Dealing with STARs in real life

[Andrey Novikov]

For VNAV to be calculated by FMC I have to enter STAR for destination airport before route activation and execution. But as I know the STAR is supplied by ATC just before or during descend. How is it done in real world?

[mgeiss]

You can always enter an assumed STAR and change it if you get a different approach. Usually, there aren't too many to choose from given your route and the active runway, which won't change too frequently on shorter flights.

But it also depends on the country you fly in. In the US, SIDs and STARs are filed with the flight plan afaik.