TDL Message Extension (tdlMessageGui)

Table of Contents

• Usage
• Classes
• Plugin Entry Points

The TDL Message Example Extension demonstrates the following:

• How to build a plugin module for the VR-Forces GUI
• How to create a protocol dependent accessory and add GUI elements to it
• How to add boost bound callbacks to be notified of the receipt of custom VR-Link PDUs or Interactions
• How to communicate from the GUI to the Driver thread when using menu items to trigger the sending of a PDU or Interaction
• How to use the DtVrfTDLMessage class to send VR-Forces-specific TDL messages
• How to extend the VR-Forces TDL Message processor to process the messages

In order to incorporate a protocol-specific extension in the VR-Forces front-end, the VR-Vantage Accessories concept is used. An accessory is an external plugin that can be used in association with a particular application driver (scene, transport, etc). In the case of this example, a transport driver is used to extend functionality of the system.

When using accessories to extend the protocol-specific workings, it is important to note the following:

• The isCompatible method must be overriden to return "true" if the accessory is compatible with the supplied driver
• The install method must be overriden so as to set up connections that send notifications when the driver has been connected
• Similarly, the uninstall method must be overridden so that any connections made during the run of this plugin are disconnected

In the Launcher, click the Plug-ins button to bring up the Plug-ins Selection dialog. Enable the both the tdlMessageSim and tdlMessageGuiAccessory plugins for this example to work.

1. Start vrfGui.
2. Load the tdlMessage scenario from the userData/tdlExample directory
3. Select an item to create
4. Open the Display settings, go to the Tactical Data Link )TDL) Options tab and make sure the processing of TDL Messages is enabled.
5. Go to the display tab and make sure TDL Line 4 is checked (this is where the example data will be displayed)
6. Go to the spot reports tab and turn off ground truth for all items just so you will only see the TDL messages.
7. Play the scenario.
8. The friendly fixed wing will have a symbol decoration line showing who the fixed wing is tracking.

When you are done with the scenario, make sure to turn on ground truth for all items and to turn of TDL Message handling so the next scenario run goes as expected.

Usage

In the Launcher, click the Plug-ins button to bring up the Plug-ins Selection dialog. Enable both the TDL Message GUI and SIM plugins. Then launch VR-Forces.

1. Start vrfGui.
2. Load the tdlMessageExample developer toolkit example scenario and press play.

The VR-Forces TDL (Tactical Data Link) system sends VR-Forces specific TDL messages that are handled outside of the normal VR-Forces Spot Report and Data Interaction messages. The VR-Forces TDL messages are show as spot report like icons on the screen, containing a fixed number of additional "lines" of information. You can show the extended TDL lines of information by selecting which information to show on the TDL Settings page.

This example will add a new line of information in relation to the entity that is currently being targeted by the reporting entity. This information will be shown in TDL Line 4. The back-end piece of this example will create and send the new ExampleTDLMessage message, filling in the appropriate information. The new example TDL message processor will add a callback for this message and then use the UUID of the VR-Forces object to relate this information to the TDL system. This is done by creating a makVrf::DtTDLGenericNetworkMessage, setting the unique identifier to tie this information to, and then sending that information to the TDL Message processor parent for processing. See the ExampleTDLMessageProcessor::processExTDLMessage for how this is done.

Using this example you can add any number of TDL messages and TDL information lines to your TDL report.

Classes

ExampleTDLMessage	The message that contains the new VR-Forces TDL Message.
ExampleTDLVrfGuiAccessory	The accessory class used to create the example TDL message processor extension.
ExampleTDLMessageProcessor	Processor used to receive the new extended TDL message and take the information to display in the report
ExampleTDLMessage	The message that contains the new VR-Forces TDL Message.
ExampleTDLVrfGuiAccessory	The accessory class used to create the example TDL message processor extension.
ExampleTDLMessageProcessor	Processor used to receive the new extended TDL message and take the information to display in the report

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Plugin Entry Points

exTDLMessageGuiPlugin.cxx

/*******************************************************************************
** Copyright (c) 2018 MAK Technologies, Inc.
** All rights reserved.
*******************************************************************************/

#include <vrfGuiCore/vrfGuiExportPlugin.h>

#include "exTDLVrfGuiAccessory.h"

#include <vrvCore/DtDe.h>
#include <vrvCore/DtAccessoryManager.h>

#include <vrvCoreQt/DtQtMenuAssembler.h>

#include <QtWidgets/QMessageBox>

#include <vrvCoreQt/DtQtPageAssembler.h>

#include <vrfGuiCore/vrfTDLMessageManager.h>

using namespace makVrv;
using namespace makVrf;

//Implemented to be able to use the INIT_ONCE method
bool initDeModule(DtDe* de)
{
   //Add this accessory into the accessory manager so it can be loaded by the VRL drivers
   DtAccessoryManager::instance(*de).addAccessory(new ExampleTDLVrfGuiAccessory);

   return true;
}

void DtPluginInformation(DtVrfPluginInformation& info)
{
   info.pluginName = "exTDLVrfGuiAccessory";
   info.pluginDescription = "This accessory will enable the VR-Forces GUI to listen for and display the example TDL message";
   info.pluginVersion = "1.00";
   info.pluginCreator = "MAK Technologies";
   info.pluginCreatorEmail = "sales@mak.com";
   info.pluginContactWebPage = "www.mak.com";
   info.pluginContactMailingAddress = "150 Cambridge Park Drive 3rd Floor - Cambridge, MA 02140 USA";
   info.pluginContactPhone = "(617) 876 8085";
}