DCS Interface
[editor's note: this information should be merged with the manual, once the manual is wiki-fied]
Demo Video: https://youtu.be/bkP-f7uWkO4
Export.lua is a script file executed by DCS to allow third party programs to export data from DCS. Helios has a script file (currently called "Scripts\Helios\HeliosExport16.lua") that needs to be executed from this so-called stub file. In a properly configured installation, this file will contain a number of "dofile" lines to call various scripts provided by the third party software makers, including Helios.
Some installations, such a Helios 1.4 when not using a Capt Zeen profile, use a giant monolithic Export.lua file with all the code contained in it. This is a poor design for sharing with the other applications, and Helios does not understand such files well enough to manage them. If your DCS installation uses such a large Export file, then you need to decide between:
a) replacing the file because it was generated by Helios 1.4 (you don't need this any more)
or
b) managing the file yourself and telling Helios to leave it alone. In that case, you are responsible for having compatible exports or otherwise calling "Scripts\Helios\HeliosExport16.lua" from your script.
The Helios Profile Editor UI for configuring DCS interfaces helps you with this process. There are three modes that are supported and can be selected in this UI.
| Mode | Function |
|---|---|
| Update file if possible | This is the default mode. Helios will scan your Export.lua and try to fix it. It will tell you what it is about to do or if it cannot figure it out. |
| Always overwrite file | This mode is similar to the old Helios 1.4 "Setup DCS" button. It always overwrites the file. This allows the use of the Helios UI to define additional dofiles to call in the script. Editing the Export.lua when in this mode is not allowed, and Helios will complain if you do. |
| User will manage this file | This mode just means Helios won't do anything with this file. You are responsible for editing it and making sure you generate the right exports, usually by calling "Scripts\Helios\HeliosExport16.lua", but you might have your own totally separate solution. Helios won't check the file. |
In all modes, Helios will back up your Export.lua file before making changes. Backup files will be in the same folder as Export.lua and will have the date as part of the name. If you created multiple backups in the same day, they will have ".1", ".2" and so on appended to their dates. If you create 11 or more backups in one day, Helios will not create any new ones and just overwrite the last backup, assuming this is some sort of testing or bug.
Helios will never delete these files, because they are small and you may want to keep some of them. You can delete any of the backup files you don't want to keep.
Demo Video: https://youtu.be/tQs6-Wi7z_M
The Helios DCS interface and its associated export script have been completely re-engineered for Helios 1.6. In addition to many other changes in the UI, the DCS interface now supports export modules provided by Capt Zeen with his profiles. This means you no longer have to switch export scripts back and forth and you can mix and match profiles that use Helios native interfaces and Capt Zeen interfaces. Initially, Capt Zeen modules are the only supported type of non-Helios provided module formats, but others will be added in the future.
Capt Zeen modules now can be reconfigured using the Helios UI. For example, you can adjust the Export Frequency in order to get more updates of the Helios UI if your hardware can handle it. You can then use the Helios Profile Editor "Setup DCS" button in the DCS Interface and it will correctly configure your exports to use those settings. In previous versions of Helios, this step would have corrupted the export scripts because it would overwrite Capt Zeen's exports.
Capt Zeen profiles will already come configured correctly to declare their export module format and the export module file to use.
For your own profiles, you can decide to use the Helios-provided interface (default) or select a "Module Format" in the "Profile-Specific Settings(Advanced)" collapsible section in the DCS Interface. If you select a non-Helios format (such as Capt Zeen module Version 1), then you can directly attach the required module file (from the "Scripts\Helios\Mods" folder) into the profile, so you don't have to worry about matching these up later and installing them. Helios will install this module file when the profile is configured via "Setup DCS" and it will also check to make sure it was installed correctly. The module file will also be embeded in the Helios Profile (.HPF), for ease of distribution.
For development purposes, power users and profile developers can place a copy of HeliosExport16.lua into Documents\Helios\Scripts\Helios\ and Helios will use that as the master copy of the file instead of its internally generated one. On reconfiguration, this file will be installed into the DCS Scripts folders after replacement of the "magic" tags for the IP address, port, and update rates.
Download latest Helios from this repo