Content Validation errors: Dependency has an invalid KUID User ID and cannot be used

TrainzDev

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There are a number of new errors thrown up by content validation. This one started being thrown by the download station approvals process recently. You won't see it in Content Manager yet.

Code:
ERROR: The dependency <kuid:447264:123456> has an invalid KUID User ID and cannot be used


This error is telling you that one of the assets you reference from your asset has an invalid UserID. This is the result of a 3rd party creator making up a UserID on their own, rather than using the one PlanetAuran generated for them when they created their account.

As assets with invalid IDs cannot be uploaded to the DLS, the content that you are trying to upload will always have 'missing dependencies' when downloaded - and require the end users to search 3rd party sites to find those dependencies. We would rather people didn't have to do this as it is a pain to search across the internet for a specific asset just because a route you downloaded happens to need it. Even if you do find a site which has it, there is no guarantee that site will be written in a language you can read. And if you do manage to get the asset, it will be declared faulty in Content Manager anyway.

To help with this problem, the DLS now rejects content uploads which depends on content with invalid KUID User IDs, where the dependencies can never be satisfied.

Unfortunately, there are a few items that were contributed as built-in items along with our Russian and Chinese routes which are affected by this problem, so even if your route uses only built-in content, you might still see this error when it comes time to upload it.


I have re-assigned these assets new, valid KUIDs. You can find them here on the DLS. If you are trying to upload a route, and are hitting this issue based on the few items of built-in content that are affected, you will need to download the replacement asset, use the 'search and replace' function in Surveyor to swap it over to the new version, save the route, and re-upload it. As the UserID has changed, the new versions cannot obsolete the old versions.


There are further issues here. A content creator who has invented their own ID is actually more likely to happen on someone else's ID than hit an unused one. While this may not hit this immediate error message (the ID is valid - it just doesn't belong to them), it has all the same problems, plus a few new ones. They also will never be able to upload to the DLS. Their content is misattributed to the wrong user in CM. And whoever did own that account will be repeatedly emailed by the DLS asking for dependency content whenever anyone uploads a map.

Every content creator, from anywhere in the world, needs to be using a valid PlanetAuran assigned KUID User ID. If you are making content and not using an ID that was assigned to you by PlanetAuran, then sign up for an account and start using that ID on all your content. The longer you leave this, the worse the problem gets for everyone using your content.
 
Thankyou for this blog post James. Hopefully it will make things clearer for those who are getting this error when uploading route/session content to the Download Station.

It may be worth mentioning though the best method of dealing with it if the asset is not a route/session dependency e.g. a traincar or scenery dependency.

Shane
 
shaneturner12;bt2976 said:
It may be worth mentioning though the best method of dealing with it if the asset is not a route/session dependency e.g. a traincar or scenery dependency.

The fix is always "Stop using whatever object has an invalid ID". That isn't dependent on what type of content you are creating.

If the error is coming up from a builtin asset, there are only a handful of objects included with invalid IDs. The only one that isn't a scenery object is a silent bogie sound. This could legitimately appear as a dependency on a few different types of assets - bogies, tracks, bridges, etc. If you happen to have this error on one of these types of asset, then please change the KUID reference in your config file to one of the other silent bogie sounds. There are several others available, at least one of which is already built-in, functionally identical, and has a valid KUID.

If it's a 3rd party object (not built-in or on the DLS), then it's up to you as content creator to find a suitable replacement. If you know who made the asset, you may wish to try contacting the author to persuade them to re-release the object with a valid ID. Note that any contact information in the config file is unlikely to be accurate.
 
Thankyou for your response James. I fail to see why someone would want to use an invalid UserID in the first place, but these things happen.

Shane
 
shaneturner12;bt2980 said:
Thankyou for your response James. I fail to see why someone would want to use an invalid UserID in the first place, but these things happen.

There is potentially a language issue with non-English-speaking creators - some may have missed the importance of the Planet Auran account, and not have realised where the first part of the KUID number comes from.

There may also be an issue if a content creator doesn't yet have a legitimate copy of Trainz, and thus doesn't want to create a PlanetAuran account yet. On that issue, It's important to note that a UserID is allocated for all PlanetAuran accounts, even if the creator doesn't yet have a serial number registered. So they can sign up for an account and get a proper UserID to use for their creations now, and register their product later when they get a legit copy and want to upload their creations to the DLS.
 
It is necessary to make sure that can not be uploaded on the DLS assets when their parts are completely not on the DLS.
 
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