Fast way of switching between PE and VATSIM

[arb65912]

Gentlemen, I know I can switch between PE and VATSIM by switching .bak to .xpl for corresponding file in plugins folder to run X-Plane in PE or VATSIM "mode".
Is there any simple way of starting X-Plane in VATSIM or PE "mode" without changing extension every time?
Cheers, Andrzej

[Steven Winslow]

On my Mac, I have separate PilotEdge, VATSIM, NetFlight and X-FlightServer plugin folders set up inside my Resources folder. When I know I'm flying on PE, I simply move the VSPro plugin to the Plugins folder. When I fly on NetFlight, I move the PE plugin back to it's folder and move the NetFlight plugin to the Plugins folder. I know I could write a script to do the moving for me, but I don't mind clicking and dragging. I've never had to rename any of the files. When I know I'm not going to fly online, I make sure to remove the PE plugin because of the extended load time.

[arb65912]

Thanks, Steve. I like the idea. One quick question, I can put anything in Resources folder and the content will not mess up X-plane loading, correct?

[Steven Winslow]

Correct. If it is named something that X-Plane doesn't recognize it will ignore it. I name my plugins folders like this:

plugins
plugins (disabled)
plugins (NetFlight)
plugins (PilotEdge)
plugins (VATSIM)
plugins (X-FlightServer)

The disabled folder is for naughty plugins that don't play well with other plugins. If I ever have an issue I think is plugin related, I put all my plugins in the disabled folder and start adding them back one at a time until I find the offender. There are certain plugins that have proven to behave and I don't worry about them.

[arb65912]

Thank you very much, Steve. tested last night, worked great. Cheers. AJ