PyramidalBuilding

This element is used inside of a GenericBuilding element and describes a pyramidal building.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<PyramidalBuilding       sizeX="76"       sizeZ="46"       sizeTopX="57"       sizeTopZ="34"       sizeBottomY="10"       textureIndexBottomX="1024"       textureIndexBottomZ="512"       sizeWindowY="170"       textureIndexWindowX="512"       textureIndexWindowY="1088"       textureIndexWindowZ="256"       sizeTopY="10"       textureIndexTopX="980"       textureIndexTopZ="596"       textureIndexRoofX="256"       textureIndexRoofZ="256"/>

sizeX Size of base along latitudinal (east-west) axis in meters Non-negative floating point value
sizeZ Size of base along longitudinal (north-south) axis in meters Non-negative floating point value
sizeTopX Size of the top of the building along latitudinal axis Non-negative floating point value
sizeTopZ Size of the top of the building along longitudinal axis Non-negative floating point value
All the attributes of a flat roofed building See the descriptions above.  

MultiSidedBuilding

This element is used inside of a GenericBuilding element and is used to describe a multi-sided building.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<MultiSidedBuilding       buildingSides="12"       smoothing="FALSE"       sizeX="130"       sizeZ="130"       sizeBottomY="5"       textureIndexBottomX="768"       sizeWindowY="40"       textureIndexWindowX="768"       textureIndexWindowY="1024"       sizeTopY="5"       textureIndexTopX="768"       sizeRoofY="0"       textureIndexRoofX="256"       textureIndexRoofY="256"       textureIndexRoofZ="256"/>

buildingSides Number of building sides Integer greater than 4
smoothing Boolean indicating whether the building should be shaded to give the appearance of being round. TRUE or FALSE
All the attributes of a flat roofed building, except:
 
textureIndexBottomZ, textureIndexWindowZ, and textureIndexTopZ
Each side of the multi-sided building uses the X direction values.  
textureIndexRoofZ The Texture Ratio for the gable texture in the Z direction of the building. Non-negative integer

LibraryObject

This element is used to add a library object to the scene.  See the Using Modeling Tools documentation for more information about creating library objects.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<LibraryObject       name="GUID"       scale="1.0"/>

name GUID of the desired object GUID from the Library Objects file, in the format: {nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}
scale Scale applied to this object Floating point value

Trigger

This element is used to add a trigger to the scene.  Triggers are used to define regions in the world that will cause an event when the user"s aircraft enters that region.  Triggers can presently be used to specify refueling stations and weather areas (like thermals or ridge lifts).  To aid in the construction of scenery using triggers, it is possible to make them visible in the simulation by setting ShowTriggers=1 in the [SCENERY] section of the ESP.cfg file.  Set ShowTriggers=0 to stop highlighting the triggers.    This element is allowed to contain Fuel, Vertex and TriggerWeatherData data, which must occur in that order, and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Trigger       type="WEATHER"       triggerHeight="3000">       <!-- Trigger data --> </Trigger>

type Type of trigger REFUEL_REPAIR
WEATHER
triggerHeight Height of trigger in meters. Primarily used for weather triggers. Non-negative floating point number

Fuel

This element is used to specify fuel availability for a fuel trigger.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Fuel       type="100"       availability="YES"/>

type Type of fuel 73
87
100
130
145
MOGAS
JET
JETA
JETA1
JETAP
JETB
JET4
JET5
UNKNOWN
availability Fuel availability YES
NO
UNKNOWN
PRIOR_REQUEST

TriggerWeatherData

This element is used to specify a weather setting for a trigger.  Weather triggers can be used to create thermals and ridge lifts for gliders and areas of turbulence.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<TriggerWeatherData       type="THERMAL"       heading="270.0"       scalar=".70"/>

type Type of weather data THERMAL
NONDIRECTIONAL_TURBULENCE
DIRECTIONAL_TURBULENCE
RIDGE_LIFT
heading Heading vector applied to weather data 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
scalar Scalar value applied to wind speed that is used to generate lift and turbulence. Floating point number between 0.0 and 1.0.

Windsock

This element is used to add a windsock to the scene. This element is allowed to contain PoleColor and SockColor data, which must occur in that order if they are entered (this is optional, the default colors are gray and orange respectively) and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Windsock       poleHeight="5.5"       sockLength="3.5"       lighted="TRUE">       <!-- Windsock data --> </Windsock>

poleHeight Height of pole in meters Non-negative floating point value
sockLength Length of sock in meters Non-negative floating point value
lighted Boolean indicating whether the windsock is lighted TRUE or FALSE

PoleColor

This element is used to specify the color of a windsock pole.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<PoleColor       red="128"       blue="128"       green="128"/>

red Red color component Integer 0-255
blue Blue color component Integer 0-255
green Green color component Integer 0-255

SockColor

This element is used to specify the color of the sock on a windsock.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<SockColor       red="255"       blue="128"       green="128"/>

red Red color component Integer 0-255
blue Blue color component Integer 0-255
green Green color component Integer 0-255

Beacon

This element is used to add a beacon to the scene.  Beacons can be added as stand-alone objects, but are usually added as objects attached to control towers.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Beacon       type="CIVILIAN"       baseType="AIRPORT" />

type Type of beacon CIVILIAN
MILITARY
baseType Type of facility AIRPORT
SEA_BASE
HELIPORT

AttachedObject

This element is used to attach another object to a scenery object.  At this time only LibraryObject elements can be used as a base for attaching objects.  When attaching an object, an optional BiasXYZ can be applied.  Also, a rotation around the pitch, bank or heading axis can be applied to the attached object.  This element is allowed to contain RandomAttach, Bias, Beacon, Effect and LibraryObject data, which must occur in that order (though all are optional) and should not be terminated with "/>".

Attached objects are subject to any rotations or displacements applied to the base object, or any animated parts.  Refer to the Using Modeling Tools documentation and the Library Objects table for more information about attach points. Nesting of attached objects is supported but is not encouraged (for example, a library object can be placed that has a control tower attached to it and the attached control tower has a beacon attached to it).

The following example attaches a beacon to a metal tower.

<SceneryObject       lat="31.95451772"       lon="-89.23370500"       alt="0F"       altitudeIsAgl="TRUE"       pitch="0"       bank="0"       heading="162"       imageComplexity="VERY_SPARSE" >       <LibraryObject             name="GUID"             scale="1.0" />       <AttachedObject             attachpointName="attachpt_beacon"             pitch="0"             bank="0"             heading="0">             <Beacon                  type="CIVILIAN"                  baseType="AIRPORT"/>       </AttachedObject> </SceneryObject>

attachpointName Name of attach point in model (refer to the Using Modeling Tools documentation on the Attach tool). String
instanceId Optional GUID that identifies this instance of the attached object. GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}
pitch Pitch applied to object 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
bank Bank applied to object 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
heading Heading applied to object 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value

RandomAttach

This element is used to apply some randomness to AttachedObject elements. This element cannot contain other elements.

<RandomAttach       randomness="LOCATION_RANDOM"       probability="0.5" />

randomness When the attached object is to appear. LOCATION_RANDOM will generate a random number based on the location, so will always be the same. PURE_RANDOM will generate a new random each time the section of scenery is created. ALWAYS_DISPLAY
LOCATION_RANDOM
PURE_RANDOM
probability The probability of the attached object appearing. 0.0 to 1.0

ModelData

This element is used to create a .BGL file that contains model data for one or more newly created library objects.  Library object models are created with Modeling Tools, and those models can be made part of a scenery .BGL file.  ModelData is not a sub element of SceneryObject, it is used at the same level as SceneryObject. The GUID set as a file property when creating the model is used by the compiler to identify the correct model. If the reference to a model is made in the same XML placement file as the model's position, then that model will not be available worldwide, but will be scoped to the vicinity of the placement (this is for scenery optimization purposes). If the aim is to create a library of models that each have worldwide scope, then create an XML file containing only the ModelData references, and then use additional XML placement files to actually place the models at their various locations. Compile these XML files into BGL, and place the BGL files in the Addon Scenery/scenery folder. For an example of this use of ModelData, refer also to the tutorial in the Autogen documentation. This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<SceneryObject instanceId="{GUID}"       lat="47 25.89"       lon="-122 18.43"       alt="0"       pitch="0"       bank="0"       heading="0"       altitudeIsAgl="TRUE"       imageComplexity="NORMAL">       <LibraryObject name="{GUID of model}"             scale="1.0" /> </SceneryObject> <ModelData       sourceFile="testx.MDL" />

sourceFile Name of file to look for model data in. Required. If this attribute refers to a relative path, the base path is assumed to be the directory containing the source .XML file. String
fileOffset Offset into file to look for model data. Optional. Non-negative integer

ExclusionRectangle

This element is used to create an exclusion region for scenery.  Exclusion rectangles are used to remove scenery objects from the specified region.   Flags can be used to exclude a subset of objects in the specified region. This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>". Runways and associated objects such as PAPI lights (see Facility Data), and aircraft, are not excluded using this mechanism. Use ExclusionRectangle to exclude Beacons, Effects, ExtrusionBridges, GenericBuildings, LibraryObjects, Taxiway signs, Triggers and Windsocks only.

Note that if excludeAllObjects is set to true all scenery objects will be excluded, but not any objects (notably trees) created and placed by Autogen. To exclude autogen refer to the Terrain and Scenery documentation (the section on the Shp2Vec tool).

The following example will exclude all the scenery objects around Seattle-Tacoma airport, except the generic buildings, which will be rendered.

