This program tries to replicate the functionality of X52LuaOut with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. If you are proficient in Lua or C++, feel free to help out and send PRs. I’m not experienced in any of them, nor have much time, so my progress is slow.

The program can re-use the XML configuration files from X52LuaOut, but you have to replace the name of the datarefs with their MSFS equivalents called SimVars. See default.xml included with x52msfsout for examples.

The program is NOT user-friendly. I only developed the bare minimum functionality that I needed. You are welcomed to help out.

I have an X52 Pro, so I cannot support the non-pro version because I cannot test it.

X52LuaOut supports Windows, Linux, and Mac. This program currently only supports Windows. I know that MSFS can be started under Linux in Steam using Proton but I don’t know whether the SimConnect SDK works in Linux. I have zero information about Mac.

Installation

Download the latest x52msfsout Release from the right hand side of this page.

Download WASimModule-v1.2.0.0.zip, extract it and copy the wasimcommander-module folder to your MSFS community folder. This module is needed to do special things in MSFS like executing calculator code. It is similar to FSUIPC, but it is free.

Saitek / Logitech DirectOutput service (aka SaiDOutput)

When you install the Saitek / Logitech X52 Pro driver, it installs a Service. This is responsible to send commands to the joystick when you use the "X52 Professional H.O.T.A.S." application. When x52msfsout starts, it stops this service otherwise access to some joystick parameters would be blocked by the Service.

Change the Service permissions

Normally, x52msfsout could only stop the Service if you run it from an Administrative Prompt. To save you from having to open an Administrative Prompt every time, do the following. It is enough to do this once:

• Open an Administrative Prompt.
• Issue the command sc.exe sdshow saidoutput.
• The output has two parts, the first part starts with D: and the second part with S:.
• Copy the output of the command, and insert (A;;RPWPCR;;;BU) to the end of the first part, just before S:.
• Issue the command sc.exe sdset saidoutput XXX where XXX is the appended output from the previous step. On my computer the full command is sc.exe sdset saidoutput D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)(A;;RPWPCR;;;BU)S:(AU;FA;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;WD).
• The system should reply with the message [SC] SetServiceObjectSecurity SUCCESS.
• You can close the Administrative Prompt.

After this, you won't need to run x52msfsout from an Administrative Prompt.

The meaning of (A;;RPWPCR;;;BU) is A: Allow, RP: Read Properties, WP: Write Properties, CR: Control Service (includes start/stop), BU: Built-in users.

Restoring the Service

x52msfsout will only start sucessfully, if it could stop the DirectOutput service. When x52msfsout stops, it will try to restart the service, but this may fail, for example, if x52msfsout crashes and does not have a chance to restart the service. In this case do the following:

• Open a Command Prompt.
• Issue the command sc.exe query saidoutput.
• If in the output you see STATE: 1 STOPPED then issue the command sc.exe start saidoutput.
• If in the output you see STATE: 4 RUNNING then the service is running and no action is necessary.

XML configuration files

After installation, you have to prepare XML configuration file(s). They determine how your joystick will react to events in MSFS (including shifted buttons and Mode 1-3). You can define your own MFD pages, LED states with custom blinking patterns, etc. The included default.xml file has example configurations for all tags which are currently supported.

x52msfsout only validates whether your file is well-formed XML, but it does not check whether mandatory attributes are missing and things like that. So it is your responsibility to create the XML according to the X52LuaOut Manual, otherwise x52msfsout will likely not work or will crash.

To create these files, your primary documentation is the X52LuaOut Manual (see link at the top of this README). But x52msfsout introduced some changes which are described below.

X52LuaOut configuration file support

In the included default.xml file you can find example configuration for all tags which are currently supported:

• <master> fully supported, with <target id=mfd> and <target id=led>.

• <shift_states> fully supported.

• <assignments>, clear_all attribute not supported. Not all types of <button> tags are supported inside <assignments>:

  • <button type="trigger_pos"> fully supported. Can handle dataref (SimVar in MSFS), command (inputevent in MSFS), and MSFS calculator code.
  • <shifted_button> fully supported with dataref and command attributes.
  • <button type="trigger_neg">
  • <button type="hold">
  • <button type="toggle">
  • <button type="repeater">

• <sequences> fully supported.

• <indicators> fully supported.

  • <led> fully supported.
    • <state> fully supported, except index attribute not needed, because it is included in dataref name.

• <mfd> support is planned.

Differences between X-Plane datarefs and MSFS SimVars

• SimVar names do not look like folder paths (no / signs).
• They are not case sensitive, they can be written in any case.
• They can have spaces.

SimVar syntax

You use SimVar names in the dataref attributes.

• Some of them have an index, for example, to identify throttle 1 and throttle 2. Add the index to the end of the name separated by a colon like this: LIGHT GLARESHIELD:1.
• Every SimVar must have a unit (of measurement)! Add this at the very end of the name separated by a percentage sign like this: LIGHT GLARESHIELD:1%number. The default unit for each SimVar can be found in the official SimVar documentation. Also see the docs on Simulation Variable Units to see how SimVars can be converted to different units. You have to take this into account when putting together your XML because the same SimVar can return different values depending on what unit you specify. Perferably use SimvarWatcher-MFWASM first to test what min and max values MSFS returns for a certain unit.

