DCS Scratchpad

Resizable and movable DCS World in-game Scratchpad for quick persistent notes - especially useful in VR.

Installation

Copy the Scripts folder into your DCS Saved games folder.

Usage

• Toggle the scratchpad with CTRL+Shift+X
• Use Esc to remove the text field focus, but keep the scratchpad open

Settings

Some settings can be changed in your DCS saved games folder under Config/ScratchpadConfig.lua (if the file does not exist, start DCS once after mod installation):

• hotkey change the hotkey used to toggle the scratchpad (check DCS World\dxgui\bind\KeyNames.txt to find how to reference a key; only the keys can be used, that work without having to press Shift - so ( cannot be used, but Shift+9 can)
• fontSize increase or decrease the font size of the Scratchpads textarea

Scratchpad Content

The Scratchpads content is persisted into Scratchpad\0000.txt (in your saved games folder; if the file does not exist, start DCS once after mod installation/upgrade). You can also change the file in your favorite text editor before starting DCS.

Multiple Pages

When DCS starts, the Scratchpad looks for all text files inside the Scratchpad\ directory (in your DCS saved games folder that do not exceed a file size of 1MB). If there is more than one, it will show buttons (←/→) that can be used to switch between all those text files. The file Scratchpad\0000.txt, where the content is persisted into by default, can be freely renamed, it is not necessary to use the 000x naming scheme.

Insert Coordinates from F10 map

This is only available in single player or for servers that have Allow Player Export enabled. If available, you'll have a checkbox at the bottom for the Scratchpad. The mode to insert coordinates is active while the checkbox is checked. While active, you'll have a white dot in the center of your screen and an additional + L/L button below the text area of the Scratchpad. Open the F10 map and align the white dot with your location of interest and hit the + L/L button. This will add the coordinates of the location below the white cursor to your Scratchpad.

Insert waypoints into the NS430

Hitting the +L/L button in spectator or an aircraft that can use the NS430 inserts a line that looks like FIX;-88.245167;36.117167;%PlaceholderName. The %PlaceholderName must be changed to a 1-5 character long alpha-numeric string (e.g. 1A, 1B, 2, 3, WILLO). This can then be added into the navaids.dat in the main DCS folder .\DCS World OpenBeta\Mods\aircraft\NS430\Cockpit\Scripts\avionics\terrain\navaids.dat (you need to respawn for the navaids.dat changes to take effect) and then be loaded into the NS430 via the Flight Plan Page or Direct-To page.

Kudos

• to DCS-SimpleRadioStandalone which acted as a good reference of how to setup a simple window in DCS