Welcome to HELP for CupX Tools

Version 2.0.34 Released 12th December, 2023

IMPORTANT NOTE:- A significant BUG is squashed in Version 2.0.20 of CupX Tools, which prevented any images from showing in the LX Nav device. I recommend that all newly generated .CupX files are checked in the excellent LX Nav SIM app prior to being flown with. The SIM is available from the LX Nav website. The new version of the SIM is much easier to install and use, as it comes with downloadable mapping for most of the world.

CupX Tools is a software tool developed by John Blyth in Sunny Carnarvon, Western Australia. The app enables pilots who use the Oudie Flight computer or LX Nav 8/9000 series of devices to add images to a CupX Waypoint file (.cupx), and to “Unpack” and “Re-Pack” existing .CupX files for manipulation.

Uniquely, it can automatically download Google Map images for each waypoint at custom zoom levels, and optionally generate accurate elevations for any waypoint that does not have an elevation included. You WILL need to obtain a FREE Google Cloud Maps API, as explained further down in this HELP.

It can create new CupX files from a .cup waypoint or .lxc LX Nav Airport file. At all times your original data is untouched, safely preserving any waypoint data and images that may already exist in the CupX file. Further information and a copy of this HELP file is available by clicking the link to visit the CupXTools website.

What to do?:-

  1. Getting Started.
  2. I very strongly advise you to place your Waypoint file and any Protected Folder images in a unique folder for each set. This will safely preserve your precious data so it is never overwritten.
  3. Check that your Cup/Lxc file Header format is correct. This is automatically done when you first select a .cup or .lxc file for CupX creation. However, as a number of users have very weirdly constructed Waypoint files that have been passed through many hands, I have added an extra button, Fix Cup or Lxc File Format, to the main screen of CupX Tools to enable much easier fixing of these issues. As noted in Getting Started parargraph 11, new function for CupX Tools was implemented in November 2022 to generate ELEVATIONS for any waypoint. Before enabling this in the software, you need to also ACTIVATE the GOOGLE CLOUD MAPS ELEVATION API! Then You can generate an accurate ELEVATION for any waypoint that has a missing or "set to zero" elevation by running your .CUP or .LXC file through this action.
  4. Generate CupX Files from a .cup or .lxc file, and automatically download 1-4 Google Map images with different zoom levels (maximum of two images is usually sufficient). Any missing fields will be added during processing, and the data placed into the appropriate fields. This is important, as many older .cup files do no included the current expanded fields list, such as Runway Width (rwwidth), Date (date) the image/s were generated, and Pictures (pics).
  5. When generating CUPx files, the software will accept either .cup files or Lx Nav .lxc Airport files.
  6. UNPACK a CupX file will extract to a separate Unpacked Data folder the Waypoint data as a .cup file, any Custom images that may be present, and the downloaded Google image files contained within the CupX File. The Unpacked Waypoint file can edited for new Custom images or Waypoints with a text editor (never EXCEL!), and will be automatically be updated with new OR additional Google Maps images when you create a .CupX file from the updated data. Any current or added Images in the Protected Image folder that are included in the Waypoint file will be PRESERVED for inclusion in the CupX file.
  7. The "Check to use LAT and Long Boundaries" is a most useful feature, particularly in countries as big as Australia, as it allows you to take a sub-set of the waypoints available in the Cup file. As you can see in the image below, I have selected the Latitude and Longitude boundaries to fit in Tasmania only. De-Selecting the Check box quickly gives access to every waypoint in the file!
  8. REPACK the Cup file and Images from an UNPACKED CupX file.
  9. MANUALLY CREATE IMAGES for inclusion in a Cup orCupX File and import them into an existing or new CupX file.
  10. PRESERVING Images. When you UNPACK an existing CupX File, any images with the file are stored in the Unpacked Data\Protected Images folder of the parent folder containing the Cup, Lxc, or .CupX parent file. This is where you place any Custom Images you may wish to insert into your CupX files.
  11. NOTE:-You MUST HAVE a Google API key before attempting to use this software. Nothing will happen if you don't. If you don't already have a FREE Google API key, please read the instructions below very carefully, as it can be somewhat of a murky process if you don't follow the instructions carefully....
  12. A NEW FEATURE just added to CupX Tools is particularly useful for users who tend to have a lot of CUSTOM images, rather than using only the automatically import Google Map images. It generates three text file reports that detail the number and names of the Custom Protected Images available in Protected Folder, the number and names of waypoints referencing those images, and the number and names of Custom images available in the Protected Folder that are NOT REFERENCED in the Waypoint file. This is very useful when creating a new .CupX file that have a lot of Custom images you wish to use.
  13. CupX Tool's beautiful icon was created from an original artwork painted by Fox Aerobatic Pilot Xenia Sanchenkova.
  14. If you have the slightest problem using CupX Tools, please email me at CupXTools@gmail.com. Include your .cup or .xlc file or a link to your .cupX file and I will sort it out for you promptly.
Please click on one of the hyperlinks above to access further information about using each function.

