What's What?
The Moving Map Instrument is really made up of 2 separate programs. The first is called MMAP.EXE, this is the actual map itself that is displayed while you are flying around. The second program is called mmaptool.exe, this is a utility that is used for things such as setting up scenery sets, registering the software and so on.

Moving Map Tool (mmaptool.exe)
The Moving Map Tool is used for several things. The first and probably primary function is to create scenery sets that will be loaded into the map when you are flying around. See the help page on Getting Started for more information on how to create a scenery set.

The second function is to create your own navaids. Normally you would just set up scenery sets for your existing scenery and use them to load into Moving Map. You may, however, want to create your own navaids for one reason or another. For example, you may want to fly long distance cross country and your scenery does not include any navaids for that area.

The third function is to setup the parameters required to run the Moving Map display on a second computer. You need to tell Moving Map what COM port to use, whether it is the primary computer and so on. See the section on Using Two Computers for more information.

The fourth function is to register the software. When you register this software, you will be sent a registration key which will enable all of the programs features. When you have received this key, you will enter it using the Moving Map Tool. See the section on Registering for more information.

Finally, you can save your scenery sets that you have created. This can be  extremely useful if you use some other flight simulator tools and utilities that require latitude/longitude information in a certain format. I have include several export formats, including some for the GPS utilities that are available for Flight Simulator. I will be happy to add more formats if you specifically need another one added. I have also included a generic Comma Separated Values (CSV) format. This kind of format can be imported to programs like Microsoft Excel to be further manipulated if required.

Another very useful reason to export your scenery sets is the issue of speed. If you have a scenery set for Chicago say, every time you load that set, it will read and interogate all the appropriate BGL files. This can take some time depending on the size and number of files invloved. If you do a one-off save as MMP format, you can setup a scenery set that reads the MMP file rather than all the BGL files, resulting in a MUCH QUICKER load time.
 

Moving Map (mmap.exe)
The Moving Map is the component of this software that is displayed while you are flying. If you start Moving Map while Flight Simulator is running, it will detect the current settings and start straight away. If you start Moving Map and Flight Simulator is not running, it will display a message advising you to start Flight Simulator first.

To move the Moving Map around the screen, click and drag along the top part of the display. To resize the Moving Map, click and drag any of the borders of the display, just like any other window. To display a popup menu, right click along the top part of the display. To get more information on a waypoint, click on the waypoint.
 

Along the top of the display is Indicated Airspeed (IAS), Heading, Altitude and True Airspeed (TAS). Down the left hand side of the display are various commands. If a command is on it will be highlighted. For example, the image at right shows the "COMP" (Compass rose) is on. The dotted blue line is the wind direction with the wind speed shown next to it in a brighter blue. Dupage airport has been selected so it is in red. When you click on an object, you will get more information on it at the bottom of the screen. DTO is how far away the object is in nautical miles, BRG is the heading you will need to fly to get there and ETE is how long it will take to get there. The white lines are the runways. They are shown as 8 times longer than they really are, otherwise you would not be able to see them from a distance.  To select an object, click on it with the left mouse button. To deselect and object, click on it again.  A description of each command follows...  MAP - Click on this to display the Map view  GRAPH - Click on this to display the graph screens rather than the map screen  KBD - Click on this to put moving map into keyboard mode. (you can also press Shift+Spacebar,  see Keyboard operation for more info)  IN - Click on this to zoom in closer  OUT - Click on this to zoom out further  RST - Click on this to reset the zoom level to default  LOAD - Click on this to load a scenery set  COMP - Click on this to toggle the compass rose  GRID - Click on this to toggle the grid on the globe.  PLOT - Click on this to show a trail of where you have been  APT - Click on this to toggle the display of airports  VOR - Click on this to toggle the display of VORs   NDB - Click on this to toggle the display of NDBs   RWY - Click on this to toggle the display of runways   ILS - Click on this to toggle the display of ILSs  OMI - Click on this to toggle the display of OMIs     VIEW - Click on this to start the database viewer

 

Moving Map (Keystroke Commands)
As mentioned above, you can control the Moving Map using the mouse. In my opinion, it is far better to use the keyboard to control all of its functions. I have designed the keyboard routines of this software specifically for ease of use and to ensure that no disruption occurs during flight.

The Moving Map has a hotkey which will activate and de-activate keyboard mode. This key is SHIFT+SPACEBAR. If you press Shift+Spacebar you will notice the "KBD" indicator light up on the left hand side of the Moving Map display. The Moving Map does not have to have the focus to do this. While you are flying around, pressing Shift+Spacebar will toggle Keyboard mode on and off.

You can hide and show the Moving Map display by pressing CTRL+SPACEBAR. This lets you only display the Moving Map when you need to.

When the Moving Map is in keyboard mode (that is, the KBD indicator is lit), the following keys will perform certain actions and will have NO effect on Flight Simulator (or any other application for that matter).

PLEASE READ THE FILE CALLED KEYS.TXT FOR ALL KEYSTROKE COMMANDS

 

The image at right is the graph of Altitude over time. Pressing G while in keyboard mode or clicking on the GRAPH indicator will display this screen and hide the map screen. You can scroll the graph around by clicking with right mouse button and moving the mouse, keeping the right button pressed. You can zoom into the graph by drawing a rectangle with the left mouse button over the area you want to zoom into. To reset the zoom level, draw a rectangle with the left mouse button from right to left. To RESET and clear the plotted points click the RESET indicator or if the Moving Map is in KBD mode, press the E key.

Moving Map (Keystroke Commands for Graph View)
In a similar fashion to using keystrokes for the map view, you can control the graph view the same way. Make sure the Moving Map is in KEYBOARD mode. To do this press SHIFT+SPACEBAR and make sure the KBD indicator is lit.

You can hide and show the Moving Map display by pressing CTRL+SHIFT. This lets you only display the Moving Map when you need to.

While in Graph view, the following keystrokes apply
 

PLEASE READ THE FILE CALLED KEYS.TXT FOR ALL KEYSTROKE COMMANDS
 

 
Moving Map (Popup Menu)
If you click the right mouse button somewhere near the top of the Moving Map display you will get a small popup menu. From this menu you can get version information, reset the size of the display to default, close down Moving Map, and maximise and minimise the Moving Map display window.