TrainPlayer-TrackLayer 4.2 Readme
Version 4.2.2, Jan 2, 2012
Welcome to Version 4.2.2!
Version 4.2.2 is the second bug-fix and enhancement update since 4.2 was released in December. The new version has a long list of fixes, as detailed in the version history at the bottom, including several new features not documented in the manual, described under New Features below.
Version 4.2 introduced a long-awaited revamp of the entire graphics system, allowing you to zoom in as close as you like, even on the largest layouts, without using up memory or seeing a blank screen or sacrificing performance. Scrolling has been optimized. Highlights are faster -- the train no longer jerks when you throw a switch. The main list of 4.2 improvements:
Revamped graphics! Infinite zoom, smoother performance, better appearance
View drag: grab the view and drag it around with the hand cursor, just like in a map program
Car sizes: specify sizes of individual cars rather than settling for the defaults -- the way it used to work
Background colors: choose your background color for a blank layout and another for the area outside it
Station styles: choose colors for station outline and text
Fixes: many small fixes and enhancements, as detailed in the version history.
These are documented in the manual -- see What's New in 4.2 in the contents. Version 4.2.1 added a series of fixes and small enhancements -- see the version history for details.
The following features are visible in the user interface, but so far not documented anywhere except here.
Built-in updating
You no longer have to wait for the next newsletter to find out if a new version of the program is available. As of 4.2.2., you get an alert at startup if a new version has been posted, and an offer to download and install it. If you choose Yes, the installer is downloaded and started automatically; on completion, the program restarts. If you choose No, the alert will come up again next time, or you can choose "Don't ask me again" to prevent this from happening.
If you have turned off the automatic update check, you can turn it back on again using the "Check for updates" box in Preferences General.
If you prefer to do the check manually, use the Check for Updates command on the Help menu.
Faster startup
Several enhancements were made in program startup, so that it doesn't take so long to get going. Changes include: (a) a large data file previously downloaded from the web at startup is no longer retrieved until needed; (b) this web file is cached to a local file for fast loading next time, with the cache automatically updated whenever the size or date of the source file changes; (c) while loading layout names for the chooser, a lengthy step previously opened all files to extract size and name data -- this no longer happens until needed; (d) status icons in the web chooser are determined once and then saved; (e) a web connection is now established only once and kept open; (f) checks for duplicate car collections have been eliminated; (g) the scheme for determining default car collections is streamlined.
For optimum startup, check "Show splash screen" in Preferences General. The splash screen now comes up immediately, and keeps you informed of progress during the startup procedure. But don't blink or you'll miss it.
Multi-line text in scenery objects
A scenery object can now contain multiple lines of text, wrapped to fit within the object border. This is useful for creating explanatory notes around your layout. In a future version, you will be able to pop these up or down on keystrokes or train events.
To use this feature: with the Scenery Edit tool (green arrow on the toolbar), right-click a scenery object, choose Properties, and go to the Text tab. You will see a new checkbox, "Wrap text." Enter a long string of text in the dialog and try checking this box. Also try changing the size and shape of the object (note that you can do this without taking down the properties dialog).
Multi-line text is drawn horizontally only. When Wrap Text is selected, text rotation is prohibited. If you want to rotate text on a scenery object, it must be a single line only and Wrap Text must be unchecked.
To enter a line break into a block of wrapped text, enter the pair of characters "\n" (backslash n). This will cause a break between lines at the indicated point. For example, this would give a two-line note:
line one\nline two
Text alignment
Text in scenery objects can be aligned left, center, or right. This applies to both single and multi-line text boxes. To specify your choice, bring up Properties for a scenery object, go to the Text tab, and make a choice in the Align combo box.
Grid sorting
Two new features in the Ops grids are designed to allow more flexibility in sorting. First, you can now sort on more than one column. To do this, just click on more than one column header. The first click sorts by the column you choose and shows a triangular sort indicator at the top. A second click on a different column does a secondary sort -- sorts the values in that column without overriding the sort of the first one. A second click on a sorted column sorts it in reverse order; a third click removes it from the sort.
Second, you can now add a column of your own and enter values by hand, then sort on them. To do this, right-click the grid and select Field Chooser. Drag the field called "Sort Order" onto the grid header. In this column you can type whatever strings you like and then sort on them.
