SmartCopilot 3.2 – New config file format

Starting with SmartCopilot 3.2 we will introduce new config files in JSON format. It gives us the ability to overcome current INI file format limitations allowing us to implement additional features if required. In the first release, we plan to add the next new features to the config system:

• Custom options – now you will be able to define custom switches available in the SmartCopilot GUI. At the moment, we have two hardcoded options – Radio and Transponder. In the next release, you can define as many options as you wich. The closest example would be the Failures option.
• The usual Sections are replaced with the Block concept. Now you can set an unlimited number of blocks, give them the name and type. Using the custom option flag from above, which you can assign to the Block, you can configure the config file for different usage scenario.
• Also, you can assign the third-party plugin switch to the Block. If the third-party plugin is found, the Block will be used. Otherwise, all entries within the Block will be ignored. As an example, you can imagine the BetterPushback plugin switch.

We will also provide the Config-Editor – an application to edit config files direct in X-Plane. It must increase the quality of the config files, as we will add different sanity checks when exporting config files (i.e. test if the dataref exists, is dataref writable, etc.). It can also import existing INI config files as a starting point for new JSON configs.

In version 3.2 we are expecting all major config files are converted to the new JSON format and plugin works as before.

And now even more news – in version 3.3 we plan to integrate config file delivery direct to the SmartCopilot plugin depending on the aircraft selected. The end-user should not search and copy config files manually. Config file creator will export new versions of the config files from the Config-Editor to the cloud, making it public (or private) for all other SmartCopilot users.