<ExclusionRectangle       latitudeMinimum = "N47.0"       latitudeMaximum = "N48.0"       longitudeMinimum = "W123.0"       longitudeMaximum = "W122.0"       excludeAllObjects = "FALSE"       excludeBeaconObjects = "TRUE"       excludeEffectObjects = "TRUE"       excludeExtrusionBridgeObjects = "TRUE"       excludeGenericBuildingObjects = "FALSE"       excludeLibraryObjects = "TRUE"       excludeTaxiwaySignObjects = "TRUE"       excludeTriggerObjects = "TRUE"       excludeWindsockObjects = "TRUE"/>

latitudeMinimum Defines the bounding area for the new time-zone. -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
latitudeMaximum   -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
longitudeMinimum   -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
longitudeMaximum   -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
excludeAllObjects Boolean indicating whether all objects are excluded. If this is set to TRUE, then all the following exceptions are ignored, and need not be entered into the XML file. Set this to FALSE to exclude some of the following objects. TRUE or FALSE
excludeBeaconObjects (optional) Boolean indicating whether beacon objects are excluded TRUE or FALSE
excludeEffectObjects (optional) Boolean indicating whether effect objects are excluded TRUE or FALSE
excludeExtrusionBridgeObjects (optional) Boolean indicating whether extrusion bridge objects are excluded TRUE or FALSE
excludeGenericBuildingObjects (optional) Boolean indicating whether generic building objects are excluded TRUE or FALSE
excludeLibraryObjects (optional) Boolean indicating whether library objects are excluded TRUE or FALSE
excludeTaxiwaySignObjects (optional) Boolean indicating whether taxiway sign objects are excluded TRUE or FALSE
excludeTriggerObjects (optional) Boolean indicating whether trigger objects are excluded TRUE or FALSE
excludeWindsockObjects (optional) Boolean indicating whether windsock objects are excluded TRUE or FALSE

TimeZone

Time zone information is in the file \scenery\BASE\scenery\timezone.bgl.

<TimeZone       latitudeMinimum = "N47.0"       latitudeMaximum = "N48.0"       longitudeMinimum = "W123.0"       longitudeMaximum = "W122.0"       timedeviation = "-360"       priority = "0"       daylightSavings = "USA"       daylightSavingsTimeShift = "-60"       daylightSavingsStartDayOfYearBase = "100"       daylightSavingsStartDayOfWeek = "SUNDAY"       daylightSavingsEndDayOfYearBase = "300"       daylightSavingsEndDayOfWeek = "SUNDAY"/>

latitudeMinimum Defines the bounding area for the new time-zone. -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
latitudeMaximum   -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
longitudeMinimum   -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
longitudeMaximum   -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
timedeviation Deviation in minutes from GMT. An integer value between -1440 and 1440.
priority Higher priority time-zone areas will override lower priority (and usually larger) areas. An integer value between 0 and 255.
daylightSavings   BRITAIN
CANADA
CENTRAL_EUROPE
EASTERN_EUROPE
USA
NONE
daylightSavingsTimeShift Additional deviation in minutes, when Daylight Savings applies. An integer value between -120 and 120.
daylightSavingsStartDayOfYearBase Daylight savings start day. An integer value between 1 and 366.
daylightSavingsStartDayOfWeek Correction to daylight savings start day, if it only applies on a certain day of the week. ANY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
daylightSavingsEndDayOfYearBase Daylight savings end day. An integer value between 1 and 366.
daylightSavingsEndDayOfWeek Correction to daylight savings end day. ANY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY

ExtrusionBridge

ExtrusionBridge elements contain one and only one AltitudeSampleLocationList, one and only one PolylinePointList, one optional PolylineObjectPlacementList, and one optional BankShearList element. Note that these elements must be entered in the order shown.

<ExtrusionBridge       instanceId = "GUID"       probability = "0.5"       suppressPlatform = "FALSE"       imageComplexity = "NORMAL"       roadWidth = "12"       extrusionProfile = "GUID"       materialSet = "GUID">       <AtitudeSampleLocationList />

      <PolylinePointList />       <PolylineObjectPlacementList />       <BankShearList /> </ExtrusionBridge>

instanceId Optional GUID identifying this instance of an ExtrusionBridge object. GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}
probability A random seed value. All extrusion bridges with the same value will use the same visual representation (girders, pylons, lanes, etc.). 0.0 to 1.0
suppressPlatform Setting this value to true will prevent any moving objects on the bridge. The platform is an artificial platform and is not rendered. Suppressing the platform can improve performance. TRUE or FALSE
imageComplexity Minimum image complexity setting for the objects to appear. For example, objects set at NORMAL will appear if the setting is DENSE, but not appear if the setting is SPARSE. VERY_SPARSE
SPARSE
NORMAL
DENSE
VERY_DENSE
roadWidth Width in meters. Do not set this value to zero, this can cause the compiler to crash. Non-negative floating point value.
extrusionProfile GUID of profile in Extrusions.xml. GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}
materialSet GUID of materials in Materials.xml. GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}

The Golden Gate bridge, shown in the first image below, is not an extrusion bridge, but a specific library object created by an artist. Extrusion bridges, such as the one shown in the second image below, are simple gantry type bridges without towers, suspension cables, or any specific recognizable features. There are around 55,000 extrusion bridges in ESP, whereas there is only a small number of specifically created recognizable bridges. Both types of bridge can take moving traffic, this is set by vector data (described in the Terrain and Scenery documentation) though both require platforms to elevate the level of the traffic above the surface of the water. For library objects, the platform is set in the model (see the notes for the Attach Point Tool in Using Modeling Tools) and for extrusion bridges the platform is defined in extrusions.xml. Extrusion bridges can be excluded by use of the ExclusionRectangle element. Also, the rendering of these bridges in the simulation is sensitive to the Scenery Complexity slider, not the Autogen Slider, nor Autogen exclusion mechanisms.

The information entered in the XML for the BGL compiler is referenced in the Extrusions.xml file. The following table shows the entries that should be made for an extrusion bridge in extrusions.xml.

Extrusion id GUID identifying this type of extrusion bridge. This will be the value set in extrusionProfile attribute. <Extrusion id="{55959300-bb2d-4b75-8d6a-934a0fe8f777}">
FriendlyName This string is mainly for easy identification of the extrusion, but is also used in the Config editor tools described in the autogen documentation. <FriendlyName>RailRoad Bridge Double Girder 1</FriendlyName>
PointList Defines a cross-section of the bridge, in meters, as pairs of floating point values. Typically the first two entries define the width of the bridge deck, relative to the centerline.
In the example given, the bridge deck is 12m wide, defined by Point 0 and Point 1, and there is a guard rail, defined by Point 2 and Point 3, and a drop down section that basically will cover the top of the pillars, defined by Points 4 to 7.
  <Point>-6.000,0.000</Point>
  <Point>6.000,0.000</Point>
  <Point>-6.000,1.000</Point>
  <Point>6.000,1.000</Point>
  <Point>5.500,0.000</Point>
  <Point>5.500,-2.000</Point>
  <Point>-5.500,0.010</Point>
  <Point>-5.500,-2.000</Point>
ExtrusionSegmentList List of ExtrusionSegments.  
ExtrusionSegment Contains information pertaining to various pairs in the PointList.  
PointIndices Pair of Points that define this segment. The bridge deck in this example. <PointIndices>0,1</PointIndices>
MaterialIndex The reference number of the material to use, in a list of materials defined by the materialSet attribute. The example will point to the second material in the list, which is indexed from zero. <MaterialIndex>1</MaterialIndex>
TextureWidth The material texture will be tiled along the length of the extrusion, each tile being this long in meters, 30 meters in the example. <TextureWidth>30.000</TextureWidth>
TextureVExtents These two floating point values are references into the material texture. If they number from 0.0 to 1.0, that is the segment of the texture to use (from 7/8ths of the width of the texture, to the full width, in the example). These entries can be greater than 1.0. For example values of 0.0, 2.0 will mean that the entire texture is repeated twice across the width of the segment (perhaps repeating road markings twice across the width of a bridge deck).
Note that using numbers greater than 1.0 is costly in performance.
<TextureVExtents>0.875,1.000</TextureVExtents>
ExtrusionPlatformSegmentList A list of ExtrusionPlatformSegments  
ExtrusionPlatformSegments Contains bridge specific information defining the actual platform traffic will use.  
PointIndices A pair from the PointList that are to be used as a platform. Clearly these are the points that define the bridge deck. <PointIndices>0,1</PointIndices>
SurfaceType One entry from the list of surfaces defined for a Runway entry. These do not affect the appearance of the bridge surface, but do affect special effects (such as on a dirt road) and traffic sounds. <SurfaceType>PLANKS</SurfaceType>

AltitudeSampleLocationList

This element is part of an ExtrusionBridge element. AltitudeSampleLocationList elements contains exactly two AltitudeSampleLocation elements,

<AltitudeSampleLocationList>       <!-- AltitudeSampleLocation elements --> </AltitudeSampleLocationList>

AltitudeSampleLocation

This element forms part of a AltitudeSampleLocationList. It cannot contain any other elements.

<AltitudeSampleLocation       latitude = "N47.0"       longitude = "W123.0"/>

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds

PolylineObjectPlacementList

This element is part of an ExtrusionBridge element. PolylineObjectPlacementList elements contain a minimum of zero and a maximum of 255 (typically one -- the bridge support pylon) PolylineObjectPlacement elements:

<PolylineObjectPlacementList>       <!-- PolylineObjectPlacement elements --> </PolylineObjectPlacementList>

PolylineObjectPlacement

These elements form part of a PolylineObjectPlacementList element.

<PolylineObjectPlacement       id = "GUID" />

id GUID identifying this object. GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}

PolylinePointList

This element is part of an ExtrusionBridge element. PolylinePointList elements contain a minimum of two PolylinePoint elements.

<PolylinePointList>       <!-- Two or more PolylinePoint elements --> </PolylinePointList>

PolylinePoint

This element forms part of a PolylinePointList. It cannot contain any other elements.

<PolylinePoint       latitude = "N47.0"       longitude = "W123.0"       altitude = "3.0M"/>

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude Any floating point value. Altitude denotes the vertical displacement of the PolylinePoint from the plane defined by a line segment connecting the terrain at the two AltitudeSampleLocations and a constant elevation line perpendicular to that segment. The intention is to establish the vertical profile of the bridge deck. Altitude may be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.