In the Sort Order column, duplicate values and blanks are allowed. If you are entering numbers, they will be sorted alphabetically (meaning "11" will come before "9"), so use zeros to pad values (enter "09" instead of just "9"). Values entered in the Sort Order column are attached to the cars in each row; they are saved with the layout, and they show up in both Switchlist and Cars grids.
Grid space saving
The ops grids take up a lot of space on the screen. To reduce the space required, drag the Image column header off the grid. This removes the pictures from the grid, and causes all rows to shrink to standard text height. To bring the images back, use the Field Chooser.
Also in 4.2.2, the header in each ops grid is reduced in size so it fits just one line of text.
Train menu
The pictorial train menu was broken in 4.2.1, and is now fixed. As a bonus, it no longer comes up empty -- it used to do this if you chose, say, "show named trains only" on a layout where no trains have names. Now if your settings are such that the menu would come up empty, the settings are reset so that you see trains on it.
Layout background color
In 4.2.1, the Layout Properties dialog introduced a button for setting background color, but it was available only for layouts which did not have background bitmaps. This is no longer the case. Now you can set the background color for a layout having an image, and it will take effect whenever the image is suppressed with View Background.
If you change the layout background color, and there is an image on display, then you won't immediately see the effect of the change. An alert informs you about this.
Load car type override
An expert feature in 4.2.2 allows more flexibility in waybill and switchlist generations. Here's how it works. Associated with each industry is a list of incoming and outgoing loads. Each load is associated with one or more car types which can carry that load. The new feature allows you to override this default list of car types for a load, and instead specify a particular car type to carry that load to or from that industry.
For example, at the industry Feed Mill, one of the incoming loads is Corn. This load is listed as being transportable by car types "LO,XM,H" -- covered hopper, general-purpose boxcar, or hopper. Say your feed mill is only equipped with a loader which handles open hoppers and not closed cars. In this case you could override the load Corn in the list for Feed Mill to say "H" only, meaning that the ops generator will not assign a waybill to carry corn in open hoppers only and not any other type of car.
To specify the override, you must edit the item in the industry load list and add one or more car types (AAR codes) in square brackets. In the above example, the line saying "corn" in the incoming load list must be changed to say "corn [H]." The string within the brackets may be a single AAR code, or several of them separated by commas. This override code is displayed in the industry load list and also in any generated waybill which refers to it.
Override codes may be specified for industries on the layout (in the top portion of the Industry Browser), or for any of the standard industries in the lower portion. In the latter case, they will apply to any new industry of that type. For example, you can modify Feed Mill so that it includes "corn [H]", and this will then apply to any feed mill you create.
Train selection in scripts
With the introduction of the pictorial train menu in 4.2, scripting lost a useful capability -- it became impossible to select a train by giving a command from the Train menu. This capability is restored and enhanced in 4.2.2. Scripts now recognize the command "Train" followed by (a)a train name, (b) a numeric train id (as seen in the Train Properties dialog), or (c) the car-top label of any car, in which case the train selected is the one containing that car. Examples:
| train Broadway Local | selects train named "Broadway Local" |
| train 44 | selects train with id=44 |
| train X68 | selects train containing car X68 |
Car label duplications
Users who apply their own labels to cars have been complaining that the labels are lost under some conditions, such as when a car is copied and pasted, or jumps across to a linked layout. This is fixed in 4.2.2, with some caveats.
Say you add a boxcar to a layout. It is automatically assigned a label consisting of the general car code followed by the car's unique numeric id, e.g., "X25." Now you copy the car and paste the copy elsewhere on the layout. The copy gets a new id -- otherwise it would duplicate the original -- and because the label was auto-generated, it is then regenerated to match the new id. Your original car is untouched, and now you have a clone of it labelled X33 or something.
[ Note: if you cut instead of copy, then there is no problem of duplication, so neither the id nor the label change. Cut X25 and paste it somewhere else, it is still X25. ]
Now you go into Car Properties and give the car a different label -- say you call it "My X25." In this case, when you paste a copy of the car, it gets a new id but does not get a new auto-generated label (because that would erase the one you entered), nor does it keep the same label (because that would give you two cars with identical labels). Instead, a numeric suffix is added to keep the name unique. The first copy is called "My X25-1", then -2, etc.
Installation
By download: instructions are on the Download page on the web. Click the Download button and follow instructions.
From DVD: insert the disk in the drive, setup starts automatically. For details. see the next section.
If you have any trouble with the installation, see Where to Go for Help below.
