Taxiway XML Properties

This page lists the different elements and attributes required to generate properly formed XML for taxiways into airports. The information on this page is used along with the information for creating an Airport - since approaches are specifically for airports - which can be found here:

• Airport XML Properties

The different taxiway elements would go inside of the <Airport> element, and you can (and normally would) define multiple taxiways in a single airport. It is very important to note that these elements must go in the following order:

1) List all your Taxiway Points.

2) Define any Taxiway Parking.

3) Define any Service Stands.

4) Define any Taxi Names.

5) list all the Taxiway Paths.

The image below shows an example:

<TaxiwayPoint />#

This element is used to add a point to the taxiway network for routing on the ground within an <Airport> element. Since the network will contain many taxiway points (and possibly parking spots), each of these locations need to have an “index” that uniquely identifies a point when building the network.

When defining a taxiway point, there are two ways to specify the position:

• The first is to use a lat/lon pair that will give the exact coordinate
• the second is to use a biasX/biasZ pair that specifies the displacement of the point from the airport reference point

Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<WaitingRoom />#

This element still appears in the bglcomp.xsd file, but is obsolete and not used by the simulation. It has no sub-elements, and the following attributes:

nameplaneStandNamelatlonbiasXbiasZheadingapronControlIndex

<TaxiwayParking />#

This element is used to add a parking spot to the taxiway network. Taxiway parking spots can have preferred airline designations. Since the network will contain many taxiway points and parking spots, each of these locations need to have an “index” that uniquely identifies a point when building the network.

When defining a taxiway parking spot, there are two ways to specify the position:

• The first is to use a lat/lon pair that will give the exact coordinate
• the second is to use a biasX/biasZ pair that specifies the displacement of the point from the airport reference point

The size of a parking spot required for an aircraft is taken from the wingspan of the aircraft recorded in the Aircraft Configuration Files. The wingspan is converted to meters and rounded up.

This element may contain the sub-elements <Coloration /> and <Material />, and has the following attributes:

Attribute

Description

Type

Required

displayName

The display name for the object in the Scenery Editor.

String

No

parentGroupID

The ID of the parent group this object belongs to.

Integer

No

groupIndex

The group index of the object.

Integer

No

index

Identifier index assigned to this taxiway parking spot inside of an airport. This identifier must be unique for all <TaxiwayPoint>, <TaxiwayParking> and <TaxiwayServiceStand> locations. Values must be between 0 and 65534.

Integer

Yes

lat

Latitude of the airport reference point, in degrees between -90.0° and 90.0°

Float

Yes

(only if biasX and biasY are not used)

lon

Longitude of the airport reference point, in degrees between -180.0° and 180.0°

Float

Yes

(only if biasX and biasY are not used)

biasX

Bias from airport reference along the longitudinal axis in meters.

Float

Yes

(only if lat and lon are not used)

biasZ

Bias from airport reference along the latitudinal axis in meters.

Float

Yes

(only if lat and lon are not used)

heading

The parking spot heading - oriented from the North - from -360.0° to 360.0°.

Float

Yes

radius

The parking spot radius, in meters.

Float

Yes

type

Taxiway parking type.

Enum:

NONE
DOCK_GA
FUEL
GATE_HEAVY
GATE_MEDIUM
GATE_SMALL
RAMP_CARGO
RAMP_GA
RAMP_GA_LARGE
RAMP_GA_MEDIUM
RAMP_GA_SMALL
RAMP_MIL_CARGO
RAMP_MIL_COMBAT
VEHICLE
RAMP_GA_EXTRA
GATE_EXTRA
HELICOPTER

Yes

name

Taxiway parking name.

Enum:

DOCK
E_PARKING
GATE
GATE_A
GATE_B
GATE_C
GATE_D
GATE_E
GATE_F
GATE_G
GATE_H
GATE_I
GATE_J
GATE_K
GATE_L
GATE_M
GATE_N
GATE_O
GATE_P
GATE_Q
GATE_R
GATE_S
GATE_T
GATE_U
GATE_V
GATE_W
GATE_X
GATE_Y
GATE_Z
NE_PARKING
NONE
N_PARKING
NW_PARKING
PARKING
SE_PARKING
S_PARKING
SW_PARKING
W_PARKING

Yes

number

Number of this spot (goes with given name),from 0 to 65534

Integer

Yes

suffix

Suffix to be added to the taxiway parking name and number.

Enum:

GATE_A
GATE_B
GATE_C
GATE_D
GATE_E
GATE_F
GATE_G
GATE_H
GATE_I
GATE_J
GATE_K
GATE_L
GATE_M
GATE_N
GATE_O
GATE_P
GATE_Q
GATE_R
GATE_S
GATE_T
GATE_U
GATE_V
GATE_W
GATE_X
GATE_Y
GATE_Z
NONE

No

pushBack

The behavior of “parking pushback” is to push back the aircraft either one wingspan radius, or to the first taxiway node (whichever comes first), do a 180° turn, and then proceed along the taxiways. There is no control over which way the aircraft will turn the 180°, but if the pushback of one radius is too far, entering a taxiway node closer to the parking area will shorten the pushback distance.

