Downloaded, Committed Rules don't appear

[mononlaf]

TRS 2006, SP 1 -- Earlier today, I downloaded 2 or 3 rules, committed them, and they were immediately available in Surveyor.

This evening, I downloaded 2 more rules from the DLS - InputTable and MoveTurntable. But they do not appear in Surveyor.

I can search them out in CMP, and they appear to be committed (Commit in Edit is grayed out). The CMP icons look OK - no faults, and the type is Script, which is how the others appear. What I did between the two downloads was change CMP settings so that commit takes place automatically after a DLS download.

Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong?

Dick

 

[Moojgoo]

Try opening them for edit again, then commit them manually.

 

[nwhitney]

Move Turntable is actually a driver command, so you'll have to make sure it's checked in the Driver Command Rule, Input Table is a rule and should show in CMP as such, not a script, and would show in the pop up when you click Add Rule.
Norm

 

[mononlaf]

Thanks for your thoughts. The problem seems to be deeper than has been addressed.

When I do a search on them, InputTable and MoveTurntable appear in the CMP Assets Table under the Current Search Tab. As said earlier, they appear to be committed in that Commit is grayed out on the Edit local menu. They do not appear in the Driver Commands menu that you can open when editing a session in Surveyor.

When I tried to follow the editing suggestion, I got a message: "Could not open ... for edit. The asset is not found locally. You may need to download it." In fact the InputTable rule has to be edited to set the turntable rule up.

Earlier yesterday, I had downloaded and committed the asset CoupleToVFacingTrackmark. It is accessible in Surveyor and works fine. However, just to check, I searched it out and tried to open it for editing. Except for the name of the asset, I got exactly the same message as quoted above.

Possible source of the problem? The "details" for the InputTable rule might be interpreted to mean that InputTable has to be installed first. It is listed second in the DLS cart, and in spite of what the CMP instructions say, I have not been atble to drag them to reverse their order. I have even tried to put the InputTable into the cart first, but then when the MoveTurntable is added, it comes out on top.

I can't figure out how to delete and start over. Does Invert mean delete?

Dick

 

[nwhitney]

Can you click on the asset in CMP and click Delete? Are you importing the .cdps from the DLS website instead of using CMP to download, because they should be automatically committed after download. Check the Open For Edit tab in the Assets window. The other thing to try would be to delete assets.tdx and assets.bku and let Trainz rebuild the database, then maybe they'll show.
Norm

 

[mononlaf]

Sorry to be such a pain, Norm.

When either of the two assets under discussion are in the CMP list window, Delete in the tool bar is not active - neither are Clone, Open for Edit, or Disable/Enable.

How do you use the Open for Edit tab of the Assets window? I can't get any content into it. When right-clicking on the name of the asset when it is under the current search tab, Edit|Open for Edit is not available (grayed out)

I let Trainz rebuild the database as you suggested, but only one thing changed. InputTable now shows in the CMP as a Rule type. MoveTurntable continues to show as a script type. Both are still absent from the Surveyor list of available driver commands in which you check the ones you want to use.

In importing, my steps were: 1) find the asset by searching on the name or KUID, 2) put the asset in the cart, 3) click on the button Download All. The CMP opened and the assets showed in the Download Helper. 4) I clicked on the Start button, download took hardly any time at all - and maybe that is indicative of something.

A little more detail, that I've forgotten to give in the earlier posts - the check box at the beginning of each line in the download helper window was checked at the end of operations by that window. But the boxes at the right end of that line don't look right to me. The one for the turntable shows a black column of about half box width with a red stripe across it. The one for InputTable still shows the dash that was in the window before starting the download.

I've got my Local file backed up almost to the point where it was before I made yesterday's downloads. Since I cannot delete the two troublesome assets, maybe I should delete Local, copy in the backup and start over again with the DLS and the rules that I'm trying to get. This time, I will download each one separately.

I assume that with Local replaced, CMP will have no memory of yesterday and today. I get the feeling that when I try to re-download from the DLS, CMP thinks it has already done its job and just reiterates what it did earlier.

Dick

 

[nwhitney]

No problem. But InputTable is a rule, therefore you add it the same a custom HUD, etc. When you were adding MoveTurntable, that half box with a red stripe shows that it was an aborted attempt, it didn't download.
This part of your post I don't understand:
2) put the asset in the cart, 3) click on the button Download All.

I've never used the download cart, don't know anything about it, but it could be your problem as it's designed for '04. It looks like deleting your local and replacing it with your back might be the only viable option. If Delete, Open for edit, etc. is grayed out, your database is definitely corrupt. Good luck.
Norm

 

[mononlaf]

Thanks, Norm. I'm red in the face - partly in embarressment, but more so in frustration with TRS 2006 documentation. Coming in from TRS 2004 and with a very, very sketchy and in fact one-sentence statement in the manual about downloading that referred to another section that did not tell me anything either, I assumed that you start with the DLS. That is probably all that was wrong (however! the method I described above did successfully download a couple of assets).

