Radio Traffic Exchange (real-players' radio traffic)

[ExFishermanBob]

http://www.file-away.co.uk/captainstoolkit.html

Note: updates will follow. This is version 1.

[complutum]

First proof. Routine report.
NOT PUBLIC. only initial testing.
Load data (one fault position not correct. It shows AO77 and my real one was AN96)
Once i have wroten what i want, copy to clipboard functioned as intended as i was able to paste it to text editor OPEN OFFICE whithout any problem.

[ExFishermanBob]

Ah, that location difference is interesting: the toolkit currently reads from the last radio message sent (the save-name.rms file). Did you follow the procedure? (send message, get weather report, etc?). Also, did you try the test button (it doesn't send anything)?

[Fahnenbohn]

That's so cool !!

[ExFishermanBob]

Thank you. If you would like to be added to the testers, let me know.

[areo16]

My school work and work are keeping me from testing it today. Does someone have a screenshot of the output?

[ExFishermanBob]

Example copy-pasted output.

07 March 1940 2247 hrs
To: BdU Command
From: U-55 / Otto Schatt
Routine Report
Position: AN91
Fuel: Over 90%
Torpedoes: 14
Ammo: 1000 AA, 220 AP
Last weather reading: 07 March 1940 2247 hrs: Clouds Clear, Precipitation None, Visibility Unlimited, Wind Speed 13 meters per second, direction  97.

Comments:
This would be a message in the Comments box...    

Supplemental:
I use the supplemental for additional information (neutral ships, that sort of thing).

Notes:
Notes might be on, say, crew morale or whatever.

Signed
Otto Schatt

BdU message with extraction:
http://www.file-away.co.uk/images/ex...dconverted.png

BdU message in-game:

http://www.file-away.co.uk/images/fo...agein-game.png

[complutum]

Sorry, my mistake, i dindt follow the apropiate procedure. So now i see where the difference in position is, the only message ingame i sended was as leaving port (kiel).

About test button, yes i have probed and the resulting message was positive.

I wonder if could be posible to implement that the messages you send were saved inside game, so when i review (ingame) my sended messages i could see them as i have wroten inside your program.

I will continue testing tomorrow.

Awesome work mate.

[Fahnenbohn]

Originally Posted by ExFishermanBob

Thank you. If you would like to be added to the testers, let me know.

With great pleasure, if you explain me how this new program is working (in particular on the rewriting of the messages_en/fr), and how we are supposed to test it !

PS = I'm running Windows XP

[ExFishermanBob]

Originally Posted by Fahnenbohn

With great pleasure, if you explain me how this new program is working (in particular on the rewriting of the messages_en/fr), and how we are supposed to test it !

PS = I'm running Windows XP

The link to the download has a page of explanation (English only, I'm afraid). The only rewriting that goes on is to match the format of dates in messages (for DE this uses dots as a separator rather than a /, for FR the month-name is written out in full, lower-case). To test it at the moment, you would just use the 'Test' button in the preferences screen, to see if you can successfully reach the central message exchange.

[Fahnenbohn]

Downloaded. I'm testing. I've read all your explanations, but i've still a few questions :

- When you choose this option : Receive others' public radio traffic
Can I receive messages, or do i have to register to the "forum" ? (What forum ?). Do you receive previous messages, or only the new ones ? Where are the messages written ?

- When on click on : Generate posting in clipboard
I guess that your message is sent to the RTE central repository ? Right ? Where is this central repository situated (in R/L) ?

- What if I make one of my careers public ?

F.

[ExFishermanBob]

Originally Posted by Fahnenbohn

Downloaded. I'm testing. I've read all your explanations, but i've still a few questions :

- When you choose this option : Receive others' public radio traffic
Can I receive messages, or do i have to register to the "forum" ? (What forum ?). Do you receive previous messages, or only the new ones ? Where are the messages written ?

- When on click on : Generate posting in clipboard
I guess that your message is sent to the RTE central repository ? Right ? Where is this central repository situated (in R/L) ?

