Bug - you have to copy and paste airline codes to get them to work

[airbadger]

Let's say I install a new airport. I open GSX Customization to select a gate and under Airline codes it shows "AMX,AFR,CFG,DLH,LHA,TCX,WJA,SCX,4O,AIJ,FFT,VIR,TSC,TCW,AEA,SLI,LUV,CIB".  Are these the airlines that will pop up when you activate GSX? Probably not, because you have to copy and paste the airline code line and then hit apply to make those codes effective.

[virtuali]

You surely don't have to copy and paste, since the fields are already used by GSX, and they are pre-filled with data in the scenery AFCAD and are used by GSX even if you don't explicitly set them.

And, they are not directly GSX airline operators, but only codes in the AFCAD that GSX will use in weighing its choice of its own operators, when there's a tie in matching the airport ICAO.

For example, if you are at KLAX, which matches with the maximum score of 4 ICAO letters the following operators:

American Airlines ( AA in GSX )
Alliance Ground
ASA
Delta ( DL in GSX )
Frontier ( FFT in GSX )
United ( UA in GSX )
Southwest ( WN in GSX )

It means that, if the parking had NO parking codes at all, all those 7 operators would have an equal random chance to appear on a KLAX parking that had no codes, or no codes that matches these ones.

If, instead, the parking had these codes

AAL, AALX, UAL,UALX, LHA, TCX

Only American Airlines and United would have an equal random chance between them two to appear on that parking. LHA and TCX won't be used, because they didn't match the airport so, the codes are used to breaking ties amongst operators allowed in an airport.

If you look at the SIM.CFG file of any GSX ground vehicle (the Baggage loader for example), you might have a better idea how codes are matched.

Note that, if you *override* the codes (that's what you did by "copying and pasting" the codes), GSX will then IGNORE its internal airport restriction, allowing to choose any operator everywhere. That's why you probably thought you HAD to override the codes: because you were expecting these codes would always appear, but they don't: they are only used to break up ties amongst operators that matched the airport ICAO.

The reason why we don't use the AFCAD codes directly, but only for breaking ties, is because on an airport with international terminals, you'll see many different overseas companies, because they use that gate, but it would have been wrong to just allow them as ground operators, because you surely cannot find, for example, a British ground crew at KLAX *just* because British uses a gate at KLAX international terminal.

So, first an operator must match the airport, and then we look at the airline codes to restrict the choice so, for example, UA will appear by preference on gates with UA codes.

But of course, when you do an override, what you put there will appear, regardless of the airport so, if you want to have an Alitalia crew servicing the airplane in China, you can do that.

[airbadger]

You surely don't have to copy and paste, since the fields are already used by GSX, and they are pre-filled with data in the scenery AFCAD and are used by GSX even if you don't explicitly set them.

This is causing massive confusion and frustration for me. I don't understand why this has to be coded to be so complex.

This is what happens, and it happens a lot:

Here's LittleNavMap reading the AFCAD for FlightBeam's KPDX. C17 is coded for AAL,AALX. 




Here's what GSX is saying the airline codes are. This is the default reading from GSX. I did not touch this gate's airline code settings.



So what airline options did I get after I landed and as I'm taxiing to the gate? Alaska and ATS.

Why can't it be WYSIWYG? If those airline codes are in the box, those are the options you get. End of story. Instead, there's some kind of secret tie-breaking thing happening in the background? As a user, I can't see that. I have no idea what's going on. I had to log onto his forum and make a post to understand the system. And I guess I still don't get it.

[virtuali]

So what airline options did I get after I landed and as I'm taxiing to the gate? Alaska and ATS.

Haven't you read my previous message carefully ? It fully explains why it's entirely normal you would see Alaska and ATS, and why it's correct it would be wrong if GSX "just" read the parking codes of an airport.

Why can't it be WYSIWYG? If those airline codes are in the box, those are the options you get. End of story.

As I've said in my previous reply, the codes are shown there as a reference to let you know what's inside the AFCAD, but it's entirely correct that, by *default*, the program won't use them as they are, but ONLY as tie-breakers when two or more services have been already established to be valid for that airport ICAO.

When you EDIT THEM, and save the customization, GSX will consider this your own "override" so, it will ignore its own internal ICAO rules, and will trust what you edited.

Instead, there's some kind of secret tie-breaking thing happening in the background? As a user, I can't see that. I have no idea what's going on. I had to log onto his forum and make a post to understand the system. And I guess I still don't get it.

Again: re-read my previous post, there's nothing "secret" here, it's just the ICAO logic *by default* it's the most important, and the codes ( again, by *default* ) will only used as tie-breakers. They will be used directly only after you EDIT THEM.

The issue is, in order to make it more obvious, we would have to:

- make the airline code edit field greyed out

- add a button to enable editing, since you cannot edit a Windows control that is greyed out.

So, this required an *additional* button that require an *additional* click for each edited parking, compared to what it is now, where you just edit the field (because is already editable), saving the extra click.