Update 03.04.01 - The Windows Plugin is now available

This new plugin, in combination with new additions to XGLTool, allows you to preview your XGL-based objects directly in X-Plane (version 660+ REQUIRED!), and add/remove/modify them or their parameters (latitude, longitude, etc.) on-the-fly without having to wait for X-Plane to reload!

There are 2 items you'll need to download to get started with it, assuming that you already have XGLTool running:

• The Mac Plugin or The Windows Plugin
• The xgltester files (sample files and database as shown in the screenshot above, all objects located at KCGX/Meigs)

XGLTester.xpl requires X-Plane version 660+, which is the first version of X-Plane to ship with the SDK (plugin folder) with the required libraries.

After downloading the appropriate file(s), simply unstuff/unzip them, and drop the plugin (XGLTester.xpl) and folder (xgltester) into your Resources/plugins directory.

For anyone working on modeling and/or scenery objects, this can be an extremely useful feature, especially when tweaking things to get the location, size, orientation, textures, and many other object parameters "just right".

If you have more than one computer, you can leave one running X-Plane and the XGLTester.xpl plugin, and on your 2nd, run XGLTool to make changes or just to tell XGLTester to reload your object(s) after you have modified and recompiled them.

We would suggest you may want to use this mechanism to get your initial size, location, and heading correct before you get too far along with your model.

XGLTester operates using a powerful Java concept known as a Property List, which I have extended to become a "mini-database" for XGL-based objects.

The screenshot above of a small (2-object) database above was actually taken from my web browser, which is what XGLTool uses to display your "database" in a "semi user friendly" way.

Ultimately some objects may be placed in .ENV files (so knowing the exact latitude, longitude, elevation, and heading/rotation is important), tho we are looking at a web-based repository and database(s) as well as mean(s) to encourage/compensate modelers for their hard work...

The "user interface" for editing object parameters is a bit cumbersome in XGLTool, but as these parameters may eventually go into ENV files or a web database, I think it's adequate for most XGLTool users.

Below is a screenshot of the menu:

I won't document the items above the selected item as they are pretty well documented on the XGLTool page..

In order for XGLTool to place objects in XPlane so that the plugin can know about them and render them, I have developed a fairly simple database using a properties file (.props or .props.txt).

For my own work, I have standardized on the extension .props.txt as these files are text and I often edit them with a text editor.

For the plugin to work, it (XGLTester.xpl) must be installed inside the "Resources/plugins" directory along with a folder named xgltester.

Inside that folder is where the "database" (xgltester.props.txt) as well as any models you wish to test must reside.

The plugin download has a sample database and several sample objects with it, so once your have it installed, you can begin working/experimenting with the database.

This starts with the Load XGLTester Database... command, which tells XGLTool where the plugin is on your system(s), as well as loading the database into memory.

If you make changes to the database, you will usually be offered to save it.

XGLTool then allows you to add new objects, remove them, and edit their parameters as shown in the above menu:

• Latitude (-90.0/South to +90.0/North)
• Longitude (-180.0/West to +180.0/East)
• Elevation (meters MSL)
• Heading/Rotation (0.0 to 360.0 degrees clockwise from the object's original orientation)
• Scaling Factor (0.0001 to 1000.0) - a multiplier that can be used to scale an object's size (note: this will probably not be supported in X-Plane itself - this also scales an object in all directions, so if it the object's "base/lowest point" is negative Y, this will also be scaled).

It also communicates with a running version of X-Plane (on the same or another machine) to tell it, in real-time to reload the XGL objects in the XGLTester database.

This way you can see your objects in X-Plane as you are developing them.

For many objects that need to be oriented, positioned, and sized accurately, we believe this should help modelers a great deal, especially at the start of a model.

Depending on how an object gets into X-Plane, we may or may not have the ability to scale an object as can be done with XGLTester and other plugins, so it is fairly important to draw them with real-world (and X-Plane) units of meters.

After loading the database and prior to using any of the above commands to edit an object's parameters, you must use the Choose Object... command to choose the associated XGL (.xpxgl) file that represents the object. Future editing commands will then apply to that object, and, with confirmation, will save the database and tell the plugin to reload the objects.

After the database is loaded you may choose View Database... which will display it in your web browser, Add Object to Database... to add an object (the default is at ground level at KCGX, Meigs), or Remove Object From Database... to remove an object.

And finally, the last 3 menu items:

• Reload all XGL Objects in XPlane... allows you to force reloading of all objects, useful, for example, if you make changes to your object, recompile it, and want to see your changes directly in X-Plane - at the moment this is automatically called whenever you edit an object's parameters
  
  
• Use Day Textures in XPlane... tells XGLTester to use the normal ([model].bmp) textures.
  
  
• Use Night Textures in XPlane... tells XGLTester to use ([model]LIT.bmp) files. At some future point I may be able to combine then as X-Plane actually does, but this feature is not available in this release.