BankShearList (reserved for future use)

This element is part of an ExtrusionBridge element. BankShearList must be empty or contain one BankShearEntry element for each PolylinePoint element present in the PolylinePointList.

<BankShearList>       <!-- Two or more BankShearEntry elements --> </BankShearList>

BankShearEntry (reserved for future use)

These elements form part of a BankShearList.

<BankShearEntry       bank = "-15.0"/>

bank The bank angle of one section of the bridge. -180.0 to 180.0

Facility Data

Facility data is also placed inside of <FSData> elements.  The following is a list of the valid facility types and a description of each.  The facility data uses references to standard region codes and airline codes.  Information on facility codes can be found on the web site for the ICAO organization (www.icao.org, specifically, Document 7910 Location Indicators).  Alternative sources may also be available via the Internet.

  • Airport
  • Jetway
  • BlastFence
  • DeleteAirport
  • DeleteRunway
  • DeleteStart
  • DeleteFrequency
  • Tower
  • Runway
  • Markings
  • Lights
  • OffsetThreshold
  • BlastPad
  • Overrun
  • ApproachLights
  • VASI
  • ILS
  • GlideSlope
  • VisualModel
  • RunwayStart
  • RunwayAlias
  • Start
  • Helipad
  • Com
  • Approach
  • ApproachLegs
  • MissedApproachLegs
  • TaxiwayPoint
  • TaxiwayParking
  • TaxiwayPath
  • Transition
  • TaxiwaySign
  • Aprons
  • Vertex
  • ApronEdgeLights
  • Boundary
  • Vor
  • Dme
  • Ndb
  • Marker
  • Waypoint
  • Route
  • Geopol

Airport

This element is used to indicate the placement of airport facility information.  Airports are placed according to their airport reference point and may contain a large amount of data.  When adding Taxi information to an airport, the following elements must all be present and appear in this order: TaxiwayPoint, TaxiwayParking, TaxiName, TaxiwayPath. This element is also allowed to contain Tower, Services, Com, Runway, RunwayAlias, Aprons, ApronEdgeLights, TaxiwaySign, Waypoint, Approach, Ndb, Helipad, Start, Jetway, BlastFence, BoundaryFence, DeleteAirport data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Airport       region="North America"       country="United States"       state="Illinois"       city="Peru"       name="Illinois Valley Regional"       lat="41.35186742"       lon="-89.15308328"       alt="199.33918762"       magvar="0.0"       ident="KVYS">       <!-- Extra Airport facility data --> </Airport>

region (optional) Global Region of this airport String (48 characters max)
country (optional) Country/region of this airport String (48 characters max)
state (optional) State of this airport String (48 characters max)
city (optional) City of this airport String (48 characters max)
name (optional) Name of this airport String (48 characters max)
lat Latitude of this airport -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of this airport -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of this airport Any floating point value. Altitude may be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
magvar (optional) Magnetic variation at the airport to True North in degrees. -360.0 to 360.0 floating point value. Default = 0.0. East magvar is negative, West magvar is positive.
ident ICAO ident for this airport String (4 characters max)
airportTestRadius This optional radius will force compiler warnings if any element of the airport is outside of the radius. Distance in feet, meters or Nautical miles (F, M, N suffix).
trafficScalar The volume of AI traffic that is appropriate for this airport. 1.0 would apply to major airports. Value between 0.01 and 1.0.

Jetway

Jetway elements are part of an airport, and must contain one, and only one, SceneryObject element. One jetway can service at most one parking spot. A jetway will animate (move towards the main exit) when the user presses Ctrl-J and will usually come in to the main exit on the left side of the aircraft. AI controlled aircraft will also trigger the animation of the jetway. To replace jetways at an airport, use the DeleteAirport element with the deleteAllJetways field set to "TRUE", then enter the new jetway elements. Note that all parking spots do not require jetways. Refer also the Jetways modeling document.

<Jetway       gateName = "GATE_A"       parkingNumber = "1" >       <!-- Scenery object --> </Jetway>

gateName Gate or parking spot. PARKING
DOCK,
GATE
GATE_A to GATE_Z,
NONE
N_PARKING
NE_PARKING
NW_PARKING
SE_PARKING
S_PARKING
SW_PARKING
W_PARKING
E_PARKING
parkingNumber Both a gateName and parkingNumber are required to uniquely identify a parking location. Non-negative integer.

BlastFence, BoundaryFence

BlastFence and BoundaryFence elements are part of an airport, and must contain at least two Vertex elements. To replace fences at an airport, use the DeleteAirport element with the deleteAllBlastFences or deleteAllBoundaryFences fields set to "TRUE", then enter the new fence elements.

<BlastFence>       instanceId = "GUID"       profile = "GUID" >       <!-- Two or more Vertex elements --> </BlastFence>

For example:

<BoundaryFence instanceId="{guid}" profile="{guid}" >        <Vertex lat="56.95721658" lon="-158.63880255" />        <Vertex lat="56.95649892" lon="-158.64139507" />        <Vertex lat="56.95643874" lon="-158.64143179" />        <Vertex lat="56.95638593" lon="-158.64147906" />        <Vertex lat="56.95634419" lon="-158.64152952" />        <Vertex lat="56.95617823" lon="-158.64175382" />        <Vertex lat="56.95362527" lon="-158.63877271" />        <Vertex lat="56.95253646" lon="-158.64211307" />        <Vertex lat="56.96425872" lon="-158.65580206" /> </BoundaryFence>

instanceId Optional GUID identifying this element. GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}
profile Required, a GUID identifying the type of fence from the Extrusions.xml file. GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}
The boundary fence at Boeing Field is just visible underneath the wing of the aircraft.

There are two relevant entries in the extrusions.xml for each blast or boundary fence. In a section Extrusions.Fences there is an entry with the following attributes:

FenceProfile id This is the GUID that matches the profile attribute. <FenceProfile id="{02D65B05-F752-47a3-83AF-D570243EB3EE}">
FriendlyName A description of the fence, also used by the Autogen Config editor tools. <FriendlyName>5 Meter Chain-link</FriendlyName>
MaterialSetReference GUID of the material to use, defined in the Materials.xml file. <MaterialSetReference>{2D6ED02C-51CF-43D2-9EBD-A5E86284830B}</MaterialSetReference>
ExtrusionReference GUID internal to the extrusions.xml file, identifying the key physical attributes of the fence, described in the following table. <ExtrusionReference>{9093AC0C-FB5E-433D-9E2B-C19D637EA664}</ExtrusionReference>

The Extrusion entry in Extrusions.xml contains the following entries for each fence:

Extrusion id GUID identifying this type of extrusion fence. This will be the value set in the ExtrusionReference attribute. <Extrusion id="{9093AC0C-FB5E-433d-9E2B-C19D637EA664}">
FriendlyName This string is mainly for easy identification of the extrusion. <FriendlyName>Fence vertical 2 meter extrusion</FriendlyName>
PointList Defines a cross-section of the fence, in meters, as pairs of floating point values.
<Point>0.000,0.000</Point>
<Point>0.000,2.000</Point>
ExtrusionSegmentList List of ExtrusionSegments.  
ExtrusionSegment Contains information pertaining to various pairs in the PointList.  
PointIndices Pair of Points that define this segment. For a fence this is usually just points 0 and 1. <PointIndices>0,1</PointIndices>
TextureWidth The texture width typically matches the height of the fence. <TextureWidth>2.000</TextureWidth>
TextureVExtents These two floating point values are references into the material texture. If they number from 0.0 to 1.0, that is the segment of the texture to use (the full width of the texture, in the example). These entries can be greater than 1.0. For example values of 0.0, 2.0 will mean that the entire texture is repeated twice up the height of the fence.
Note that using numbers greater than 1.0 is costly in performance.
<TextureVExtents>0.000,1.000</TextureVExtents>

DeleteAirport

This element is used to delete an airport or part of an airport and potentially replace with new information.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<DeleteAirport       deleteAllApproaches = "TRUE"       deleteAllApronLights = "TRUE"       deleteAllAprons = "TRUE"       deleteAllFrequencies = "TRUE"       deleteAllHelipads = "TRUE"       deleteAllRunways = "TRUE"       deleteAllStarts = "TRUE"       deleteAllTaxiways = "TRUE"       deleteAllBlastFences = "TRUE"       deleteAllBoundaryFences = "TRUE"       deleteAllControlTowers = "TRUE"       deleteAllJetways = "TRUE"/>

For example, to replace all the jetways at an airport with a new model, enter the following code:

<Airport       region="North America"       country="United States"       state="Illinois"       city="Peru"       name="Illinois Valley Regional"       lat="41.35186742"       lon="-89.15308328"       alt="199.33918762"       magvar="0.0"       ident="KVYS">            <DeleteAirport           deleteAllJetways = "TRUE"/>        <Jetway           gateName = "GATE_A"           parkingNumber = "1" >           <!-- Scenery object -->       </Jetway>        <Jetway           gateName = "GATE_B"           parkingNumber = "1" >           <!-- Scenery object -->       </Jetway>        // Add as many Jetway elements as needed   </Airport>

deleteAllApproaches (optional) Boolean to delete all approaches TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllApronLights(optional) Boolean to delete all apron lights TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllAprons(optional) Boolean to delete all aprons TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllFrequencies(optional) Boolean to delete all frequencies TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllHelipads(optional) Boolean to delete all helipads TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllRunways(optional) Boolean to delete all runways TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllStarts(optional) Boolean to delete all starts TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllTaxiways(optional) Boolean to delete all taxiways TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllBlastFences(optional) Boolean to delete all blast fences TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllBoundaryFences(optional) Boolean to delete all boundary fences TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllControlTowers(optional) Boolean to delete all control towers TRUE or FALSE
deleteAllJetways(optional) Boolean to delete all jetways TRUE or FALSE