Enum:

1. NONE
2. BOTH
3. LEFT
4. RIGHT

No

teeOffset1

Stopping points for aircraft, in meters, from the center of the parking spot. Value is between 0.1 to 50.0

Float

No

teeOffset2teeOffset3teeOffset4airlineCodes

This is a comma separated list of airline codes that can use this parking spot. This text should match the strings entered for the atc_parking_codes entry for the aircraft. To maintain compatibility, the ICAO code for airlines should be used.

String list

No

manufacturerNames

This is a comma separated list of manufacturer names that can be used to limit the aircraft that spawn on the parking spot. The list will be compared against the ui_manufacturer parameter of all available aircraft variations.

String

No

numberMarking

Enable (TRUE) or disable (FALSE) number markings for the taxiway parking point.

Bool

No

numberBiasX

Bias from parking spot reference along the longitudinal axis in meters.

Float

No

numberBiasZ

Bias from parking spot reference along the latitudinal axis in meters.

Float

No

numberHeading

The parking spot number heading, from -360.0° to 360.0°.

Float

No

has3DMesh

When this attribute is “TRUE”, the parking space will generate a fuel mesh.

Bool

No

drawDirt

When this attribute is “TRUE”, a dirt texture will be applied to the area within and around the parking space (the actual texture used will depend on the size and type of parking). Note that ground vehicle parking will ignore have this attribute.

Bool

No

touchdown

When this attribute is “TRUE” - and the heliopterStand attribute is also “TRUE” - an interior circle marking will be added to the helicopter parking spot.

Bool

No

centralZone

When this attribute is “TRUE” - and the heliopterStand attribute is also “TRUE” - a central circle marking will be added to the helicopter parking spot.

Bool

No

helicopterStand

When this attribute is “TRUE”, the parking space be considered as being a helicopter stand. Requires that the type is “HELICOPTER”.

Bool

No

alignmentLine

When this attribute is “TRUE” - and the heliopterStand attribute is also “TRUE” - a painted indicator line will be added through the parking spot, aligned with the taxiway path that the spot is attached to.

Bool

No

collocatedWithTLOF

When this attribute is “TRUE” - and the heliopterStand attribute is also “TRUE” - it change the exterior painted circle to be a white TLOF (touch down and lift off) area marking.

Bool

No

passengerAccessType

This attribute defines the kind of passenger access for the parking spot, and assigns a boarding flow apron service to this parking for the Passenger Boarding Service. This flow will adapt to the possibilities allowed for the aircraft using the services. When this is not set, the spot will detect automatically if it has a Jetway or not, then behaving as if it was “BUS” or “JETWAY”.

Enum:

1. BUS
2. JETWAY
3. RAMP

No

apronControlIndex

This is the index of the Apron Controller to be assigned to this taxiway stand service location.

Integer

No

<TaxiwayServiceStand />#

A Taxiway Service Stand object is an element that is used to add a service control taxiway parking spot. Taxiway service stands can have preferred airline designations. Since the network will contain many taxiway points and service stands, each of these locations need to have an “index” that uniquely identifies a stand when building the network.

When defining a taxiway service stand, there are two ways to specify the position:

• The first is to use a lat/lon pair that will give the exact coordinate
• the second is to use a biasX/biasZ pair that specifies the displacement of the point from the airport reference point

This element may contain the sub-elements <Coloration /> and <Material />, and has the following attributes:

<TaxiName />#

This element is used to add a name to a <TaxiwayPath> element in the taxiway network. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<TaxiwayPath>#

This element can be used to add a taxiway path to the taxiway system for an airport. This element may contain the following sub-elements

1. <Coloration />
2. <Material />

If it has no sub-elements, then it can be self-closing. The element has the following attributes:

<TaxiwaySign />#

This element is used to add a taxiway sign to an airport. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

The label attribution is a string comprised of at least one sign-type symbol (a lower case letter) and one or more characters to define the sign contents. A simple example would be “l

” which creates a location sign for taxi “Golf”. The sign-type symbols are as follows:

The following characters describe the content of the sign. The characters can be any upper case letter (A-Z), any numerical digit (0-9), or any one of the following special characters:

Here are a couple more examples:

• l[AE] - This sign indicates to the pilot that they are on taxiway “alpha-echo”
• l[G]d[F\]m[11R-29L] - This sign will tell a pilot that they are located on taxiway Golf at the intersection with runway 11R/29L and that taxiway Foxtrot is back and to their right

Note the use of brackets in these examples. Brackets create the black outline around the letter on many of the signs, and if you omit the brackets the letter will have no “box” around it. You can also use brackets on direction and runway signs to increase the spacing at either end of the segment.

Direction signs are made up of a combination of directional arrows and taxiway and runway designators. Arrows can appear before or after the taxiway or runway designator. All of the following are valid direction signs:

• d/G
• dG/
• d/G/

Using these components you can create signs of arbitrary complexity.