[1.2.2](Dec10/16) Action Groups Extended: 250 Action Groups, in-flight editing. Now kOS/RemoteTech

[Diazo]

Version 1.32d

-Compatibility release for the new ModActions mod. No need to update yet if you are not also installing it.

Download here.

@Baythan: I'm a bit confused. First you say the XF Config allows for antennas to activate without a connection. Then you ask for me to allow the Bypass RemoteTech option to stay enabled all the time to also allow you to activate antennas without a connection? Can you clarify what you'd like to see here?

D.

[Baythan]

RemoteTech does not allow antenna to be turned on if a probe has no connection, the XF Config allows antenna to be activated/deactivated manually without a connection so you don't get screwed over by forgetting to activate them before losing a connection, however ALL action groups are still disabled without a connection (no matter what is being activated or deactivated).

With Action Groups Extended I like to set up two action groups for Antenna, one to activate and another to deactivate(for aero-braking and whatnot). I usually bury the antenna inside the ship with part clipping, so it's more difficult to manually activate them in flight. If part clipping actually occluded the antenna and stopped them from getting ripped off by aero forces, this wouldn't be a problem and the antenna could stay activated. I'd rather be able to toggle the antenna on/off with AGE at any time, without worrying about connection status and without having to turn the bypass option on every time I'm coming out of an aerobrake or landing on a foreign body.

Because AGE already has a bypass remote tech option, I thought the easiest solution to this issue would be just to have that as a toggleable option that remains active/inactive through scene changes (currently requires re-activation every time I want to reactivate antenna with the action groups set to do so).The only problem with this option is that it would make ALL action groups ignore remote tech connection requirements rather than just antenna. I'm not sure a more elegant solution falls under the purview of your mod though, I'll probably have to ask the XF config guys if they can make their config allow antenna activation/deactivation through action groups.

TL;DR

problem: action groups can't be activated unless the temporary bypass remote tech option is enabled (with or without XF config)

possible solution: make the bypass remote tech option a toggle that remains on until disabled.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Baythan

[Diazo]

Ah, I see now.

There are two issues here, activating the antenna and targeting the antenna. Is just activating the antenna enough? I've only toyed with RT and am not certain if just an "activate antenna" action is enough, or you need an "activate and target antenna" action.

Either way, I'll take a poke at it.

D.

[Baythan]

Thank you for having a look, that is mighty awesome of you.

[Diazo]

Okay, as it currently stands there is nothing I can do.

I've made a request in the RemoteTechXF thread for a change that would allow me to do this, but as it stands there isn't anything.

RT-XF works with a code tweak that is buried in RemoteTech's code that I can't access so I am stuck as things currently are.

Going to let it lie for now, but bring it up when the next version of RT-XF is released and I should be able to do something then.

D.

[Baythan]

Sure thing. Thanks for having a look!

[Speadge]

hey diazo,

excuse me when it has been reported yet:

until yesterday i used the github 1.32a version and have seen, that it doesnt handle remoteTech as it shoul (no, i dont have bypassing RT activated).

edit: just realised its the actual topic

i was in a suborital flight and was able to activate groups, that i created just a few seconds before (standard, no custom groups).

i.e. i had the problem that i was not able to reactivate my antenna after reentering the atmosphere - creating a group and toggling it solved this - cheating somehow

i confirmed this by disabling / enabling the antenna and checking the connectionstatus. even after touchdown i had no connection - and could activate panels and antenna again.

-> it was not just turning on the antenna. I was even able to activate panels without having a connection. There was no difference to bypassing RT with the build-in button. It seemed to do it all the time.

to clear things up. Im NOT speaking about the XF Config. I play RT in the classic way- so you cant connect a vessel with deactivated antenna. and it was deactivated for sure. could not turn it on on any other way than to use agx. -> so its sth it should not meant to be....

hope that helps.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Speadge

[Diazo]

@Speadge: I took a look at your issue and I am unable to replicate with the latest release versions of AGX and RT. (As available on the githubs.)

If it keeps happening, can you do the following test:

On an action that is exhibiting this behavior, try binding it to action group 15 and to the Lights action group.

-If the delay is bypassed on both group 15 and the Lights group, it is most likely a remotetech issue as this mod does not change how the Lights group works.

-If the delay is bypassed on only group 15 and the Lights action group delays as it should, the issue is most likely in AGX.

Either way, I will need a copy of the output_log.txt from when this happens to troubleshoot any further.

D.

[linuxgurugamer]

I just found an incompatibility between RealChutes and ActionGroupsExtended.

When AGE is installed, the RealChutes parachute editor does NOT come up when the part is selected.

[Diazo]

Really? That's new.

I was using RealChutes without issue a few versions ago.

Haven't had a chance on the last few versions mind you, so somethings come up.

Should have something for you tomorrow night.

