BMS Manual Search
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I have built an app that makes it easier to find information in the multiple BMS manuals. It is nothing fancy, but I have come to use it a lot myself so thought I would share it.
Besides regular search for a word or phrase that any pdf reader can do, the app can perform more flexible search. The app will look through all BMS manuals for the search word(s) and apply the search logic that the user has requested.
Results are presented as shown below (a search for “stt”). For convenience, a link to open the page directly in a browser is made available.
In my own experience, the flexible search modes often help me find what I am actually looking for when normal search comes up empty handed. If I want to recall how the campaign priorities work or find the table with ALIC codes for HARMs, I search for it. With traditional search this process quickly runs into a few bumps, however. I can’t just type in “campaign priorities” and choose Find in my pdf reader. Well I can, but nothing shows up. In this case, the Proximity Search mode fixes that:
Installation and setup
New version out 07Feb2024. See this post for details: https://forum.falcon-bms.com/post/392058
Download: https://github.com/JBoysen1/BMSManualFinder/releases/tag/v1.0-beta.8
For more information and details on how to install or customize, please take a look at the Github page: https://github.com/JBoysen1/BMSManualFinder/wiki
Any feedback is appreciated, especially regarding any findings related to the search results.
-JayB
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@jayb Installed as instructed, not working.
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@mjones Do you have a custom folder for the manuals, it does not look like the “official” path style ? By default the app will locate where BMS is, then go down into the Docs subfolder and start its indexing from there. If you let me know what you did before, I can advice better
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@jayb Separate BMS Docs file installed on laptop. BMS 4.37.3 not installed on laptop.
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@mjones ok cool, I think I can accommodate that
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@jayb I copy and paste the Docs folder on my laptop for reference when running the sim on my desktop and big screen. Also for reference on a tablet for reading when away from desktop.
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@mjones It makes perfect sense to use the Docs like that. I can produce a version where you can enter whatever folder name you like to the Docs
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@mjones When convenient for you, please test the new version:
https://github.com/JBoysen1/BMSManualFinder/releases/tag/v1.0-beta.4
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@jayb Works great!
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@mjones Awesome! Thank you for helping me improve the tool.
I just realised that now you are up and running but next time you open the app it may claim the path to be invalid. Let me know what happens on your end
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@jayb I simply had to re-enter the file location and clicked on “Build index” again, no problem. It would be nice if the search engine memorized the last entered file location. no big deal, thank-you!
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@mjones Coming soon, I personally do not like to wait for the index to be built. Out of curiosity, how long time did you wait for it to be built (ballpark) ?
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@jayb Not long, less than a minute.
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Cool project. Congratulations!
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Great and useful tool, especially as there are so many docs available.
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thanks for your job, very usefull and easy to use.
Thanks to the wiki page , I have been able to use Firefox as Browser as only edge worked before .
my path is “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox” and not the default one coming with the app. -
I just installed ver 5, working excellent! Running this was like a dream came trough. Thank you, it was quick an genial!
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There is a new version out now with improvements on non-standard locations for the BMS docs.
@mjones The new version (Beta-v.5) should handle custom paths better - also as part of launch so you don’t have to build the index each time.
@Wingedsky That is so great to hear - I was a bit worried if that was too difficult to figure out.
As a sidenote, I have become impressed with what browsers can do in the pdf reading department if you choose to use them.
For instance, double-clicking this unpacks the entire Outline system which @Micro_440th and his team keeps updated so that we can easier find sections we want.
And if you are way down in a document on some page and want to figure out where you’re at, press this :
The above works in Firefox (not Edge or Chrome). I have compared these features (that I personally appreciate) up against Acrobat Reader and SumatraPDF. In my opinion, the browsers are quite good and more light-weight in use.
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@jayb
Just wondering if it’s even possible…To link directly to the “BMS Wiki Manuals” page to pull the latest, updated docs (ie. https://cdn.falcon-bms.com/docs/4.37/to_1f-16cmam-1_bms.pdf), by somehow adding to the Browser or Manual.cfg files?
OR is it only possible via the local machine?That way, you could always have the latest updates from Micro440th and the BMS team, and/or from personal, “customized or highlighted” versions or docs on our local machine folders?
If not, this is still an AWESOME app!
I’m constantly looking stuff up (especially acronyms), so I’ve truly needed something like this since… FOREVER!
Thanks! -
I appreciate the feedback. For now it is local machine only, either the PC with BMS installed, or some laptop without BMS but with all the Docs.
Thing is that the online docs do not change between releases (as far as I understand it), so each time a new release or hotfix comes out we just need to rebuild the index once to be up-to-date and in perfect sync with the online docs until next release.
As for custom edits to the manuals, that should work. So if you add something to “TO 1F-16CMAM-1 BMS.pdf” and leave the edited version under the Docs tree, the indexing will pick that up. That enables you to search for your own custom text afterwards in the app.
Another approach could be to make a copy of, say, “TO 1F-16CMAM-1 BMS.pdf”, edit it and rename it to “TO 1F-16CMAM-1 BMS Custom.pdf” and leave it somewhere under the Docs tree. Then just add that new filename to Manual.Cfg and you should be good to go.