Central source of VATSPY updated data?

[Alex Long]

So as I've searched the community, I've found that there is scattered sources of data for updating VATSPY. Is there a way to establish some sort of central location for people to update their files? There seems to be many people who have independently made attempts to maintain data, but one single location doesn't appear to have gained traction and to become a main source of data. India VACC seems to be on a good track and has a github source for the file, and would be a great way for each Division and FIR/ARTCC to submit their updates (https://github.com/IndiavACC/VAT-Spy-Data-Files-Update-2018). I'm aware of the new client that's come out, but VATSPY is far from EOL and still a valuable client. Anyone have thoughts on how to manage a central source of this data that can maybe gain traction with VATSIM to at least become an easily find-able source to manage data?

[Don Desfosse]

Yes. I have an idea. Someone stand up and say, "VATSpy is too valuable for the community to be let go. I will stand up and volunteer to maintain VATSpy on behalf of the community. I will manage the github to which people can push updates, and I will take requests for updates and volunteer to manage them and push them. And should I need to step back in the future, I will give a one month notice to the community to allow someone else to step up after me." Christoph was very generous to manage updates on behalf of the community for so long, and there have been several others who have actively helped. We are grateful for their contributions. Now it's time for someone else to step up. Who's ready?

[Ross Carlson]

If someone commits to maintaining the data, I will commit to updating VATSpy such that it pulls the data from the source automatically so that it is disseminated to the membership without each person having to manually download and install.

[Alex Long]

Yes. I have an idea. Someone stand up and say, "VATSpy is too valuable for the community to be let go. I will stand up and volunteer to maintain VATSpy on behalf of the community. I will manage the github to which people can push updates, and I will take requests for updates and volunteer to manage them and push them. And should I need to step back in the future, I will give a one month notice to the community to allow someone else to step up after me." Christoph was very generous to manage updates on behalf of the community for so long, and there have been several others who have actively helped. We are grateful for their contributions. Now it's time for someone else to step up. Who's ready?

 

Don, I'm more than willing to take this on, but being the nature that we all do have lives outside of VATSIM, I'm hoping two to three other people step forward at first to as a team try and keep this data current. I feel instead of the project changing hands every so often it would be a good idea to have a team of people that can keep one central project maintained so when one person gets busy, there's a team of people who can step in to help. I'm then hoping that it'll gain traction with Regions, Divisions, and FIRs/ARTCCs to contribute to one single source of data that is available to the community instead of scattered sources of data. My main reason for making this post was to also start a discussion within the community and if someone knows of a better way to maintain the data in one place and to collect the data, I'm all for discussing and finding a way that'll work well.

 

If someone commits to maintaining the data, I will commit to updating VATSpy such that it pulls the data from the source automatically so that it is disseminated to the membership without each person having to manually download and install.

 

Ross, you have my attention. This was a key piece of the puzzle I was trying to find a good way to work out. I'll be in touch via PM to discuss this.

[Alex Long]

After discussions with Ross Carlson, and a few volunteers coming forward, Caribbean Division (VATCAR) has officially taken on responsibility of future VAT-Spy updates. URL for this project is http://vatspy.vatcar.org/.

[Don Desfosse]

Great news; thank you so much!

[Brodie Murdoch]

I think this is a great idea although it would need to be restricted down a bit in terms of information and data going into VATSPY. At the end of the day ARTCC/VACC/Divisions do have the final say in terms on what they want and don't want to display and it should ONLY be the Director or the Airspace Operations Director of the ARTCC/VACC/Division who are allowed to introduce update and remove information and data from VATSPY per how they manage the info in their area/s unless permission has been granted from them for someone else to do it. Because the last thing that we need in someone who doesn't know how the division/VACC and who hasn't gotten permission to add information which is not based on what the specific ARTCC/VACC/Division uses.

 

E.g. Adding a position like a sector for enroute which is used in RL but not in VATSIM

[Brodie Murdoch]

But then saying that. This would really only work if everyone is onboard as ARTCC/VACC/Divisons still have the right to do there own updates on their behalf and doing 2 separate updates would cause confusion for the community

[Alex Long]

I think this is a great idea although it would need to be restricted down a bit in terms of information and data going into VATSPY. At the end of the day ARTCC/VACC/Divisions do have the final say in terms on what they want and don't want to display and it should ONLY be the Director or the Airspace Operations Director of the ARTCC/VACC/Division who are allowed to introduce update and remove information and data from VATSPY per how they manage the info in their area/s unless permission has been granted from them for someone else to do it. Because the last thing that we need in someone who doesn't know how the division/VACC and who hasn't gotten permission to add information which is not based on what the specific ARTCC/VACC/Division uses.

