Release Trade Computer Extension Mk.II

[eventure]

Arrgh... you're probably going to kill me @eventure , but... I cleared the shopping list late yesterday because I'd found all the items (and because I got a mid-flight, system-arrival crash popup dialogue - my guess it was the Python MkII, but that's just a guess).

I've had a look at mine just now, and there's other stuff in it now (plus a new instance of the Python MkII). I've attached it just in case, but I doubt it's useful - my apologies (I promise you I'll try and recreate the situation if I can, and save that tsl file properly at the time).

I've just launched TCE for today's session, and did my usual DB verify, and noticed that the Cartography DB is flagging up an error, so I've also attached here a copy of the PRIOR to doing the repair. However, I'm not 100% sure this is related to the issue at hand with the shopping-list, because I had a situation yesterday where I had quit ED (to menu), leaving TCE running, came back later after the PC had slept and re-awoken, tried to re-enter the game, and it all seemed to freeze, finally giving me a Scarlet Krait error. For some reason I could not seem to bring TCE to the front in order to properly exit it, so I ended up killing it from the Task Manager (subprocess first, then main task)... and it's my guess this is probably what's behind the cartography error. However, that's a hunch, so I could be way off.

Which other DBs do you want me to give you? I don't mind, so long as nothing 'personal/private' is involved (unless I can send them to you off-forum, in which case I'm less worried... I just don't fancy dropping files here if they're going to result in my compromising my Steam or Frontier account. Forgive my caution, but these days, it's essential, as I'm sure you understand!) Let me know which files you need, and I'll paste them here.

Finally, I just loaded into game now, and had a quick look at the Shopping cart after everything had settled down - and I could see the Python 2 and the Soontill Relics both showing X NO DESTINATION FOUND on the right, and on the left, a [1] next to each. As a test, I added a Commodity entry - Indite, and that came up with the location I am currently at (Kuhn) on the right, and the [1] again on the left. I then pressed 'UPDATE SHOPPING LIST' and the Python then got a hit location and its entry on the right changed to Halbarapii:Godwin Vision:

I'm guessing the Soontill Relics don't show a destination simply because I'm way out of range of the system where I picked up a bunch yesterday for the Engineer. No mystery there.

As I said, let me know specifically which DB files you need, and how best to send them to you (the forum will only let me upload 10 zips, and some of them like RMarkets.DB and Stars.DB are too big if zipped standalone or in a pack, and if I 'span' them as 2MB zips, we end up with more than 10 zips in total. Headache

To send me your files, simply click the "Report a Bug" button in the launcher.
TCE will create an archive containing all the necessary files for me and then open your installed email client so you can attach the created file, which can then be sent to my email address along with the bug report, screenshots, etc.
If the file is too big to attach, please include a link to download the file from a file host you use or like.

 

[TinyBigJacko]

To send me your files, simply click the "Report a Bug" button in the launcher.
TCE will create an archive containing all the necessary files for me and then open your installed email client so you can attach the created file, which can then be sent to my email address along with the bug report, screenshots, etc.
If the file is too big to attach, please include a link to download the file from a file host you use or like.

Send via Google Drive just now.
Thanks again for your time and efforts with this!

 

[Churchill16]

Hi Eventure,

First of all, I want to say it's an amazing application! However, I have an issue. The first time I start TCE, it takes about 2 minutes to launch, but after that, I can use it without any problems. Unfortunately, when I try to load it a second time, it gets stuck in an infinite loading loop when I click login. Eventually, after 15 to 20 minutes, it loads, but I don't think it's supposed to take that long.

Here are the steps I've taken to resolve the issue:

• Made antivirus exceptions for all TCE, TCE-RELAY, and EDMC folders, files, and processes.
• Made firewall exceptions for all the executable files.
• Tried reinstalling, which allows it to start the first time, but it still gets stuck on subsequent attempts.
• I cannot create a log file since I can't get into the launcher as it constantly loads.

System specs:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz, 4200 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BaseBoard Product: B250M BAZOOKA (MS-7A70)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 24.0 GB
Graphics card: NVIDIA GEFORCE 1080 Gaming X
All mod files installed on an M.2 drive.
Elite Dangerous installed on a SATA SSD.

