Windows Notepad Combat Flight Simulator 2 "Pilot.log" Formatter 1.0

[RichNagel]

RichNagel submitted a new resource:

Windows Notepad Combat Flight Simulator 2 "Pilot.log" Formatter - Windows Notepad Combat Flight Simulator 2 "Pilot.log" Formatter

This AutoHotkey macro utility ("Format Pilot Log.ahk") will format a Combat Flight Simulator 2 campaign "Pilot.log" file to be more readable after flying a campaign mission by adding carriage returns to various sections of the file using Windows Notepad.

e.g. Changes this:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[pilot info]
side=0
allegiance=3
[country.1]
rank=0
num_medals=0
[campaign.0]
campaign_name=War In The Pacific - USN
next_mission=hn1b_usn
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

...to this:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[pilot...

Read more about this resource...

 

[RichNagel]

Side Note: It's probably NOT a good idea to press the "CONTROL+ALT+F" formatting hotkey while the AutoHotkey macro utility is running UNLESS the Windows Notepad window is ALSO running and in the foreground/focus.

There shouldn't be any ill effects, but THIS is what the AutoHotkey macro utility is actually doing when pressing "CONTROL+ALT+F" (which can be seen in the AutoHotkey source code "Format Pilot Log.ahk" file):

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Press "CONTROL+F" ("Find" in Windows Notepad)

Press "[" (type in the "[" character in the Windows Notepad find box)

Press "ENTER" ("Find Next" in Windows Notepad)

Press "ESCAPE" (close the "Find" box in Windows Notepad)

Press "HOME" (moves the cursor to the beginning of the first "[" character that is found within the file in Windows Notepad)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Then, the following is looped (until "CONTROL+BREAK" is pressed):

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Press "F3" ("Find Next" in Windows Notepad)

Press "F3" ("Find Next" in Windows Notepad, advances to the next "[" character within the file)

Press "HOME" (moves the cursor to the beginning of the "[" character in Windows Notepad)

Press "ENTER" (types a carriage return in the file in Windows Notepad, moving the previously found "[" character down one line)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The key presses directly above loop over and over until "CONTROL+BREAK" is pressed.

After all of the "[" characters are found ("Find Next" in Windows Notepad), Windows Notepad will start quickly flashing a "Cannot Find" notification message box in the middle of the screen until "CONTROL+BREAK" is pressed (which terminates the AutoHotkey macro utility).

Anyhow, I'm not quite sure what would happen if the "CONTROL+ALT+F" Autohotkey macro utility hotkey was pressed with only your Windows desktop (or another program) was in focus LOL. I guess it depends on what the Windows desktop (or another program) uses for the key presses/hotkeys for "CONTROL+F", "[", "ENTER", "F3", "ESCAPE", and "HOME" (if you know what I mean).

Nevertheless, this AutoHotkey macro utility makes it A LOT easier to format your "Pilot.log" and "Event.log" files (which can contain HUNDREDS of lines) to be more readable, all without the tedious manual typing in Windows Notepad.

 

[RichNagel]

Another side note: I used to use the old ancient "Windows Macro Recorder" for Windows 3.x with a macro that I had created to do the above. The old "Windows Macro Recorder" worked just FINE under Windows XP (and earlier), but OF COURSE, it will NOT run under Windows 7 and higher <aarrgghh>.

Drives me NUTZ too, as back in the day I had created all sorts of other Windows Macro Recorder macros to do all kinds of handy things for various games and programs.