DeleteRunway

This element is used to delete a runway from an airport.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<DeleteRunway       surface="ASPHALT"       number="18"       designator="NONE"/>

surface Surface type of runway ASPHALT
BITUMINOUS
BRICK
CLAY
CEMENT
CONCRETE
CORAL
DIRT
GRASS
GRAVEL
ICE
MACADAM
OIL_TREATED, PLANKS
SAND
SHALE
SNOW
STEEL_MATS
TARMAC
UNKNOWN
WATER
number Runway number 00 to 09
0 to 36
EAST
NORTH
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
SOUTH
SOUTHEAST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
designator (optional) Runway designator NONE
C
CENTER
L
LEFT
R
RIGHT
W
WATER
A
B

DeleteStart

This element is used to delete a start location from an airport.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<DeleteStart       type="RUNWAY"       number="18"       designator="NONE"/>

type Type of start RUNWAY
HELIPAD
WATER
number Runway number 00 to 09
0 to 36
EAST
NORTH
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
SOUTH
SOUTHEAST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
designator (optional) Runway designator NONE
C
CENTER
L
LEFT
R
RIGHT
W
WATER
A
B

DeleteFrequency

This element is used to delete a communication frequency from an airport.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<DeleteFrequency       frequency = "122.85"       type="CENTER" />

frequency Frequency (in MHz) to be deleted 108.0 to 136.992 floating point value
type Type of frequency APPROACH
ASOS
ATIS
AWOS
CENTER
CLEARANCE
CLEARANCE_PRE_TAXI
CTAF
DEPARTURE
FSS
GROUND
MULTICOM
REMOTE_CLEARANCE_DELIVERY
TOWER
UNICOM

Tower

This element is used to place a tower location at an airport.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Tower       lat="41.35186742"       lon="-89.15308328"       alt="199.33918762"/>

lat Latitude of tower. Optional. -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of tower. Optional. -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of tower. Optional. Any floating point value. Altitude may be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.

Runway

This element is used to add a runway to an airport.  This element is allowed to contain the following elements, which must occur in the following order Markings, Lights, OffsetThreshold, BlastPad, Overrun, ApproachLights, VASI, ILS, RunwayStart data and should not be terminated with "/>".

Note that runways specified with a width less than 2 feet are not rendered (the minimum width that can be specified is 1 foot). Use the "WATER" setting for the runway surface if the runway is a seaplane landing area.

Note also that third-party runway textures are not supported in ESP.

<Runway       lat="41.35184943"       lon="-89.15309158"       alt="199.33918762"       surface="ASPHALT"       heading="179.580000"       length="6000F"       width="100F"       number="18"       designator="NONE"       patternAltitude="304.799988"       primaryTakeoff="YES"       primaryLanding="YES"       primaryPattern="LEFT"       secondaryTakeoff="YES"       secondaryLanding="YES"       secondaryPattern="LEFT">       <!-- Runway data here --> </Runway>

lat Latitude of the center point of the runway. -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of the center point of the runway -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of the center point of the runway. Note that sloping runways are not supported -- the entire runway will be at this altitude. This may involve some "landscaping" for a new runway that is not replacing an old one. See the Terrain SDK for more details. Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
surface Runway surface type ASPHALT
BITUMINOUS
BRICK
CLAY
CEMENT
CONCRETE
CORAL
DIRT
GRASS
GRAVEL
ICE
MACADAM
OIL_TREATED, PLANKS
SAND
SHALE
SNOW
STEEL_MATS
TARMAC
UNKNOWN
WATER
heading Runway heading 0-360 floating point
length Length of runway Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
width Width of runway Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
number Runway number 00 to 09
0 to 36
EAST
NORTH
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
SOUTH
SOUTHEAST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
designator (optional) Runway designator. If this value is set, the secondaryDesignator (the runway in the opposite direction) is set automatically. Do not enter both a designator and primaryDesignator. NONE
C
CENTER
L
LEFT
R
RIGHT
W
WATER
A
B
primaryDesignator If this value is set, the secondaryDesignator is not set, but should be specified next. Same values as designator.
secondaryDesignator Opposite designator to primary designator. Same values as designator.
patternAltitude (optional) Pattern altitude for this runway Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
primaryTakeoff (optional) Boolean indicating that the primary direction for the runway can be used for takeoff. TRUE, FALSE. Default is TRUE. Note the use of YES/NO in the example above. These two words are synonymous with TRUE/FALSE.
primaryLanding (optional) Boolean indicating that the primary direction for the runway can be used for landing. TRUE, FALSE. Default is TRUE
primaryPattern (optional) Indication of pattern orientation for primary heading (optional) LEFT, RIGHT. Default is LEFT.
secondaryTakeoff (optional) Boolean indicating that the secondary direction for the runway can be used for takeoff. TRUE, FALSE. Default is TRUE
secondaryLanding (optional) Boolean indicating that the primary direction for the runway can be used for landing. TRUE, FALSE. Default is TRUE
secondaryPattern (optional) Indication of pattern orientation for secondary heading (optional) LEFT, RIGHT. Default is LEFT.
primaryMarkingBias Bias from the end of the runway for primary markings. Distance in feet, nautical miles, or meters (F, N or M suffix).
secondaryMarkingBias Bias from the end of the runway for secondary markings. Distance in feet, nautical miles, or meters (F, N or M suffix).

Markings

This element is used to add markings to an airport runway.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Markings       edges="TRUE"       threshold="TRUE"       fixedDistance="TRUE"       touchdown="TRUE"       dashes="TRUE"       ident="TRUE"       precision="TRUE"       edgePavement="TRUE"       singleEnd="TRUE"       primaryClosed="TRUE"       secondaryClosed="TRUE"       primaryStol="TRUE"       secondaryStol="TRUE"/>

alternateThreshold Set to TRUE to indicate international rather than US Threshold markings. TRUE, FALSE
alternateTouchdown Set to TRUE to indicate international rather than US Touchdown markings. TRUE, FALSE
alternateFixedDistance Set to TRUE to indicate international rather than US Fixed Distance markings. TRUE, FALSE
alternatePrecision Set to TRUE to indicate international rather than US Precision markings. TRUE, FALSE
leadingZeroIdent Set to TRUE to indicate runway numbers have a leading zero (for runway numbers 0 to 9). TRUE, FALSE
noThresholdEndArrows Set to TRUE to ignore Threshold End Arrows. TRUE, FALSE
edges Runway has edge lines TRUE, FALSE
threshold Runway has threshold marks TRUE, FALSE
fixed Runway has fixed distance marks TRUE, FALSE
touchdown Runway has touchdown marks TRUE, FALSE
dashes Runway has dashed line down center TRUE, FALSE
ident Runway has number and designator TRUE, FALSE
precision Runway has precision markings TRUE, FALSE
edgePavement Runway has pavement past edge lines TRUE, FALSE
singleEnd Runway is single-ended with no markings on secondary end TRUE, FALSE
primaryClosed Primary end is closed with 'X' TRUE, FALSE
secondaryClosed Secondary is closed with 'X' TRUE, FALSE
primaryStol Primary end STOL TRUE, FALSE
secondaryStol Secondary end STOL TRUE, FALSE

Lights

This element is used to add lights to an airport runway.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Lights       center="LOW"       edge="LOW"       centerRed="TRUE"/>

center Center runway lights NONE (default)
LOW
MEDIUM
HIGH
edge Edge runway lights NONE (default)
LOW
MEDIUM
HIGH
centerRed Boolean indicating that the last part of the center line lights are RED/WHITE and then RED TRUE, FALSE

OffsetThreshold

This element is used to add an offset threshold to an airport runway.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<OffsetThreshold       end="PRIMARY"       length="250F"       width="200F"       surface="ASPHALT"/>

end Which end of the runway that the offset threshold applies to. PRIMARY
SECONDARY
length Length of pavement. This length is included in the main runway length. Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
width (optional) Width of pavement (if different from runway) Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
surface (optional) Surface type ASPHALT
BITUMINOUS
BRICK
CLAY
CEMENT
CONCRETE
CORAL
DIRT
GRASS
GRAVEL
ICE
MACADAM
OIL_TREATED, PLANKS
SAND
SHALE
SNOW
STEEL_MATS
TARMAC
UNKNOWN
WATER

BlastPad

This element is used to add a blast pad to an airport runway.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<BlastPad       end="PRIMARY"       length="250F"       width="100F"       surface="ASPHALT"/>

end Which end of the runway that the blast pad applies to. PRIMARY
SECONDARY
length Length of blast pad. This value is added to main runway length. Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
width (optional) Width of blast pad if different from runway. Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
surface (optional) Surface of blast pad if different from the runway. ASPHALT
BITUMINOUS
BRICK
CLAY
CEMENT
CONCRETE
CORAL
DIRT
GRASS
GRAVEL
ICE
MACADAM
OIL_TREATED, PLANKS
SAND
SHALE
SNOW
STEEL_MATS
TARMAC
UNKNOWN
WATER

Overrun

This element is used to add an overrun **** to an airport runway.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Overrun       end="PRIMARY"       length="250F"       width="100F"       surface="DIRT"/>

end Which end of the runway that the blast pad applies to. PRIMARY
SECONDARY
length Length of overrun. This value is added to main runway length. Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
width (optional) Width of overrun if different from the runway. Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
surface (optional) Surface of overrun if different from the runway. ASPHALT
BITUMINOUS
BRICK
CLAY
CEMENT
CONCRETE
CORAL
DIRT
GRASS
GRAVEL
ICE
MACADAM
OIL_TREATED, PLANKS
SAND
SHALE
SNOW
STEEL_MATS
TARMAC
UNKNOWN
WATER

ApproachLights

This element is used to add approach lights to an airport runway.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<ApproachLights       end="PRIMARY"       system="ALSF2"       strobes="11"       reil="TRUE"       touchdown="TRUE"       endLights="TRUE"/>

end End of runway that the lights are for PRIMARY
SECONDARY
system (optional) Type of approach light system NONE
ALSF1
ALSF2
CALVERT
CALVERT2
MALS
MALSF
MALSR
ODALS
RAIL
SALS
SALSF
SSALF
SSALR
SSALS
strobes (optional) Number of sequenced strobes Non-negative integer. Default is zero.
reil (optional) Boolean indicating that runway has runway end identifier lights TRUE, FALSE
touchdown (optional) Boolean indicating that runway has touchdown lights TRUE, FALSE
endLights (optional) Boolean indicating that runway has end lights TRUE, FALSE

