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[Version 1.8 released] iPad application for displaying and interacting with UFCs: iUFCExport


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- Updated on September 30, 2023: Version 1.8 (both iPad application and Lua script have changed)

Added support for F-15E UFC and AH-64D Keyboard Unit

- Updated on July 1st, 2023: Version 1.7.1 (only the iPad application has changed)

This patch should fix an issue where DCS wouldn't register button pushes or where switches would get stuck in DCS

- Updated on March 6, 2022: version 1.7 (make sure you update both the iPad and the Lua script)

Added countermeasure panels for A10, AJS37, F16, F/A18, Ka50 and M2000

If you have 2 iPads, you can run the UFC panel on one iPad and the CMS panel on the other one.

 

- Updated on February 17, 2022: version 1.6.1 (only update of LuaScript is needed)

Fix for JF17 UFCP MRK light. 

Thanks to "numa3333" who provided this fix!

 

- Updated on October 3, 2021: version 1.6

Added M2000C PCN

 

- Updated on May 30, 2021: version 1.5

Added Ka 50 PVI 800

 

- Updated on May 2, 2021: version 1.4

Added AJS37 Navigation panels (CK37 and waypoints)

 

- Updated on April 7, 2021: version 1.3

Added A-10C UFC

 

- Updated on March 14, 2021: version 1.2

Check list of changes in my latest post.

 

You can download it for free from the Apple AppStore: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=1551491580 . It requires an iPad with at least iOS 12.

Instructions on how to setup this application are here: https://wluc9875.github.io/iUFCExport/

 

F16 ICP, FA18 UFC, AV8 UFC and JF17 UFCP are supported for now.

Note that I had to postpone SA342 NADIR for now, due to the poor quality of the data I could extract from the SA342 module.

 

Feedback welcome! and I'm open to suggestion for new planes, new panels, new features....

 

- Older posts

 

Last year, I created a "universal UFC button box"...

... but it was bulky, and although it could accommodate all the buttons of all the UFCs in DCS, I wanted something that looked more like each existing UFC and that could also display some info, like in these small displays next to each OSB of the F/A 18

 

I looked if it was possible to display and interact with an UFC from an iPad. I found some existing paid iPad applications, but with all the great free and open-source work of Helios and DCS-BIOS teams, providing excellent starting bricks, I decided to create my own iPad application and it will be free and open-source too. It will also support most of the existing iPads, including the older ones that only support up to iOS 12 version.

 

The F16 ICP, F/A18 UFC, AV8BNA UFC&ODU, JF-17 UFCP are now completed.

I'm still struggling with the SA342 Gazelle NADIR, because of the poor usability of the data exposed by Polychop. Now, I understand better why other projects relied on a viewport export (external screen) for this NADIR.

 

As I implemented multi-panels / multi-iPads support, and since I do this first for my own pleasure flying in DCS, I'm already thinking of creating more panels than just "UFCs" (see early video further down in this thread) and of course, support for more planes.

 

-- NEW UPDATE Feb 1, 2021: beta test phase started

Apple reviewed the iPad application and gave it a green light for beta testing.

So far, I have 3 persons who volunteered for the beta test. I'll contact them this weekend with explanations on how to install this beta (iPad + Lua script for DCS)

Others, feel free to join! It will allow you to try this app before it's available to anyone else and it will allow you to influence what gets into this app.

 

 

IMG_0126.jpg

 

Video preview: 

 

 

 

 


Edited by lwalter
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It IS awesome if you can do it. Having live controllers that interface with DCS will be great. Weapons and radar. Has anyone tried an android tab app? I have 2 iPad Mini's an  2 or androids that get little use. The androids are low $$$$ so might be less for some.


Edited by StElmosFire
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just added a short video link at the end of the original post

 

planned next steps:

- F/A 18 UFC, with displays (COMs, OSB lines)

- add the other planes with UFCs or like

- automatic switch to the right UFC depending on plane controlled in DCS

- if I have time and people ask for, add feature to switch between several control panels of the same plane on one iPad or use several iPads for each plane panel (caveat: I have no intention to reproduce full cockpits. iPad are too small anyways and Helios is better suited for that).

iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, i7 4 GHz, 32 GB RAM, AMD R9 M395X 4 GB | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog | Cougar MFD | MFG Crosswind | EDTracker Pro | Realteus ForceFeel

DCS World | Bf109 | Fw190 A8/D9 | P47 | P51 | Spitfire | I16 | C101 | L39 | F86F | MiG15 | MiG19 | MiG21 | FC3 | A10C | AJS37 | AV8BNA | F5 | F14 | F16 | F/A18 | M2000 | JF17 | Christen Eagle | Yak52 | SA342 | UH1H | Mi8 | Ka50 | Combined Arms | NS430 | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Channel | Syria | NTTR | WWII Assets

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Update 2021-01-10

- UFC with displays now get their content filled from DCS. Example video with F/A18 published and added to the original post.

