I'd just like to point out that doing a fresh intall of trainz, whatever the version modernity is likely totally unnecessary if you all know WHERE your version is putting files of various kinds. CMP is a database manager and internet interface, not something incorporating pre-rendered data into a compiled object. That is, when we boot into a route or a session, Surveyor or Driver have their own calling routines to suck in data objects (kuid objects) which they then label, attach internal handles, etcetera used 'on the fly' to populate the visible Polygonal Meshes we can see... the most common of which are likely pre-located in the cache and less used organized in the HDD Cache. A 'just one' kuid will likely stay on the HDD until needed on a largish layout. Colors, common cars, trees, etc. will reside in RAM and cache RAM.
Only things we can see, not things off camera are being processed at anyone time. Oh there is simulation software 'timing' and 'operating' whatever the other consists are doing in simulated real time, but no or only a few video mesh operations (e.g. track crossing from one baseboard to the next, requires off camera re-indexing of the 'addressing' of the 'off' locale should you suddenly visit that loco, but until that train enters your visual sight, until it needs a camera view, Trainz isn't likely to be doing graphical rendering.)
To return to the point on topic, simply renaming the given directory something else and substituting an empty substitute folder of the right 'normal' name will and should more than suffice. Running CMP THEN, will flag the assets as missing dependencies... thereby identifying your third party dependencies at the first level... which is the one's we grab inside Surveyor and place on the layout. At the least, that will give you a complete list of things that ARE NOT PART OF CD/DVD boxed assets (those are likely located in the db Cab files, I'm nearly positively certain there is no co-mingling, so the Cab content is expanded in a different folder entirely). Once produced, that list (Screenshot time) can then be further vetted vs the DLS, so you can identify which calls are real 3p assets (3pC) and be culled. You can really expedite this with a second (illegal--but see my bio) PC running a clone of the first... then the screen of one can be used to cull the things on the other...
If your folder is renamed elsewhere, say off C:\ instead of C:\Program Files\Auran\TRS20xx (or whatever) your original data remains unmolested, an you aren't wasting chunks of time overexercising your hard drives, adversely affecting date stamping, nor generating a need to track versions. For that and another reason, I moved all my Trainz into an C:\Auran folder to expedite directory flipping and ease finding stuff I moved for a bit. Do 'that conversion' as a save as before and after weeding out such 3pC when you are ready to rename the folders, create dummies and check, cull your 3pC contents, or keep them. Notice here you should have an indication that some are in DLS available state, so you know others can get them. Making a list to get would be nice though. Add it as a text file inside the route folder before you export it. (Open for Edit should not be necessary, I'm nearly certain 'spare files' in one of my layouts or another have been satisfactorily ignored by CMP.) I don't know whether the db manager checks and inventories when it boots, but it likely does... the loading delays indicate that is so to me. I'm sure we all know it rebuilds if Assets.tdx and .bku are renamed or deleted. Then, it does resurvey and index each data item for certain. (The other day it even sucked in stuff (parts of a layout to merge) I'd deliberately put in a sub-folder to have at a later time when I deliberately killed assets.tdx and .bku and rebooted. I'd forgotten all about them.)
By extension, you can copy an entire layout and or session knowing where Trainz is keeping your layout and Drivers sessions, merely by copying the correct hashcode named folders. Identifying those is easy as well. Search using windows in advanced mode for the most recently changed files in the local (directory) sub-folder. Sort by date modified, and the top or bottom of the list will be files most recently altered. Click and Open Containing Folder, and look in am editor edit to check the 'username=' field is what you actually wanted, then copy once you've got the data directory. (The Date the folder was created may or may not be valid as some clue to find what you want.)
I used this method to move files from one networked computer to the other just three days back. I'd overwritten something in the laptop adding the deluxe content of TRS2004 when I should have told it no... the TRS2006 item was more up to date and so I broke part of it generating a run time error in both Driver and Surveyor. (I've got a handle on it, or at least several things to try to fix it. I'd had hardware issues with the tower, which turned out to be a loose or faulty power cable that needed pushed together. I'd feared I lost several years of Trainz work! So I'll take the mistake over a broken main computer that crashes mysteriously or on which the hard drive [out of the blue] in the next instant 'hard drive cannot be found' error! Whew! I'm glad that's over.)
(I've just begun to think of building a flat data base on a spreadsheet (Open Office) to give me a route/session map to source data. Meaning which hash-code named folder is which route or session. The content should you look is the same folder content you get when 'Open for Edit in Explorer'. I've not tested whether the folder names change, but believe they don't and so are based on a hash of the kuid or username (English) to maintain 'onto' mapping to the db manager.)