VASI

This element is used to add a VASI to an airport runway.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Vasi       end="PRIMARY"       type="VASI21"       side="LEFT"       biasX="50F"       biasZ="4000F"       spacing="250F"       pitch="3.10"/>

end End of runway that the VASI is for PRIMARY
SECONDARY
type Type of Vasi. PAPI2 (2 light PAPI)
PAPI4 (4 light PAPI)
PVASI (Pulsating VASI)
TRICOLOR Tri Color VASI
TVASI colored VASI in a shared-'T' shape
VASI21 2 rows, 1 box/row
VASI22 2 rows, 2 boxes/row
VASI23 2 rows, 3 boxes/row
VASI31 3 rows, 1 box/row
VASI32 3 rows, 2 boxes/row
VASI33 3 rows, 3 boxes/row (far row has only two boxes, 8 light system)
BALL (presently remapped to PVASI)
APAP (panels)
PANELS (presently remapped to PAP2)
side Side of runway that the lights are on LEFT
RIGHT
biasX Distance from runway center to light. Floating point value, default units are meters
biasZ Distance from runway center to light. Floating point value, default units are meters
spacing Distance between light rows. Positive floating point value, default units are meters
pitch Approach angle in degrees. 0.0 to 10.0 floating point value

ILS

This element is used to add an ILS to an airport runway.  This element is allowed to contain GlideSlope, DME and VisualModel data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Ils       lat="41.35184943"       lon="-89.15309158"       alt="199.33918762"       heading="359.580000"       frequency="110.3500"       end="PRIMARY"       range="12000"       magvar="0.0"       ident="ABDY"       width="5.00"       name="Some Airport ILS"       backCourse="FALSE">       <!-- Optional elements go here --> </Ils>

lat Latitude of object -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of object -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of object Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
heading Heading of main ILS beam 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
frequency ILS Frequency in MHz 108.0 to 136.992 floating point value
end End of runway for this ILS PRIMARY
SECONDARY
range (optional) Range of ILS in meters or nautical miles. Default is 27 nautical miles if not specified. Use the letter "N" to specify a distance in nautical miles. For example, the default is "27N" If no letter is entered the measurement will be in meters.
magvar Magnetic variation at the ILS to True North in degrees. -360.0 to 360.0 floating point value. Default = 0.0. East magvar is negative, West magvar is positive.
ident ICAO ident for this ILS String (5 characters max)
width (optional) Localizer beam width in degrees Default is 5 degrees. 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
name (optional) Friendly name for ILS String (48 characters max)
backCourse (optional) Boolean indicating that this ILS has a back course TRUE, FALSE

GlideSlope

This element is used to add a glide slope to an ILS.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<GlideSlope       lat="19 22 15.48"       lon="48.12345"       alt="703.65F"       pitch="3.00"       range="20N"/>

lat Latitude of object -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of object -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of object Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
pitch Pitch of glide slope 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
range Range of glide slope. Default is 27 nautical miles if not specified. Use the letter "N" to specify a distance in nautical miles. For example, the default is "27N" If no letter is entered the measurement will be in meters.

VisualModel

This element is used to add a single visual model to number of elements, including Ndb, ILS and VOR.  This element is allowed to contain Bias data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<VisualModel       heading="45.0"       imageComplexity="NORMAL"       name="GUID">       <!-- Optional BiasXYZ goes here --> </VisualModel>

heading (optional) Heading of model placement 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
imageComplexity (optional) Minimum image complexity setting for the objects to appear. For example, objects set at NORMAL will appear if the setting is DENSE, but not appear if the setting is SPARSE. VERY_SPARSE
SPARSE
NORMAL
DENSE
VERY_DENSE
name GUID of desired object GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}
instanceId Optional GUID used to identify this instance of the VisualModel element. GUID in the format:
{nnnnnnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnn-nnnnnnnnnnnn}

RunwayStart

This element is used to add a start location for a runway.  This location will show up on the Go To Airport dialog.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<RunwayStart       type="RUNWAY"       lat="41.45240683"       lon="-87.01929230"       alt="235.00079346"       heading="90.130000"       end="PRIMARY"/>

type (optional) Type of start location RUNWAY
lat Latitude of object -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of object -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of object Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
heading Heading applied to object 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
end (optional) End of runway that this start location is for PRIMARY
SECONDARY

RunwayAlias

This element is used when replacing components inside of an airport (like taxiways), but the intent is not to replace the actual runways.  This element serves as a note to the compiler that the old runway definition is to be preserved.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<RunwayAlias       number="1"       designator="RIGHT"/>

number Runway number 00 to 09
0 to 36
EAST
NORTH
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
SOUTH
SOUTHEAST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
designator Runway designator NONE
C
CENTER
L
LEFT
R
RIGHT
W
WATER
A
B

Start

This element is used to add a start location for a runway or an airport in general.  This location will show up on the Go To Airport dialog.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Start       type="RUNWAY"       lat="41.45240683"       lon="-87.01929230"       alt="235.00079346"       heading="90.130000"       number="10"       designator="NONE"/>

type (optional) Type of start RUNWAY
lat Latitude of start -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of start -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of start Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
heading Heading applied to object 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
number (optional) Runway number 00 to 09
0 to 36
EAST
NORTH
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
SOUTH
SOUTHEAST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
designator (optional) Runway designator NONE
C
CENTER
L
LEFT
R
RIGHT
W
WATER
A
B

Helipad

This element is used to add a helipad to an airport.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Helipad       lat="N47 26.00"       lon="W122 18.38"       alt="432.7F"       surface="BRICK"       heading="0"       length="200F"       width="100F"       type="CIRCLE"       closed="FALSE"       transparent="FALSE"/>

lat Latitude of center of helipad. -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of center of helipad. -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude of center of helipad. Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
surface Helipad surface type ASPHALT
BITUMINOUS
BRICK
CLAY
CEMENT
CONCRETE
CORAL
DIRT
GRASS
GRAVEL
ICE
MACADAM
OIL_TREATED, PLANKS
SAND
SHALE
SNOW
STEEL_MATS
TARMAC
UNKNOWN
WATER
heading Helipad heading 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
length Length of helipad Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
width Width of helipad Any floating point value. May be suffixed by 'M' or 'F' to designate meters or feet. Default is meters.
type Type of helipad. Note that if you enter type as CIRCLE or SQUARE and the length and width are not identical, then the shape of the helipad will be an ellipse or rectangle, respectively. NONE
CIRCLE
H
MEDICAL
SQUARE
closed (optional) Boolean indicating whether the helipad is closed (so not available as a landing site). TRUE, FALSE
transparent (optional) Boolean indicating that the helipad should be drawn without pavement (markings only) TRUE, FALSE
red (optional) Red color component of helipad markings. Note that the red, green, blue fields are not implemented. Integer 0-255
green (optional) Green color component Integer 0-255
blue (optional) Blue color component Integer 0-255

Com

This element is used to add a COM frequency to an airport.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Com       frequency="135.9000"       type="CENTER"       name="CHICAGO"/>

frequency Frequency for COM in MHz 108.0 to 136.992 floating point value
type Type of COM frequency APPROACH
ASOS
ATIS
AWOS
CENTER
CLEARANCE
CLEARANCE_PRE_TAXI
CTAF
DEPARTURE
FSS
GROUND
MULTICOM
REMOTE_CLEARANCE_DELIVERY
TOWER
UNICOM
name Friendly name for COM frequency String (48 characters max)

Approach

This element is used to add an approach to an airport.  Approaches are made up of three components, which must occur in the following order: ApproachLegs, MissedApproachLegs, and Transition elements. This element should not be terminated with "/>".

<Approach       type="NDB"           runway="3"         designator="LEFT"        suffix="A"       gpsOverlay="TRUE"       fixType="VOR"         fixRegion="K9"        fixIdent="IDENT">       altitude="20"        heading="123.62"       missedAltitude="1234">       <!-- Add approach components here --> </Approach>

type Type of Approach GPS
ILS
LDA
LOCALIZER
LOCALIZER_BACKCOURSE
NDB
NDBDME
RNAV
SDF
VOR
VORDME
runway (optional) Runway Number Approach is attached to 00 to 09
0 to 36
EAST
NORTH
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
SOUTH
SOUTHEAST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
designator (optional) Runway designator NONE
C
CENTER
L
LEFT
R
RIGHT
W
WATER
A
B
suffix (optional) One Char identifier One character
gpsOverlay (optional) Has a GPS overlay. TRUE
FALSE (default)
fixType Type of FAF NDB
TERMINAL_NDB
TERMINAL_WAYPOINT
VOR
WAYPOINT
fixRegion Station Region of the FAF String (2 characters max)
fixIdent Station Ident of the FAF String (5 characters max)
altitude Altitude for final approach in meters. Floating point value.
heading Final course heading start 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
missedAltitude Missed approach altitude in meters Floating point value

ApproachLegs

This element is used to add approach legs to an airport approach.  ApproachLegs have no attributes and are used as a container to hold a list of Leg elements, which describe the individual segments of the approach.  This element should not be terminated with "/>".

<ApproachLegs>       <!-- add Leg elements here --> </ApproachLegs>

MissedApproachLegs

This element is used to add legs for a missed approach path to an airport approach.  MissedApproachLegs have no attributes and are used as a container to hold a list of Leg elements, which describe the individual segments of the missed approach.  This element should not be terminated with "/>".

<MissedApproachLegs>       <!-- add Legs elements here --> </MissedApproachLegs>

Transition

This element is used to add transitions to an airport approach.  A Transition has some attributes and contains a list of DmeArc and/or TransitionLegs elements If both are present the DmeArc must be entered first.  The Leg and DmeArc elements describe the individual segments of the transition.  This element should not be terminated with "/>".

