AFInstaller
Batch Installer for Airport Facility Files

AFInstaller installs airport facility files (.txt files produced by AFCAD) into FS2002. Creators of airport facilities can configure this utility to auto-install airport files and distribute it with their releases, or users can manually install airport files with it.

To manually install an individual airport, drag the airport file onto the AFInstaller icon. AFInstaller will install the airport and will automatically close a few seconds later. To install several airports at the same time, open the AFInstaller window first then drag the files you want to install onto the window. Files can be selected and dragged in groups. Any number of airports can be installed this way. The window will remain open indefinitely and you can close it when you are done.

Information for Developers:

In addition to the drag-and-drop method described above, airport files can also be installed using a file list. That is a file containing a list of files to install. That file list can be provided to the installer on the command line, for example using a shortcut, a batch file, or an auto-install program such as InstallShield. You could also instruct the user to drag the file list over the AFInstaller icon, or the open AFInstaller window, to perform the batch installation. Note that you can also put one or more individual files on a command line statement if you want to avoid using a file list, but still want to auto-install.

The file list can have any name but must have the extension ".LST". It is recommended that the file list be given a unique name, as it is likely that users will unzip several install packages into the same folder, and if two install packages have a file list with the same name (e.g. FileList.LST) they will overwrite each other. A unique name might be something like EasternOntario.LST .

The file list can contain any number of file names. The files must be in the same folder as the installer, or in a sub-folder (e.g. EastOntario\CYOW1.txt). Comments may be included in the file list by preceding them with a semicolon ' ; '. Here is an example file list:

; File list for installation of airports for Eastern Ontario
;
CYOW1.txt
CYRO1.txt
CYRP1.txt
CYSH1.txt
CYCC1.txt
CYGK1.txt

You can easily create a list of all files in a folder using the following command from an MS-DOS window :

dir /B > FileList.LST


Command line format:

Here are the command line formats for using a file list and for individual files:

AFInstaller [/Wn] FileListName.LST
AFInstaller [/Wn] AirportFile1.TXT AirportFile2.TXT AirportFile3.TXT ... etc.

Note that full paths can be given for any of the file names on the command line, otherwise the program will look for the files in the same folder as the installer. If a path contains spaces it must be enclosed in quotes.

/Wn is the optional 'Wait' parameter. This tells the program how long to wait before closing after it completes installation of the airport files. The value 'n' is in seconds, so to tell the program to wait 5 seconds before closing, the parameter would be "/W5". If you want the program to wait indefinitely before closing and allow the user to close the window himself, then specify "/W". To make the program close immediately, specify "/W0" (it is recommended you allow at least a few seconds for the user to see that the installation was successful). If you do not include this parameter then the program will close itself after a default 3 second period when opened with files on the command line. If an error occurs while installing then the program will remain open indefinitely regardless of what value is given for this parameter and the user must close the window himself, presumably after reading the error message.



Distribution of This Utility:

This utility can be posted or distributed with any freeware, shareware, or commercial packages without charge. Permission is not required to distribute the installer. If airport files are distributed in groups for the purposes of scenery or AI enhancement it is recommended that this utility be supplied with the release of those file. For airport files that are released individually, this utility can be supplied with those files, but because the utility is typically much larger than the facility files themselves (about 100K versus 4K to 10K), it may be more appropriate to encourage users to keep their own copy of this utility and install individual files themselves.


Problems with AFInstaller can be reported to:

Lee Swordy
Swordy@rogers.com