Skyline User's Forum > Strange problem

klsc85

Dec 14 2009, 07:22 PM

Anyone who uses the donationware version of RouteRiter to update .eng and .wag files might find this interesting.

I recently downloaded the Soldier Summit rolling stock pack for the AG Soldier Summit template. As I normally do, I ran all the stock through RouteRiter to update the coupler and brake values. When I finished, I went into Activity Master to add the cars to my DRGW rolling stock group, only to find that none of the 50' boxcars I just worked on were on the list of available cars. Curious, I went into the "Show All" window, and lo and behold, there they were -- except, according to AM, they had bar couplers instead of automatic. A quick check of the .wag files proved that each car had the proper automatic couplers, but AM said, "No they don't". Hmmmm.

Next I checked the rolling stock list in the AM folder. Sure enough, each of the cars in question showed "bar" in the info line. Hmmmm again. Editing out the word "bar" and retyping "automatic" didn't work; I'd close the file, open it back up, and the word "bar" reappeared. Hmmmm again. Why in heck was AM thinking these cars had bar couplers when the .wag files said automatic?

I went back into the .wag files and took a closer look, and a little light went on in my brain. Each time couplers and brakes are updated using the packs in the donationware version of RouteRiter, a number of comment lines are added in the .wag files. Normally not a problem...there are innocent comment lines in just about every .eng and .wag file. But in the case of Turbo Bill's cushioned couplers, the word "drawbar" is in one of the comment lines. Those comment lines appear just above the coupler field. Could AM be reading the word "drawBAR" in the comment line before it reads the word "automatic" in the field? I edited out all the comment lines, and sure enough, the cars appeard in AM -- automatic couplers and all.

Steve, there's no way you could have anticipated something like this when you wrote the AM software, and I don't think there's any need to do anything about it. But it just goes to show you: just when you think we've tackled all the weird things MSTS has thrown at us, there are still more wacky things out there to trip us up.

Uncle E

JBDIXS

Dec 15 2009, 08:22 PM

Uncle E.
Thanks I to have run into this problem and thanks to you I no longer
have to pull my hair out what little I have.
I just got done fixing my rolling stock and now all is good.
Once Again Thanks.
John (JBDIXS)

klsc85

Dec 16 2009, 06:40 AM

QUOTE(JBDIXS @ Dec 15 2009, 08:22 PM)

Uncle E.
Thanks I to have run into this problem and thanks to you I no longer
have to pull my hair out what little I have.
I just got done fixing my rolling stock and now all is good.
Once Again Thanks.
John (JBDIXS)

Always glad to help a fellow hair-challenged virtual hoghead save his locks!

Uncle E

sgdavis

Dec 17 2009, 07:37 PM

QUOTE(klsc85 @ Dec 14 2009, 07:22 PM)

Anyone who uses the donationware version of RouteRiter to update .eng and .wag files might find this interesting.

I recently downloaded the Soldier Summit rolling stock pack for the AG Soldier Summit template. As I normally do, I ran all the stock through RouteRiter to update the coupler and brake values. When I finished, I went into Activity Master to add the cars to my DRGW rolling stock group, only to find that none of the 50' boxcars I just worked on were on the list of available cars. Curious, I went into the "Show All" window, and lo and behold, there they were -- except, according to AM, they had bar couplers instead of automatic. A quick check of the .wag files proved that each car had the proper automatic couplers, but AM said, "No they don't". Hmmmm.

Next I checked the rolling stock list in the AM folder. Sure enough, each of the cars in question showed "bar" in the info line. Hmmmm again. Editing out the word "bar" and retyping "automatic" didn't work; I'd close the file, open it back up, and the word "bar" reappeared. Hmmmm again. Why in heck was AM thinking these cars had bar couplers when the .wag files said automatic?

I went back into the .wag files and took a closer look, and a little light went on in my brain. Each time couplers and brakes are updated using the packs in the donationware version of RouteRiter, a number of comment lines are added in the .wag files. Normally not a problem...there are innocent comment lines in just about every .eng and .wag file. But in the case of Turbo Bill's cushioned couplers, the word "drawbar" is in one of the comment lines. Those comment lines appear just above the coupler field. Could AM be reading the word "drawBAR" in the comment line before it reads the word "automatic" in the field? I edited out all the comment lines, and sure enough, the cars appeard in AM -- automatic couplers and all.

Steve, there's no way you could have anticipated something like this when you wrote the AM software, and I don't think there's any need to do anything about it. But it just goes to show you: just when you think we've tackled all the weird things MSTS has thrown at us, there are still more wacky things out there to trip us up.

Uncle E

That is REALLY strange! I'll take a look, my guess is exactly as you say: it is reading the "BAR" in "drawbar". I should be able to fix this if that's what's causing this, I'll check the code to see.