D.

[Diazo]

@linuxgurugamer: I can not replicate the issue. Latest versions of AGE and RealChute seem to work.

My test was to load a Kerbal 2, goto actions editing mode and click on the chute on the top of the vessel. Realchute window came up without issue.

I'm going to need either better replication instructions or a copy of the output_log.txt from when this happens to troubleshoot any further.

D.

Edited June 25, 2015 by Diazo

[Diazo]

Version 1.33

Download here.

-KSP 1.0.4 Recompile

-Tweaks and bugfixes

-ModActions mod compatibility

Nothing big here, maintenance release for KSP version 1.0.4

D.

[JedTech]

@Diazo, have you ever considered making an Action Groups Light/Limited mod? AGX has grown quite extensively. I am imagining an AGX-like interface, only simplified to just allowing me edit stock action groups while in flight.

[Diazo]

@JedTech: I have considered that before (you are not the first to request it) but I have decided not to.

The reason being that the only think a "Lite" version would remove is that the groups window would shrink from showing 50 groups to just 10. All the other windows need to stay for the functionality and that's not really shrinking the mod any.

What I really need to do is get a youtube video up showing just how straightforward things can be, I've done my best to make things as simple as possible despite how many windows I'm throwing up on the screen.

I've got a new microphone showing up in a couple weeks so hopefully I can do something then.

D.

[StoneAddy]

I don't know if any one else have this problem, but my Window Location is not saved. Every time i change location and reopen AGExt, 4 windows are stacked on each other at the upper left corner.I started using AGExt a few days ago; latest version of AGExt 1.33

I am on iMac 2014 27" OS 10.9.5 1TB FusionDrive, KSP via Steam located on External Drive. Changed privileges of all Mod folders to Read-Write to Everyone. Don't know if it has to do with the many crashes i have. When i am in VAB/SPH i save about very step.

Changes i make in action groups are also not always saved. Some times i have about 10 .cfg files in the Saves Folder (AGExt000xx.cfg and 1 AGExtEditor.cfg)

@Diazo:

Is there a way to copy Actions from one ActionGroup to an other to rearrange the appearance of the actions? If not, is there a way to implement a Sort Number to rearrange the appearance of the actions? By implementing a sort number the reference in other Mods to the ID of the ActionGroup number is not changed (i think).

[Diazo]

@Windows positions not saving: The cause of this is the window position values not being written to the KSP\GameData\Diazo\AGExt.cfg file. You say you've changed the privileges on that from Read-Write to Everyone so I'm not sure what the next step is. (I'm not really familiar with Macs.)

The other thing is that while the default position of the windows is in the top left of the screen, they should not be stacked on top of one another. This implies that the AGExt.cfg file can't be read either. Are there any errors in the player.log? (Or if you can send me a copy I will take a look.)

On the appearance of action groups question, currently anywhere ActionGroups are displayed, they are displayed in numerical order. The order of actions within an ActionGroup is not sorted and simply displays in the order they were added. There is currently no other view available.

Note that while you can't change the order of ActionGroups, you can show/hide them so that only the relevant to the current phase of your flight are shown.

Now, changing the sort order of action groups probably isn't going to happen as it would be a significant change (I'd have to add a whole new value to my back-end saved data), but copying all actions in a group to another group would not be a big deal. I'll add it to the list to look at.

D.

[AccidentalDisassembly]

I'm having a bit of a problem with AGX - namely that I can't assign any actions to keys. Here's a picture of what I mean:

I thought it might have to do with overriding the career-respecting setting in AGX.cfg, so I did that, reloaded - nothing.

Here's the log - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/59567837/output_logAGX.txt - it involves me loading up an existing game where I took that picture, then starting a new career save to see whether action groups worked there - they didn't.

Any idea what's going on? Maybe some other mod is conflicting...?

[Diazo]

@AccidentalDisassembly: That is AGX seeing you are in career mode in a building that is only upgraded once, so only the basic action groups are available. (Note the missing "Other" button in the top left of the Groups window, just above the Abort and Brakes buttons.)

The override for the career respecting setting you did is supposed to ignore that though.

Can you double check that the "OverrideCareer = 1" did in fact save correctly in the AGExt.cfg file?

I'll download your log file now and see if I spot anything.

D.

edit: Hmmm, log looks okay. Two things you can try are to check if the SPH and VAB are different? One possibility is you've upgraded the SPH but not the VAB and AGX is checking the wrong building. The other test is to start a new sandbox game and just jump into the editor to make sure all actions show there as they should.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Diazo

[AccidentalDisassembly]

Starting a new sandbox makes AGX work - thank you for looking into this. I went back into AGExt.cfg and OverrideCareer had been changed back to 0. I am positive I had changed it to 1, saved the config, closed KSP and restarted when I tested to see if that was the issue, dunno what's going on there. Could there be something in the order I did things in that overwrote the cfg?

