SimplePlugin
ATAK-CIV 5.8 plugin
Cuts the ATAK interface down to the tools of one of five scenarios. A sixth button undoes every change.
Why it exists
ATAK ships dozens of tools. Someone who opens it once a month uses five of them and hunts for those among the rest.
SimplePlugin leaves on screen only the tools that fit the chosen job: navigation, tactics, monitoring, audio, or a custom set.
How it works
The plugin does not replace the ATAK interface. It drives mechanisms ATAK already has:
- loadouts, the sets of visible toolbar tools,
- the radial menu factory, which narrows a marker's menu,
- the preferences that control map legibility,
- its own toolbar with push-to-talk and chat buttons, shown only in the audio scenario.
The plugin never writes to or deletes ATAK's default loadout. Restoring is therefore just switching back to it and replaying the preferences from a snapshot taken before the first change.
What it taught me
Six defects passed compilation, unit tests and package checks, and only surfaced on a running ATAK. Among them: the component entry in the plugin descriptor can be ignored, the hidden-tools list does not map onto toolbar slots, and empty item names break the radial menu.
The lesson is dull and expensive: ATAK plugins are verified on a device, not in a test.