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Move to front on Private Message


Mark Taylor 1268798
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Mark Taylor 1268798
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Ross, is there any way you can code vPilot to move into focus and move on top of other windows upon receiving a private message?

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Ernesto Alvarez 818262
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are you running vpilot in full screen? the vpilot window wont stay on top of the sim in full screen, only windowed

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Mark Taylor 1268798
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No, and I do not want it to stay on top necessarily. When a private message is received it creates a new tab, and alternatively, displays the private message momentarily in FSX. Squawkbox would actually pop up a window. This allowed me to not miss a private message.

 

My task bar is set to auto hide so I miss the blinking task icon. vPilot is partially behind FSX (I can see the controller list) so I don't miss controllers. But I miss that new tab once in a while. Sometimes it is a contact me, sometime a private message, but sometimes a Sup just checking to see if I am still at the controls. This one I don't want to miss just because vPilot is behind FSX and i cannot hear or see anything to indicate I have a private message.

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Ernesto Alvarez 818262
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ah ok, if you have the sim in windowed mode, in your vpilot settings under Misc. select "keep window visible". that will keep vpilot from hiding behind the sim

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Mark Taylor 1268798
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I know that, but I do not want vPilot to obscure FSX. If vPilot would just pop up a modal window for a private message it would pop up on top of FSX and alert us of messages. Just wishful thinking...

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Ross Carlson
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This is why I created the option of showing the message as banner text within FSX ... I'm curious why that isn't doing the trick for you.

 

Regarding creating a modal popup, I think that will cause the main vPilot window to come to the front as well ... not 100% sure about that, though. Might have to make the popup a non-modal sibling to the main window, and then move it to the front of the stack.

Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy

Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC

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Mark Taylor 1268798
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This is why I created the option of showing the message as banner text within FSX ... I'm curious why that isn't doing the trick for you.

 

Regarding creating a modal popup, I think that will cause the main vPilot window to come to the front as well ... not 100% sure about that, though. Might have to make the popup a non-modal sibling to the main window, and then move it to the front of the stack.

 

That would work as long as the popup up window would pop up at a location where it was last closed. I have FSX in a window occupying the right 90% of the screen with vPilot showing in that 10% space but mostly behind FSX. As long as the pop up can be seen in that 10% space on the left it would work just fine. Like, once the pop up first appeared and was closed, it would next pop up at the location it was last closed.

 

The reason for the text in FSX not working for this purpose is that it stays on the screen for only a few moments. When you receive a private message and you are not looking at the screen you will miss it. It works great for regular comms. I love it.

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Ross Carlson
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The reason for the text in FSX not working for this purpose is that it stays on the screen for only a few moments. When you receive a private message and you are not looking at the screen you will miss it. It works great for regular comms. I love it.

 

Why does it work great for text comms but not for private messages? They both stay on screen the same amount of time.

Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy

Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC

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Mark Taylor 1268798
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The reason for the text in FSX not working for this purpose is that it stays on the screen for only a few moments. When you receive a private message and you are not looking at the screen you will miss it. It works great for regular comms. I love it.

 

Why does it work great for text comms but not for private messages? They both stay on screen the same amount of time.

 

Because regular comms are not necessarily critical communications. The occasional traffic report on 122.8 is good to see but not critical if you miss it. If you are on an approach you are not looking away from the screen for more than a moment. It's great, especially because I have no audio and have no alert that a message is received.

 

But on a long trip you are not looking at the screen all the time. A random message from a sup making sure you are there is easily missed.

 

If it is too much trouble or feel it would not benefit a large enough group of users then forget about it. I will find another method...

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Alessandro Buscaglione
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Why does it work great for text comms but not for private messages? They both stay on screen the same amount of time.

 

I have the same "issue" as Mark.

 

Maybe possible to have a private message display as a different colour and stay visible for longer?

Alessandro Buscaglione

VATITA Director ACCIT1

[email protected] --- [email protected]

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Ross Carlson
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I have no audio and have no alert that a message is received.

 

Ahh, it's making more sense now ... there is a loud beep when a private message comes in. Why don't you have audio?

Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy

Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC

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Mark Taylor 1268798
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I have no audio and have no alert that a message is received.

 

Ahh, it's making more sense now ... there is a loud beep when a private message comes in. Why don't you have audio?

 

It's a long story but I fly text only, without the benefit of audio.

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Mark Taylor 1268798
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How about adding a 'category' of Private Messages to the controller list that would show the tabs?

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Ross Carlson
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How about adding a 'category' of Private Messages to the controller list that would show the tabs?

 

That would add a second way to see who you have private message tabs open with ... that's redundant UI. It would just be a workaround for the unique/uncommon way you use vPilot. You have the vPilot window partially obscured, AND you don't use audio, AND you hide the taskbar, AND you don't notice the on-screen FSX messages. That puts you in a very small niche. I can't justify adding features that aren't useful to the majority of the user base.

Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy

Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC

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