FlightGear Newsletter September 2014: Difference between revisions

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The hidden map
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MapStructure self test over embedded PUI widget.png|And for comparison a native Canvas window also using the [[MapStructure]] framework,without going through PUI (better performance)
MapStructure self test over embedded PUI widget.png|And for comparison a native Canvas window also using the [[MapStructure]] framework,without going through PUI (better performance)
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== The hidden Map ==
[[File:FlightGear-Map-on-Android.png|right|400px]]
Did you know that FlightGear has an internal web server? And did you ever ask yourself the question, what does a flight simulator needs a web server for? A nice and impressive use case is a map application that has just been brought to the main menu. Click on "Equipment" and select "Map (opens in browser)". Your web browser will pop up and show a map based on current web standards. It can display OpenStreetMap maps as a base layer as well as satelite image or roads from MapQuest. Overlays for current (real) weather like precipitation and isobares exist. The map can display FlightGear internal navigation data like airports, navaids etc. And it can display AI traffic and multiplayer aircraft, too.
Of course, it runs on any descent browser, but not only the one on your FlightGear computer. It is web-app-capable so you can install it to your mobile device (IOS and Android) to have a full screen map App on your tablet or phone displaying your current FlightGear status. All this at almost zero cost for the FlightGear main loop. All the rendering computations are done within your browser. The FlightGear webserver only provides the HTML and JavaScript files and transmits the internal properties over a websocket.
To enable the internal browser based map, you need to enable the internal web server by adding <code>--httpd=8080</code> to your command line.
Consult your mobile devices operation manual about how to add a web page as a full screen App.




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