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The image belows shows CupX Tools configured to create images and a CupX file that includes all waypoints in the .cup or .lxc file selected.
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Getting Started:-

The CupX format is currently in use by the Naviter Oudie Flight Computer, and Lx Nav's LX8/9000+ series. Other navigation software developers are also moving in the same direction. The primary advantage of using the CupX format is that the user is able to include images of each waypoint. The problem has been that this required the images to be obtained and then manually imported into a CupX file, using either Naviter's SeeYou program or LX Navs's Asapt Editor. CupX Tools is designed to automate the process of generating images for a CupX file, and to associate the images download by the software into a Cup file supplied by the user. Note:- The software will automatically create \New Images and \Protected Images folders in the same path as your Cup file. The .ini file that remembers your settings in at C:\Users\"Your User Name"\Documents\CupX Tools.
  1. You MUST HAVE a Google API key before attempting to use this software. Nothing will happen if you don't. If you don't already have a FREE Google API key, then please read the following instructions very carefully. If you already have a Google Maps API Key, skip to item (12) and enter it as described.
  2. Before opening the Google Developer's API website in the next step, you will need a Google GMail Account if you haven't already got one.
  3. Before clicking on the link, PLEASE read the next 8 points below! Have you done that? OK, now you can click this link Google's API Key site or click the "Google API Key in use - (Click here to get a different one)" Label in the app.
  4. Sign in if you need to.
  5. You may be asked to create a Project. Do so if requested and name it anything you prefer, but CupXTools is a good name!
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  6. You may see a different page to the image image above if you have previously used a Google API, but otherwise, search the web page for the Maps Static API as in the picture, click on it, then wait a few seconds until the ENABLE blue box appears. Click to ENABLE it.
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  7. Now click the MENU (three little bars) at the top of the page.
  8. Click APIs & Services on the left menu bar.
  9. Click Credentials on the sub menu.
  10. Then Click +Create Credentials and then select API Key to create your API Key, which you will of course keep in a safe place so you can locate it in the future. If all else fails, you can always return to the website to find the API Key again!
  11. A new function for CupX Tools was implemented in November 2022 to generate ELEVATIONS for any waypoint. Before enabling this in the software, you need to also ACTIVATE the GOOGLE CLOUD MAPS ELEVATION API!
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  12. Finally, you need to set up BILLING (number 4 on the Cloud Platform image below). You will need to provide valid credit card details, BUT Google provides plenty of credit downloads (100,000 free per month), so you should never get billed at all! That's it. You are finished!
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  13. Now that you have successfully obtained your Google Maps Static API Key, please enter it as described in (3.) above. You can now continue with the rest of your reading...
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  14. As in the image above, you can enter a "Boundary Box" in Latitude and Longitude, and activate it with the "Check to use Lat and Long Boundaries". This will limit the output of the CupX file to just those waypoints that fall within those boundaries.
  15. If the Check Box is NOT selected, clicking the Create CupX File button will give you every waypoint in the file.
  16. Setting the Check Box to ticked will limit the waypoint used to create the CupX file to just those within the boundaries set.You can see in the image above that I have clicked on the checkbox to use Boundaries. Now the image on the left has changed to show an approximation of the area of Australia that the Boundary latitudes and Longitudes cover. If the picture shows a completely different country, then you need to check that your Boundary lats and longs are correct!
  17. Below the Boundary delineation boxes there are two more to fully understand. I recommend you make the Zoom Level 13 (in Google Speak). This seems to be a maximum zoom that you would want.
  18. The box below is for the number of images you wish to have per waypoint. The MAXIMUM is 4, but I would recommend 2. The second image will cover a larger area (Zoom Level 14), and so on.The image displayed in the top left corner of the screen is an APPROXIMATION of the area covered by the waypoint file OR that marked by the Lat and Long Boundary setting when the Check Box is ticked.
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Checking that your Cup/Lxc file Header format is correct:-
  1. Before any waypoint or .CupX file is processed my CupX Tools, its header format will be checked for LXNav Compliance. Any changes required can be done within CupX Tools, and you will be prompted to do so.
  2. Below is the correct format for the header string of your .cup or .lxc file.
    3. name,code,country,lat,lon,elev,style,rwdir,rwlen,rwwidth,freq,desc,date,userdata,pics
  3. Any old standard Header string of
    name,code,country,lat,lon,elev,style,rwdir,rwlen,freq,desc,userdata,pics needs to be updated, but you will be prompted to follow a very simple procedure to update the waypoint file, which will be generated with a new file name. More complex header inconsistances can be conrrected as outlined below.
