Which way is the easiest way to create or modify a key file?
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it works. i think that should do it, BUT how do you program a button with 2 commands on the 1 button. one with the pinky and one without?
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@warpig do you mean how to bind a mapping to a shifted button in AL? First, filter for “Stick: pinky switch (DX Shift)” and bind that to something you’re comfortable holding while pressing another button. Then, in the mapping you want to shift, hold that shift button (you’ll see the DX Shift box light up underneath the Awaiting Inputs prompt) and press the button you want shifted. Save that and you should be good to go.
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@ghastlytt
First off i was using the Basic DX x52 profile but in AL it loads BMS Full and i cant find a way to load the Basic DX x52 key if there is a way.Second thing, if i bind a button to the shifted pinky like you say in your reply above then what happens if you need more than one? Like for example see the button map here.
https://forum.falcon-bms.com/topic/19461/blackhawk-s-saitek-x52-keyfile-dx-profile-for-bms-4-35
The big hat switch on the stick has TMS and Trim for up down left and right. I would like to remove the trim and replace it with viewgen rotate view up, down, left, and right. I can use trim on the keyboard.
But also it would be great to be able to use the AL for future use instead of asking all the time in the forum. -
@warpig I see. If you are going to use Alt Launcher, you’re pretty much committing yourself to setting up your own profile since Alt Launcher 2.0 only modifies the BMS Auto key file. To shift other buttons, you simply repeat the second step of my previous instructions, but with a different button.
If you’re trying to start with someone else’s profile, as you’ve linked, I think you’ll have to follow their instructions and edit their key file with the key file editor. I’m not sure if you could import it into AL to modify by overwriting BMS Auto with the profile you’re trying to use because I don’t know if AL uses the BMS Auto key file as its memory.
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I may even try to create it from scratch and using the PDF as a guide for all the commands. Ill try that one. Im still a bit confused about the shifting but I haven’t tried it yet so it may make sense once i have a look at it.
Thanks for your everyone. If i run into any trouble, ill be back. -
I agree that using notepad++ or another editor that you’re familiar with is the best choice. The learning curve may be a bit steep at first, but it’ll pay dividends down the road once you’ve grasped the basic concept.
Don’t be scared of “shifted” functions, it just means adding 254 (that’s the standard shift offset minus one) to the button number that BMS shows you in the setup controller screen.
All the best,
uwe
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One thing that has dawned on me while i was reading key editor manual from above.
Am I correct in saying that any method of key editing either via Notepad++ or AL or any other way is a way to edit the keys, as in the keyboard map? Correct? It has nothing to do with the joystick mapping?
If this is correct then im going about it the wrong way. The keyboard mapping is fine, ill just learn the keys for whatever functions i need. Its the joystick assignments which are killing me. Could someone please confirm? BTW i tried to Shift the POV 1 up button with the pinky but it aint working!
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You can set set callbacks to controller buttons in the key file too. Look at one of the example key files that are already set up for a controller. The pre made key files have many remarks in them explaining what each line does. They even explain dx shifting. The only thing that is necessary for the pre made one to work is to make sure that your controllers are loading in windows in the correct order so the dx button numbers match up.
I just recently had to do this because I couldn’t get target to work in win 11. The dev folks did a great job on the key files.
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A good way of going about this is to
a) create a working default file for your setup using Kolbe’s spreadsheet
b) save the resulting key file to your config folder under a new unique name (I use “hoover20220203v1.key” for example so I can always revert to older versions)
c) use notepad++ or any other decent editor like GNU emacs from then onwards to make your own customizations, saving them to a new file and testing them.
All the best,
Uwe -
@hoover
Ive had a go at that spreadsheet, its a bit confusing, there arnt any clear steps on how to use it. I really need something like
Step 1 do this
Step 2 do this
And so on.
I got to selecting my spreadsheet version and then selecting my controller in the dropdown then its like yeah now what? -
@warpig
Hi!
