Feature request: (soft and) hard filters

[Matisse VanWezer (1385143)]

Is it possible to include soft and hard filters for the Topsky plugin?

Currently the filters cause non-concerned traffic to be soft-filtered (you can still see the TPS and history dots if enabled). And as far as I know coordinated traffic cannot be filtered. This means that when doing UAC, you will see departing aircraft (under your sector) well before they will enter your sector, cluttering the display.

A hard filter would completely remove the track from the display, regardless of its state. The soft filter on the other hand would allow the controller to still see TPS, history, ... but its tag attributes would be (partly: e.g. all but altitude) removed.

I personally think the UAC plugin from Pierre did a very good job at it. For example it still showed the altitude for aircraft in the soft filter but hovering over the tag would still reveal the complete tag with all of its attributes. But of course any Topsky implementation of the hard and soft filters would be greatly appreciated!

Here's how that works: Menu Bar · pierr3/UACPlugin Wiki (github.com)

EDIT: In our real life TopSky system there are two types of filters: relative and absolute. The controller has to choose which type of filter he would like to use and cannot combine them. This is in contrast with what I proposed earlier where a band of different filters could be created . For example hard filter up until FL180 and a soft filter until FL220 when controlling FL245+.

The relative filter works exactly like what we have now, including the coordinated tracks that bypass the filter. However in real life this isn't an issue for the controllers because they do not control the UAC. The UAC unit uses a different client that does have soft and hard filters and thus does not suffer from this issue. Meanwhile on VATSIM, where controlling is done top-down, this does causes "issues".

The absolute filter works like the hard filter, eliminating all tracks unless STCA or something similar is activated.

(Image shows soft filtered tracks on UAC plugin)

Edited August 3, 2021 by Matisse VanWezer

[Juha Holopainen]

Having an option to completely filter all tracks outside the defined limits is possible at some point, although I would probably make it default to the current filtering type and having to explicitly set it to the "hard" filter every time in the settings menu, just to avoid unintentionally completely hiding any tracks, being an option meant only for those who know what they're doing. Hard and soft filters co-existing on the other hand is much less likely - much more coding required and much less use for it.

[Matisse VanWezer (1385143)]

Currently we use the ES filters to get rid of tags for aircraft on the ground. However, this also means that traffic at uncontrolled airports/airspace might be below that filter. It's a pain to turn off ES filters just to assume their tag and shows what a blessing 'quick look' actually is. 

Neither a hard nor soft filter would solve this as a hard one removes the track symbol (not wanted), and a soft filter won't filter the tracks as they are in the informed state. And even if there was an option to turn that off in the future, it might not be the behaviour you would want for other traffic. 

Is there a (topsky-y )solution to this? The most suitable option would be a quick look for ES filters, but good look with that.