Surveyor Data Organization

[jgdesign]

Perhaps I'm missing something, but is there a way to organize the data in the Surveyor module? I have zillions of items (many are from European routes that came with the program, most of which I'll never use). But even beyond that, is there a way to organize the data or even rename each item so it can be more easily when building a route? It's incredibly time consuming to search for a simple "house" when it's not called "house" but something like "small, country house".

Am I making sense here?

Perhaps there is a method I've missed or a simple workaround to this immense problem.

It's probably just something simple that I've missed, but if anyone could point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful!

 

[gfisher]

Sure, you can use the disable function in CMP to disable the stuff you don't want to see in Surveyor, and enable it again if you change your mind. You can open any asset for edit and change the username to one that you find convenient. You can also assign keywords to any asset, and then use them to search for them in Surveyor. For example, I use the keyword "crop" to bring up all the ground textures that look like planted crops in a field.

 

[Euphod]

For example, I use the keyword "crop" to bring up all the ground textures that look like planted crops in a field.

Interestingly to me, I use the keyword "crap" to bring up all the content I've made myself!

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

...in other words, you have to first think of a self-consistent naming convention, then manually go about re-naming and possibly re-classifying everything in the database according to that system. Whichever Trainz you own, it's a big job to re-name a large collection of objects for the first time. Once you have a classification system in place, it becomes relatively easy to re-name new items as you add them to your collection.

If you're using one of the Trainz versions that relies on Content Manager, I think this means opening up each item one by one to edit their config files, then re-commit them.

If you're using TRS2004 or lower, you can use Trainzobjectz to do the same. A nice feature of Trainzobjectz is that it can change some of the important classification tags (eg. region, type) in batch mode, thousands of objects at a time if you want. The 'username' tag (ie. the name of the asset you see in Surveyor) still has to be done one at a time though, since each object is unique.

You might find that in addition to CMP or Trainzobjectz, what is called a "recursive find-and-replace text editor" comes in handy. There are some good freeware editors out there. The one I have grown to rely on is called BK ReplaceM. Basically you set up some rules for the find-and-replace operation, then point it at a folder containing your objects (in their own sub-folders) and it will seek out the config files and edit them according to the rules. Used in the right way, it's much more powerful than CMP or Trainzobjectz, but like everything powerful it needs to be used with care.

~ Deane

 

[patchy]

i know where jgdesign comming from
but to go through everything to rename or disable you'll never get back to playing trainz again.
maybe something simple as a favourates tab in surveyor would do the trick

cheers,
patchy

 

[gfisher]

Well you can assign favorites, one to five stars, in cmp. You could then use the CMP search function to bring up all your favorites, select them globally and assign a keyword like "5stars" to them all, and then use the keyword search in Surveyor to bring them up in the lists. You would save the keyword search, so it would show up as a category in the scenery tab for example.

 

[jgdesign]

THANKS!

Thanks everyone! Your suggestions are a HUGE help!!!

It's a shame that the Surveyor program itself doesn't have the ability to organize the data. It would be nice for the programmers to seriously include this in any future editions.

 

[itareus]

This seems to be a recurring theme!

And every time it is posted I see "Trainzobjectz" mentioned as a solution for earlier versions of Trainz. I suspect that "Trainzobjectz" was not developed for 2006 and later because Auran changed the way that the information about assets is stored making it difficult for a third party developer to (reliably) work with the Auran data about assets.

I'm sure Auran had good and valid reasons for the changes they made but it is a shame that the functionality which was, and clearly stll is, required for managing assets has not been bult into CMP/CM2.

It is a right royal pain to manage large numbers of assets using the workarounds (very helpfully suggested) in this and other posts.

Just an opinion...

Chris

Afterthough - jgdesign, are you aware of the filter option (TRS 2009 - little funnel icon on the top toolbar) which gives you search options that can be combined and a "pick list" which is in effect a favourites list. It could stand a LOT of improvement, but it's better than nothing!

C

 

[rweber95]

Thanks everyone! Your suggestions are a HUGE help!!!

It's a shame that the Surveyor program itself doesn't have the ability to organize the data. It would be nice for the programmers to seriously include this in any future editions.

TS2009 Surveyor has a Content Search Filter with these categories:
KUID, Author, Builtin, Category, Date Installed or Modified, ERA, Faulty, Has Warnings, Favorite Locomotives, Missing Dependencies, Faulty Dependencies, Keywords, Locally Modified, Location, Name, Out of Date, Ratings, Region and Minimum Build Version. Each category allows you to specify further choices, but especially useful is the selections for Category. They include Bridge, Buildings, Fauna, Fixed Track, Flora, Industry, Locomotives, People, Rolling Stock, Scenery, Tunnel and Vehicle. Lots of choices.

Bob

 

[Merv0728]

CMP help files ?

Can someone point me in the direction of some help files on the use of the CMP.
The help item in the menu takes me to a wiki but the individual menu items in that have no info at all.
I used to be on Trainz 2004 but now have 2009 & a lot of things are new to me.

thanks for any help
Alan

 

[JCitron]

Can someone point me in the direction of some help files on the use of the CMP.
The help item in the menu takes me to a wiki but the individual menu items in that have no info at all.
I used to be on Trainz 2004 but now have 2009 & a lot of things are new to me.

thanks for any help
Alan

Alan,

What kind of help do you need? Perhaps just asking up here in the forums, and we can answer. Much of the information for the Wiki I think was never added, which is sadly typical of a Wiki anyway.

John

 

[Merv0728]

CMP help Files

JCitron

Thanks for the reply but got it sorted & now in the throws of sorting the content how I want it.
I do wonder why Trainz/N3V couldn't have come up with a better solution in Surveyor instead of making a seperate operation.

Again thanks & onward & upwards (I hope)

Alan

 

[charlieencin]

Canceling this reply

 

[steamed]

Within surveyor, you might be able to sort your desired items of a category onto a single board, and then save this board as a "category" route. I think I saw one in the DLS called "2009 textures". Maybe your category route could then be temporarily merged with a real route to transfer the items. And perhaps archived, so that its items and their dependancies are permanently stored together.

 

[martinvk]

As mentioned, filters and keywords are a very powerful way to classify your collection. And the Picklist can be used to group your really all time favorites for easy access.

Doing it all within Surveyor would just duplicate CM. Even the famous TrainzObjects worked outside of Surveyor so using Content Manager in later versions is the same only different.

 

[Ricke82]

If you're using one of the Trainz versions that relies on Content Manager, I think this means opening up each item one by one to edit their config files, then re-commit them.

You can rename an asset without opening it for edit. In CM, click on the asset to bring it up in the Asset Details window, then enter whatever name you want in the Asset Name field of that window. The change will take effect as soon as you click on another asset.