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51st-Vfw / DCSWaypointEditor

51st VFW fork of the DCS Waypoint Editor. Works with DCS-BIOS to allow waypoints and other setup to be injected into the jet via clickable cockpit controls.
GNU General Public License v3.0
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DCS Waypoint Editor

DCS Waypoint Editor is no longer being actively supported or developed as we are moving our time and effort to JAFDTC. We encourage you to consider transitioning to that DTC.

It's been a good run, hopefully you found it useful.

DCS Waypoint Editor (DCSWE) is an application that allows you to input waypoints (including airframe-specific waypoints such as the MSN preplanned missions waypoints in the F/A-18C Hornet) and other data, such as avionics configurations, into DCS aircraft. Currently DCSWE supports the following airframes,

Not all features are supported on all airframes. This document provides a quick overview of DCSWE. See the documentation in the repository for detailed documentation.

This 51st VFW DCSWaypointEditor is a fork of Santi871's DCSWaypointEditor application and based on Santi871's work.

Building & Installing

See the build documentation for details on how to build DCSWE from its Python source code.

To install DCS Waypoint Editor,

  1. Download and install Google Tesseract
  2. Download and install DCS-BIOS
  3. Unzip the contents of the dcs_wp_editor.zip from the DCSWE releases to a folder (or use a version you have built locally)
  4. Run dcs_wp_editor.exe and perform the first time setup

NOTE: DCSWE is not compatible with the HUB version of DCS-BIOS, you must use the DCSFlightpanels version linked above.

When you first run DCSWE, it will ask you to setup a directory for application data in your Documents directory. If you do not want to create this directory, DCSWE will fall back to saving application data in the installation directory.

Where to Go Next

This reaminder of this README provides a brief overview of some basic features of DCSWE. This is not an exhaustive look, but instead it focuses on basic operations. More involved capabilities, such as Mission Packs, are not covered here. For further details on the complete operation of DCSWE, see the material in the documentation directory of the repository.

Profiles Overview

DCSWE creates "profiles" that contain mission information such as waypoints and avionics configurations. Waypoints and similar items (e.g., F/A-18 JDAM preplanned missions) can be added to a profile through a variety of approaches,

These profiles are stored in a database local to the DCSWE installation. You can save, copy, delete, or revert profiles using the commands on the "Profiles" menu. The drop-down list at the top of the profiles panel lists the currently defined profiles from which you can select.

DCSWE can import and export from and to profiles in a variety of formats. The import and export commands can be found in the "Import" and "Export" items on the "Profiles" menu. The formats include JSON, encoded JSON, and CombatFlite mission XML export. Depending on the operation, the target can be a file or the clipboard.

You may add more preset locations by adding more JSON formatted files in the data folder. Such files should follow the format in the pg.json and cauc.json files that come with the distribution.

Entering Coordinates Manually

To manually enter a waypoint,

  1. Choose a waypoint type (e.g., WP for a regular waypoint, MSN for a JDAM preplanned mission)

  2. Enter the latitude and longitude (decimal seconds are supported)

  3. Enter the elevation in feet (optional for regular waypoints, mandatory for JDAM preplanned missions)

  4. (Optional) Choose a sequence to assign the waypoint to

  5. (Optional) Assign a name to the waypoint

  6. Click Add to add the waypoint to the list of waypoints in the active profile

Entering Coordinates from the DCS F10 Map

To capture the coordinates for a waypoint from the DCS F10 map,

  1. Enable coordinate capture in DCSWE by clicking the "Enable capture from DCS F10 map..." checkbox

  2. Select the desired destination of the coordinates from the pop-up menu:

    1. "Coordinate Panel" to place the captured coordinates in the coordinate panel of the UI.
    2. "New Waypoint" places the captured coordinates in a newly-created waypoint in the current profile.

  3. Make sure your F10 map is in DD MM SS.ss or MGRS coordinate format. You cycle coordinate formats with <LALT>+Y in the DCS F10 map.

  4. In the DCS F10 map, hover your mouse over your desired position

  5. Press the key you bound to DCS F10 map capture in the preferences (default is <CTRL>+T), DCSWE will beep and save the coordinates based on the destination set earlier

If you are capturing to the coordiante panel, you must explicitly add the waypoint to the current profile using the "Add" button. Subsequent captures will over-write the coordinates in the panel.

You can toggle between the capture destinations with the key you bound to toggle capture mode in the preferences (default is <CTRL>+<SHIFT>+T). DCSWE will provide audio feedback on the toggle and capture actions so you do necessarily need to switch back to the DCSWE UI.

The key bindings may be changed through the preferences and should not conflict with any DCS key bindings.

DCSWE does not currently support capture from the DCS F10 map in VR.

Point-of-Interest Coordinates

You may select a position from a list of preset coordinates. Coordinates for all Caucasus and PG airfields and BlueFlag FARPS are included. Typing in the pop-up menu and then clicking on the "Filter" button allows you to filter the list of points of interest.

Hornet JDAM Pre-Planned Missions

Hornet JDAM preplanned missions work in a similar way to waypoints, however, you must select the correct station for the mission to be assigned using the station selector.

Loading Data into Your Aircraft

DCSWE can directly drive the clickable cockpits in a DCS jet to enter data into a jet. When entering data, DCSWE uses the airframe selected by the "Airframe" pop-up menu in the profiles panel to determine which cockpit it will need to operate (if the pop-up does not match the jet in DCS, data will not be entered correctly). DCSWE can enter data from one of two sources:

Entering data can be triggered from either the DCSWE UI directly or from a hotkey in DCS. By default, the current profile is loaded with <CTRL>+<ALT>+T and the mission file is loaded with <CTRL>+<ALT>+<SHIFT>+T. The bindings may be changed through DCSWE preferences and should not conflict with any DCS keys. With hotkeys, it is possible to setup your jet from DCS without switching out of DCS.

The steps for entering data are similar for all airframes. Once the sequence is started, it can be cancelled if necessary. The airframe in the profile should match the aircraft you are trying to enter data into. Further, to avoid issues, you should aovid interacting with the cockpit while DCSWE is entering data. The following sections provide some airframe-specific pointers.

AV-8B Harrier

  1. Make sure the main EHSD page is on the left AMPCD (left screen).

  2. Trigger entry as described above.

F-16C Viper

For the Viper, the sequence will first reset the DED to the main page before using the steerpoint DED page to enter each waypoint. There is no specific state the jet needs to be in prior to triggering entry as described above.

F/A-18C Hornet

  1. Make sure the main HSI page is on the AMPCD (bottom screen) if you are entering waypoints.

  2. If you are entering JDAM preplanned missions, make sure the JDAM preplanned missions page is on the left DDI

pages

  1. Trigger entry as described above.

M-2000C Mirage

For the Mirage, there is no specific state the jet needs to be in prior to triggering entry as described above.

Known issues

Other Credits