Unwanted extras from downloaded layouts

[nahgallaco]

Having downloaded many layouts/senarios over the years and then removing them after trying them out I now find I have accumulated a lot of unwanted items.
Every layout downloads what it needs but removing the layout leaves all the "extras" behind.

I have disabled the inbuilt Trainz items which I don't use but would like to know if there is a way to remove anything not being used in my present layouts/senarios which was downloaded by these layouts?

I know it is a big ask but there is so much junk now in my Trainz folders that it is difficult to find what I want.
I am using 2006.
Thanks
Stuart.

 

[4ndylloyd]

Delete everything

You could just delete everything and then open your routes in CMP and see which have missing dependancies and then just re-download the ones that you are missing

 

[nahgallaco]

I thought of that but some things I have downloaded over the years have been deleted from the DLS and I am not sure which ones they are.
I wouldn't like to lose them.
However, it may be the only solution. Looks like a job for those long winter nights.
Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[4ndylloyd]

Hmmm....Cant think of another way unless you back up your content to DVD before deleting it from within the game. That way you can get anything back from the DVD that your route is showing as missing that you cant find on the DLS

Andy

 

[Dinorius_Redundicus]

...some things I have downloaded over the years have been deleted from the DLS......

Generally that's not true. There were only 2 instances that I can remember where creators broke rules or otherwise came to grief with Auran and had their content removed, but the rest of it, even the obsoleted versions of things, should still be there. PM me if you need clues on that.

As for the unwanted stuff, can't you use CMP to get it out of the database into the 'open-for-edit' folder then archive it from there? Maybe there's even an 'archive' function in CMP (I don't know, I don't use CMP). A big external hard drive is a good storage device, they are not so expensive these days.

And if you were wise, you would have kept the .cdp files from all the downloads, so you can always re-install any of them without needing to re-download anything.

 

[nahgallaco]

I must have just been unlucky. It was some time ago.
Yes I have tried in the past to use CMP and I usually manage to make a mess of it.
I do save a copy of everything so it is there. And I have recovered from some bad efforts.
I was just wondering if there was an easier way.
The idea of a fresh install and then putting in my layout and having the programme look for the missing items was what I was hoping for.

Supposing I save all to an external drive, how do I direct Trainz to look for items there instead of the DLS?

 

[Lewiscc65]

Here is one way. Open CM and click on installed. Then right click on the asset. If “view dependant assets” is grayed out delete it.H

 

[Davie_UCF]

There is probably a way using the filters and inverting some of them on CMP.. I would try it but can't right now. Go fiddle around and figure out which filter will show you whats nolonger used but isn't builtin?

 

[ianwoodmore]

Unfortunately there is no CM filter that can sum all not in use assets. These can contain up 50% of all the faulty assets in your TAD.

I have suggested the need for this filter to Auran.

 

[stovepipe]

How about this:

For each route you want to keep, open for edit all the dependencies. Then commit them, not revert. You will then have a list of assets modified by that date which you can highlight. Archive all those modified assets under the route name. Repeat for your other routes you want to keep.

Then delete the assets that aren't needed. These will be the assets that haven't been recently modified in the process above. If you make a mistake, you have your archives to re-install from. It also means you have a full set of assets for each route in one place.

regards
stovepipe

 

[nahgallaco]

Stovepipe - sounds brilliant. All I have to do now is work out what it all means. I am determined to give it a go.

I have been following Lewiscc65's suggestion for the past couple of hours and, judging by progress so far, I might be finished by Christmas. However, it is very easy to follow for someone like me.

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[martinvk]

Another way if you have not used the rating system is to select every route you want to keep and then view all dependencies. Click the "View in main list" button, highlight them all and give them a rating that is not being used. Once all your assets have this rating, select all assets that don't have this rating and archive them. You will now only have assets that are used in the routes you use. Of course if there is an asset you haven't used yet but always wanted to, better add it to a route before applying the ratings or rate them directly.

 

[NSWGR_46Class]

Generally that's not true. There were only 2 instances that I can remember where creators broke rules or otherwise came to grief with Auran and had their content removed, but the rest of it, even the obsoleted versions of things, should still be there. PM me if you need clues on that.

.

There has been at least 3 people that I know of that have had Auran remove there content from the DLS.

Plus 2 of my own items have been lost by the DLS and are just no longer there when they used to be.

 

[EdrickV]

I've seen some pre-SP3 items, as dependencies for routes I've downloaded, that are no longer available through download via the DLS. (Most if not all of those items have SP3 versions, however they don't use the obsolete table setup so take a bit more work to find.) Those pre-SP3 items show up as unknown in TS2010 CMP but are findable using the website search which can help in finding the newer version.

 

[Paul_Bert]

Another caveat here. If you use Portal Manager like I do, the engine and rolling stock generated by the portals is not identified as a dependent asset of a route. So you could have rolling stock that does not show any dependent asset but is in fact used by one via the portal manager.

I have deleted rolling stock in the past only to find out that it was needed by portal manager for a given route.

 

[R701Rusty]

The "Disable" function in CMP will take assets out of your visible lists but IIRC still allow them to be used in places you might have overlooked. That way you don't remove anything but if you need the space then you might need to ignore this.

Cheers
Russell.

 

[Originalwelshborder]

What a useful thread-needs to be a "sticky"!

Despite being a user since the ark, I've never understood (or used) the archiving routine.
Does archiving delete an object or just make a copy? Presumably one needs multiple copies in order to save individual routes, say to separate hard drive folders or dvd?
How does the program then recover them if wanted, can individual components be found by CMP?

Stovepipe and Martinvk's suggestions must be the way to go, as I don't think we have a third party tool available to do this for us these days, more's the pity?

I don't see that relying on re-installing from the DLS will work for most people as there are so many items from other sources. Utopia would be for every item ever made to be on the DLS! And what if you've used payware?

It will be a long slog with about 40 gig of downloads!

 

[EdrickV]

When you add an item to an archive it will add both the item(s) you added and their dependencies. (It doesn't check the dependencies for their own dependencies though so its a bit flawed.) And as long as the archive is listed in CMP's archive list you won't be allowed to delete the installed copy of the item. Items can be reinstalled from an archive just like a from a cdp file.