Grouping of trackmarks and signals

[wheelsonfire]

I read a useful tip on the forum (I think it may have been from pguy) that to group trackmarks you could use the tilde (~) key. I have found this to be very useful and you end up with a very accessible list of trackmarks:

Does anyone know if signals and junctions can be grouped in the same way? The tilde key has no effect but I would like to group them for the commands 'Set Selected Signal State' and 'Control Junctions'.

 

[JCitron]

You can name junctions and signals to anything you want. They won't show up in the drive to or navigate to lists, but they will be named so you can find them easily for those tasks that require named signals or junctions.

John

 

[cascaderailroad]

I tried to name trackmarkers with the prefix A, B, C, D ... etc ... but that got confusing

I just memorized my route, and named just the bare minimum of trackmarkers that I needed to get AI to follow track directional markers

Pittsburgh, Pitcairn, Greensburg, Johnstown, Cresson, Altoona, Tyrone, Huntingdon, Harrisburg

Altoona EB Station, Altoona WB Station, Altoona EB Freight, Altoona WB Freight

All my junctions are named: ` (the lowercase of ~)

I don't even name signals, I just name stations and towers

 

[trev999]

Neil, That's an excellent idea. Only the Drive .. and Navigate .. commands are able to recognize the tilde, as they have special code to allow grouping. I've known about that feature for years but have never really understood how it works until a few weeks ago. I notice that the station names are not sorted. That is probably due to the kind of sort routine that is used.

 

[clam1952]

Rather than the rest of us trying to guess how to use the tilde, how about some one giving clear instructions or linking to where they are available?

 

[trev999]

Name trackmarks using this format:

Station Name~Siding Name

All the trackmarks for a station are then grouped under one menu entry.

 

[clam1952]

Name trackmarks using this format:

Station Name~Siding Name

All the trackmarks for a station are then grouped under one menu entry.

Thanks, now got some renaming to do!

 

[maruffijd]

Cool Beans. This would save me money on Advil trying to sort the mess of T-marks

 

[Paulsw2]

Very interesting tip! I may have to do some renaming now too! Just so I understand - this works with the 'Drive to...' and 'Navigate to...' commands?

Paul

 

[trev999]

this works with the 'Drive to...' and 'Navigate to...' commands?

Paul

Yes, only those and Peter Dehnert's Drive To Ex commands as well.

 

[cascaderailroad]

I don't get it ... why would you want to drive to a named signal, or a named junction, when you can just make it simple and trains drive via a trackmarker that is at that same signal/junction location ?

Why the ~ Tild mark ?

Grouping them all alphabetically under Altoona trackmarker names makes all trackmarks in that general mile or so, show up in one location

Altoona Station EB Frt
Altoona Station EB Pass
Altoona Station EB Yard
Altoona Station WB Frt
Altoona Station WB Pass
Altoona Station WB Yard

 

[ctclark1]

I don't get it ... why would you want to drive to a named signal, or a named junction, when you can just make it simple and trains drive via a trackmarker that is at that same signal/junction location ?

Read the original question - it was more to do with trying to group them into the lists for selecting signals or junctions when trying to setup other commands (such as set signal state, etc)... As was said it doesn't work quite that way...

Why the ~ Tild mark ?

Grouping them all alphabetically under Altoona trackmarker names makes all trackmarks in that general mile or so, show up in one location

Altoona Station EB Frt
Altoona Station EB Pass
Altoona Station EB Yard
Altoona Station WB Frt
Altoona Station WB Pass
Altoona Station WB Yard

Because by using "Altoona Station~EB Frt" instead, you end up with submenus as such:

Altoona Station > EB Frt
                  EB Pass
                  EB Yard
                  WB Frt
                  WB Pass
                  WB Yard
Harrisburg      > EB Frt
                  EB Pass

and so on... Because sometimes the menus for Nav/Drive don't scroll or expand columns to the right, so selecting trackmarks if you have more than one column/screen's worth is impossible. There's also the generic "A-C" "C-G" "G-Tw" "Tw-Z" but these can be tedious to get to as well.

 

[wheelsonfire]

Well explained ctclark1.

The ~ information came about because of the long list of trackmarks on some large routes that weren't being displayed. I wondered if there was a way to do the same thing with junctions and signals when using the commands that I mentioned in the first post.

For the information of anyone using the Token Management 2 rule. The ~ method of sorting doesn't affect its use. In TM2 the 'token' trackmarks show the individual name eg #~crossing(1), #~crossing(2) etc. but in the Drive To or Drive Via commands the trackmarks are sorted into a group of # with the submenu of crossing(1), crossing(2). This again helps to keep the trackmark list down to a more manageable size.

 

[p-dehnert]

The grouping using the '~' character isn't done automatically by Trainz. Each driver command has to implement it in its own script.

Peter

 

[trev999]

I wondered if there was a way to do the same thing with junctions and signals when using the commands that I mentioned in the first post.

Hi Neil - The extra code needed to handle the tilde is not so easy to add when a driver command has more than one menu tier. It is already quite a mental exercise working out how to program the various menu levels and adding the tilde code makes it even worse. I made a start on converting the Set Selected Signals command but that has been pushed to the back of the hob for the moment.

The plain version of Control Junction command doesn't look all that easy and I hesitate to try it with my Control Junctions 3 command which is much more complex.

The thing to consider about the tilde feature is the need for renaming the signals and junctions to fit the format. On a large route it would take a great deal of effort to set everything up as required. Then there would be the desire to have some other command conform to the same principle, and then another ... This hobby is supposed to be fun, not work.

Cheers - Trev

 

[maruffijd]

... This hobby is supposed to be fun, not work.

Cheers - Trev

I partially disagree. Even leisure hobbies need some work. Some of the fun is in the work to build and tweak. I do get where you are coming from though.

 

[Paulsw2]

This hobby is supposed to be fun, not work.

Yes, yes, yes! Why have N3V not expended more effort into trying to create a much more user-friendly UI for when it comes to setting up trains and running them to a timetable? I just find sessions with all their driver commands and rules (most created by 3rd parties with a minimum of instructions) absolutely mind boggling. A degree in Quantum Mechanics would be more straightforward! I see that the UI for sessions in TANE is no different from the previous versions of Trainz. What's the point of pretty graphics if we can't programme it to run trains?

Paul

 

[wheelsonfire]

Hi Trev,

When I first posed the question about junctions and signals I was only enquiring whether there was a grouping character that I wasn't aware of (like I wasn't aware of the tilde character for TMs until it was mentioned by another poster).

I wasn't trying to make life difficult for script writers.

I accept that it's simple enough to name signals and junctions to make them easier to find than wading though the strange indexing method used by Trainz. (junc 312 and 3864 in the same grouping!)

@Paul: I love playing around with rules and commands, but I have to agree with you that sometimes instructions are sadly lacking.

 

[trev999]

It's OK, Neil, my horse is lying down at present.

sometimes instructions are sadly lacking.

That it true. Some rules and commands are easy to figure out but with others it is necessary to look at the script to try to get an understanding of the function. Some scripts have comments that make it easier but not all of them. Then there are those that are so obscure that they are useless.

Education is something hard earned through study and everybody's knowledge is different from everyone else. The longer you work and practice at it the more you know. Not everyone has the desire to teach their knowledge to others, and many people resist being taught.

So if there are queries regarding rules and commands, post your questions on the forum.

@maruffijd: I've been very lucky in my working life - I've nearly always enjoyed what I did for a living as it was mentally stimulating, but I'm feeling my age now and take a lot of time off. The brain is getting very tired.

Cheers - Trev