Where can I find SimVar names?

• Look it up in the official SimVar documentation.
• Enable Development mode in MSFS in Options → General Options → Developers. During a flight, from the top Devmode menu select Tools → Behaviors. On the LocalVariables tab you can monitor many SimVars and see when they change and to what value. Optionally, you can check „Show only vars set by plane” to only monitor values defined in the current aircraft. Then use these names in the XML.
• Use SimvarWatcher-MFWASM to test SimVar values.

What are InputEvents?

You use InputEvents in command attributes. They command the plane to do something.

To find available InputEvents for a given aircraft, enable Development mode in MSFS in Options → General Options → Developers. During a flight, from the top Devmode menu select Tools → Behaviors. At the top of the page select AIRCRAFTNAME_INTERIOR.XML (for example CESSNA152_INTERIOR.XML) from the dropdown. Then on the InputEvents tab you can drill down into several event groups. At the lowest level everything written in light blue are InputEvent names, like ELEV_TRIM_UP or ELEVATOR_TRIM_SET. Find the documentation of the Behaviors tool on this page.

What is calculator code?

This is a very powerful new feature, specific to MSFS, only available in x52msfsout. Calculator codes are small "scripts" which can read, manipulate, modify simulator values. They are written in RPN notation. They are normally used in MSFS XML configuration files but with x52msfsout and the WASimCommander module you can use it with your X52 Pro.

Currently you can use the calculator_code attribute in <button> tags.

Make sure to replace > with &gt; and < with &lt; in calculator code.

There is a page called HubHop where you can find a lot of RPN example code for your calculator code scripts.

Here is another useful page which has various RPN examples for different simulator situations.

Joystick button numbers in MSFS

X52 Pro has 39 buttons. MSFS recognizes all buttons but SimConnect gives an error for buttons above 32. This bug has been reported on the developer forum. So currently you cannot use buttons above 32 in x52msfsout.

When specifying the button numbers for the <button> tag and elsewhere, use the same button number that you see in MSFS Control Options.

Find an easy to understand overview of different buttons [on this page](./X52 Pro Buttons Overview/X52 Pro Buttons Overview.md)

Usage

After you have completed the installation steps and you have an XML configuration file ready, do the following.

Plug in your X52 Pro.

Open Windows „USB game controllers” panel then open X52 Professional H.O.T.A.S. properties. The pinkie shift button and the Mode wheel only work for me (both in X-Plane and MSFS) if I keep the properties open while x52msfsout is running. Please report in an Issue whether you need this or not. I’m not sure why I need it.

Start MSFS.

Start your flight.

Start a command prompt and change the directory to where x52msfsout.exe is. Start x52msfsout.exe and make sure you specify the required command line options:

• help displays all possible options
• xmlconfig Required! Tells the program which XML config file to use (you can have different files for different aircrafts). The XML files are not opened automatically based on the aircraft’s name like in X52LuaOut.
• joystick Required! It is an integer number which is the ID of your X52 joystick in MSFS. MSFS does not provide a way to find out your joystick’s ID automatically. This number can change depending on how many peripherals you have connected. Start with 0 and then go up from there until your button presses are registered in x52msfsout_log.txt.

Make sure you start your flight before x52msfsout.exe! Otherwise the program will not be able to detect the current position of your Mode wheel. However, if this happens you can still turn the wheel to a different mode to make the program start recognizing it. After that, it will work fine.

Contributing

Since I’m not very experienced in Lua or C++, your help is much appreciated. The task is to rewrite the X52LuaOut script (written in Lua) into C++ using SimConnect and WASimCommander. The good news is the program’s skeleton is ready. You don’t have to start from scratch. The aim is to support X52LuaOut XML config files with minimal modifications.

Development environment

The project was created using Visual Studio 2022.

To compile it yourself, set up vcpkg and install the MSFS SDK. If you need help setting up your dev environment, open an Issue and I can hopefully help.

This repository already includes the dependencies from WASimCommander_SDK-v1.2.0.0.

Known bugs

• Only 32 joystick buttons are supported instead of 39. Bug reported.
• Future improvement: Execute calculator code „as either a data request or a registered event” as suggested here.
• Nice to have: MapClientEventToSimEvent does not allow re-use of Event IDs. Workaround already implemented. Bug reported.

Online presence, support

Main discussion thread on FlightSimulator forum: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/x52msfsout-an-app-to-control-leds-and-mfd-on-the-saitek-logitech-x52-pro-joystick/648249 You can post in this thread if you don't know how to create an Issue on GitHub.

This program has been announced at https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/controlling-leds-and-mfd-on-the-saitek-logitech-x52-pro-and-non-pro-joystick/223066

and at https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?%2Ffiles%2Ffile%2F35304-x52luaout-winmaclin

TODO

Announce this program at https://flightsim.to/file/5559/saitek-x52-pro-dynamic-led-plugin