I appreciate any help you can provide. I've sent an email aswell with the report logs and all to the email provided.

Kind regards.

 

[eventure]

Hi Eventure,

First of all, I want to say it's an amazing application! However, I have an issue. The first time I start TCE, it takes about 2 minutes to launch, but after that, I can use it without any problems. Unfortunately, when I try to load it a second time, it gets stuck in an infinite loading loop when I click login. Eventually, after 15 to 20 minutes, it loads, but I don't think it's supposed to take that long.

Here are the steps I've taken to resolve the issue:

• Made antivirus exceptions for all TCE, TCE-RELAY, and EDMC folders, files, and processes.
• Made firewall exceptions for all the executable files.
• Tried reinstalling, which allows it to start the first time, but it still gets stuck on subsequent attempts.
• I cannot create a log file since I can't get into the launcher as it constantly loads.

System specs:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz, 4200 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BaseBoard Product: B250M BAZOOKA (MS-7A70)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 24.0 GB
Graphics card: NVIDIA GEFORCE 1080 Gaming X
All mod files installed on an M.2 drive.
Elite Dangerous installed on a SATA SSD.

I appreciate any help you can provide. I've sent an email aswell with the report logs and all to the email provided.

Kind regards.

Hi CMDR Churchill16,

TCE is attempting to run EDMC to call the Frontier servers to provide data to TCE.

This is not a true loading issue, but rather an issue with waiting for a connection and receiving data.

Make sure you have started EDMC once before starting TCE, as EDMC will request permission from the Frontier servers on your behalf.
You must confirm this permission so that EDMC can then connect to the servers and retrieve player data.

I think that's the problem you're facing. Check if EDMC is working properly by launching the app individually.
A message in the EDMC footer will tell you if everything is working properly. Otherwise, your browser will open and ask you to log in to Frontier to approve the app.

 

[Stumpii]

Question Eventure: I am writing some small code to create a commodity shopping list for importing into TCE. In the example below, the ItemID comes from public_Goods table in the Resources.db. Is this a hardcoded/fixed ID or does it change per install or per user. If fixed, I can export the name and ID from the .db once for inclusion in my code rather than using a SQLite reader to read the ID each time.

<TCE_ShoppingList>
<ShoppingListItems
ItemCount="2"

Category1="1"
ItemID1="26"
ItemName1="ALUMINIUM"
ItemType1="COMMODITY"
ItemNumber1="3464"
ItemAvgPrice1="2540"

Category2="1"
ItemID2="255"
ItemName2="STEEL"
ItemType2="COMMODITY"
ItemNumber2="7140"
ItemAvgPrice2="4179"
</ShoppingListItems>
</TCE_ShoppingList>

Thanks!

 

[Kvoo]

I don't quite understand a few things:
I am using TCE-Relay and EDMC, but the results I get from the route finder seem wildly different (and with much worse profits) from the web-based tools like inara or the spansh trade planner, even with the same data age settings etc.

For Example, I'll compare 2 similar searches between Inara and TCE using 61 Cygni (where I am docked right now) as the starting point.

Here is the search I've done on Inara:

Profit per trip is at 1.7m CR.

But doing the same search through TCE:

I don't understand why it would differ so much, and I don't understand why the total profit it shows is so low.
Does using TCE-Relay/EDMC not make sure I have the most recent data? Looking at Navigation -> Market Places, it seems the vast majority of the data in there is days or even weeks old. Did something go wrong here?

 

[eventure]

Question Eventure: I am writing some small code to create a commodity shopping list for importing into TCE. In the example below, the ItemID comes from public_Goods table in the Resources.db. Is this a hardcoded/fixed ID or does it change per install or per user. If fixed, I can export the name and ID from the .db once for inclusion in my code rather than using a SQLite reader to read the ID each time.