 

Moving on to more planes next weekend...

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DCS World | Bf109 | Fw190 A8/D9 | P47 | P51 | Spitfire | I16 | C101 | L39 | F86F | MiG15 | MiG19 | MiG21 | FC3 | A10C | AJS37 | AV8BNA | F5 | F14 | F16 | F/A18 | M2000 | JF17 | Christen Eagle | Yak52 | SA342 | UH1H | Mi8 | Ka50 | Combined Arms | NS430 | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Channel | Syria | NTTR | WWII Assets

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I prepared a tentative roadmap for the next planes / panels. I do this first for my own pleasure and usage, but since I intend to share this application and source code to all in about 2 months, your comments are welcome. I will also look for a limited number, 3 or 4, beta testers around mid to end February. If you're interested and have an iPad with iOS 12+, please drop me a message. 

 

1st release:

- AV8 UFC + ODU

- F16 ICP

- FA18 UFC

- JF17 UFC

- SA342 NADIR

 

2nd release:

- A10C CDU, maybe UFC (but doesn't fit well the format of the iPad)

- AJS37 Navigation system

- KA50 PVI

- M2000 PCN

 

later, to be defined, could be armament panels, other...

 

As a teaser, I attached the next UFC I'll work on this weekend.

 

 

(*) the time to test it thoroughly and publish the iPad app on the Apple App Store

Screen Shot 2021-01-11 at 21.13.05.png

iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, i7 4 GHz, 32 GB RAM, AMD R9 M395X 4 GB | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog | Cougar MFD | MFG Crosswind | EDTracker Pro | Realteus ForceFeel

DCS World | Bf109 | Fw190 A8/D9 | P47 | P51 | Spitfire | I16 | C101 | L39 | F86F | MiG15 | MiG19 | MiG21 | FC3 | A10C | AJS37 | AV8BNA | F5 | F14 | F16 | F/A18 | M2000 | JF17 | Christen Eagle | Yak52 | SA342 | UH1H | Mi8 | Ka50 | Combined Arms | NS430 | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Channel | Syria | NTTR | WWII Assets

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Update for January 16, 2021

Support for AV8 and JF17 (screenshots to follow)

Next to be added is SA342...

 

I'm still looking for beta testers... If you're interested, please drop me a line in this thread.

IMG_0148.png

 

IMG_0150.png

iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, i7 4 GHz, 32 GB RAM, AMD R9 M395X 4 GB | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog | Cougar MFD | MFG Crosswind | EDTracker Pro | Realteus ForceFeel

DCS World | Bf109 | Fw190 A8/D9 | P47 | P51 | Spitfire | I16 | C101 | L39 | F86F | MiG15 | MiG19 | MiG21 | FC3 | A10C | AJS37 | AV8BNA | F5 | F14 | F16 | F/A18 | M2000 | JF17 | Christen Eagle | Yak52 | SA342 | UH1H | Mi8 | Ka50 | Combined Arms | NS430 | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Channel | Syria | NTTR | WWII Assets

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Very impressive, keep up the good work, will it be scalable i.e. I would use it on the iPad Pro, will it fill the screen or is it only designed for the smaller screen iPad

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6 hours ago, Oilman100 said:

Very impressive, keep up the good work, will it be scalable i.e. I would use it on the iPad Pro, will it fill the screen or is it only designed for the smaller screen iPad

thanks!

Yes, it will adapt to the size of your iPad screen. However, I'm still hesitating between:

1) keeping the "UFC" size at 100% max  (could be smaller on smaller iPad, typically for the A10C long UFC), but it will be centered on your large screen.

2) grow the size of the "UFC" proportionally to the size of your Pad size. Some UFCs will look huge on large iPad Pros

3) keeping the "UFC" at 100% max and allowing for extra panels/buttons for the larger screens (very unlikely to be done for the 1st version, but who knows, maybe someday)

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I like the idea of option 3, maybe add some useful switches / buttons, Laser on/off etc

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and here's a sneak peak on the work-in-progress Gazelle NADIR

 

Now that I have the 5 panels I wanted for version 1 (F16 ICP, F/A18 UFC, AV8 UFC, JF17 UFCP and SA342 NADIR), I'm going to fix a few bugs and formatting issues and then get the application ready for testing.