<Transition       transitionType="FULL"         fixType="WAYPOINT"            fixRegion="K9"       fixIdent="IDENT"         altitude="20">       <!-- add DmeArc and/or TransitionLegs elements here --> </Transition>

transitionType Transition Type FULL = full procedure
DME = DME arc transition
fixType Type of IAF NDB
TERMINAL_NDB TERMINAL_WAYPOINT
VOR
WAYPOINT
fixRegion Station region of the IAF 2-character region code
fixIdent Station Ident of the IAF. String (5 characters max)
Altitude Altitude of the first leg of the transition in meters. Floating point value..

Leg

This element is used to add legs to approaches.  The specific information required to define the leg depends on the type. This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>". All of the leg types either require, or can take as optional, an altitude code letter (the altitudeDescriptor field) and either one or two altitude values. The following table shows the range of values and how they are interpreted.

+ R   Fly at or above altitude1
- R   Fly at or below altitude1
(space) R   Fly at altitude1
A      
B R R Fly at or above altitude1 and at or below altitude2
C   R Fly at or above altitude2
G      
H      
I      
J      
V      

<Leg       type="AF"       fixType="WAYPOINT"       fixRegion="K1"       fixIdent="ORD"       flyOver="TRUE"       turnDirection="L"       recommendedType="VOR"       recommendedRegion="K1"       recommendedIdent="ORD"       theta="125.2"       rho="1.2"       trueCourse="166.1"       altitudeDescriptor="+"       altitude1="1000.0"/>

type Type of Leg. AF
CA
CD
CF
CI
CR
DF
FA
FC
FD
FM
HA
HF
HM
IF
PI
RF
TF
VA
VD
VI
VM
VR
fixType Type of Fix. NDB
TERMINAL_NDB TERMINAL_WAYPOINT
VOR
WAYPOINT
fixRegion 2 character region code 2-character region code
fixIdent 5 character ident String (5 characters max)
flyOver Boolean indicating whether this leg is intended to fly 'over' the given point, or fly 'by' the point. TRUE = fly 'over'
FALSE = fly 'by' (default)
turnDirection Turn direction supplied for this leg. L (left)
R (right)
E (either, default)
recommendedType Type of 'target' for this leg. NDB
TERMINAL_NDB
TERMINAL_WAYPOINT
VOR
WAYPOINT
RUNWAY,LOCALIZER
recommendedRegion Region code 2 character string
recommendedIdent Ident 5 character string maximum
theta Heading in degrees 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
rho Distance Floating point value, default units are meters, use the suffix "N" to specify nautical miles.
trueCourse True North Course in degrees. Do not enter a value for magneticCourse 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
magneticCourse Magnetic North Course in degrees. Do not enter a value for trueCourse 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
distance Distance. Do not enter a value for time. Floating point value, default units are meters, suffix with "N" for nautical miles.
time Time in minutes. Do not enter a value for distance. Floating point value
altitudeDescriptor Value that describes how altitude1 and altitude2 are interpreted. See altitudeDescriptor table above.
altitude1 Altitude1 Floating point value. Default units are meters
altitude2 Altitude2 Floating point value. Default units are meters.

The following tables show the different Leg types and their associated Required (R) and Optional (O) attributes.  

  AF CA CD CF CI CR DF FA FC FD FM HA
fixType R     R     R R R R R R
fixRegion R     R     R R R R R R
fixIdent R     R     R R R R R R
flyOver O     R O O R   R O    
turnDirection R O O O O O O O O O O O
recommendedType R   R R O R O R R R R O
recommendedRegion R   R R O R O R R R R O
recommendedIdent R   R R O R O R R R R O
theta R     R     O R R R R O
rho R     R     O R R R R O
trueCourse * R R R R R R   R R R R R
magneticCourse * R R R R R R   R R R R R
distance**     R R R R     R R   R
time**                       R
altitudeDescriptor O R O O O O O O O O O R
altitude1 O R O O O O O O O O O R
altitude2 O   O O O O O   O O    
  HF HM IF PI RF TF VA VD VI VM VR
fixType R R R R R R       O  
fixRegion R R R R R R       O  
fixIdent R R R R R R       O  
flyOver         O O     O   O
turnDirection O O   R R O O O O O O
recommendedType O O O R O O   R O   R
recommendedRegion O O O R O O   R O   R
recommendedIdent O O O R O O   R O   R
theta O O O R O O         R
rho O O O R   O          
trueCourse * R R   R R R O R R R R
magneticCourse * R R   R R R O R R R R
distance** R R   R R O   O      
time** R R   R   O   O      
altitudeDescriptor O O O R O O R O O O O
altitude1 O O O R O O R O O O O
altitude2     O   O O   O O   O

* If trueCourse or magneticCourse is required, you must specify one or the other.
** If distance or time is required, you must specify one or the other.

Note

The meaning of each 2-letter approach leg code is defined in the 424-16 specification document maintained by ARINC Incorporated and is a standard used in navigation databases and flight management systems from companies such as Jeppesen and Rockwell Collins. You can order the complete specification, which includes complete definitions and illustrations of each let type, from the ARINC web site: https://www.arinc.com/cf/store/catalog.cfm?prod_group_id=1&category_group_id=1.

DmeArc

This element is used to add a DME ARC to an approach transition.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<DmeArc       radial="11"                       distance="999"                  dmeRegion="K9"                  dmeIdent="IDENT"/>

radial Angle of arc in degrees from transmitter 1 to 360 integer value.
distance DME distance Floating point value, default units are meters.
dmeRegion DME station region 2-character region code
dmeIdent DME station Ident of the associated navaid String (5 characters max)

TransitionLegs

This element is used to signify the legs that are used in a Transition.  TransitionLegs have no attributes and are used as a container to hold a list of Leg elements.  The Leg elements describe the individual segments of the transition.

<TransitionLegs>       <!-- add Legs elements here --> </TransitionLegs>

TaxiwayPoint

This element is used to add a point to the taxiway network for routing on the ground.  Since the network will contain many taxiway points (and possibly parking spots), each of these locations need to have an "index" that uniquely identifies a point when building the network. There are two ways to specify the position of the point.  The first is to use a lat/lon pair that will give the exact coordinate.  The second is to use a biasX/biasZ pair that specifies the displacement of the point from the airport reference point.   This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>". 

<TaxiwayPoint       index="0"           type="NORMAL"                        orientation="FORWARD"       biasX="-624.169006"         biasZ="-692.226013"/>                <TaxiwayPoint       index="1"         type="HOLD_SHORT"           lon="10.234"            lat="65.299"/> <TaxiwayPoint       index="2"          type="NORMAL"       biasX="-552.966980"        biasZ="-775.700012"/>

index Identifier assigned to this taxiway point to make it unique inside of an airport. This identifier must be unique for all TaxiwayPoint and TaxiwayParking locations inside of an Airport. Valid integer range is 0 to 3999.
type Taxiway point type. The NO_DRAW options indicate that the taxiway points should not be drawn (as is the case for grass or gravel taxiways, for example). NORMAL
HOLD_SHORT
ILS_HOLD_SHORT
HOLD_SHORT_NO_DRAW
ILS_HOLD_SHORT_NO_DRAW
orientation (optional) Orientation of a hold short FORWARD
REVERSE
lat Latitude of Taxiway point. The Taxiway point can either have a lat-lon position, or a bias. It must have one pair or the other. -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of Taxiway point. -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
biasX Bias from airport reference point. Default units are meters. Floating point value
biasZ Bias from airport reference point. Default units are meters. Floating point value

TaxiwayParking

This element is used to add a parking spot to the taxiway network.  Taxiway parking spots can have preferred airline designations.  Since the network will contain many taxiway points (and possibly parking spots), each of these locations need to have an index that uniquely identifies a point when building the network. There are two ways to specify the position of the parking spot.  The first is to use a lat/lon pair that will give the exact coordinate.  The second is to use a biasX/biasZ pair that specifies the displacement of the parking space from the airport reference point.  

The size of a parking spot required for an aircraft is taken from the wingspan of the aircraft recorded in the Aircraft Configuration Files. The wingspan is converted to meters and rounded up. Also refer to the Traffic Toolboxdocument (the Dump Airport List tool will provide details on all airports and the sizes of the parking spots available) and the fs10.AircraftTypes.csv document, which lists all the types of aircraft that can appear as AI controlled aircraft and the radius of parking spot required for them.

This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<TaxiwayParking       index="0"            biasX="96.336998"       biasZ="-620.479980"       heading="178.700000"          radius="31.000000"         type="GATE_SMALL"        name="GATE"        number="1"       airlineCodes="UAL, AA, BA"       pushBack="BOTH"/>         <TaxiwayParking       index="1"          lon="10.234"        lat="65.299"        heading="178.700000"        radius="31.000000"        type="GATE_SMALL"       name="GATE"          number="2"       pushBack="BOTH"/>

index Identifier assigned to this taxiway parking location to make it unique inside of an airport This identifier must be unique for all TaxiwayPoint and TaxiwayParking locations inside of an Airport. Valid integer range is 0 to 3999.
lat Latitude of TaxiwayParking. The TaxiwayParking can either have a lat-lon position, or a bias. It must have one pair or the other. -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude of TaxiwayParking. -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
biasX Bias from airport reference point in meters. Floating point value
biasZ Bias from airport reference point in meters. Floating point value
heading Parking heading in degrees 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
radius Parking radius Floating point value. Default units are meters.
type Parking type NONE
DOCK_GA
FUEL
GATE_HEAVY
GATE_MEDIUM
GATE_SMALL
RAMP_CARGO
RAMP_GA
RAMP_GA_LARGE
RAMP_GA_MEDIUM
RAMP_GA_SMALL
RAMP_MIL_CARGO
RAMP_MIL_COMBAT
VEHICLE
name Parking name PARKING
DOCK,
GATE
GATE_A to GATE_Z,
NONE
N_PARKING
NE_PARKING
NW_PARKING
SE_PARKING
S_PARKING
SW_PARKING
W_PARKING
E_PARKING
number Number of this spot (goes with name) Valid integer range is 0 through 3999.
airlineCodes (optional) Comma separated list of airline codes that can use this parking spot. This text should match the strings entered for the atc_parking_codes entry in the aircraft configuration file. To maintain compatibility, the ICAO names for airlines should be used.
pushBack The behaviour of parking pushback is to pushback the aircraft either one wingspan radius, or to the first taxiway node, whichever comes first, do a 180 degree turn, and then proceed along the taxiways. There is no control over which way the aircraft will turn the 180 degrees, but if the pushback of one radius is too far, entering a taxiway node closer to the parking area will shorten the pushback distance. The settings for this attribute have not been implemented. NONE, BOTH, LEFT and RIGHT are not implemented.
teeOffset1 Optional stopping points for aircraft, in meters from the center of the parking spot. 0.1 to 50.0
teeOffset2   0.1 to 50.0
teeOffset3   0.1 to 50.0
teeOffset4   0.1 to 50.0

