How to change settings

The web site created by Virtual Radar Server is composed of a small number of HTML files and a large number of JavaScript files. The JavaScript is stored in <Program Files>\VirtualRadar\Web\Script.

Don't change those files, it won't work. The server will not serve modified files from that folder. You will have to reinstall Virtual Radar Server to get the original versions of those files back.

Most of the JavaScript stores its default settings in an object called VRS.globalOptions. You can inject content into the site to change these options so they're more to your liking.

You can also use the same technique to add to the site's CSS.

Scripts that change the settings or add CSS carry a small risk of breaking with future versions of Virtual Radar Server but that risk is very small. They are the most future-proof kind of alteration that you can make to the site.

The Template

Customising VRS.globalOptions involves injecting some JavaScript into the Desktop.html and Mobile.html pages. Create a file called CustomGlobalOptions.html on your computer (the name is not important, you can call it anything) and copy the following into it:

<script type="text/javascript">
    if(VRS && VRS.globalDispatch && VRS.serverConfig) {
        VRS.globalDispatch.hook(VRS.globalEvent.bootstrapCreated, function(bootStrap) {
            // This will run once, just after the server configuration has been loaded
            // but before any of the JavaScript objects are initialised.
            // ADD YOUR CONTENT AFTER THIS LINE
        });
    }
</script>

In the Custom Content plugin options configure the plugin to inject your file at the END of the HEAD for every HTML file (an address of *):

You don't need to restart the server - just reload the web page and the content of your HTML file will be injected into every HTML page served by the site. The file that contains the content is reloaded every time the user requests the web page that it has been injected into, so you do not need to do anything special to get changes picked up. You just need to reload the web page.

A Test Example

This script just displays an alert box with the text 'It worked!' when the page is loaded. If you use this script and you don't get the message then there's something wrong somewhere.

<script type="text/javascript">
    if(VRS && VRS.globalDispatch && VRS.serverConfig) {
        VRS.globalDispatch.hook(VRS.globalEvent.bootstrapCreated, function(bootStrap) {
            alert('It worked!');
        });
    }
</script>

Example Scripts

<script type="text/javascript">
    if(VRS && VRS.globalDispatch && VRS.serverConfig) {
        VRS.globalDispatch.hook(VRS.globalEvent.bootstrapCreated, function(bootStrap) {
            VRS.globalOptions.aircraftMarkerAllowAltitudeStalk = false;
        });
    }
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">
    if(VRS && VRS.globalDispatch && VRS.serverConfig) {
        VRS.globalDispatch.hook(VRS.globalEvent.bootstrapCreated, function(bootStrap) {
            VRS.globalOptions.suppressTrails = true;
        });
    }
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">
    if(VRS && VRS.globalDispatch && VRS.serverConfig) {
        VRS.globalDispatch.hook(VRS.globalEvent.bootstrapCreated, function(bootStrap) {
            VRS.globalOptions.aircraftListFixedRefreshInterval = 3000;
        });
    }
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">
    if(VRS && VRS.globalDispatch && VRS.serverConfig) {
        VRS.globalDispatch.hook(VRS.globalEvent.bootstrapCreated, function(bootStrap) {
            VRS.globalOptions.aircraftMarkerPinTextLines = 4;
            VRS.globalOptions.aircraftMarkerDefaultPinTexts = [
                VRS.RenderProperty.Registration,
                VRS.RenderProperty.FlightLevel,
                VRS.RenderProperty.Callsign,
                VRS.RenderProperty.RouteShort
            ];
        });
    }
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">
    if(VRS && VRS.globalDispatch && VRS.serverConfig) {
        VRS.globalDispatch.hook(VRS.globalEvent.bootstrapCreated, function(bootStrap) {
            VRS.globalOptions.aircraftHideUncertainCallsigns = true;
        });
    }
</script>

<style media="screen" type="text/css">
    .aircraftList .vrsEven:hover,
    .aircraftList .vrsOdd:hover {
        color: #ffffff;
        background-color: #327CD8;
    }
</style>

VRS.globalOptions Settings

Aircraft details

Aircraft lists

Map options

Miscellaneous

Reports

Note 1
The sort order is an array of objects with two properties, field (a VRS.AircraftListSortableField value - see enums.js) and ascending (true or false). The number of elements in the array indicates how many fields the user can sort by. The default value is an array of three elements:

VRS.globalOptions.aircraftListDefaultSortOrder = [
    { field: VRS.AircraftListSortableField.TimeTracked, ascending: true },
    { field: VRS.AircraftListSortableField.None,        ascending: true },
    { field: VRS.AircraftListSortableField.None,        ascending: true }
];

Note 2
The VRS.RenderProperty values are declared in enums.js. Note that not all VRS.RenderProperty values can be used as pin text (e.g. Picture and RouteFull cannot). The default value is an array of three elements - if you declare fewer elements than there are in VRS.globalOptions.aircraftMarkerPinTextLines then the missing elements are set to RenderProperty.None:

VRS.globalOptions.aircraftMarkerDefaultPinTexts = [
    VRS.RenderProperty.Registration,
    VRS.RenderProperty.Callsign,
    VRS.RenderProperty.Altitude
];

Note 3
True if a mobile page is loaded, false if a desktop page is loaded. This is passed through the option VRS.globalOptions.isMobile which is set to true by the mobile pages.

Note 4
True if a flight simulator page is loaded, false if a desktop page is loaded. This is passed through the option VRS.globalOptions.isFlightSim which is set to true by the flight simulator pages.

Note 5
The report sort order is an array of objects with two properties, field (a VRS.ReportSortColumn value - see enums.js) and ascending (true or false). The server will not sort by more than two fields, so it is pointless to set the array to more than two elements. The default report sort order is:

VRS.globalOptions.reportDefaultSortColumns = [
    { field: VRS.ReportSortColumn.Date, ascending: true },
    { field: VRS.ReportSortColumn.None, ascending: false }
];

Note 6
The altitude ranges in the array of colours and z-indexes for each polar plot (aka receiver range plot) must match the altitude ranges that the server is tracking and sending for each polar plotter. These are not configurable, if you change the altitude ranges here then it will not work. All you can do here is remove certain ranges entirely or change their colour / z-index. The default array is:

VRS.globalOptions.polarPlotAltitudeConfigs = VRS.globalOptions.polarPlotAltitudeConfigs || [
    { low: -1, high: -1, colour: '#000000', zIndex: -5 },
    { low: -1, high: 9999, colour: '#FFFFFF', zIndex: -1 },
    { low: 10000, high: 19999, colour: '#00FF00', zIndex: -2 },
    { low: 20000, high: 29999, colour: '#0000FF', zIndex: -3 },
    { low: 30000, high: -1, colour: '#FF0000', zIndex: -4 }
];