Repairing faulty assets on the DLS

[TrainzDev]

If one of your favourite assets is faulty when downloaded from the DLS, you may wish to repair it and provide that repair to others. This may be particularly important for a content creator wishing to use that asset in their creation.

The Download Station Cleanup process allows a trainz user to repair assets created by other trainz content creators on the DLS. You can find some documentation about the process on the TrainzDev Wiki.

If you do decide to repair an asset, there are some things to bear in mind:

• Check first to ensure the asset is in the repair list. It might not have been added to the repair list yet. The reason there is a delay between something being detected as faulty and it appearing in the repair list is that we give content creators a chance to fix the asset themselves first, before opening it up for the community to fix.
• Also check to see if someone else has already claimed it. You might find someone else is already working on the asset you want fixed.
• You must increase the KUID2 version number of the asset by precisely one version. You are not allowed to skip a version.
• You will likely need to increase the trainz-build version number in order to meet the 'minimum requirement' level for the DLS, currently 2.9. The more this number changes, the more update work must be done to the asset to make it work at the new version number. Be aware that doing this work successfully can often be a bigger task than actually fixing whatever the error originally actually was.
• Test your repaired content after changing the trainz-build number.
• Test the repaired asset itself by placing it in a new map / session, not just using it in an existing map or session that happens to depend on it.
• Upload the repair via the 'Upload Repair' link on the Download Station Cleanup website, not via Content Manager's uploader.
• You get one chance to repair the content. Make sure you test it thoroughly and don't miss any problems.

In the past, there have been some repairs uploaded which while they technically passed validation, there were still problems -- up to and including the entire asset being invisible. If you discover one of these, first check whether it is in the DLS repair list. If it is not in the DLS repair list, then contact the helpdesk, and log a ticket in the 'Planet Auran' section -- if Helpdesk agree the asset needs repair, they will add it to the DLS repair list so you can claim it and repair it.

 

[SharkNose]

Thanks for this. If anything, it confirmed that what I was doing with repaired assets was correct!

 

[-Basti-]

I think it is improtant to leave a note in describtion about the person who repaired the asset.
In the past there have been repairs that made the asset un-useable and people have been angry against original author, even if he changed nothing.

Maybe this should become a rule.

In my opinion it's not a good idea to change something under someone other's name without any note!

 

[Pencil42]

The original author had already been notified about the issue and given time to make the fix. If they don't care to bother fixing it themselves, I don't think they can complain about the quality of the fix someone else provides.

 

[-Basti-]

Don't get me wrong, i'm not one of those Anti-DLS - guys and i think the DLS cleanup is necessary, but as i said i see problems there.

Its not only that the authors complain about fixes (maybe they just have no time to fix those assets or just don't want an update), we had problems here other people (normal users) complained to the author because of those fixes. It was not visible, that the author has not done those fixes!
And thats where I see a big problem in.
The fixes are made in a way that it looks like the original-author done it. In my opinion thats not really legitimate. It must be obvious that another user modified those assets.
Where's the problem adding a rule that says that there must be some words like "Modified by USERNAME for TS 12 compatibility" in describtion?

On the other side, there is still no single word about modyfing content or providing for repairing in the "Auran Content Creation and Distribution Policy" that you accept when you upload an asset.
So i can partially understand when people do not upload new content to DLS.

And thats the point for me. We have several people here in germany that stopped uploading content to DLS, partially really good content that i wish to see on DLS.
But they don't want their content to be changed by others without a single note or such, they won't other people do things under their name. And to be honest... i would also not feel very comfortable with this!

 

[shaneturner12]

-Basti- - it's simple really. If a creator fixes any faulty assets when notified (within 8 weeks) it wouldn't appear on the public DLS Cleanup list. Creators need to take responsibility for fixing their assets if they are faulty otherwise someone else will fix it for them.

Shane

 

[btvfd]

Hello all: I made repairs to some content through the Download Station Cleanup process but the items wont upload. I get this message: An Error Occured with xxxxxxxxxx
- The User ID (KUID:xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) does not belong to you, please use the User ID in your Planet Auran profile.
- KUID:xxxxxxxxxxxxis already assigned to xxxxxxxxxxxxx, which is either on the Download Station or waiting for approval. You can update content by using the obsolete tag in the config.txt file. ( I removed the KUID number for this posting) Now I thought you can't use your own ID when fixing stuff because you have to reload it as their KUID, am I wrong in this? What is the proper process for repairs to be uploaded? Additional note: I have claimed the items for repair through the proper process, furthermore I followed the process above by uploading through the Upload Repair link.

 

[shaneturner12]

Hello all: I made repairs to some content through the Download Station Cleanup process but the items wont upload. I get this message: An Error Occured with xxxxxxxxxx
- The User ID (KUID:xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) does not belong to you, please use the User ID in your Planet Auran profile.
- KUID:xxxxxxxxxxxxis already assigned to xxxxxxxxxxxxx, which is either on the Download Station or waiting for approval. You can update content by using the obsolete tag in the config.txt file. ( I removed the KUID number for this posting) Now I thought you can't use your own ID when fixing stuff because you have to reload it as their KUID, am I wrong in this? What is the proper process for repairs to be uploaded? Additional note: I have claimed the items for repair through the proper process, furthermore I followed the process above by uploading through the Upload Repair link.

Sounds like a bug in the upload systems to me.

Shane

 

[btvfd]

ok, I re-uploaded under my KUID then added the obsolete tag so I wonder if it will work this time? I think I may have missed that part in the original upload.

 

[shaneturner12]

I wouldn't advise doing that as using your own KUID is violating the cleanup process as it has to be done under the original creator's KUID. However, do make sure you've increased the asset's version accordingly (kuid:xxxxx:xxxxx becomes kuid2:xxxxx:xxxxx:1, and existing KUID2 versions have the version incremented by one as long as it's not 127 or in the form of kuid2:xxxxx:xxxxx (i.e. no version number))

Shane

 

[btvfd]

OOOOOOP's it posted before I could pull it and do per your instructions. Now my question is how do I pull it off the DLS to avoid any problems?

I wouldn't advise doing that as using your own KUID is violating the cleanup process as it has to be done under the original creator's KUID. However, do make sure you've increased the asset's version accordingly (kuid:xxxxx:xxxxx becomes kuid2:xxxxx:xxxxx:1, and existing KUID2 versions have the version incremented by one as long as it's not 127 or in the form of kuid2:xxxxx:xxxxx (i.e. no version number))

Shane

 

[shaneturner12]

Only N3V can sort that one out I'm afraid.

Shane