TaxiwayPath

This element is used to add a path to the taxiway network.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".  Here are a couple of examples (the first assumes runway number 22, designator "NONE", has been added to Sea-Tac airport):

<TaxiwayPath       type="RUNWAY"         start="1"          end="2"          width="45.700001"         weightLimit="500000"       surface="ASPHALT"         centerLine="TRUE"        centerLineLighted="TRUE"         leftEdge="SOLID"        leftEdgeLighted="TRUE"       rightEdge="SOLID"         rightEdgeLighted="TRUE"       number="22"       designator="NONE"/> <TaxiwayPath       type="PATH"        start="2"           end="1"        surface="ASPHALT"       width="45.700001"       weightLimit="500000"       name="1"/>

type Type of path RUNWAY
PARKING
TAXI
PATH
CLOSED
VEHICLE
start Starting point or parking index Index number of taxiway point or parking space to start from.
end Ending point of parking index Index number of taxiway point or parking space to end at.
width Width in meters Floating point value
weightLimit Weight limit in pounds Floating point value
surface Surface type ASPHALT
BITUMINOUS
BRICK
CLAY
CEMENT
CONCRETE
CORAL
DIRT
GRASS
GRAVEL
ICE
MACADAM
OIL_TREATED
PLANKS
SAND
SHALE
SNOW
STEEL_MATS
TARMAC
UNKNOWN
WATER
drawSurface Set to TRUE to draw the taxiway surface. TRUE or FALSE
drawDetail Set to TRUE to draw the taxiway detail (such as a bump map, for example). TRUE or FALSE
centerLine(optional) Path has a center line. TRUE or FALSE, default is FALSE
centerLineLighted(optional) The center line path is lighted. TRUE or FALSE, default is FALSE
leftEdge(optional) Path has a marked left edge. NONE (default)
SOLID
DASHED
SOLID_DASHED
leftEdgeLighted(optional) The left edge is lighted. TRUE or FALSE, default is FALSE
rightEdge(optional) Path has a marked right edge. NONE (default)
SOLID
DASHED
SOLID_DASHED
rightEdgeLighted(optional) The right edge is lighted. TRUE or FALSE, default is FALSE
number If the type is RUNWAY then enter the runway number of this path. If the type is not RUNWAY do not enter a number attribute. 00 to 09
0 to 36
EAST
NORTH
NORTHEAST
NORTHWEST
SOUTH
SOUTHEAST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
designator If the type is RUNWAY then enter the runway designator of this path. If the type is not RUNWAY do not enter a designator attribute. NONE
C
CENTER
L
LEFT
R
RIGHT
W
WATER
A
B
name If type is not RUNWAY then enter the index into the name list, see TaxiName. If the type is RUNWAY then do not enter a name attribute. Valid integer range is 0 to 255.

TaxiName

This element is used to add a name to something in the taxiway network.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>". 

<TaxiName       index="0"            name="A"/>

index Unique index of this name Valid integer range is 0 to 255.
name Text name 8 chars max (can be NULL)

Services

This element is used to add services to an airport.  There are no attributes that can be applied to the Services element.  This element is allowed to contain Fuel data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Services>       <!-- Add service information here --> </Services>

TaxiwaySign

This element is used to add a taxiway sign. It is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".  The following XML will create a taxiway sign near the normal runway start point of Seattle-Tacoma airport:

<TaxiwaySign       lat="N47 25.91"       lon="W122 18.50"       heading="0"       label="l[G]d[F\]m[11R-29L]"       size="SIZE5"       justification="LEFT"/>

The key to the text of the taxiway sign is the format of the label. There are six types of sign, each identified by a single lower-case letter:

l Location Yellow text on black
d Direction Black text on yellow
m Mandatory White text on red
i Information Black text on white
r Runway White text on red
u Unknown Black text on white

The following characters describe the content of the sign. The characters can be any upper case letter (A-Z), any numerical digit (0-9), or any one of the following special characters:

_ or space Space
- Dash
> (or >) Right arrow
^ Up arrow
' (apostrophe, or &apos;) Up-right arrow
< (or <) Left arrow
v Back arrow
` (backwards apostrophe) Up-left arrow
/ Back-left arrow
\ Back-right arrow
[ Left border
] Right border
x Do not enter
# ILS boundary
= Runway boundary
. Dot
| Vertical line

The following example creates a location sign for taxi "golf":

l[G]
This example creates a location sign indicating you are on taxiway "alpha-echo":

l[AE]

Note the brackets. These create the black outline around the letter on location signs. If you omit the brackets the letter will have a black line above and below it but not on either end. You can also use brackets on direction and runway signs to increase the spacing at either end of the segment.

Direction signs are made up of a combination of directional arrows and taxiway and runway designators. Arrows can appear before or after the taxiway or runway designator. All of the following are valid direction signs:

d/G
dG/
d/G/

Using these components you can create signs of arbitrary complexity. For instance, the following example sign will tell a pilot that they are located on taxiway Golf at the intersection with runway 11R/29L and that taxiway Foxtrot is back and to their right:

l[G]d[F\]m[11R-29L]

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
heading Heading in degrees of the sign. Note that this is the heading of the sign, the text will face 90 degrees clockwise from this heading. 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value.
label Label string (see the description above). Formatted string.
justification (optional) Right or left justify the text. (default is LEFT) LEFT or RIGHT
size Size of the sign. One of five fixed options: SIZE5 is the largest, SIZE1 is the smallest. SIZE1 to SIZE5

Aprons

This element is used to add a list of aprons to an airport.  This element is allowed to contain Apron data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Aprons>       <!-- add Apron elements here --> </Aprons>

Apron

This element is used to add an apron to the Aprons list of an airport.  This element is allowed to contain Vertex data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Apron       surface="ASPHALT"       drawSurface="TRUE"       drawDetail="TRUE">       <!-- add Vertex elements here --> </Apron>

surface Surface type (list follows) ASPHALT,
BITUMINOUS
BRICK
CLAY
CEMENT
CONCRETE
CORAL
DIRT
GRASS
GRAVEL
ICE
MACADAM
OIL_TREATED
PLANKS
SAND
SHALE
SNOW
STEEL_MATS
TARMAC
UNKNOWN
WATER
drawSurface Draw the underlying surface TRUE or FALSE (default = TRUE)
drawDetail Draw the detail texture surface TRUE or FALSE (default = TRUE)

Vertex

This element is used to add a vertex to another element, either as a fixed point or as a bias.  In the case of an Apron, it is used to specify X and Z deltas (meters) from the airport reference point.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Vertex       biasX="-552.966980"            biasZ="-775.700012"/> <Vertex       lon="10.234"       lat="65.299"/>

biasX Bias from airport reference point in meters Floating point value
biasZ Bias from airport reference point in meters Floating point value
lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds

ApronEdgeLights

This element is used to add edge lights to an airport.  These are intended for use along aprons.  This element is allowed to contain EdgeLights data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Airport> <ApronEdgeLights>       <EdgeLights>                              <Vertex       biasX="-552.966980"              biasZ="-775.700012"/>       <Vertex       biasX="-42.960"                  biasZ="-75.700012"/>       <Vertex       biasX="-52.966980"               biasZ="-75.700012"/>              </EdgeLights> </ApronEdgeLights> </Airport>

EdgeLights

This element is used to add edge lights to an ApronEdgeLights list.  You must specify the vertices for each edge light.  This element is allowed to contain Vertex data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<EdgeLights>       <!-- add Vertex elements here --> </EdgeLights>

Boundary

This element is used to add a boundary volume to the facility data.  This element is allowed to contain Com, BoundaryStart, Arc, Line, Circle, and Origin data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Boundary       type="ALERT"                 name="name">       <!-- Add Boundary description elements here --> </Boundary>

Type Type of boundary volume. ALERT,
APPROACH
CENTER
CLASS_A to CLASS_G
CLEARANCE
DANGER
DEPARTURE
GROUND
MOA
MODEC
NATIONAL_PARK
NONE
PROHIBITED
RADAR
RESTRICTED
TOWER
TRAINING
WARNING
Name Boundary name 48 chars max

BoundaryStart

This element is used to indicate the start of a Boundary volume.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<BoundaryStart       lat="41.45240683"          lon="-87.01929230"           minimumAltitudeType = "UNLIMITED"         altitudeMinimum="235.00079346"                  maximumAltitudeType = "UNKNOWN"           altitudeMaximum="240.00079346"/>

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
minimumAltitudeType Default is MSL. UNKNOWN
AGL
ABOVE_GROUND_LEVEL
MSL
MEAN_SEA_LEVEL
UNLIMITED
altitudeMinimum Minimum altitude in meters. Floating point value.
maximumAltitudeType Default is MSL. UNKNOWN
AGL
ABOVE_GROUND_LEVEL
MSL
MEAN_SEA_LEVEL
UNLIMITED
altitudeMaximum Maximum altitude in meters. Floating point value.

