Sticky: Read This Before Installing

[tim arnot]

These are general comments regarding the alpha version of Plan-G v4. Please see the topic for each build for specific comments relating to that build. Please be aware that this is an ALPHA version, features will be incomplete, and there will most definitely be bugs. Please keep comments and bug reports regarding v4 to this forum. Please see the readme and forum change notes for details on specific updates.

Please report any issues with the software that you may come across. We are aware the UI is still kinda clunky, and hard to read in places. It's very much a work in progress, but  still feel free to report specific problems, colour clashes, missing buttons etc.

You may come across features that relate to other unreleased software. Such things should not be discussed outside this closed forum.

1. Installer. There is currently no installer. Download the zip, and unzip it to the location of your choice.

2. Dot Net. With v4, Plan-G has migrated to Dot Net  v5.0. You do not need to download or install any runtime components, as these are all included in the program itself.
Why change? This gives cross-platform compatibility, and a certain level of independence, which may become important down the road.

3. Files folder. v4 files are stored by default in My Documents\Plan-Gv4 Files\ The sub-folder structure is the same as for v3. If you have DEM mesh for v3, it's recommended that you copy that to the v4 folder. Do not copy database etc. files across.

4. Database. v4 uses SQLite instead of SQL Server CE. New database files with a .db extension will be generated. These live in the same location as the earlier files. V4 and v3 data can coexist - you will not lose your existing data by installing v4. Any user waypoints you have generated for v3 will need to be exported then imported to v4. The procedure for this is in the manual. v4 can also run without any database built or active. New databases have been added for new sims, including support for P3Dv5 and MSFS.
Why change? SQLite gives cross-platform compatibility, plus CE had been deprecated for some time.

5. Logging. v4 has its own log file (Plan-Gv4_Log.txt). It lives in the Plan-Gv4 Files folder, and is also cleared down at local midnight.

Note: "Cross-platform compatibility" is not a commitment to developing Plan-G for other platforms.