Function Keys And Other Key Shortcuts

This paragraph describes the meaning of several keyboard elements which behave differently than a simple text editor. Many things come from ASRC, so if you have ever used ASRC, you will find them familiar. However in some cases we changed the meaning of the key completely or made it work slightly different.

  • F1 key – As in EuroScope the TAG up and TAG down is available with a double click on the TAG this key has been freed up. Its role is to accelerate issuing commands that are important, yet not so often used. When you first press the F1 key, then F1 will appear in the command line. Then there are some shortcuts:
    • F1+1 to F1+9 – ASR fast load keys as defined in [[General Settings]]
    • F1+0 – closes the current ASR file
    • F1+a – changes to .am
    • F1+c – changes to .chat
    • F1+d – changes to .distance
    • F1+f – changes to .find
    • F1+i – changes to .inf
    • F1+k – changes to .kill
    • F1+s – changes to .sep
    • F1+u – changes to .SS
    • F1+w – changes to .wait
  • F2 key – It places the .QD command to the command line to display METAR information on selected stations.
  • F3 key – It places the .QT command to the command line to start tracking an aircraft or to accept handoff. Like .contactme it also works on the aircraft that is under the cursor making it very simple to accept handoffs.
  • F4 key – It places the .QX command to the command line to drop an aircraft or initiate handoff. Like .contactme it also works on the aircraft that is under the cursor. Important: .QX without parameter initiates a handoff to the next controller (if available) instead of dropping target.
  • Shift+F4 key – It places the .QY command to the command line to drop an aircraft. Like .contactme it also works on the aircraft that is under the cursor.
  • F5 key – places the .QZ command to the command line to change the final altitude.
  • F6 key – It displays the flight strip of the selected aircraft in the place of the standard CHAT window.
  • Shift+F6 key – It places the .QU command to the command line to draw the route of an aircraft. It is very rarely used as this function works far better from the TAG.
  • F7 key – If you are using more than one radar layouts at a time press this key to switch between them.
  • F8 key – It places the .QQ command to the command line to set or clear temporary altitude.
  • F9 key – It places the .QB command to the command line to set squawk code or communication type (/t, /v, /r). For aircraft that is under the mouse it assigns the next available squawk automatically.
  • F11 key – This key zooms in the radar screen. This is a replacement of the mouse wheel zoom.
  • F12 key – This key zooms out the radar screen. This is a replacement of the mouse wheel zoom.
  • Ctrl+HOME – combination sets the original zoom and screen center position for the current ASR file.
  • FREQ key (as default the numeric STAR keyboard) – First of all it opens your primary frequency chat window. If the command line is not empty (e.g.: a message to a pilot is written in there) then it sends the command line content to the primary frequency, addressing the message to the selected aircraft.
  • ASEL key (as default the numeric PLUS keyboard) – This is the aircraft selector key. To use there should be some letters typed from the callsign. Pressing this button the first callsign that matches the letters typed before will be selected. You can press the ASEL key again to select the next match. You can do it in a loop to see all matching callsigns.
    From version 3.2 the selection of the planes are ordered by their state. The function will search for the planes in the following order:
    • Assumed
    • Transfer to me initiated
    • Transfer from me initiated
    • Redundant first 30 seconds
    • Redundant
    • Coordinated
    • Notified
    • Non concerned
  • HOME – If the command line is not empty then it is the good old HOME key that moves the cursor to the beginning of the line. But if the command line is empty then it places the .contactme command to the editor. Important, if there is an aircraft whose TAG is in detailed mode (the mouse is over it) then the command is executed immediately.
  • INS – The insert button places the .QS command to the command line to set or clear the scratch pad of an aircraft. Like the HOME key it is executed immediately on the aircraft which has the mouse over its detailed TAG. In this way you can clear the scratch pad fast.
  • Left Click + Right Click – Using this combination on a TAG will stickit on the screen in it’s present position and will not move with the aircraft’s target. Moving the TAG will cancel the tickingfunction.

Editing In The Command Line

Some buttons do not have a real function connected to but simple changes the content of the command line in some way.