- What if I make one of my careers public ?

F.

Firstly, I am very grateful for your questions and feedback - that is exactly the purpose of the testing versions.

At the moment, for this version, you cannot receive any public radio traffic (it states that on the download page) nor send any. The idea is that (again, stated on the page and in this thread) the program downloads from a central store, any radio messages uploaded by others, and places them in the file used by SH3 to generate in-game messages. There is no need to have a name nor password for downloading, only for uploading (when that works).

When you click on 'Generate posting in clipboard' the program places text in your clipboard. Nothing else: your guess is incorrect. For flotilla members, who have to post messages to a forum, they can do so via this template (that's all it is at the moment) which is why it only goes to the clipboard. I wrote it because I got fed up retyping all the To, From and other headers. I wrote the BdU extraction tool so that forum postings TO me (from the flotilla) could be placed in-game. Have a look at the Doenitz Elite subforum here on SubSim to see the sort of thing I am talking about.

If you make one of your careers public, nothing happens at the moment, but, in later versions (and if you have a name and password) things like sinking ships, leaving port and so on would be uploaded to central store for public downloading BUT only with an allocated name and password (you cannot accidentally upload anything). In real-life this store is on a database in deepest Scotland, at least for testing purposes: look at help-about for a link.

In reality this was to be a tool for flotilla members BUT the very first post in this thread was myself asking if others wanted a more general tool to see more realistic messages in-game. Others did want this and hence the tool. I'm the first to admit that my interface design skills are not outstanding (at least not outstanding in a good way). I have updated preferences / settings screen in the next version to try to reflect this. There is a simple "I just want to receive others' radio messages" option, which does just that, disabling all the other items that might not be necessary for you. The initial versions will extend what is possible with feedback from users (yours, for instance, tells me that my interface design is evidently lacking).

I hope that that answers your questions. Thank you once again for testing version 1, I hope that you'll try out version 2 when it comes out (in the next few days) - it will actually put messages into your game, which should be fun.

[ExFishermanBob]

...as an aside, the reason for limiting uploads to people with a name and password (which I shall be providing initially to testers) is two-fold.

1. Firstly to prevent accidental uploading by those who do not wish to do so;
2. Secondly to be able to disable any spammers or abusing messagers.

[Fahnenbohn]

So, I have another questions now :

Originally Posted by ExFishermanBob

The idea is that (again, stated on the page and in this thread) the program downloads from a central store, any radio messages uploaded by others, and places them in the file used by SH3 to generate in-game messages.

I've perfectly understood that point. I just don't understand how you're going to prevent the downloading of the same previous messages at each new connection to the RTE central repository. The RTE central repository should interact with the messages_en.txt file in order to send only the new messages.

Originally Posted by ExFishermanBob

...as an aside, the reason for limiting uploads to people with a name and password (which I shall be providing initially to testers) is two-fold.

1. Firstly to prevent accidental uploading by those who do not wish to do so;
2. Secondly to be able to disable any spammers or abusing messagers.

And I see a third reason : to prevent having 2 captains with the same U-Boot's number at the same time !


Now, I have one suggestion : Would it be possible to sort messages sent to the RTE central repository, by the U-Boots sending them ? You should add one window like this :




To conclude, I would say that your tool can only lead to a great success.

Keep up the good work !

F.

[ExFishermanBob]

Downloading duplicates is easily avoided and has already been dealt with - there's no need to interact with the messages file.

The same u-boat number might be an issue, but if you are only wanting the traffic for in-game immersion it won't really matter that much (or indeed, might not happen, depending upon year / month of message and your current year / month in-game). For flotillas, the same number is avoided anyway.

I can add that sorting screen - not something I had thought of.

Added: I was not anticipating non-flotilla users actually editing their messages, rather just automatically uploading log-messages (important ones). Editing could be added, of course. Someone also suggested encryption for those who wanted it.

I'm also thinking about the short-form coded messages. Something else to decode while travelling to patrol area!