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Understanding FlightXML Results

General

Billing

Understanding FlightXML Results

What is UNIX epoch time? (Back To Top)

UNIX epoch time is a standard way of specifying a time/date as the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC (an integer). Most programming languages allow a developer to easily manipulate epoch time to and from any display format and time zone.

This code in Tcl: 

      set time [clock seconds]
      puts "The current time in UNIX epoch seconds is: $time"
      set env(TZ) EST5EDT
      puts "The current time in New York is [clock format $time]"
. . . can be excuted to demonstrate manipulating epoch time: 
     The current time in UNIX epoch seconds is: 1160967053
     The current time in New York is Sun Oct 15 22:50:53 EDT 2006
In some cases, FlightAware is not able to emit a null value for an epoch time integer and will emit 0 to indicate that data for that field is unreliable. FlightXML implementations should regard 0 as null/na and not January 1, 1970.

What is the resolution of lat/lon values? (Back To Top)

In most cases, the resolution is one minute or approximately 0.88 miles. Some positions are now being reported with a resolution of one second, or approximately 0.015 miles.

Why is my FlightXML struct including NULL results? (Back To Top)

Your application will have to be robust and support null results in virtually every field. For example, actualarrivaltime will be null if the aircraft has not arrived. Additionally, filed_airspeed_mach will be null if the airspeed was filed in kts (filed_airspeed_kts) and vice versa.

How do I interpret the "diverted" field? (Back To Top)

The diverted field is a boolean; it can be true, false, or null. If it is true, the actualarrivaltime field will indicate the diverted time. To determine the diversion airport and arrival time (if aircraft has arrived), your application will have to find the flight for that aircraft with the same origin and departure time.

What is up with the departure time being the same as the arrival time? (Back To Top)

This is an indication that the result of the flight is unknown.

General

How far back is data available? (Back To Top)

FlightXML is intended for current flight activity; only 48-72 hours of data is available. Further history can be purchased on a per-identification basis on the flightaware.com basis. For other projects, contact FlightAware commercial services.

Does FlightAware consider duplicate requests to be separate transactions? (Back To Top)

Yes. For example, if you request the airport name of KSMO a half dozen times a minute, they are all accounted for as independent requests. Your application should cache static results to avoid making unnecesary queries to FlightXML.

The overhead of FlightAware's FlightXML servers accounting for duplicate transactions and serving a cached result would exceed the amount of time than processing the request normally. Additionally, there is no guarantee that your client will be connecting to the same FlightXML server for subsequent duplicate requests.

I have a great idea for a FlightXML query. Can I suggest it? (Back To Top)

Absolutely, please bring it up in the FlightXML Developers Discussion Forum.

Billing

Where can I go to see my billing activity? (Back To Top)

You can see recent activity and statements on the FlightXML billing page.

How often am I charged? (Back To Top)

Your credit card will be charged, at most, every month. FlightAware's billing system uses dynamic billing cycles based on the day you joined; your billing cycle will start and end once a month starting on the day you first submitted a FlightXML transaction. For low volume users, FlightAware may "hold" the amount on your card at the end of your billing cycle rather than charge your account balance monthly.

Where can I update my billing information? (Back To Top)

You can update your billing data on the billing profile management page.