  4. If the software warns you when you select a .cup or .lxc file that your Cup file header (the first line in .cup of second line in .lxc files) is in the incorrect format, I have now updated this software to enable it to make correction the header and data formats with minor user intervention.
  5. If you have multiple Waypoint files that may need correction, I suggest that you put each in a separate folder so the auto-generated Format.txt file editing can be retained for furture use on that file.
  6. If there the header is different to the two mentioned above, this is done by a simple edit of an auto-generated file FormatKey.txt from within the CupX Tools software. Edit this file as instructed within the file itself, and you should be able to correct even the weirdest errors in you Waypoint file. Number the fields in the Format.txt file in the order that they appear in your file. For example, if your file header started with code, then name, the number order in the Format.txt would be name 2, then code 1 etc.
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  7. You may also need to edit your Waypoint file manually so the header names in the fields that you do have are compatible with the standard format from LXNav for .CupX files You can use a simple text editor such as Windows Notepad to correct it as shown above in item 1. On occasion I have seen all sorts of strange headers. If your header is incorrect, the software will not let you proceed until you have remedied the error.
  8. Some of your fields may well be missingThe upgraded software will fix that problem and bring your Cup file up to date with the current correct format within reason. If the mis-formatting is too extreme, the software will prompt you to fix it. What is important is to match the correct field names and edit your file so it matches the names in the official format. There is a 95% chance you will not need to make any changes, but please check carefully. Do NOT change the actual data in your file apart from the header.
  9. Some fields such as code, freq, and pics need to be enclosed in "" (Double Quotes). Normally this is not an issue with most .cup and .lxc files, but if you have a serverely disrupted file, send it to me and I will sort it out for you. Using programs such as EXCEL to rewrite Waypoint files strips "" (Double Quotes) away and causes endless problems, so that is something to be aware of, and why I have added the Fix Cup or Lxc File Format routine to Cupx Tools.
  10. NOTE:- the date field is autogenerated by CupX Tools as required by the LXNav devices. You should not add anythinig manual to this field - just leave it blank if you edit your file in any way. As a matter of interest, the format for the field is 2022-10-23T15:10:11.0000000Z
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Generating CupX Files from a .cup or .lxc file:-
  1. If you are wishing to manipulate a CupX file and NOT a Cup file, please look at the next HELP item below - UNPACKING a CupX File Using an EXISTING CupX file:-.
  2. Click on the "Select Cup or Lxa File to Process" button and browse to the .cup or .lxc file that you wish to create your CupX file from. Yes, LX Nav's .lxc Airport files are also convertible to CupX files
  3. Upon loading, the image on the left top will change to the area covered by the Cup file or the area delineated if the Boundaries Check Box is ticked.
  4. If you wish to, you can also click at this point "Click to Save Cup File Path button to save the settings you currently have chosen, however, they will automatically be saved in the next step.
  5. Changing the Set Max Zoom (13 Recommend) text box will set the maximum Google Image Zoom-Out for each downloaded image. Thirteen seems to be an optimal point, but you can change it if you wish.
  6. Changing the Number of Google Image ZOOM Steps (Recommend 1) will change the Zoom Steps between each downloaded Google Image. Usually this is 1, but you can change it if you wish. For instance, if you changed it to 3, then the first Google Image would have a ZOOM Level of 13, and the second, a ZOOM Level of 16 - which is Zoomed in very tightly. Feel free to experiment with what suits you best.
  7. Clicking the Create CupX File button does exactly that. There is a lot of mathematical goings on behind the scenes at this stage, and it will take a few minutes to download all the images from Google, but in a short time, the process will be finished. You can monitor progress on the Progress Bar below the Google Image.
  8. The resulting CupX file will be named "Your Cup File Name".cupx. If you have selected to the Boundary's Check Box, the latitude and Longitude of the Boundary Box will also be included in the CupX File's name.
  9. The modified Cup Data with the corrected header and generated image names will be created as "Your Cup File Name" Updated.cup or "Your Cup File Name" Updated.lxc. If you have selected to the Boundary's Check Box, the latitude and longitude will also be included in the Cup File's name. Your original Cup or Lxc File is not changed in any way!
  10. The newly downloaded Google Images will be in the zipped files pictures.zip (in the zip's subfolder pics), and the Cup file used is in the points.zip file.
  11. The newly generated Google Images are temporarily stored in the \New Images\pics folder.
  12. Test your new CUpX file by opening it in SeeYou or LX Asapt Editor.
  13. Note:- Each time you change your selected Cup or CupX file, any images in the Protected Images folder will be automatically saved in a zipped file Protected Images.zip for safe keeping.
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UNPACKING a CupX File Using an EXISTING CupX file:-

