To add/edit an airport:
Unpack the system\airport.epd
Run the database editor, use option
2, type in "airport" for the path.
Turn on caps lock, the database
is case sensitive.
If you want to edit an existing
record cursor down to the ID or Name line and hit "F" and type in the name
or ID# to find the database entry you want to work on.
To add a new record hit "I" to
insert a new database entry.
Hit "E" on each line that has
data for the airport you want to add. (also use "E" to edit an existing
entry)
If adding a new airport you'll
have to come up with a unique database ID# (To get a unique ID I use my
full initials and some numbers.).
Once everything is entered hit
"S" to save, you should get a message telling you to update the index files.
(see the section on using DBImport
below if you want to skip the next few steps and make a dex file instead)
Hit "ESC" to get back to the menu.
Hit "B" to rebuild the index file (takes about 5 min. on a 500MHz PIII).
Now go into the database folder, there should be a bunch of files that begin with "air". Make a text file with all the files listed with the path.
---airport.txt--
database\airport.dbd
database\airport.dbt
ect....
Include all the a???????.dbi files.
In the file manager use option
6 to build the epd file.
Use airport.txt as the input file.
Use airport.epd as the pod file.
I use "airportsbymartyschultz"
as the volume.
Now you should have an airport.epd in the main Fly! folder.
Make a backup folder in your fly!\system folder and put a copy of the default airport.epd file there, I set it read only just to be safe. It's real easy to mess up the database so make backups of each good epd file you make.
Now replace the default airport.epd file with the new one.
For runways:
Do mostly the same steps for the
runway.epd file.
If adding new runways you'll need
to come up with your own unique ID numbers, they have to start with "XEA"
where X is a number (2EA or 3EA for example) plus 5 numbers or letters.
The runways are linked to the airport using the database ID number from
the airport database. Each runway has it's own record and it's own
database ID #.
If you are editing runways you'll
need the database ID for the airport from the airport database, you then
search the airport ID field to find the runways for that airport.
Use option "C" to rebuild the
runway index files.
There are only 3 runway.??? files
you need to put in the runway.txt file to build the epd.
Once both are replaced you can
goto the new airport in the editor and flight planner. If the airport is
not on a level tile you'll need to use the editor to flatten it or the
runway will be above the ground at one end.
To add the frequencies used by
the airport you use the comm database in the system\comm.epd.
Now that DBImport has been
released by TRI there is another way to add or share database changes.
After you have the record in the database the way you want it hit "m" to
mark the record for export. Then exit back to the database editor
menu and use the option to export records from the database. When
it asks for the database path and index path you have to type in the full
path relative to the main Fly! directory. Example: type "database\airport"
for both questions if you wanted to extract the marked records for the
airport database. Once you have your records exported into a .dex
file you can use DBImport to update you epd files or send the changes to
someone else for them to use with DBImport. You make one .dex file
for each database, so to add an airport you would need 3 .dex files, one
each for the airport, runway, and comm databases. Note: If
you make an epd with any database records marked for export Fly! will crash
when accessing the database, be sure to use the option to clear all export
flags before making an epd. You don't have to worry about this when
using DBImport, it does everything for you. It's probably still a
good idea to make backups of your original database epds even if you use
DBImport.
Marty Schultz
Last update: May 28, 2000