Bug: Topsky 2.5b7 doesn’t show random route OCL issued by BIRD from natTrak

[Jonathan Fong (1308253)]

I’ve been testing the latest beta of TopSky on the BIRD sector file recently. However, I have not managed to get any natTrak data to show up on TopSky (the MNR, OFL, etc items are all blank.) All the clearances that I have attempted so far are random route (RR) clearances, since that is the vast majority of OCLs that BIRD handles.

I have checked the API link from the TopSky configuration, and from visually looking at the data, it does seems that the CLX messages from my position (BIRD_S1_CTR) are going through from the system side. Not sure what’s going on here, but could this please be looked at?

Edited December 9, 2023 by Jonathan Fong (1308253)

[Juha Holopainen]

I can't replicate any issues showing random route clearances. I tested with the only clearance that was currently available (a random route clearance given by you), just changing the callsign to match a flightplan in my test logfile, and the clearance data was correctly shown. The current beta has a rather long download interval for the natTrak clearance data, so any new clearances will take some time to show up - I can't remember how long exactly but a number of minutes in any case. If this is not the issue and you have waited patiently, I'll need detailed examples of clearances pasted from the API that were not displayed.

[Jonathan Fong (1308253)]

13 hours ago, Juha Holopainen said:

I can't replicate any issues showing random route clearances. I tested with the only clearance that was currently available (a random route clearance given by you), just changing the callsign to match a flightplan in my test logfile, and the clearance data was correctly shown. The current beta has a rather long download interval for the natTrak clearance data, so any new clearances will take some time to show up - I can't remember how long exactly but a number of minutes in any case. If this is not the issue and you have waited patiently, I'll need detailed examples of clearances pasted from the API that were not displayed.

Hi Juha, thanks for the prompt response! At the time that I made the post, I had just come off a 2 hour session on BIRD_S1_CTR, probably the one where I issued the CLX message you saw, and throughout the full 2 hour session it never showed up on my TopSky lists. I will keep testing over the next few days and follow up with more detailed reports if/when it happens again.

EDIT: Right after making this reply, I hopped on BIRD_S1_CTR again and was fortunate to have one inbound to BIKF which I was able to control all the way to touchdown. Below is the CLX request from the API (simply copied from my web browser):

[{"id":6037,"time":"2023-12-11T01:20:24.000000Z","controller":{"cid":1308253,"callsign":"BIRD_S1_CTR","datalink_authority":"BIRD"},"pilot":{"cid":1337969},"callsign":"DLH856","dest":"BIKF","route":"PODAR BREKI BASLU","track":null,"flight_level":{"requested":"340","cleared":"340","maximum":"360"},"mach":{"requested":"080","cleared":"080"},"entry":{"fix":"PODAR","estimate":"01:50","restriction":"=0150"},"extra_info":null}]

From the time that I issued the CLX message, until the estimated time of entry (0150z as indicated on the clearance request), none of the clearance data showed up on my lists.

If this is an API refresh rate issue, then it is one that I believe needs to be corrected, because controllers would need to be able to see the clearance request data on their lists well before the aircraft reaches the OEP — a 30-minute delay is too much. I assume, though, that this has already been accounted, for and that the API refresh rate is probably intended to be higher than 30 minutes, so I think there is some broader issue here.

I'm attaching the "beta" Lists settings file for the BIRD controller that I have been using for testing purposes, which includes the various natTrak related items in the Sector Inbound and Sector Exit lists. Juha, if you wish to test the issue directly in the BIRD sector file, simply install the current latest public release via GNG, and then copy the file below into %AppData%/BIRD/Settings.

Thanks for your help & support given already in debugging the issue! Hopefully, we can get to the bottom of this.

Lists_TS.txt

Edited December 11, 2023 by Jonathan Fong (1308253)

[Juha Holopainen]

Just to get the most obvious fault checked, have you actually enabled the oceanic features of the plugin? It doesn't download the data by default as it's only of any use to very few places. At least the setup available on GNG doesn't seem to have it done ("System_Oceanic=1" is needed in the settings file).

[Jonathan Fong (1308253)]

17 hours ago, Juha Holopainen said:

Just to get the most obvious fault checked, have you actually enabled the oceanic features of the plugin? It doesn't download the data by default as it's only of any use to very few places. At least the setup available on GNG doesn't seem to have it done ("System_Oceanic=1" is needed in the settings file).

Ooooops  I knew I missed something in the manuals... Thanks for the tip!