<TCE_ShoppingList>
<ShoppingListItems
ItemCount="2"

Category1="1"
ItemID1="26"
ItemName1="ALUMINIUM"
ItemType1="COMMODITY"
ItemNumber1="3464"
ItemAvgPrice1="2540"

Category2="1"
ItemID2="255"
ItemName2="STEEL"
ItemType2="COMMODITY"
ItemNumber2="7140"
ItemAvgPrice2="4179"

</ShoppingListItems>
</TCE_ShoppingList>

Thanks!

Yes, they are fixed.

I don't quite understand a few things:
I am using TCE-Relay and EDMC, but the results I get from the route finder seem wildly different (and with much worse profits) from the web-based tools like inara or the spansh trade planner, even with the same data age settings etc.

View attachment 432598

For Example, I'll compare 2 similar searches between Inara and TCE using 61 Cygni (where I am docked right now) as the starting point.

Here is the search I've done on Inara:
View attachment 432599

Profit per trip is at 1.7m CR.

But doing the same search through TCE:
View attachment 432600
View attachment 432601

I don't understand why it would differ so much, and I don't understand why the total profit it shows is so low.
Does using TCE-Relay/EDMC not make sure I have the most recent data? Looking at Navigation -> Market Places, it seems the vast majority of the data in there is days or even weeks old. Did something go wrong here?

This depends on many factors, but INARA uses the available live data, while TCE can only use the nightly dumps from the EDDB and Spansh sites. Also, TCE doesn't always include all available trading stations; I usually update this database monthly. Currently, TCE contains a database of approximately 342,000 stations, which is already quite a lot, but new ones are probably added daily.

Therefore, the search results for two-way routes may vary, but when I updated my database again yesterday, similarly good results were returned. Keep in mind that the TCE display shows profit per unit, not total revenue per trip.

 

[Kvoo]

Yes, they are fixed.


This depends on many factors, but INARA uses the available live data, while TCE can only use the nightly dumps from the EDDB and Spansh sites. Also, TCE doesn't always include all available trading stations; I usually update this database monthly. Currently, TCE contains a database of approximately 342,000 stations, which is already quite a lot, but new ones are probably added daily.

Therefore, the search results for two-way routes may vary, but when I updated my database again yesterday, similarly good results were returned. Keep in mind that the TCE display shows profit per unit, not total revenue per trip.

I see, thanks for the explanation. Would it not be possible to have TCE display live data? I was looking for a trading overlay tool that can do that but unfortunately came up empty. As it stands I'm using Inara or Spansh's route planner for this reason.

I'm wondering why TCE can't query more recent live data when it is needed, to update older datapoints, in conjunction with the local database.

The trade finder also really needs a way to filter out Systems that need permits for those who dont have them yet.

By the way, I have a pretty high end system but I'm having issues with TCEs performance, any idea why? The UI sometimes reacts very slowly or even throws errors

 

[eventure]

Would it not be possible to have TCE display live data?

TCE was developed in the early days of the game, in 2014, and was designed as a local offline data collection tool (remember amyone TCE Mk.I?).

Over time, it became possible to read the data using OCR, which simplified data collection compared to manual entry. Later, Frontier released the Companion App, which now allowed data to be retrieved directly from the server via EDMC.

As you can see, there are now attractive online sites with live data. These are based on extensive databases that provide as much current data as possible so you can quickly find the right information.

TCE is still a local app on your PC, without the underlying server infrastructure. It can only provide data that the online sites provide in a nightly dump.

I'm wondering why TCE can't query more recent live data when it is needed, to update older datapoints, in conjunction with the local database.

This is where TCE Relay comes in, which uses this data and populates your local databases. This data is not live, but at most 24 hours old.

The trade finder also really needs a way to filter out Systems that need permits for those who dont have them yet.

The data dumps don't contain this information, and permissions are player-dependent. As far as I know, even INARA doesn't have this filter, but I could be wrong.

By the way, I have a pretty high end system but I'm having issues with TCEs performance, any idea why? The UI sometimes reacts very slowly or even throws errors

Keep in mind that TCE uses all available CPU power in addition to the game. Unfortunately, compromises have to be made. As soon as TCE detects that the game is running, it only uses a portion of the processor cores to avoid overloading the game. TCE dynamically decides how many processor cores to use. However, if too many processes have to be processed in the background, it can lead to lag or errors. This usually determines TCE's trading range. You can change this in the launcher's "Extensions" menu, or, if you're not using TCE Relay, in the navigation menu.