If you have a DVD from TrainPlayer, insert it into the drive, wait a bit, and you will see the TrainPlayer DVD Installer, a little dialog with three big buttons*:
1. Install Program Files
Click this button to bring up the TrainPlayer Setup wizard, which takes you through the same installation procedure as for the downloaded version.
You may have already done this. If you downloaded the demo or program and went through the wood-grain screens of the setup wizard, then you don't need to do it again. The DVD installer dialog helpfully informs you if this is the case.
2. Install Data Files
Click this button to bring up the TrainPlayer Data Installer, a different wizard for installing the data files -- layouts, car collections, sounds, and scenery.
On the first screen, you are given a choice of whether you want to install the layout files to the hard drive or leave them on the DVD . (Other types of files are always installed to the hard drive.) Installing to the hard drive has several advantages: (a) the program starts up faster; (b) the layouts open faster; (c) you do not need to leave the DVD in the drive.
On the next screen, if you opted to install layouts to the hard drive, you can choose which layout sets to install. You can install your favorites and leave the rest on DVD for occasional use. Checkmark the sets you want to install and click Go.
3. Start Program
Click this button to launch the newly-installed program. This automatically closes the DVD Installer.
Other ways to start the program are (a) double-click the TrainPlayer 4 icon on your desktop, or (b) choose TrainPlayer 4 from the Start > TrainPlayer 4 menu.
* If the dialog does not come up automatically after inserting the DVD, open Windows Explorer, navigate to the root of the DVD drive, and double-click setup.exe.
License
TrainPlayer is shareware. You can run it free for thirty days, after which you must purchase a license to continue. If you do not have a license, a dialog comes up every time you run the program.
To purchase a license, (a) click the Buy button on the opening dialog, (b) choose Purchase from the Help menu in the program, or (c) go to the TrainPlayer Products page on the web.
Documentation
Detailed instructions for running the program are in the Help system. Choose Contents from the Help menu and browse around.
The same documentation is available in PDF format. For a link to the latest PDF manual, see the Support page on the web.
If you have been running a previous version, check the help topic What's New In 4.2 for a guide to the new features.
Additional documentation is on the web. For a growing series of helpful articles, see the How-To Clinics.
See the web Support page for more resources.
Upgrading
If you have been running 4.0 or 4.1, upgrade to 4.2 is free.
If you have been running an earlier version, you can upgrade free to 4.2, but you won't get the full Ops system until you purchase an upgraded license. For prices and links, choose Purchase Upgrade from the Help menu.
| 4.2.2 (3 Jan 12) | Second bug-fix release |
| 4.2.1 (14 Dec 11) | First bug-fix release |
| 4.2.0 (1 Dec 11) | First release of 4.2 |
| 4.1.0 (22 Oct 11) | First release of 4.1 |
Changes in 4.2.2:
Documented above:
Fixes -- no documentation required:
Chooser trees: prevent drag and drop in tree controls
Changes in 4.2.1:
Changes in 4.2:
Changes in 4.1:
License Agreement
-- TrainPlayer License Agreement --
Thank you for downloading TrainPlayer software. This agreement says: enjoy the program on whatever computers you have, and don’t give away your license key.distribute the installer freely. Without a license key, the installer is a free demo version.
use layouts as delivered with the program or downloaded from the TrainPlayer web site, in accordance with your license. You will not be able to download layouts for which you are not licensed.
request support by e-mail.
If you have not purchased a license, you may use the trial version free for the extent of the trial period. The trial version does not have the full set of features of the licensed version, and comes with only a small set of layouts. After the trial period expires, you must purchase a license or request an extension by e-mail.
You may not:
distribute, post, or make public any license key we provide.
modify the software or documentation.
distribute, post, or make public images, tpg files, or screen captures of any Kalmbach layout.
make copies of the distributed CD, except for your own personal use as backup.
Track plans from "101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders," "Model Railroader," and "Model Railroad Planning" are copyright (c) Kalmbach Publishing Co. You are permitted to use the images within TrainPlayer and TrackLayer only.
-- Disclaimer of Warranty --
This software and the accompanying files are sold "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. Because of the various hardware and software environments into which this software may be put, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered.
The program is not without bugs. If you find one, we encourage you to report it, and we will do our best to fix it in an upcoming version.
Contact
| web | www.trainplayer.com |
| info@trainplayer.com | |
| forum | groups.yahoo.com/group/TrainPlayer |
| 4200 Arcadian Dr., Castro Valley, CA 94546 | |
| phone | 707 320-4246 |