SimCom

C# Wrapper for the excellent library WASIMCommander by Max Paperno. SimCom allows c# programmers to access the many variables and events in Microsoft flight Simulator 2020. These include all the SimConnect Variables and Events but also all the Local variables. More details on the WASimConnect github This wrapper is under development and is nowhere near ready for use. but you can play with it, critique it and make suggestions which are very welcome.

I want the API as simple as possible. Since events and variables are almost the same thing I have attempted to make the use of WASimCommander easier with this wrapper by treating everything as a sim value and leave SimCom to deal with the differences. It should not matter if you are dealing with a Simconnect Variable or Event. Drill down into Local variables, create your own Events or entire RPN's. Everything is a SimVal. The power really comes from WASimCommander. All I do here is to make it more accessible for programmers who want quick results and a small learning curve.

Here is a basic example how SimCom is initialised.

public MainWindow()
{
    InitializeComponent();

    SimCom simCom = new SimCom(1964);
    simCom.OnDataChanged += SimCom_OnDataChanged;
    simCom.connect();

    simCom.GetVariable("Title,string, 2000, 0.0");
    simCom.GetVariable("A:AUTOPILOT HEADING LOCK DIR:degrees, 25, 0.01");
    simCom.GetVariable("HEADING INDICATOR:degrees, 25, 0.001");
    simCom.GetVariable("NAV OBS:1:degrees, 25, 0.01");
    simCom.GetVariable("A:GROUND ALTITUDE,meters");
    simCom.GetVariable("(A:GEAR LEFT POSITION,number) (A:GEAR RIGHT POSITION,number) + (A:GEAR CENTER POSITION,number) +,25, 0.2");
}

private void SimCom_OnDataChanged(SimCom simCom, SimVal simVal)
{
    //  You must use Dispatcher.BeginInvoke to jump back to your UI thread.
    Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(new Action(() =>
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"{simVal.FullName}: {simVal.Value}\n" + data.Text);
    }));
}

Since we have read only variables in Simconnect and variables that can notify when changed and events that can be send and received with data, I decided to consider all events and variables equal. I call them all Simulator Values (SimVal). Note how some calls to client.getVariable have the optional interval parameters and some don't. In each case it returns a SimVal object but only SimVal's that were given a refresh interval will notify your app when their value changes beyond the given treshold. Repeated calls of client.getVariable returns the same SimVal object if the full name is the same. This is all managed by the SimCOM class. This same SimVal object can also be used to set a value. for example HeadingBug.set(HeadingBug.Value + 10);

You don't have to worry about what type they are, (A: B: K: ect.) this can just be part of the name or you can rely on their simconnect defaults of A: or K: . Variable name can have up to 4 parts separated by a colons or a comma

Type:Name:Index,Units,Interval,deltaEpsilon

Part	Description
Type	(Optional, A or K by default depends on the spaces or underscores in the name)
Name	(Required) The name of the variable or event or Reverse Polish Notation.
Index	(Optional, 255 by default)Sometimes sim variables are used for multiple identical systems referred to by this index.
Units	(Optional, empty string by default) The units to be used for the variable
Interval	(Optional 0 by default) frequency the variable is scanned in ms.
deltaEpsilon	(Optional 0 by default) The amount a variable must change before a notification event is fired.

examples:

"HEADING INDICATOR"                  -> A:HEADING INDICATOR
"AUTOPILOT HEADING LOCK DIR,degrees" -> A:AUTOPILOT HEADING LOCK DIR,DEGREES
"COM1_VOLUME_SET"                    -> K:COM1_VOLUME_SET
"L:MY FANCY DOODAD:1"                -> L:MY FANCY DOODAD:1

SimVal.FullName shows the full translated name.

WASimCommander uses different methods and class constructors depending on the type of variable but I want SimCom to handles all that logic. Contrary to the Simconnect API, the WASM module provides synchronous access to values which makes initialization so much easier. You just call:

SimVal HDGBug = client.getVariable("A:AUTOPILOT HEADING LOCK DIR,degrees");
Console.WriteLine(HDGBug.Value);

You can also pass in the optional interval and deltaEpsilon which still returns the value synchronously but also saves a Data Request in WASimCommander which causes the OnDataChanged event to fire every time that value changes more than deltaEpsilon.

With Winforms and WPF forms you would normally have a threading problem because WASimCommander is running in a different thread than the WPF application. This can be solved in two ways.

1. Run a DispatcherTimer on the MainWindow and let it update UI related content. This makes it possible to run WASimCommander at a set speed doing nothing more than reading and storing values while users application renders the UI at it's own pace.
2. Run all your UI code like this

        private void SimCom_OnDataChanged(SimCom simCom, SimVal simVal)
        {
            Debug.WriteLine($"{simVal.Name}: {simVal.Value} : {simVal.OldValue}");
            Dispatcher.BeginInvoke(new Action(() =>
            {
                if (simVal == AircraftName) Title = AircraftName.Value;
                if (simVal == GearPos) renderGear();
                if (simVal == HeadingBug)
                {
                    HeadingBugIndicator.Angle = HeadingBug.Value;
                    HeadingBugKnob.Angle = HeadingBug.Value * 5;
                }
                if (simVal == Heading)
                {
                    HeadingIndicator.Angle = -Heading.Value;
                    RadialIndicator.Angle = -Heading.Value + Radial.Value;
                }
                if (simVal == Radial)
                {
                    RadialKnob.Angle = Radial.Value * 5;
                    RadialIndicator.Angle = -Heading.Value + Radial.Value;
                }
            }));
        }