  • TAB – The TAB key has two different meanings depending on the content of the command line:
    • If the line is empty then it selects the next displayed chat window.
    • If the line is not empty then it extracts the function names from the command line and selects next parameter. See later in the Aliases section.
  • ESC – The escape button has three different meanings:
    • If the command line is not empty, then it simply clears it.
    • If empty but has an aircraft selected then it deselects all aircraft. This way you can send messages on your primary frequency to anyone, even if you are unable to select him/her.
    • If empty and no aircraft is selected then it closes the chat window. You can open it again by a doubleclick on any chat name or initiating a new chat (see [[Command Line Reference]]).
  • Ctrl+Up arrow – The Up key with Ctrl pressed gets the previous line from the CHAT window and puts it into the command line. There you can reedit, copy part of it to the clipboard, etc.
  • Ctrl+Down arrow – Like the previous but it goes to the next line.
  • Shift+Up arrow – The Up key with Shift pressed gets the previously entered command to the command line.
  • Shift+Down arrow – The Sown key with Shift pressed gets the next entered command to the command line.
  • Up arrow – It scrolls the chat content one line down to see one more line on top.
  • Down arrow – It scrolls the chat content one line up to see one more line on bottom.
  • Page Up – It scrolls the chat content three lines down to see more lines on top.
  • Page Down – It scrolls the chat content three lines up to see more lines on bottom.

Note: The primary and the secondary PTT buttons are disabled in the chat window. If you select a key as PTT you will not be able to use it in the command line.

Aliases

Alias files are the same that you used for ASRC. You can load them as they are and if the functions are implemented in EuroScope as well then you can use them. The general format of one alias line is:

.<alias name> <alias value>

Where alias name is the short name you would like to type and the value is what should be inserted into the command line as replacement. The alias value string can contain several function calls (see later), parameters $1, $2, … $9 and of course free text. An alias value should not contain another alias name. Well it can, but it will not be extended.

The way you can use the aliases are completely different from ASRC. It replaces the alias name to value as you type not only when you send it to somewhere. Just type your message as you like. Whenever a SPACE is pressed EuroScope tests the last word typed and if it starts with a DOT and matches any alias name it will replace the word immediately. It is not necessary to start the alias at the beginning of the line, it is not necessary to be at the end of the line. Only to press a SPACE. This idea makes it possible to see the extracted message before sending it.

As the alias name is replaced immediately the parameter definition should work also differently. As the name replaced EuroScope searches for the parameters. When it founds the first one it become selected in the command line. In this way you just simply type the parameter and the selected portion of the text will be replaced as it works in a normal edit box. When you finish with the parameter just press the TAB key to search for the next parameter place to be selected. When the TAB is pressed EuroScope first test if the same parameter is used in the alias again or not. If used then it will replace that occurrence with the newly typed value too. After that it tries to evaluate all the functions in the line once again. In this way an alias parameter can be parameter of a function too. See the next example:

The original alias is:

.cont Contact $radioname($1) on frequency $freq($1)

After typing .cont and a space the command line will be extended to:

Contact $radioname($1) on frequency $freq($1)

and the first $1 will be selected. As you overwrite it with e.g. AP and press TAB key the line will be changed to:

Contact Budapest Approach on frequency 129.700

Using this method you should not memorize what parameters comes each after as you see the context before specifying the value. One backward of the method is that it could not recognize if the same parameter is in the line more than once. So in that case one should specify the same value several times.

Autotext messages

All autotextmessages use built-in aliases now. If you want to change any of these, just put the respective entry in your alias file. EuroScope will then use this entry instead of the built-in text.

The default aliases are as following:

  • .autoproceed Proceed direct to $1
  • .autoclearedils Cleared ILS approach RWY $1
  • .autoclearedvisual Cleared visual approach RWY $1
  • .autoclimblevel Climb to FL $1
  • .autoclimbaltitude Climb to altitude $1 ft by QNH $altim($dep)
  • .autodescendlevel Descend to FL $1
  • .autodescendaltitude Descend to altitude $1 ft by QNH $altim($arr)
  • .autospeed Speed $1 KT indicated
  • .automach Mach number $1
  • .autonospeed Resume normal speed
  • .autoturnleft Turn left heading $1
  • .autoturnright Turn right heading $1
  • .autocontact Contact $1 on frequency $2. Have a good flight and landing. Bye.
  • .autosquawk Set squawk $1