Routes VS Sessions Problem

I recently read somewhere in the forum that when working on a route, you should do all of the route work in Edit Session, and when finished, save the session, and the next time you open Edit Route, the changes will all be there.

I tried that yesterday, and it worked. However, today I tried the same thing again, and it didn't work. I have about five hours work in the session layer that doesn't show up in the route layer. My question is how do I transfer the work in the session layer to the route layer.

Joe

No, no no!!! Never! Totally the reverse. Edit session is for sessions ONLY. Anything made in a session will not appear in a route. You build the route in the route layer, and make a session (to play) in edit session.

This can be a very confusing topic, as seen by the many posts in these forums on this issue.

A few points to note: (from the Trainz Wiki page: How to Use Layers)

• Route layers are saved with the Route. Session layers are saved with the Session
• If you edit any Session layers then you MUST save the Session. If you later only load the Route then those edits will not appear.
• Until you gain experience and confidence in working with Routes and Sessions, and their layers, the best advice is to always load and edit a Session, not a Route.

I have problems due to bad memory when working on my routes and sessions.
I will make route changes in the sessions layer accidently.
When this happens I load the session and change it in the sidebar to route layer, then save as the route.
Works for me.
While working on the route, I always save the route and say no to the session then exit and then select the session and load it. I then save the session when finished and exit. I do this because if I have a set routine, I don't usually forget where I am.
I take medication that causes memory loss, so I have to be careful.
Cheers,

Mike

jrfolco said:

I recently read somewhere in the forum that when working on a route, you should do all of the route work in Edit Session, and when finished, save the session, and the next time you open Edit Route, the changes will all be there.

I tried that yesterday, and it worked. However, today I tried the same thing again, and it didn't work. I have about five hours work in the session layer that doesn't show up in the route layer. My question is how do I transfer the work in the session layer to the route layer.

Joe

Click to expand...

As a rule I always edit the route not the session. If you have for any reason been building in the session layer or session, you have the option of merging the session into the route.
cheers
Graeme

If you edit a route and save with anything in the session layer you need to open edit session not edit route.
I always edit session and add a new session layer at the top of the session layer list. if anything gets into the session layer by accident it will be in the top layer which I can merge into the route.

Thanks to all for your input. This past September I started my 19th year in Trainz but during those 18+ years I never learned anything about Sessions. That is until I acquired TRS19 Platinum with the ability to switch from Driver and back to Surveyor. I planned to do all of my testing in Driver. That way If I saw something that needed changing (missing camera, track alignment etc.) I could hit pause, switch to Surveyor, make the changes, and switch back to Driver. However, the changes I made were not saved, and I could not figure out why.

So I decided it was time to learn about Sessions and started researching. I did some searches in Google and found some Forum threads that were very helpful. I came to the conclusion that doing my route construction in Edit Session was the way to go. It eliminated deleting numerous Default sessions in content manager. Yesterday, I spent several hours working on my current WIP in Edit Session, and was able to save it successfully to the route, but I can't remember how I saved it.

Today I opened Edit Session and did about 5 hours work. I then saved the session, but when I opened the route in Edit Route, none of it was saved. I opened Edit Route and tried merging the session into the route layer, but that didn't work. My next move was to start this thread to see if someone could tell me what I was doing wrong. While waiting for replies, I decided to open Edit Session and merge the session layer into the route layer. This time it worked. I don't really know if this the proper way to save changes to the route layer. but it works.

What I've recently learned about sessions is only the tip of the iceberg, so I still have a way to go. I still don't know how to save changes in Platinum when switching back and forth between Driver and Surveyor. If someone would run me through it, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the replies,
Joe

One more note: There is an old route out there, one of the Arcade and Attica, I think, that some of the bridges/trestles and other structures are actually in the session layer. I am usually one who does a "Quick Drive" of a route first thing. It drove me crazy that there were no bridges/trestles, that there was no grain elevator where one was supposed to be, and there were other things missing. I got busy and started replacing all these missing items before I finally realized they were in the session! The other thing to think about, is if you leave structures out of the route, someone may download the route but not get the session, and then they are stuck without needed infrastructure.

