Last Updated 19 Jan 08   I. PROGRAM AVAILABILITY    A. How do I get Google Earth on my government NIPRNET computer?    B. How do I get Google Earth on my SIPRNET/JWICS computer?    C. What is Microsoft .NET 2.0 and where do I get it? II. INSTALLATION ISSUES    A. How do I install PFPS Google Earth Tool?    B. Nothing happens when I click on PFPS Google Earth Tool.EXE    C. I get an error telling me PFPS Google Earth Tool requires Microsoft .NET III. PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS    A. The program crashes suddenly and I get a message about an "Exception."  What's up?    B. Why don't the icon libraries work?    C. The icon libraries worked fine when I created my .KML, but the icons aren't appearing in Google Earth.    D. Weird stuff is happening--object labels suddenly disappear, a coordinate flips from West to East, etc.    E. How do I pass altitude information from a FalconView drawing file?    F. When I try importing certain routes, I get an "Error Opening Route" message   I. PROGRAM AVAILABILITY A. How do I get Google Earth on my government NIPRNET computer It is currently not allowed to install the free version of Google Earth on government NIPRNET computers (at least in the Air Force--I can't speak for the other services).  There are two reasons for this: (1) until recently, it was a license agreement violation to install the free version of Google Earth on a government computer.  This changed with the last release of Google Earth and should no longer be a factor.  (2) Google Earth records usage statistics, which raises OPSEC concerns.  The Air Force doesn't want someone at Google raising his eyebrows when he sees two hundred hits on a remote spot in Iraq. With that said, there are a couple workarounds.  First, Google Earth Pro ($400/year per license) is allowed by at least some government agencies.  I believe each MAJCOM maintains an approved software list.  Air Mobility Command (AMC) allows Google Earth Pro.  Another (non-approved) workaround is to run the free version of Google Earth from a memory stick.  If you install the program on your home computer, then simply copy the Google Earth folder to your memory stick, it will run perfectly well on a different computer. Google Earth has a number of advocates in the Air Force who are trying to acquire the Enterprise edition of Google Earth for NIPRNET.  Like the SIPRNET version of Google Earth, this would use the Google Earth client software but would use NGA imagery.  However, this acquisition is still facing many hurdles. B. How do I get Google Earth on my SIPRNET/JWICS computer? Google Earth is fully authorized on SIPRNET.  The easiest way to find it is to visit Intellipedia and search for "Google Earth Primer."  This page contains general information, downloads, and links to the growing SIPRNET Google Earth Community.  The SIPRNET version of Google Earth uses the Google Earth client software but uses NGA imagery.  This means it looks slightly different than the civilian version of Google Earth but works essentially the same. Jim Bellenger at the NGA has graciously made PFPS Google Earth Tool available on SIPRNET & JWICS by mirroring this website: SIPRNET: http://gis.geoint.nga.smil.mil/GoogleEarth/googleearthpilot JWICS: http://gis.geoint.nga.ic.gov/GoogleEarth/googleearthpilot C. What is Microsoft .NET 2.0 and where do I get it? PFPS Google Earth Tool is built around a platform called "Microsoft .NET 2.0" (pronounced dot-net).  Think of .NET as an insulation layer between Windows and an application.  It does a lot of the hard work of interacting with Windows.  This is an integral part of Windows Vista, many Windows XP applications, and a growing number of mobile devices.  If you do not have Microsoft .NET 2.0 installed, you will get an error message when you try launching PFPS Google Earth Tool.  You will need to install Microsoft .NET 2.0 first. The good news is that most users already have .NET installed.  I believe it is installed as a normal part of Microsoft Windows automatic updates.  You can ensure your computer is up-to-date by visiting update.windows.com.  You can also follow the link on the "Downloads" page or follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en     II. INSTALLATION ISSUES A. How do I install PFPS Google Earth Tool? PFPS Google Earth Tool does not need to be installed--simply unzip the .ZIP file to a desired location and click PFPS Google Earth Tool.exe to run.  Avoiding a formal installer is my solution for avoiding IT folks, the requirement for administrator rights on government computers, etc. B. Nothing happens when I click on PFPS Google Earth Tool.EXE I have seen this on some government computers when I try running PFPS Google Earth tool from a shared network drive.  I have no idea what the problem is, but imagine it has something to do with network security.  