 

I have only one volunteer for beta testing so far. Feel free to send me a message. There's no condition or constraint. I'm just eager to know if everything works fine on diverse iPad, PC and local network configurations, and if not that you tell me the problems you encounter or ideas of improvements. 

 

IMG_0151 3.png

iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, i7 4 GHz, 32 GB RAM, AMD R9 M395X 4 GB | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog | Cougar MFD | MFG Crosswind | EDTracker Pro | Realteus ForceFeel

DCS World | Bf109 | Fw190 A8/D9 | P47 | P51 | Spitfire | I16 | C101 | L39 | F86F | MiG15 | MiG19 | MiG21 | FC3 | A10C | AJS37 | AV8BNA | F5 | F14 | F16 | F/A18 | M2000 | JF17 | Christen Eagle | Yak52 | SA342 | UH1H | Mi8 | Ka50 | Combined Arms | NS430 | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Channel | Syria | NTTR | WWII Assets

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PM Sent

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Update: showing a proof of concept I worked on yesterday in the video below.

I added the possibility to add multiple panels per plane, each selectable through the bottom tab bar and if you have multiple iPad, you can even choose which panel you display on each iPad...

As it takes some time to create panels, even if not a lot, the second panel in my demo contains only the F16 emergency jettison button for now.

 

 

 

iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, i7 4 GHz, 32 GB RAM, AMD R9 M395X 4 GB | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog | Cougar MFD | MFG Crosswind | EDTracker Pro | Realteus ForceFeel

DCS World | Bf109 | Fw190 A8/D9 | P47 | P51 | Spitfire | I16 | C101 | L39 | F86F | MiG15 | MiG19 | MiG21 | FC3 | A10C | AJS37 | AV8BNA | F5 | F14 | F16 | F/A18 | M2000 | JF17 | Christen Eagle | Yak52 | SA342 | UH1H | Mi8 | Ka50 | Combined Arms | NS430 | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Channel | Syria | NTTR | WWII Assets

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This project is really promising.

 

I wish I coud participate in the testing phase but I can't fly for some time now. Wish you the best and thank you for your time and efforts spent on this.

3rd Wing | 55th Black Alligators * BA-33

Εις ανηρ ουδεις ανηρ

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  • lwalter changed the title to [Beta test phase starting] New iPad application for displaying and interacting with UFCs: iUFCExport

added an update to the 1st post about the start of the beta phase

iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, i7 4 GHz, 32 GB RAM, AMD R9 M395X 4 GB | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog | Cougar MFD | MFG Crosswind | EDTracker Pro | Realteus ForceFeel

DCS World | Bf109 | Fw190 A8/D9 | P47 | P51 | Spitfire | I16 | C101 | L39 | F86F | MiG15 | MiG19 | MiG21 | FC3 | A10C | AJS37 | AV8BNA | F5 | F14 | F16 | F/A18 | M2000 | JF17 | Christen Eagle | Yak52 | SA342 | UH1H | Mi8 | Ka50 | Combined Arms | NS430 | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Channel | Syria | NTTR | WWII Assets

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey ! I got an iPad mini 3, the old one, I would be interested to beta test the app ! I've been looking for a iOS app for so long, only android get the cool stuff, and I don't have money to buy a android tablet.

Here's my mail: balacialexandrumarian@yahoo.com

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  • lwalter changed the title to [Version 1.0 released on the Apple AppStore] New iPad application for displaying and interacting with UFCs: iUFCExport

iUFCExport was released on the Apple AppStore today (see original post for more info)

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iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, i7 4 GHz, 32 GB RAM, AMD R9 M395X 4 GB | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog | Cougar MFD | MFG Crosswind | EDTracker Pro | Realteus ForceFeel

DCS World | Bf109 | Fw190 A8/D9 | P47 | P51 | Spitfire | I16 | C101 | L39 | F86F | MiG15 | MiG19 | MiG21 | FC3 | A10C | AJS37 | AV8BNA | F5 | F14 | F16 | F/A18 | M2000 | JF17 | Christen Eagle | Yak52 | SA342 | UH1H | Mi8 | Ka50 | Combined Arms | NS430 | Persian Gulf | Normandy | Channel | Syria | NTTR | WWII Assets

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Hi there. I am having trouble getting the UFC window data and digits appear on the iPad. For example when I press EMCON in the app, the app button visually depresses, I can see the DCS button getting pressed, the DCS UFC changes to the proper indications, but the iPad UFC does not reflect any window data changes. I have copy-pasted the Export.lua and iUFCExport.lua files into "C:\Users\USERNAME\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Scripts". Is there a "goto" solution for this?


Edited by Bailey
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