I re-saved the cfg again, this time wtih KSP closed, and all appears to be working. I can only wildly speculate that what I did before didn't work because I edited & saved the cfg while KSP was open; maybe AGX saves over it when KSP closes?

Sorry to make a wild goose chase for you.

[Diazo]

Modifying it while KSP is open would be the issue.

AGX reads the AGExt.cfg file when the game boots and stores a copy in memory, then it refers to this copy in memory from that point on.

It then saves this copy in memory back to the AGExt.cfg when you close the game so your changes made while the game is open are lost.

Good to hear it's figured out though, happy KSP'ing!

D.

[Chase Quinnell]

I have just noticed that this mod is saving massive numbers of files in my saves folder. They're titled agext#######.cfg Is there any way to make it stop spamming my saves folder with over 100 .cfg files every time I play?

[Jacke]

Hi Diazo. Just getting back into KSP after a couple of months off.

Using the lastest AGExt, 1.33, I'm seeing it effectively ignore the Symmetry toggle and have it always act as Symmetry: On when saving/loading craft files.

Zip of files located here. I have a number of mods but to load the savegame you would just need BTSM Upsilon 7.0 and AGExt 1.33.

Zip has a directory of files including the savegame, a screenshot directory, my AGExt.cfg, and the output_log.txt. AGExt has "OverrideCareer = 1". In game session for the screenshots and the output_log.txt, I loaded the problem craft ("1-A-2 Kerbin A"), remove the AGExt actions, carefully set the 2 actions to use different 1 of 2 Presmat Barometers (mounted as 2x symmetry), save the craft, then reload it, and seeing now that both actions activate both experiments. I then exitted KSP to collect the files.

[adsii1970]

This is a great mod, thanks for all the hard work you've put into it! As my craft have become more complex and designed for multiple missions and roles, the standard number of hotkeys (action groups) simply was not enough.

[Diazo]

@Chase Quinnell: Those files are where you actions are actually saved. There is one .cfg file created every time KSP saves. There is a clean-up routine that runs to deleted unused ones on game start, but that leaves one .cfg file per .sfs save file. Do you have a mod making automatic save file backups and making many .sfs files in your save directory? (KAC does this.) Exiting KSP afater a long play session would do it also as the clean up routine runs only on game start, not game exit.

@Jacke: That is odd behavior, the Symmetry option is not checked when a file is loaded. Can you check if only groups 1 through 10 do this, or if all groups do it? My suspicion is that Squad changed something in how the default groups save symmetry in KSP 1.0 that has been unnoticed until now. If this is the case groups 1-10 will show the wrong behavior you are seeing, but groups 11-250 will not.

@adsii1970: Glad to hear you are enjoying it. This mod started out originally to simply add more action groups, then it kind of snowballed on me.

D.

[Jacke]

@Jacke: That is odd behavior, the Symmetry option is not checked when a file is loaded. Can you check if only groups 1 through 10 do this, or if all groups do it? My suspicion is that Squad changed something in how the default groups save symmetry in KSP 1.0 that has been unnoticed until now. If this is the case groups 1-10 will show the wrong behavior you are seeing, but groups 11-250 will not.

I did some more testing. In my original modded game, the fault showed up for both Actions 1 & 2 and 11 & 12. As well, the VAB editor started getting confused about its mode (Parts/Actions/Crew) and screwed up the display (mostly the left parts/actions panel), although that could be an independent bug (s).

I then used a minimal modded environment, just MM 2.6.6 and AGExt 1.33 in an otherwise stock sandbox. Here I set up actions 1, 2, 11, & 12 as before, 1 of a pair of Presmat experiments. I went to launch and discovered the AGExt action groups were all correct, just activating a single Presmat. I then reverted to VAB and reloaded the save craft. All 4 action groups again showed activating both Presmat experiements.

So it appears to be something about the saving and/or loading that makes the actions as if Symmetry were on.

For a workaround, I can use the power of Editor Extensions and place some symmetrical parts as individual parts in symmetrical locations (using its horizontal and vertical snap functions). I may also look into a mod to break apart symmetrical parts into single parts without moving them (I think there was one that did that). And I've found it: Part Wizard.

EDIT: And look at this comment here on the Part Wizard initial post:

Known Issues

• Use of the new editor gizmos will reset parts to their natural symmetric locations, including parts that have had symmetry edited. It is best to use the new gizmos to position your parts before editing/breaking symmetry.
  

Appears there's something about the editor that fiddles with symmetry in the background. Now BTSM disables the part slide and rotation gizmos (as they can be used to avoid the game challenges of BTSM) and I didn't use them in the stock testing. But maybe this is the root of the problem?

Edited July 9, 2015 by Jacke