FTPCopy Documentation - Page 1

What you Need to Get Started

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Available from most Software Retailers
Cost is about $20.00 US for FS-2004 and $40.00 US for FS-X (Amazon.com)

FSEarth: Available from http://fsearth.fsutil.com Cost is $16.95
        FSEarth supports FS-2004 or FS-X.(Be sure you buy the correct FSEarth
        Version for your FS installation)

Google Earth: Available from http://earth.google.com

Having Google Earth is actually optional, but nice to have so you can see what is going on.

A Website (or other Internet Location) to publish your files to.

FTP Upload access is required. (If your normal Website Publishing address starts with "ftp://" then you can use this program to publish your FS flights.)

Installation

Start by installing Flight Simulator and FSEarth according to their instructions. If you are going to use the Google Earth Program, also install Google Earth according to Google's Instructions.

Run the SETUP.EXE program provided with FTPCopy.
The First time you run FTPCopy it will check for an update/upgrade.

FSEarth Configuration

Most of the Default Settings in FSEarth will work fine with FTPCopy.

You should change the "Own Aircraft Label" located in FSEarth's General Options to be ONE word. (I recommend using the aircraft call sign or "tail number") You may also wish to turn on the Altitude and Ground Speed Displays (Located near the "Own Aircraft Label" setting.)

To be polite to the people who will be viewing, I do recommend turning OFF all of the options in the "Altitude and Tilt" section. These settings can (and will) cause Google Earth to reset it's viewpoint every couple of seconds, which can be very frustrating (If someone is trying to zoom out to see where on the earth you are, these settings will keep zooming back in on you ... its better to let the viewer decide what to look at IMO.)

Website Preparation

You may want to create a specific folder for your Google Earth data just to keep everything neat. (Note that FTPCopy can not create a sub-folder, you need to do it according to your ISP's instructions.)

You will need to upload the map icons (the png files in the FSEarth Directory) to your webserver, in the same folder or sub-folder that you will be publishing the main file to. There is an "Upload Icon Set" option in FTPCopy's FILE menu. (It will be available after you configure the FTP HOST and are connected/logged in.)

Initial Configuration of FTPCopy

You will need to know the Login Details for your website. (Your Username, Password etc) If you have been given an upload URI by your ISP, you can find the information you need in it:

ftp://upload.att.net/~username
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FTP Host

Timer (Set)

This sets how often FTPCopy will update the data on your website. This drop down list will let you set the update interval for anywhere between 15 seconds and 2 minutes, in 15 second intervals. The default is to publish/update every 60 seconds.

FSEarth Path

This is the location of the data files from FSEarth. It can be a local path, or a Windows LAN network path. When first started, FTPCopy will attempt to locate the files. You can find out what directory FSEarth is placing files into by opening the general configuration of FSEarth and look for the folder name where it is expecting the Aircraft Icon to be.

FTP Host

This is the name or IP address of the server your website is uploaded to. (EXAMPLE: upload.att.net)

Enter your username and the Password for your website.

Remote Path

This is the Folder that FTPCopy will need to change into after logging in to the FTP Server. In most cases, you will leave this blank and the server will decide what folder to place uploaded files into. In the case of Unix Shell accounts where the FTP login lands in the $HOME, you may need to enter the web folder (usually "public_html" or "~/public_html" or something similar.)

You can also use this to specify a sub-folder of your website. (NOTE: FTPCopy can NOT create a sub-folder on the FTP Host server, you have to do that manually according to your ISP's instructions.)

Remote File

This is the name you wish FTPCopy to give to the file it uploads. Normally you will leave this as "temp.kml" but the option is here to change it. (For example if you have more than one member of the household who will be publishing)

Publish URL

This is the URL of your website, including the sub-directory that the KML files will be uploaded to. (Example: If Your FTP host is my.website.com and you placed the files in remote directory ~/FSGE the the URL should be http://my.website.com/FSGE)

Master File

This option sets the remote name for the master KML file. The master file is used as a "wrapper" to point to the temporary file that actually contains the flight information. The purpose of the master file is to cause an automatic refresh of your flight data on Google Earth. (Normally you should give out a link to THIS file to people to add as a network link in Google Earth.)

The First time you EDIT the master file, a default one will be created that you can upload.

Force Hourly Login

Some FTP Servers may "timeout" and automatically log you out. This option will cause FTPCopy to logout and back in every hour to avoid the timeout. Most users can leave this option off.

Skip Blank KML Files

When Closing FS (or changing saved situations) FSEarth will write a "blank" KML file. When this option is checked, FTPCopy will NOT upload KML files less than 250 bytes. (When they have no data)

Logout when Blanks Presented

When Checked, FTPCopy will close the FTP Server connection whenever Blank KML files are written by FSEarth. (Then Re-Open the connection and login when the files contain data again.)

SAVE CONFIGURATION

Remember to save your options by selecting SAVE from the FILE menu located at the top of the program.