However, I've found that the program executes just fine when running from the desktop or from a memory stick. C. I get an error telling me PFPS Google Earth Tool requires Microsoft .NET See I-C above.  You have to install Microsoft .NET 2.0 in order for the tool to work.   III. PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS A. The program crashes suddenly and I get a message about an "Exception."  What's up? An "Exception" is Windows' way of protecting itself when the program does something invalid.  This means that either (1) I made a mistake as a programmer or (2) you tried to do something illegal and I wasn't smart enough to anticipate it.  Please help improve my program by copying the text of the Exception window and e-mailing it to me help@WEdge.hpc.mil.  It would also help if you e-mailed whatever files you were working with and a description of what you were trying to do.  I apologize for the inconvenience... the best way to handle these exceptions is to save often and be patient. B. Why don't the icon libraries work? PFPS Google Earth Tool has to know where to look to find the proper icons.  It includes the NGA tower icons as part of the download, but to save disk space and avoid copyright infringement, it looks for the Google Earth icons and the FalconView icons in the installation directories for those programs.  If Google Earth and FalconView aren't installed where PFPS Google Earth Tool thinks, you won't be able to access the icons.  You can change the installation paths for these programs by selecting Edit-->Options on the menu. C. The icon libraries worked fine when I created my .KML, but the icons aren't appearing in Google Earth. If you are using the Icon Library function of PFPS Google Earth Tool, your .KML will reference your icons on the same local computer that PFPS Google Earth Tool is running from.  If you later try to open the .KML on a different computer, these file paths may no longer be valid.  For instance, if you create a .KML that uses FalconView icons and distribute it on the web to other users, the icons will not appear unless that user has FalconView installed in the same directory as you do.  I am exploring options to host all my icon libraries on my website, so they are accessible from any computer--but until then, this is the best solution I could find. D. Weird stuff is happening--object labels suddenly disappear, a coordinate flips from West to East, etc. Sorry, the program still has some bugs.  I've tried my hardest to weed the big ones out, but the program has become so big and so complex that I can't possibly catch them all, especially since I'm working on this project alone in during my free time.  Please e-mail me your bug reports at help@WEdge.hpc.mil. .  E. How do I pass altitude information from a FalconView drawing file? In FalconView, right-click the drawing file object and select "Edit Properties."  A form will pop up that lets you edit properties for the object.  Click "Info."  This screen will contain a text box called "Help Text" or "StatBar Text."  PFPS Google Earth Tool will look in this box for altitude information.  Due to a limitation within Google Earth, both the floor and the ceiling must be the same type of altitude (i.e. MSL or AGL).  In other words, you cannot specify an altitude from 500A - 3000M.... you have to do your own conversion to put them in the same format.  If you do not specify an altitude in this textbox, all airspace regions will be generated clamped to the ground.  Valid formats are:      0-nnnA                  Surface to an AGL altitude      0-nnnM                 Surface to an MSL altitude      0-FLnnn                Surface to a flight level      nnnA - nnnA         AGL floor to AGL ceiling      nnnM - nnnM        MSL floor to MSL ceililng      FLnnn - FLnnnn     Flight level floor to flight level ceiling You may also substitute "SFC" for 0, "AGL" for A, and "MSL" for M.  You also do not need to specify the type of altitude for the floor, since the ceiling type will always be used.  i.e. SFC-3000AGL, 3000MSL-8000MSL, and 500-2500AGL are all valid altitudes.   F. When I try importing certain routes, I get an "Error Opening Route" message The .RTE import function only works if CFPS is installed on your computer.  If it's not, you will get this error.  You also need to ensure you have selected a valid .RTE file. With that said, there is a bug in the program and some .RTE files simply refuse to open.  I have no idea why.  My code makes a call to a PFPS code library, and for some reason that code is kicking back an error when a user tries to open certain routes.  Until I figure it out, there is a workaround.  In CFPS, select File-->Export-->Export as CRD File and convert the .RTE to a .CRD file (this was actually a requirement for PFPS Google Earth Tool v0.5).  In PFPS Google Earth Tool, click the Import Route button or select Objects-->Import-->Route on the menu.  In the dropdown box where it reads "CFPS Route File", change the selection to "CFPS Route File (CRD Format)" and import the .CRD file.