 

E.g. Adding a position like a sector for enroute which is used in RL but not in VATSIM

 

Brodie, we're going to be taking steps with each ARTCC/VACC/FIR/Division to ensure those who are making the updates are those who are authorized to do so. It wont be a "free for all" method when it comes to updating. We will not be adding data or removing data on our own. Data will only be altered when it has been specifically requested to be altered by authorized staff of the ARTCC/VACC/FIR/Division, or is altered using an authorized account of the ARTCC/VACC/FIR/Division. The updates will be made directly by the ARTCC/VACC/FIR/Division, or, if they are unable to make the update themselves due to not understanding how the file structure works, or how to make the changes on their own, they can email us directly from their VATSIM staff email address and request the change and our staff can make the changes for them. The reasons we have an approval method is one, due to if the data is incorrectly entered, it can cause a compile error when VAT-Spy starts and the program wont function, and two, to ensure the changes are being made by authorized staff of the ARTCC/VACC/FIR/Division.

 

In terms of centralizing the data, Ross has mentioned this...

 

If someone commits to maintaining the data, I will commit to updating VATSpy such that it pulls the data from the source automatically so that it is disseminated to the membership without each person having to manually download and install.

 

Which reading directly from his statement and expanding slightly, centralizing this data in one place, which is what we're doing, will allow Ross to update VAT-Spy and it will automatically pull these changes directly into VAT-Spy each time the application loads, meaning the user no longer has to manually seek out these updates and copy and paste them in. With the application functioning in this manner, it will require one central source location for the membership to make changes to the data it is pulling, which is what this project is taking the steps to do. I've spoken directly with Ross about this and he has agreed to work with us as the source of centralizing the data.

[Christoph Reule 1379750]

Alex,

 

if you are in direct contact with Ross, can you ask him to implement sub-sectorization of FIR/ARTCC airspace based on callsign patterns (taken directly from the "to-do" list on http://www1.metacraft.com/VATSpy/)? This will solve many outstanding issues and directly provide more possibilities with VATSpy data.

[Lindsey Wiebe 1101951]

I don't want to detract from this constructive discussion but I want to say HOW RELIEVED I am to hear the train is back on the tracks. I tried to use the "new one" but I just can't, I gave it a good effort... but just... no. So went back to VatSpy as it really does work and works well. Thank you Alex for churning up the discussion, Ross for once again supporting (willing to update) your fantastic work, Christoph for supplying the updates before hand and stepping up again with helping hand, Don for opening the upper management door to the process, and VatCarib for hosting. I'm looking forward to the future of VatSpy.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

I went to http://vatspy.vatcar.org/ to get the updates and I thank those involved for making it available. Question: until which time that the updates are automatically fetched, is there a way to identify when the files were last changed? Currently there doesn't seem to be an indication of the date of the most recent updates to the files, and when I downloaded and unzipped, the only timestamp on the file was the one from today, the moment I unzipped it.

 

Just curious!

 

Thanks again to all who are giving these resources to the community!

[Alex Long]

I went to http://vatspy.vatcar.org/ to get the updates and I thank those involved for making it available. Question: until which time that the updates are automatically fetched, is there a way to identify when the files were last changed? Currently there doesn't seem to be an indication of the date of the most recent updates to the files, and when I downloaded and unzipped, the only timestamp on the file was the one from today, the moment I unzipped it.

 

Just curious!

 

Thanks again to all who are giving these resources to the community!

 

Robert-

At current the only way to get a modified date is to go directly to the GitHub page. It will tell you the date of the last commit to the repository. The link to the Master Data File is directly from GitHub, so it will always be the most current updated data. We'll be rolling out a new version of the landing page in the near future that will have further data and functionality on it.

[Craig Tomkins 1075089]

HI There,

 

Any chance of getting Vanguard in London added and the rigs around the UK? I have all the info.... happy to help if you let me know the format you need it in?