I recommend choosing a trading range setting that's approximately 2-3 times your jump range. This gives TCE time to recalculate all changes after your jump without causing lag or freezes. Currently, TCE can use a maximum of 32 cores to perform all types of calculations.

 

[Churchill16]

Hi CMDR Churchill16,

TCE is attempting to run EDMC to call the Frontier servers to provide data to TCE.

This is not a true loading issue, but rather an issue with waiting for a connection and receiving data.

Make sure you have started EDMC once before starting TCE, as EDMC will request permission from the Frontier servers on your behalf.
You must confirm this permission so that EDMC can then connect to the servers and retrieve player data.

I think that's the problem you're facing. Check if EDMC is working properly by launching the app individually.
A message in the EDMC footer will tell you if everything is working properly. Otherwise, your browser will open and ask you to log in to Frontier to approve the app.

Hi Eventure,

Thank you for your quick response.

EDMC appears to be working fine—it takes around 10 minutes to fully start up, gather data, and update, but overall it's functioning as expected.

TCE, on the other hand, still takes a very long time to load, even after I’ve let TCE Relay run beforehand and given it time to process everything. I recall reading something about ED servers potentially having issues with Dutch ISPs, though I’m not sure if that’s related.

At the time of writing, TCE has been loading for about 20 to 30 minutes. It does eventually load, but it feels like it’s taking much longer than it should. I'd like to add that I've started TCE after EDMC has finished loading and fetched all the data.

Hope we can narrow down the issue as I still think it's a really amazing tool and I'm very impressed with the effort that's gone into it!

Kind regards.

 

[eventure]

EDMC appears to be working fine—it takes around 10 minutes to fully start up, gather data, and update, but overall it's functioning as expected.

10 minutes to start?!? It takes one second here. TCE uses the EDMC.exe, a commandline tool to quickly export informations to files.
You can test the tool by opening the command prompt and enter/copy this and hit enter key:

c:\Program Files (x86)\EDMarketConnector\edmc.exe --loglevel DEBUG -m %temp%\test.csv

TCE, on the other hand, still takes a very long time to load, even after I’ve let TCE Relay run beforehand and given it time to process everything. I recall reading something about ED servers potentially having issues with Dutch ISPs, though I’m not sure if that’s related.

If you're still stuck on the login screen and all the boxes below are filled, it may just be a problem with EDMC's connection to the Frontier server. Try uninstalling EDMC. Then start TCE and see if that resolves the issue.

Hope we can narrow down the issue as I still think it's a really amazing tool and I'm very impressed with the effort that's gone into it!

Thank you! Indeed alot of coding time went into it!

 

[Churchill16]

10 minutes to start?!? It takes one second here. TCE uses the EDMC.exe, a commandline tool to quickly export informations to files.
You can test the tool by opening the command prompt and enter/copy this and hit enter key:

c:\Program Files (x86)\EDMarketConnector\edmc.exe --loglevel DEBUG -m %temp%\test.csv

If you're still stuck on the login screen and all the boxes below are filled, it may just be a problem with EDMC's connection to the Frontier server. Try uninstalling EDMC. Then start TCE and see if that resolves the issue.

Thank you! Indeed alot of coding time went into it!

Hey Eventure,

I gave the command line you sent a try, and it completed after about 10 minutes give or take. I've attached the CSV it generated. I looked for any log files as well, but it doesn’t seem like any were created apart from the CSV.

I uninstalled EDMC and then started TCE and it loaded almost instantly. So I’m pretty confident now that EDMC is what's causing the long loading times. The tricky part is figuring out why. I had a look through EDMC’s GitHub page, but I couldn’t find anything about enabling debug logs or generating them unless I somehow missed it.

I'm glad we've at least narrowed it down to EDMC being the issue, but I’m still stumped as to why it’s taking so long. I already tried reinstalling it, but that didn’t help. When I launch EDMC, it just opens up as a white, unresponsive window for a good five minutes before finally trying to fetch the commander data.