The one big problem is that there's no indication which layer you are in unless you keep checking to make sure you are in the one you want. We've been asking for something on the menu bar to show which layer is open for ages now.
The other thing that annoys me is that I'm working in a layer and I switch it off because I've completed what I was doing and I then open another layer to do something else. More often than not a nag message pops up to say that I need to reopen the layer I've just finished working in order to proceed. When I was new to working with layers I would obey the message and open the layer (fool!) and end up with an unholy mess. Now I know better and flip the layer I know I want to be working in off and on a couple of times so I can proceed without the @!$%& nag message bothering me again. I wonder how many newcomers to Trainz have been caught out in that way, - a good darn many I would say.

KotangaGirl said:

The one big problem is that there's no indication which layer you are in unless you keep checking to make sure you are in the one you want. We've been asking for something on the menu bar to show which layer is open for ages now.
The other thing that annoys me is that I'm working in a layer and I switch it off because I've completed what I was doing and I then open another layer to do something else. More often than not a nag message pops up to say that I need to reopen the layer I've just finished working in order to proceed. When I was new to working with layers I would obey the message and open the layer (fool!) and end up with an unholy mess. Now I know better and flip the layer I know I want to be working in off and on a couple of times so I can proceed without the @!$%& nag message bothering me again. I wonder how many newcomers to Trainz have been caught out in that way, - a good darn many I would say.

Click to expand...

Yes! I have made these mistakes more than once and got my self into a mess with a longtime project I was working on. I ended up merging layers to solve the problem.

I asked more than once for an indicator somewhere. It's not like we don't have the screen real estate to do it. All we need is a couple of "lights" at the top that turn from red to green. The active layer-type is green or red depending upon which mode we're in. Red could be for routes, Green for sessions or vis a vis. Simple. To help us know which actual layer is active, the layer tab could change to the layer name or have the ability for us to hover over it so we know which layer is currently active.

Joe, if you are in "edit session", all you need to make sure of is that the route layer is selected at all times. eg. if switching from driver mode to surveyor mode as it is at this point things go awry. Currently in all release versions of TRS19 when you drop back into surveyor it will land you in the session layer. If you forget you can always merge the session layer into the route layer.
cheers
Graeme

A few tips I have picked on using the Unified Driver Surveyor that lets you switch between Driver and Surveyor and back again and safely save each time.

• Press the Pause (P) in Driver mode before you switch to Surveyor mode.
• After making your Surveyor edits (and I have so far only ever edited the Route Layers, not the Session layers after making the switch) then:-
  • if you want to restart the Session each time you load the Route and Session into Driver, with all the trains in their original starting positions, then save the Route only. This is good for retesting the same section of track several times over to "get it right". This assumes that your consists are all in Session layers, not Route layers.
  • if you want to start the trains in their new position (i.e. where they currently are located when you switched from Driver mode to Surveyor mode) when you next load the Route and Session into Driver, then save the Session as well as the Route. This is good for when you have finished testing one section of track and want to move onto the next without having to restart the Session all over again from the beginning.
• After switching back to Driver mode, press the "2" key to get back to the locomotive you are testing and then press Pause (P) to restart the Session.

The session layer and session are not the same. Somethings get saved in the session no matter which layer you use. Anything you put in the session layers section will save with the session. Likewise, all layers in the route section will save with the route. As pware has said when you open edit session, all route layer changes will save to the route. All edits in session layers will only save to the original session if you save before entering driver. All session saves once entered driver will save the session at the point you exit.

Forester1 said:

One more note: There is an old route out there, one of the Arcade and Attica, I think, that some of the bridges/trestles and other structures are actually in the session layer. I am usually one who does a "Quick Drive" of a route first thing. It drove me crazy that there were no bridges/trestles, that there was no grain elevator where one was supposed to be, and there were other things missing. I got busy and started replacing all these missing items before I finally realized they were in the session! The other thing to think about, is if you leave structures out of the route, someone may download the route but not get the session, and then they are stuck without needed infrastructure.

Click to expand...

As you know, this is a useful feature for session creators. I can have different buildings in the same place depending on the session.

I always use 'edit session' then switch to route layer for tracklaying and such, when I forget and added numerous trees etc it calls for a merge of route and session layer - the downside of this is that consists have to be switched back to the session layer.

N3V have recommended that in TRS19 (and its variants) ALL consists should be placed in a Session Layer, not a Route Layer. This will make the consists part of a Session and not a Route.

This is the way I have always worked as it allows me to create multiple different sessions using the one route.

I suspect that this recommendation is due to the UDS feature.