[Alex Long]

HI There,

 

Any chance of getting Vanguard in London added and the rigs around the UK? I have all the info.... happy to help if you let me know the format you need it in?

 

Craig, you can submit a pull request via GitHub. If you don't know how to code in the data, let me know.

[Jonas Kuster]

Is this project still alive? Sent a few pull requests, nothing happened ...

[Alex Long]

Is this project still alive? Sent a few pull requests, nothing happened ...

 

Jonas...

The project is alive and well. Your requests are being evaluated. To maintain the integrity of the data, every request is reviewed line by line and the credentials and authority of the requestee is ensured if they are authorized to make corrections to the data.

[Pedro Rodrigues 1377186]

I'm providing a one click install to update the data files.

 

Check it at https://github.com/pedro2555/vatspy-data-project.

 

* Download it from https://github.com/pedro2555/vatspy-data-project/releases/download/0.0.2/win-installer.msi

* Close VATSpy

* Double Click the installer

* Open VATSpy

 

Enjoy!

[Alex Long]

I'm providing a one click install to update the data files.

 

Check it at https://github.com/pedro2555/vatspy-data-project.

 

* Download it from https://github.com/pedro2555/vatspy-data-project/releases/download/0.0.2/win-installer.msi

* Close VATSpy

* Double Click the installer

* Open VATSpy

 

Enjoy!

 

Just as a note to users, this project is not [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ociated with or approved by the VATSpy Data Project or VATSIM. We can't guarantee the accuracy of this data or its currency. We also can't guarantee the safety of the installer for your operating system and that it is free of any malware or anything harmful to your PC. The official maintained project is located at the following URL: https://github.com/vatsimnetwork/vatspy-data-project. We urge all users to continue to utilize this official source of data for maintaining your application, and not outside projects.

[Pedro Rodrigues 1377186]

Alex. Seriously, you are in a war of your own where everyone is losing.

 

This was proposed in a pull request you rejected. https://github.com/vatsimnetwork/vatspy-data-project/pull/15

 

The source tree is exactly yours and advertised as such. Anyone with a little knowledge of git can verify it is the exact files you provide. You had all the chance to guarantee accuracy by choosing to accept a perfectly fine pull request (which ads no additional considerations to the current team).

 

Yet. You rejected it. For no good reason. 'Out of project scope' you say.

 

This was proposed in https://github.com/vatsimnetwork/vatspy-data-project/pull/15

You can still accept it and stop this non sense.

 

I'm providing a one click install to update the data files.

 

Check it at https://github.com/pedro2555/vatspy-data-project.

 

* Download it from https://github.com/pedro2555/vatspy-data-project/releases/download/0.0.2/win-installer.msi

* Close VATSpy

* Double Click the installer

* Open VATSpy

 

Enjoy!

 

Just as a note to users, this project is not [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ociated with or approved by the VATSpy Data Project or VATSIM. We can't guarantee the accuracy of this data or its currency. We also can't guarantee the safety of the installer for your operating system and that it is free of any malware or anything harmful to your PC. The official maintained project is located at the following URL: https://github.com/vatsimnetwork/vatspy-data-project. We urge all users to continue to utilize this official source of data for maintaining your application, and not outside projects.

[Pedro Rodrigues 1377186]

The installer files are generated automatically by GitHub. The code that does so can be peer reviewed at https://github.com/pedro2555/vatspy-data-project/blob/installer/.travis.yml

[Nestor Perez]

Pedro, why do you fight every single thing? Your pull request was not approved as it's not something within the scopes of the project. That's the reason, you were already told about it. Don't like it? Tough. It was not an "Alex-decision" not to merge it, hence why it took so long to be reviewed.

 

It was also not an "Alex-decission" to include the disclaimer he included in this post, so you'd probably be better of if you stopped "firing at him" for it.

 

Also, to reiterate Alex's post:

Just as a note to users, this project is not [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ociated with or approved by the VATSpy Data Project or VATSIM. We can't guarantee the accuracy of this data or its currency. We also can't guarantee the safety of the installer for your operating system and that it is free of any malware or anything harmful to your PC. The official maintained project is located at the following URL: https://github.com/vatsimnetwork/vatspy-data-project. We urge all users to continue to utilize this official source of data for maintaining your application, and not outside projects.