You can also use this process to add additional images into your CupX file while PRESERVING any current images in the file:-
  1. Use the Select CupX File to UNPACK button to the select the CupX file that you wish to UNPACK into its component files.
  2. The UNPACKED files will be placed in a new subfolder called Unpacked Data. This carefully protects your original data from being overwritten, and any Protected Images and downloaded Google images will be extracted to the relevant folders in the Unpacked Data folder as well for safety.
  3. The Cup file is extracted to "Your Cup File Name" Unpacked.cup. If it is a .lxc file, it will have the appropriate file extension.
  4. The Unpacking process only take a few seconds.
  5. If you wish to add new Waypoints or Custom images to a new .CupX file based upon your Unpacked Data, please edit the YourCupXFileName Unpacked.cup or .lxc file with the relevant new data in a text editor like Notepad or the free Notepad++ (a much better alternative). Carefully save your new .cup of .lxa file UNDER A NEW NAME.
  6. Add any new Custom images to the Protected Images folder, new using your edited .cup or .lxa file, then CREATE a new .Cupx file from your updated .cup or .lxc file.
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REPACKING the CupX File:-

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MANUALLY CREATING AND PROTECTING IMAGES for Inclusion in a CupX File:-

NOTE:- There has been MORE MASSIVE changes to this procedure, and it is now much easier – Please re-read carefully!
On occasion, you may wish to use an image from another source that you have edited in some way to your liking. Maybe with yellow lines to more clearly show the runway, for instance. Please follow the steps below if this is the case

There are two primary methods of updating or adding Waypoints, or including additional Custom images. NOTE:- Google images will ALWAYS updated when creating a .CupX file.
  1. If you have the original .Cup or .LXC file to hand, as well as any original Custom images, you can recreate your .CupX file after editing your Waypoint file with any new data, and adding any new Custom imnages to the Protected Images folder.
  2. If you do not have access to the original waypoint file and Custom Images, do not worry, as you can UNPACK any .CupX file to gain access to all the data contained within. Please read the section upbove on UNPACKING a CupX file, and then continue from there with the newly UNPACKED data from your existing .CupX in the Unpacked Data folder.
Adding new Custom Images
  1. The format of the image MUST be .jpg
  2. Ideally, the image should be sized to 480x360 pixels, to match other images, but it not essential.
  3. If you are going to add new images to an existing .CupX file, use the UNPACK routine mentioned above. You will need to edit the existing waypoint file to include the new images.
  4. It is ESSENTAL that any new images added to the waypoint file has each image separated with a ";" (semicolon), and that the full images string is enclosed within "" (parentheses)
  5. To PROTECT an image and make it permanent in the .CupX file if it is recreated, its file name may now be named ALMOST anything you like. However, the Google images have a set format so they can be updated everytime. The format is 4 numbers + N or S + 5 numbers + E or W + - + Waypoint Name + -Z + Zoom Number.jpg. As in 2453S11340E-CARNARVON-Z13.jpg. If you wish to use a Google image as a Custom image, you can make it permanent in the Protected images folder by renaming it. In this case, just removing the "-Z13" will suffice!
  6. Ideally, it should have the name of the Waypoint it is associated with at least.
  7. The NAME of the image must be in the waypoint file, which should only be edited with a TEXT editor such as NOTEPAD. Do not use EXCEL or you will make irreversible changes to the file and it will no longer be a valid file!
  8. Place any new images in the Protected Images folder, and process the file as described in Generating CupX Files from a .cup file:- or UNPACKING a CupX File Using an EXISTING CupX file.
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The "Get Image Status" button generates three Reports that show:-

    1. Click the "Cancel" button to abort the process.
    2. Click the "Select Another File" buttom if you wish to change from the curretnly selected Waypoint file.
    3. Click the "Continue" button to use the currently selected Waypoint file shown at the top right of the App.
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