You should learn to use EXCEL, there you can do whatever you want! -
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@hoover
Hoover, I only have Excel on my PC!
Yes it also works in LibreOffice! -
@hoover
I dont have Discord i assume its like Teamspeak which i also dont have.Im just saying its not clear on how to create a profile. I think it would be very useful to know and i think once of done it once ill be a pro at it!
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LibreOffice is free and open source so it won’t cost you a cent which is always nice. They accept donations though and I have sent some euros their way a couple of times in the past because I believe that a free office suite that is compatible across platforms is a worthy cause to support.
The remark was tongue in cheek of course, I hope it didn’t come across the wrong way.
I’d start with the “Import” tab. Open the bms full keyfile in notepad++ (also free and open source), and copy all the lines from BMS Full.key into column A on the import tab.
You will also need to tell the spreadsheet your current keyboard layout in order for it to work correctly (that’s done on the first tab I believe).
Next, click on the DX devices tab in the sheet and select your x52 (pro?) as the first DX device (select the X52 from the dropdown and assign the device number in the column next to it).
Now you should have a nice keyfile in the export tab.
you can copy the export “A” column to a new file in notepad++ and save it as a new keyfile in your BMS/User/Config directory, naming it something like
warpig20220205v1.key
or similar (make sure you use the .key extension and not .key.txt which is easy to overlook, turn on the display of file name extentions in windows file browser to make sure the file has the correct ending / extension).
Now load the new key file in BMS and check the setup screen to see if the buttons on the X52 do their thing in BMS.
If they do, you can now assign the various axes in Setup -> Advanced -> Flight and Avionics controls in BMS.
That’s basically it, from then on you should do all modifications in your keyfile using notepad++. You can do them in Kolbe’s sheet of course but I’ve never gotten my head around how to do this and find the editor approach more feasible (but then again I also prefer text stuff like bash and even sometimes powershell to GUIs for serious work).
All the best,
Uwe
EDIT this method assumes that your X52 is the first dx device, you can check this in BMS’ devicesorting.txt file.
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@hoover
Your a legend, thanks.
Its late, ive just got off the computer trying to figure out whats going on. ill be trying this in the morning.One thing, i opened the BasicDX X52.key in Notepad++ and saw that there are layered buttons in this profile, nearly all the buttons have a second layer so then i checked the PDF which shows the mapping for all the buttons on the X52 to confirm. None of the shifted buttons work, only the unshifted layer works.
I assume there is an issue with the DX sorting? Maybe (im getting better at this now!)
Is that correct? What other reason is there for the shifted layer not working?
Thanks again Hoover, ill be trying it in the morning.
Edit
I only have one device, an X52 -
you won’t see those shifted buttons activated in the setup screen in BMS, they’ll only work (hopefully ) in 3d.
Let us know how it goes, I’m certain I have overlooked something in my description above but I think we’ll get you going in the long run
All the best,
Uwe
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Ok, this what i did. I loaded the pr0 file into the SST software, then i started BMS up, loaded the BasicDX x52 key file then went into Dogfight -> Furball. I tried the shifted buttons and they do not work. None of the shifted which i tried worked. I held the pinky button down while pressing other buttons, so not sure whats going on.
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Hm, you might want to check if the key file references any button numbers beyond 257 (those would be the shifted ones).
Have you tried creating your own key file using the key file editor method?
I don’t know what a pr0 file is or does (some programming for saitek sticks?), so I cannot help there I’m afraid.
Cheers, Uwe
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I haven’t tried the spreadsheet yet as theres no point. I have tried to create a test pinky shift in AL but it didn’t work.
I was thinking of maybe deleting bms.cfg file or the dx files to see if BMS rebuilds them when starting up.
Something i found in the Technical Manual chapter 10, you need to enable pinky shifting by adding a line of code, i did it but it didnt work. By default it should be there anyway.