Origin

This element is used to specify an origin for a Boundary volume using an Arc or a Circle.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Origin                                  lat="41.45240683"             lon="-87.01929230"/>

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds

Arc

This element is used to add an arc to a Boundary volume definition.  The Arc references an Origin in the boundary volume as the center point by index.  The index is then determined by the zero-based ordering of the Origin in the XML source.  If an Origin is added or deleted from the XML, all appropriate Arc elements will need to be updated.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Arc       type="CLOCKWISE"                   index="1"                           lat="41.45240683"               lon="-87.01929230"/>

type Direction of the ARC. CLOCKWISE
COUNTER_CLOCKWISE.
index Index of the Origin to use as the center. Index of Origin to use as reference.
lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds

Line

This element is used to add a line to a Boundary volume definition.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Line       lat="41.45240683"       lon="-87.01929230"/>

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds

Circle

This element is used to add a circle to a Boundary volume definition.  The Circle references an Origin in the boundary volume as the center point by index.  The index is then determined by the zero-based ordering of the Origin in the XML source.  If an Origin is added or deleted from the XML, all appropriate Circle elements will need to be updated.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Circle       index="1"       radius="10"       minimumAltitudeType = "UNLIMITED"         altitudeMinimum="235.00079346"       maximumAltitudeType = "UNKNOWN"       altitudeMaximum="240.00079346"/>

index Index of the origin to use as the center reference. Integer index.
Radius Radius of the circle. Floating point value in meters.
minimumAltitudeType Default is MSL. UNKNOWN
AGL
ABOVE_GROUND_LEVEL
MSL
MEAN_SEA_LEVEL
UNLIMITED
altitudeMinimum Minimum altitude Floating point value.
maximumAltitudeType Default is MSL. UNKNOWN
AGL
ABOVE_GROUND_LEVEL
MSL
MEAN_SEA_LEVEL
UNLIMITED
altitudeMaximum Maximum altitude Floating point value.

Vor

This element is used to add a VOR (Very high frequency omni-directional range) to the facility database. Note that this element is not added within an Airport, but simply within the FSData tags. This element is allowed to contain Dme and VisualModel data, which must occur in that order, and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Vor       nav="TRUE"       dme="TRUE"        lat="41.35184943"           lon="-89.15309158"                          alt="199.33918762"                           type="LOW"                              frequency="116.3500"                          range="12345"                              magvar="0.0"                              region="K6"                ident="ABDY"                         name="Some VOR">                         <!-- Optional Dme element here --> </Vor>

nav If nav is FALSE then there is no NAV at this station, but just Dme. This is the same as setting the DmeOnly attribute to TRUE. For clarity simply use either the nav or dmeOnly attribute. TRUE or FALSE
dmeOnly If dmeOnly is TRUE then there is no NAV at this station, and a Dme entry is needed (see below). This is the same as setting nav to FALSE. TRUE or FALSE
dme If dme is TRUE there is DME at this station and a Dme entry is needed (see below). TRUE or FALSE
lat Latitude. Not required if nav is "FALSE". -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude. Not required if nav is "FALSE". -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude. Not required if nav is "FALSE". Floating point value
type VOR type LOW
HIGH
TERMINAL
VOT
frequency Frequency in Mhz 108.0 to 136.992 floating point value
range Range In Meters. Default is computed to 27 nautical miles
magvar Magnetic variation to True North in degrees. -360.0 to 360.0 floating point value. Default = 0.0. East magvar is negative, West magvar is positive.
region Region code 2 character region code
ident ID (5 chars)
name VOR name 48 chars max

Dme

This element is used to add a DME to a VOR.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Dme       lat="41.35184943"       lon="-89.15309158"       alt="703.65F"       range="35N"/>

lat Latitude. Not required if nav is "FALSE". -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
lon Longitude. Not required if nav is "FALSE". -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds
alt Altitude. Not required if nav is "FALSE". Floating point value
range Not currently used.. Floating point value.

Ndb

This element is used to add an NDB (Non-directional beacon) to the facility database. Note that this element is not added within an Airport, but simply within the FSData tags, however to define a terminal NDB, the element must be used as a sub-element of the appropriate Airport element.  This element is allowed to contain VisualModel data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Ndb       lat="41.35184943"        lon="-89.15309158"                           alt="199.33918762"                          type="COMPASS_POINT"                          frequency="890.0"           range="12345"                           magvar="0.0"                              region="K6"                              ident="NDB"                    name="Some NDB">       <!-- Optional VisualModel specification here -->        </Ndb>

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds.
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds.
alt Altitude in meters Floating point value
type Type of Ndb COMPASS_POINT
H
HH
MH
frequency Frequency in KHz 0.0 to 1737.0 floating point value
range Range Default is 27 nautical miles, default units are meters, add the suffix "N" for nautical miles.
magvar Magnetic variation to True North in degrees. -360.0 to 360.0 floating point value. Default = 0.0. East magvar is negative, West magvar is positive.
region Region code 2 character region code
ident ID String (5 characters max)
name Ndb name. 48 chars max

Marker

This element is used to add a marker to the facility database. Note that this element is not added within an Airport, but simply within the FSData tags. This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Marker       lat="41.35184943"            lon="-89.15309158"          alt="199.33918762"          type="INNER"                              heading="89.0"                              region="K6"       ident="NDB"/>

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds.
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds.
alt Altitude in meters Floating point value
type Type of marker INNER
MIDDLE
OUTER
BACKCOURSE
heading Major axis of ellipse in degrees. 0.0 to 360.0 floating point value
region Region code. 2 character region code
ident Identification String (5 characters max)

Waypoint

This element is used to add a waypoint to the facility database. .Note that this element is not added within an Airport, but simply within the FSData tags. This element is allowed to contain Route data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Waypoint       lat="41.35184943"                lon="-89.15309158"                     waypointType="IAF"              magvar="0.0"                  waypointRegion="K6"               waypointIdent="WLS">       <!-- Route information here -->         </Waypoint>

lat Latitude -90 to +90 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds.
lon Longitude -180 to +180 degrees
Format can be decimal or degrees-minutes-seconds.
waypointType Waypoint type NAMED
UNNAMED
VOR
NDB
OFF_ROUTE
IAF
FAF
magvar Magnetic variation to True North in degrees. -360.0 to 360.0 floating point value. Default = 0.0. East magvar is negative, West magvar is positive.
waypointRegion Region code. 2 character region code
waypointIdent Waypoint ID String (5 characters max)

Route

This element is used to add a route designation to a Waypoint.  This element is allowed to contain Previous and Next elements, which must occur in that order, and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Route       routeType="VICTOR"       name="SomeName" >       <!-- Next and Previous node information goes here -->        </Route>

routeType Type of route (Airway) VICTOR
JET
BOTH
name Name of the route String (8 characters max)

Previous

This element is used to add connection information to a Route.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Previous       waypointType="NAMED"       waypointRegion="K6"       waypointIdent="WLR"                   altitudeMinimum="1000"/>

waypointType Type of waypoint. NAMED
UNNAMED
VOR
NDB
OFF_ROUTE
IAF
FAF
waypointRegion Region code. 2 character region code
waypointIdent Waypoint ID 5 Chars
altitudeMinimum Minimum altitude Floating point value, default units are meters.

Next

This element is used to add connection information to a Route.  This element is not allowed to contain other data and must be terminated with "/>".

<Next       waypointType="NAMED"       waypointRegion="K6"       waypointIdent="WLR"       altitudeMinimum="1001"/>

waypointType Waypoint type NAMED
UNNAMED
VOR
NDB
OFF_ROUTE
IAF
FAF
waypointRegion Region code. 2 character region code
waypointIdent Waypoint ID 5 Chars
altitudeMinimum Minimum altitude Floating point value, default units are meters

Geopol

This element is used to add a geopolitical boundary to facility data. You must include the vertices of the geopolitical boundary. Note that this element is not added within an Airport, but simply within the FSData tags. This element is allowed to contain Vertex data and should not be terminated with "/>".

<Geopol           type= "COASTLINE"> <Vertex           lat="41.35184943"           lon="-89.15309158"/> <Vertex           lat="42.35184943"           lon="-88.15309158"/> <Vertex           lat="43.35184943"           lon="-81.15309158"/> </Geopol>

type Type of geopolitical boundary. DASHED_BOUNDARY should be used for uncertain or disputed boundaries. COASTLINE
BOUNDARY
DASHED_BOUNDARY

Using the BGLScan Tool

A new utility has been created to check the integrity of the scenery databases.  This tool will catch errors related to library object placements and generate other general statistics.  The tool is intended to be run from a root directory that contains all of the scenery available to the application.  BGLScan has no knowledge of Scenery.CFG files so it looks at all .BGL files present below the specified root directory even if those files are not part of an active scenery area.  Because BGLScan attempts to resolve linkages between library objects and their placements, running on a subset of the scenery will likely result in many false positives.  The tool also validates the textures referenced by models embedded within the BGL file -- using the functionality of the MDLScan tool (which can be used independently to validate .MDL files). Since there is no GUI for this tool and it can generate a large report, it is recommended that the output be sent to a file for viewing after a scan is completed.  The output of the tool can be divided into several sections:

Report of the number of objects. General statistics on the number of objects of each type that were found in the database.
Report of duplicate objects. Multiple library objects that have the same GUID can cause confusion when loading models and should be remedied.
Report of missing objects.  These are library object models that are not present in the scenery scanned, but there is a placement requesting such a library object.  An example would be a placement of a custom building using the BGLComp SDK, but no art is present for that building.
Report of unreferenced objects.  These are library object models that are present in the .BGL files, but not referenced by a scenery placement.  In the case of the stock scenery there will be several models listed as these models are shipping for backwards compatibility to satisfy potential placements in add-on scenery.  If unreferenced objects are found in an add-on scenery area a message is output that the model can be safely removed, to save space.

See also the validation tools provided with Autogen.