Overview

Detective's purpose is to show what Events & Variables (Datarefs in X-Plane) occur and change when controls within the virtual cockpit are used. With this information, you can then build a Bespoke Event (or write a Lua script) that mimics the Events that occurred and/or the Variables/Datarefs that changed. The Bespoke Event (or Lua script) can then be used in a Snippet and/or State Configuration allowing the interfacing of complex non-standard aircraft. See this video for a brief overview of the process of using Detective.

Detective consists of 3 areas, the Monitoring Area, The Events/Variables Area and the Bespoke Event Builder Area.

Monitoring Area

This area will display all Variables (Datarefs in X-Plane) that are changing their values, and Events (Commands in X-Plane) that occur. Initially monitoring is turned off, but can be turned on by clicking the Events toggle button and/or the Variables or Datarefs button.

SimConnect variables can be monitored by enabling the "Include SimConnect Variables" toggle button, however this limits the available views in the Monitoring Area to stop your PC becoming overwhelmed.

In X-Plane only Datarefs can be monitored, Commands will not be shown.

The Monitoring Area has a number of different views:

Scrolling View: The default view and simply displays activity in the order it arrives, whether it is an Event or a Variable/Dataref. The contents of the view can be cleared by clicking the Clear Scrolling View button.

Split View: Breaks the Monitoring Area into two parts. The top part shows the Fixed View for Variables/Datarefs and the bottom part is the Scrolling View showing Events.

Fixed View: Lists all Variables and Datarefs that have been detected. The list is sortable by Name, Value and Time it last changed by clicking on the lists column titles. The variables are colour coded to provide a broad indication of when they changed. The colours are bright red, light red, blue and grey, with bright red indicating a recent change and grey indicating it changed some time ago. Variable/Datarefs can be hidden in this view by right clicking them, they can also be selected in one of the Variables/Datarefs lists by left clicking them.

Fixed Auto Sort View: Lists all Variables and Datarefs that have been detected. The list is sortable by Name, Value and Time it last changed by clicking on the lists column titles. Unlike the Fixed View, this view is constantly sorted in realtime, so by sorting on Time, you can always show the most recently changed Variables/Datarefs at the top of the list.

Events/Variables/Datarefs Area

Events Tab

This tab has several options to display a list of Different Events or Commands:

SimConnect: This will display a list of all SimConnect Events. This option is not available in X-Plane.
Commands. This will display a list of standard Commands. This option is available for X-Plane only.
Custom: This will display a list of Custom Commands. The list is aircraft specific. This option is available for X-Plane only.
Aircraft: This will display a list of aircraft specific SDK Events. This option is not available in MS FS 2020 or X-Plane.
Mouse Clicks: This will display a list on Mouse Click Events. The list is aircraft specific. This option is not available in MS FS 2020 or X-Plane.
Detected: All Events that have appeared in the Monitoring Area. This option is not available in X-Plane.
Hidden: All Events that have been hidden so they will never appear in the Monitoring Area. Hiding Events is useful to stop irrelevant, rapidly firing ones from being a distraction, allowing a clearer and more focused view of activity in the Monitoring Area. This option is not available in X-Plane.

Hiding/Unhiding Events

To hide an Event, select the Event in one of the available lists and click the Hide button.

To unhide Events, switch to the Hidden list, select the relevant Events and then click the Unhide button.

When a filter has been applied, the Refresh button may become enabled if an Event has been Detected that matches the filter.

Searching A Variable / Dataref List

Type part of the Variable name in the text box above the variable list and press enter or click the Filter button. Note that the filter remains active across all Variable/Dataref lists until you click the Filter button again.

Variables/Datarefs Tab

This tab has several options to display a list of different Variables or Datarefs:

Local: This will display a list of all known Local Variables (lvars). The list is aircraft specific. This option is not available in MS FS 2020 or X-Plane.
Custom: This will display a list of all known Custom Datarefs. The list is aircraft specific. This option is available for X-Plane only.
SimConnect: This will display a list of all SimConnect Variables. This option is not available in X-Plane.
Datarefs: This will display a list of all standard Datarefs.
Aircraft: This will display a list of aircraft specific SDK Variables. This option is not available in MS FS 2020 or X-Plane.
Bespoke: This will display a list of Bespoke Variables.
Detected: All Variables or Datarefs that have appeared in the Monitoring Area.
Hidden: All Variables or Datarefs that have been hidden so they will never appear in the Monitoring Area. Hiding Variables/Datarefs is useful to stop irrelevant, rapidly changing ones from being a distraction, allowing a clearer and more focused view of activity in the Monitoring Area.

Hiding/Unhiding Variables (Datarefs)

There are two ways to hide variables:

Select the Variable/Dataref in one of the available lists and click the Hide button.
Place the Monitoring Area into its Fixed View mode and right click on any variable shown in the Monitoring Area.

To unhide Variables/Datarefs, switch to the Hidden list, select the relevant Variables/Datarefs and then click the Unhide button.

When a filter has been applied, the Refresh button may become enabled if a Variable or Dataref has been Detected that matches the filter.

Searching A Variable / Dataref List

Renaming A Bespoke Variable

Display the Bespoke Variable list, select the Bespoke Variable to rename, type its new name in the text box above the Bespoke Variable list and then click the Rename button.

The Bespoke Event Builder Area

This area is concerned with managing and building Bespoke Events for the currently loaded aircraft.

The combo box allows the selection of a specific Bespoke Event whilst the buttons to the right of it, allow the creation of a new Bespoke Event, or the copying, renaming and deletion of the currently selected Bespoke Event.

The combo box is searchable, by clicking into it and typing some text to filter the list of Bespoke Events.

The area beneath the combo box, lists all the Tasks that make up the Bespoke Event, in the order they will execute. To the right of this is an array of buttons that allow the creation of the various Task types.

The remaining buttons consist of:

Edit Mode: Normally when editing tasks, the chosen Variable/Dataref or Event/Command for the task cannot be changed. When this is enabled, the currently high-lighted Variable/Dataref or Event/Command will replace those in the selected task when the "Edit" button is clicked. Editing of the rest of the task continues as normal.

Background Event: Enabling this will cause the currently selected Bespoke Event to run in its own thread. For Bespoke Events that run for a long time, it is best to enable this feature.

Edit Button: Triggers the editing dialog, allowing the editing of the selected Task.

Up Button: Moves the selected Task upwards in the Task list.

Down Button: Moves the selected Task downwards in the Task list.

Delete Button: Deletes the selected Task from the Task list.

Test Bespoke Event Button: Run's the Bespoke Event so you can check it is working correctly in the flight sim.