CFS Gauges

[Ivan]

Hello All,

Does anyone here still work on gauges for CFS? I am trying to find a C Compiler that can compile DLLs (.gau files) that are runnable on a Windows 98 machine. It appears that gauges that work on Windows 98 will work on newer Operating Systems as well, but the reverse is not true.

I do have a C Compiler for Windows 98 but it does not have headers and libraries to compile windows code.

Thanks.
- Ivan.

 

[smilo]

other than minor tinkering,
gauge creation is out of my realm.

i went on a downloading spree a few years ago
and now have a ton of gauges in my archives.
let me know if you need anything.

just for the heck of it, i just went to
flightsim/advanced search and selected
Search only file section: FS98 Misc.
all these words: gauges

and got 25 results.
a few looked like they might be promising.

 

[Ivan]

Hi Smilo,

I am actually trying to create some custom gauges specifically for testing and also a couple fuel switchers besides the ones that can already be found elsewhere.

Bottom line is that I am not trying to find something that someone else built; I want to be able to build my own even if it is mostly for educational purposes.

- Ivan.

 

[smilo]

i thought that it was interesting
that old gauges worked in fs9.
i have a few that i used in my fs9 hud.

otherwise, sorry i can't help.
let us know how you do.

 

[papingo]

ppapingo says

I've never made a gauge before.
but it does sound interesting
first thoughts..... would later
edition headers/libs maybe work.
why not ask famous gauge makers
you never know!!
The landing officer in CFS2 seems
to be a gauge with info on it in
ships config....I wonder if it is similar
to hubba's meatball gizmo at ripe?
anyway keep us informed on your
progress/problems.

 

[No Dice]

http://web.archive.org/web/20030604033650/http://www.easygauge.net/main.htm

Ivan,
Although long gone....You can still download the demo version of Easy Gauge, It may have some useful info
or something that may be helpful.

Dave

 

[Ivan]

Hello All,

Here is where I have gotten so far:

I have Delorie GNU C++ installed on my Windows 98 Development machine. It has been there for many years and I use it to compile command line utilities to do quite a few things. Most of them are Flight Sim development related. DJGPP is no longer being updated, so there isn't a good version for the newer operating systems. It also does not come with a Windows library or header files that are needed for Windows definitions.

I have MinGW GNU C++ installed on my Vista Laptop. It has some Windows libraries and header files. You CAN do Windows programming with this setup. The problem though is that it gets MUCH more difficult when attempting to compile Microsoft source code. While MinGW and Microsoft both make required type definitions, they often do not agree. Although functionally, they may define compatible types, the compiler will see a lot of type mismatches because the actual type definitions do not agree.

To "correct" the Microsoft source code is silly because much of it is very cryptic. Most of the worthwhile functions are actually Macro definitions and callback functions which hide the underlying targets.
I suppose it is also possible to adjust the header files in the MinGW compiler, but that is a hopeless task as well. You may start looking for just one conflicting type definition and find that it calls about 20 others and the results cascade downward to affect MANY other files.

I used the Microsoft SDK examples to generate a very simple Dial Tachometer. I found that by hard coding some values and writing about a dozen of my own top level header files, I could compile it under Vista and even use it in CFS on a Windows 2000 machine. The problem is that when I move the same .GAU file over to Windows 98, it crashes CFS immediately.

Any Ideas?
- Ivan.

No Dice, I will go look at your link, but I believe I have been there already.

 

[papingo]

free c compiler

dear ivan,
if you go to pellesC you will get a free compiler+
all support files eg linker,maker.compiler,assembler
headers and include files.(and an IDE program)
the version recomended for win98 is 4.5 which is
C not C++
look at top centre to find version selector
pelles orinus (swedish) is well known in
computer circles. ver 4.5 is made to
iso std. c99.
now do'nt think i'm an expert in this stuff.
I only downloaded it last night and already
I realise I know zilch about C programming
I tried to make 'makefile.exe'this is asort of
text guidance file
yours papingo-- always a tryer
in the words of that great roman philosopher
from small acorns large acorns grow

 

[hubbabubba]

I wish I could help. The further I went was doing a "Hello World" DOS windowed program.

But your thread is reviving my desire to learn C and C++. I used to be pretty good in Visual Basic (when screens were green on black).

To do my "Hello World", I used Bloodshed (what a name btw...) DEVC++ (or DEVCpp, both are used) version 4.9.9.2, and it was compiling under W98SE.

I suppose that more recent versions contains goodies that are are unpalatable to old OSes.

P.S.- Try this page; http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html

 

[Ivan]

Hi Hubbabubba,

I first started programming in Basic in Junior High School back in the late 1970's. First started programming in C back in the early 1980's in College. Have you ever used a 300 baud ACOUSTIC modem or punched cards for writing programs in a computer class? Have you ever had to use JCL cards? That's where I started.

The problem in general isn't finding a C compiler that will work with Windows 98 or any of the newer OS's. The BIG issue is that while all the compilers implement ANSI C, they don't all implement extensions for the MS Windows environment in the same way. They all have to define similar data types because of the operating system, but because although the structures and types may be equivalent in functionality, moving source code from one compiler to another doesn't work very well. An old version of MS Visual C would probably work well, but I don't happen to have that.

Papingo sent me something in email that might be a solution for compiler incompatibilities, but I have not had a chance to check things out yet.

The biggest issue that I ran into was that I while I have a ANSI C compiler for Windows 98, I don't have a "Windows C" compiler there and my compiles from Vista don't run on W98. Perhaps it is a matter of compiler settings. I simply don't know yet.

The last thing is that while I am a fairly experienced C programmer, Gauge programming isn't really C programming. It is understanding and using someone else's Macro definitions and Library functions to affect some rather cryptic variables. I need to learn the environment there as well.

I figured out enough to compile a simple Tachometer for my B-25 Mitchell, but although it works well enough in CFS on Windows 2000, it crashes on Windows 98.

Hope that makes sense.
- Ivan.