Not really sure where to dig next. I haven’t been able to find much in terms of forums or other posts about this kind of issue. Do you have any ideas?

 

[eventure]

Hey Eventure,

I gave the command line you sent a try, and it completed after about 10 minutes give or take. I've attached the CSV it generated. I looked for any log files as well, but it doesn’t seem like any were created apart from the CSV.

I uninstalled EDMC and then started TCE and it loaded almost instantly. So I’m pretty confident now that EDMC is what's causing the long loading times. The tricky part is figuring out why. I had a look through EDMC’s GitHub page, but I couldn’t find anything about enabling debug logs or generating them unless I somehow missed it.

I'm glad we've at least narrowed it down to EDMC being the issue, but I’m still stumped as to why it’s taking so long. I already tried reinstalling it, but that didn’t help. When I launch EDMC, it just opens up as a white, unresponsive window for a good five minutes before finally trying to fetch the commander data.

Not really sure where to dig next. I haven’t been able to find much in terms of forums or other posts about this kind of issue. Do you have any ideas?

Since no one else has reported such a problem, it must be something wrong with your PC or your internet provider.
I was having problems with my download speeds a few months ago and found this little tool:

TCP Optimizer

After setting my computer to "Optimal" settings, all problems were resolved immediately. Try it yourself. It's free, but you must run it with administrator privileges.

Do you also have access to a second PC, laptop, or similar device to check if the EDMC issue persists?
Are you experiencing any other connectivity issues, lag, or disconnects? Please contact your internet provider.

This is how I would try to resolve your issue.

 

[Imhotheb]

Hello,
why is TCE always says Extendet Gamelog not Aktiv?.

So i cannot start it.
I have tryed it to start again and the complete Pc.
I dont know the problem.

Your welcome
Imhotheb

 

[Imhotheb]

Hello,
why is TCE always says Extendet Gamelog not Aktiv?.

View attachment 434983

So i cannot start it.
I have tryed it to start again and the complete Pc.
I dont know the problem.

Your welcome
Imhotheb

So it started but Game Log Extended is wrong.
My game path is : e:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous\Products\elite-dangerous-odyssey-64\
but it doesnt work. I have install it in other folder and so. Take the Autokonfiguration.
It says this path: e:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous\Products\elite-dangerous-odyssey-64\

But Game log Extended is off.
When i change the folder to the : e:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous\

and take the EDLAUNCH.EXE it can be started.
But when i get onlione it doesnt work.

Greetings
Imhotheb

 

[eventure]

So it started but Game Log Extended is wrong.
My game path is : e:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous\Products\elite-dangerous-odyssey-64\
but it doesnt work. I have install it in other folder and so. Take the Autokonfiguration.
It says this path: e:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous\Products\elite-dangerous-odyssey-64\

But Game log Extended is off.
When i change the folder to the : e:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous\

and take the EDLAUNCH.EXE it can be started.
But when i get onlione it doesnt work.

Greetings
Imhotheb

Edit your AppConfig.xml file, located in Elite Dangerous\Products\elite-dangerous-64\ folder, if there is the entry VerboseLogging = "1" under <NETWORK section. It should look like that:

<Network
VerboseLogging="1"
Port="0"
upnpenabled="1"
LogFile="netLog"
DatestampLog="1"
</Network>


To edit the right file, you have to identify the proper location of the file. Please check this: https://support.frontier.co.uk/kb/faq.php?id=108

Start Elite Dangerous till you are in the game.Start TCE.Check first, if the right folder path was selected within TCE to your game version (like elite-dangerous-64).Launch TCE.

On the other side, you can create a file named AppConfigLocal.xml at the products/elite-dangerous-64 folder beside the Appconfig.xml file with the following content:

<AppConfig>
<Network
VerboseLogging="1"
</Network>
</AppConfig>


Thereafter you will no longer need to set verboselogging after an update of Elite, but you have to remove the VerboseLogging="1" entry once from the AppConfig.xml file.