Due to your questioning how I was trying to download, I read and reread the supposedly pertinent parts of the manual, and finally realized that a search in CMP not only searches what is in my computer but also what is in the DLS -- and I began to realize what some of the icons mean, as well. Especially that an asset is not in your computer until the 2nd icon portrays an open laptop.

So, now I am able to download assets. OH! There was one other problem - the orange bar message that said Unable to download, server is full, etc. I then searched on that phrase, through a bunch of irrelevant messages, and then came upon the advice to another person that he needed to close up, reopen Planet Auran and try again. Planet Auran??? Where is that in the manual? Anyway, I opened Planet Auran and from there on downloading went along just fine.

I'm beginning to realize the only way to learn Trainz is from people like you on the forum - how did you learn?

Anyhow, thanks very much for bearing with me and asking the right questions.

Dick

 

[nwhitney]

Good job. When I started, I was on limited dial-up, never used the forum, and figured out a lot of the stuff by myself. Some people are complaining about missing the old forum, no community, but I could care less what somebody has as a screensaver, or what they saw on the news yesterday, or how many moronic posts they can make. Go watch Oprah. There's alot of good people here that want to help make the game more enjoyable for people, and they've learned a lot of tricks along the way. Too bad a lot was lost on the old forum. That's why I come here.
Off my soapbox,
Norm

 

[mononlaf]

Summarization

As a not so new, but still sometimes floundering trainzer, I do a lot of searching in the forum, especially by what is in a title. In case others do the same and stumble on this thread, let me summarize a bit. Norm and others will correct me if I still am not on track (pun intended). Much of the following is not very recognizable in the manual and has been learned from experience or from the forum, as in the dialog I've just had with Norm.

The basic issue is adding new assets from the Download Station (DLS) in TRS 2006 - a very different process than in earlier TRS versions.

1. New assets have to be 'installed', which means they are downloaded via Content Management Plus (the CMP) and then 'committed'.

2. Whenever the CMP is launched, it immediately connects to the Auran DLS site on the web where it checks out your bonafides before letting you use it.

3. The content of the main view window, depending on which tab of that window is open and on what CMP was doing when it last closed, may be a mixture of the content that is on the DLS and that is locally in your computer. The tab All will show all content of both categories.

4. An asset that is on the DLS and not in your computer will display an icon with a black D and a red S (second icon from the left). One of the action windows on the left of the screen is labeled Download Helper, and you can drag from the main view window over into it to get ready for the download from the DLS.

5. A second icon from the left that looks like an open laptop signals that the asset is already installed in your computer.

6. There are 10s of thousands of DLS assets, so use the action window called Search to find the ones you want, using a number of different search categories.

7. You do not have to log into the DLS itself at all. When you have an asset selected (highlighted), all the info about it that is on the DLS can be found in the action window labeled Asset Details.

8. When you have all the assets that you want to install dragged over into the download helper window, click on the Start button to begin. (If you have several action windows open, the start button may be hidden behind one of them.)

9. Download will proceed, but the commit process will only happen automatically if you have CMP's menu item, File|Settings dialog set to make it happen. Check under the Miscellaneous tab of that dialog to see how you are set up. My copy of TRS came with automatic commit unchecked.

10. If you are not set up for automatic commit, then to complete installation you need to select (highlight) the downloaded items, then right click to get a local menu and select Edit|Commit.

11. In #9 above, I said that download will proceed. Not always true. An orange bar may appear at the bottom of the CMP with words about being Unable to download and refer to the server maybe being full - try again later. This may indeed be the case, but a number of trainzers have struggled with this notification when it was not true. I found a piece of advice in one post that has worked for me, and that is to go into the Trainz website and open up your profile (PlanetAuran) and leave it open while downloading. Didn't have to change anything in it, just opened it. Others, I believe, have found and corrected errors in their profile before downloading proceeded. (All this, of course, assumes that you are properly registered with Auran, serial number entered, etc.)

Some ancillary information:

1. Any assets except those that came built-in to TRS 2006 are in the Local subdirectory. To prepare for when you have to reinstall TRS 2006, and want to preserve all your labors in adding assets, you need to keep this subdirectory backed up. When you do reinstall the program and replace the new Local subdiretory with the backup, the CMP will be able to use it, and you will have everything you ever downloaded and anything that you may have developed yourself.

2. Third-party assets that are not in the DLS come either as .cdp files or in so-called content folders. The TRS 2006 file menu contains Import options to begin their installation --- IMPORTANT --- automatic commit does not work with these assets. After download, they appear in a floating window that has a button with which you transfer them to the main view window. When that is done, right click in the main view window and select Select All from the local menu that appears. All will highlight. Then right click again and select Edit|commit. That should complete installation.

Norm and others - please correct any errors. Hope this will help somebody in the future.

Dick

 

[nwhitney]

The only thing I would add is to make a habit of checking the Open for Edit tab in the Main window and in Settings/Miscellaneous check Automatically commit when starting Trainz until you become comfortable with CMP.
Norm

 

[nswrail]

If only I could get past item 2!