In any event, no need to break things and spend time wasted when a few renaming keystrokes and a little basic computer knowledge will suffice. Hope this is helpful to you all.
Only things we can see, not things off camera are being processed at anyone time. Oh there is simulation software 'timing' and 'operating' whatever the other consists are doing in simulated real time, but no or only a few video mesh operations (e.g. track crossing from one baseboard to the next, requires off camera re-indexing of the 'addressing' of the 'off' locale should you suddenly visit that loco, but until that train enters your visual sight, until it needs a camera view, Trainz isn't likely to be doing graphical rendering.)
To return to the point on topic, simply renaming the given directory something else and substituting an empty substitute folder of the right 'normal' name will and should more than suffice. Running CMP THEN, will flag the assets as missing dependencies... thereby identifying your third party dependencies at the first level... which is the one's we grab inside Surveyor and place on the layout. At the least, that will give you a complete list of things that ARE NOT PART OF CD/DVD boxed assets (those are likely located in the db Cab files, I'm nearly positively certain there is no co-mingling, so the Cab content is expanded in a different folder entirely). Once produced, that list (Screenshot time) can then be further vetted vs the DLS, so you can identify which calls are real 3p assets (3pC) and be culled. You can really expedite this with a second (illegal--but see my bio) PC running a clone of the first... then the screen of one can be used to cull the things on the other...
If your folder is renamed elsewhere, say off C:\ instead of C:\Program Files\Auran\TRS20xx (or whatever) your original data remains unmolested, an you aren't wasting chunks of time overexercising your hard drives, adversely affecting date stamping, nor generating a need to track versions. For that and another reason, I moved all my Trainz into an C:\Auran folder to expedite directory flipping and ease finding stuff I moved for a bit. Do 'that conversion' as a save as before and after weeding out such 3pC when you are ready to rename the folders, create dummies and check, cull your 3pC contents, or keep them. Notice here you should have an indication that some are in DLS available state, so you know others can get them. Making a list to get would be nice though. Add it as a text file inside the route folder before you export it. (Open for Edit should not be necessary, I'm nearly certain 'spare files' in one of my layouts or another have been satisfactorily ignored by CMP.) I don't know whether the db manager checks and inventories when it boots, but it likely does... the loading delays indicate that is so to me. I'm sure we all know it rebuilds if Assets.tdx and .bku are renamed or deleted. Then, it does resurvey and index each data item for certain. (The other day it even sucked in stuff (parts of a layout to merge) I'd deliberately put in a sub-folder to have at a later time when I deliberately killed assets.tdx and .bku and rebooted. I'd forgotten all about them.)
By extension, you can copy an entire layout and or session knowing where Trainz is keeping your layout and Drivers sessions, merely by copying the correct hashcode named folders. Identifying those is easy as well. Search using windows in advanced mode for the most recently changed files in the local (directory) sub-folder. Sort by date modified, and the top or bottom of the list will be files most recently altered. Click and Open Containing Folder, and look in am editor edit to check the 'username=' field is what you actually wanted, then copy once you've got the data directory. (The Date the folder was created may or may not be valid as some clue to find what you want.)
I used this method to move files from one networked computer to the other just three days back. I'd overwritten something in the laptop adding the deluxe content of TRS2004 when I should have told it no... the TRS2006 item was more up to date and so I broke part of it generating a run time error in both Driver and Surveyor. (I've got a handle on it, or at least several things to try to fix it. I'd had hardware issues with the tower, which turned out to be a loose or faulty power cable that needed pushed together. I'd feared I lost several years of Trainz work! So I'll take the mistake over a broken main computer that crashes mysteriously or on which the hard drive [out of the blue] in the next instant 'hard drive cannot be found' error! Whew! I'm glad that's over.)
(I've just begun to think of building a flat data base on a spreadsheet (Open Office) to give me a route/session map to source data. Meaning which hash-code named folder is which route or session. The content should you look is the same folder content you get when 'Open for Edit in Explorer'. I've not tested whether the folder names change, but believe they don't and so are based on a hash of the kuid or username (English) to maintain 'onto' mapping to the db manager.)
In any event, no need to break things and spend time wasted when a few renaming keystrokes and a little basic computer knowledge will suffice. Hope this is helpful to you all.
, rebuiding the database is a moderate time sink
. So let me revise and extend with a step-by-step method per your input. (Looking with a Hex editor, the world folders *.ja files do appear to be pre-processed indexed parts of the data base reflecting content, but not the routes or sessions. They appear to be the Cab, compressed organized compendium of assets in binary form of the distributed release.)