As a not so new, but still sometimes floundering trainzer, I do a lot of searching in the forum, especially by what is in a title. In case others do the same and stumble on this thread, let me summarize a bit. Norm and others will correct me if I still am not on track (pun intended). Much of the following is not very recognizable in the manual and has been learned from experience or from the forum, as in the dialog I've just had with Norm.

The basic issue is adding new assets from the Download Station (DLS) in TRS 2006 - a very different process than in earlier TRS versions.

1. New assets have to be 'installed', which means they are downloaded via Content Management Plus (the CMP) and then 'committed'.

2. Whenever the CMP is launched, it immediately connects to the Auran DLS site on the web where it checks out your bonafides before letting you use it.

3. The content of the main view window, depending on which tab of that window is open and on what CMP was doing when it last closed, may be a mixture of the content that is on the DLS and that is locally in your computer. The tab All will show all content of both categories.

4. An asset that is on the DLS and not in your computer will display an icon with a black D and a red S (second icon from the left). One of the action windows on the left of the screen is labeled Download Helper, and you can drag from the main view window over into it to get ready for the download from the DLS.

5. A second icon from the left that looks like an open laptop signals that the asset is already installed in your computer.

6. There are 10s of thousands of DLS assets, so use the action window called Search to find the ones you want, using a number of different search categories.

7. You do not have to log into the DLS itself at all. When you have an asset selected (highlighted), all the info about it that is on the DLS can be found in the action window labeled Asset Details.

8. When you have all the assets that you want to install dragged over into the download helper window, click on the Start button to begin. (If you have several action windows open, the start button may be hidden behind one of them.)

9. Download will proceed, but the commit process will only happen automatically if you have CMP's menu item, File|Settings dialog set to make it happen. Check under the Miscellaneous tab of that dialog to see how you are set up. My copy of TRS came with automatic commit unchecked.

10. If you are not set up for automatic commit, then to complete installation you need to select (highlight) the downloaded items, then right click to get a local menu and select Edit|Commit.

11. In #9 above, I said that download will proceed. Not always true. An orange bar may appear at the bottom of the CMP with words about being Unable to download and refer to the server maybe being full - try again later. This may indeed be the case, but a number of trainzers have struggled with this notification when it was not true. I found a piece of advice in one post that has worked for me, and that is to go into the Trainz website and open up your profile (PlanetAuran) and leave it open while downloading. Didn't have to change anything in it, just opened it. Others, I believe, have found and corrected errors in their profile before downloading proceeded. (All this, of course, assumes that you are properly registered with Auran, serial number entered, etc.)

Some ancillary information:

1. Any assets except those that came built-in to TRS 2006 are in the Local subdirectory. To prepare for when you have to reinstall TRS 2006, and want to preserve all your labors in adding assets, you need to keep this subdirectory backed up. When you do reinstall the program and replace the new Local subdiretory with the backup, the CMP will be able to use it, and you will have everything you ever downloaded and anything that you may have developed yourself.

2. Third-party assets that are not in the DLS come either as .cdp files or in so-called content folders. The TRS 2006 file menu contains Import options to begin their installation --- IMPORTANT --- automatic commit does not work with these assets. After download, they appear in a floating window that has a button with which you transfer them to the main view window. When that is done, right click in the main view window and select Select All from the local menu that appears. All will highlight. Then right click again and select Edit|commit. That should complete installation.

Norm and others - please correct any errors. Hope this will help somebody in the future.

Dick

Sometimes CMP lets me in most times it says I have not registered or placed a valid id in my profile.

Today I clicked on the register IE displayed he Auran page and curiously there are Two registration keys there, one for the old Trainz and one for UTC which I have never had! There is no number for my Trainz2006. So although SP1 says don't I tried to input my Trainz2006 number and was told its already been used!
Please anyone know Whom at Auran do I contact?
CMP has let me in occasionally I have downloaded 97KB it says but with all the problems I have been getting I reloaded over them some time ago.

Help!!
Mike

 

[mononlaf]

Update to May 3 post

Further experience with the CMP:

8a. (Referenced to the list in the post of May 3) - For long and involved assets, like some routes and sessions, CMP appears to be frozen at first. But that is not necessarily so. Look at the status line on the left. If it says Ready, all should be ready to go. But, if it says that it is searching in connection with some kuid, then it probably is searching, and this might go on for a long time with no other sign that anything is happening.

Shutting down CMP while it is working has consequences. Jet continues to run, even though CMP has shut down. This interferes with running subsequent programs - slow, jerky, etc. So, the computer needs rebooting, and during this process, you have to tell Windows to shut down Jet.

9a. While download is proceeding or after it has finished, certain icons appear to the right of the name of each asset (dependency) in the download. Here you will find a picture and an explanation of each icon that might appear:

http://www.worldoftrainz.com/Pages/Tutorials_TRS2006/TRS2006DownloadingContent.htm

On one of my downloads, I got the thick, jagged black arrow icon (3rd from the bottom among those on the above referenced site), but it had a red slash across it, meaning download failed.

Dick