Route Editor Alph Testers Wanted

Not being one to allow a passing band-wagon go un-boarded ...

I wanted to expand my c# experience into Windows Presentation Foundation territory, so I decided to cobble together a fully functional text (csv) editor based on the SharpDevelop editor, AvalonEdit. Faint heart never won fair lady, in at the deep end and all that. Anyway ....

At the moment it's oriented towards route editing (watch this space) and offers two flavours of command/search code completion, context help, a simple search/replace function, printing (with preview) and, of course, load and save. It'll write a fully functional script. I've also written a template and will do a simple 'How to use' for new users.

I've got a lot more ideas but I now need some volunteers to test what I've already done (to destruction please!) before I go much further.

As I said. it's Alpha code and being developed using the latest WPF (4.0) it will only work with .Net 4.0 and upward, so you'll need Win XP service pack 3, and have regularly updated it, at least. I've tested on my 'old' slow nine year old self build machine and it works perfectly, just takes a bit of time to load - (much like me really). Some functionality is not working properly yet (OBVE colour highlighting, indenting and multi-document editing are just the ones that come readily to mind).

So, serious willing volunteers (I'll limit it to five or six) wanted please.

PMs if you are interested.

Thanks for your interest.

Phil

[Edit] For typo [/Edit]

Well, no takers so far ....

Perhaps I can tempt someone with a few pictures of the editor in action using the first part of Dennis' tutorial?

Please feel free to post comments.

Phil

Hmm I'll give it a try. It's what this forum is here for.

If I can put it this way I'd say your route editor is kinda tieing with alvin Wong's route editor which has added syntax for easier coding and is very much similar. Though yours looks more built up

Northern Line wrote:If I can put it this way I'd say your route editor is kinda tieing with alvin Wong's route editor which has added syntax for easier coding and is very much similar. Though yours looks more built up

Yes, it is similar on the surface (there are only so many different ways of doing it) but under the bonnet it is (very deliberately) totally different. PM me an e-mail address and I'll send it along for you to try. [Note to self - finish the HowTo page!]

I'll get one off to you Derryck but which e-mail address would you like me to use?

Thanks for the help both.

Phil

Please use the one listed HERE. Thanks and let me know whether the program needs any dependencies to be installed...

Hi Derryck

No, no dependencies and doesn't require installing, just copy the files where you want them (including an external drive/memory stick) and off you go.

Just need to finish the paperwork ......

Phil

OK, sounds easy then.

Derryck wrote:OK, sounds easy then.

Has to be - I don't understand 'complicated' at my advanced age!

Nearly done.

Phil

Hi All

Alpha release 2 is available for anyone who wants it for testing - drop me a PM.

Development is continuing, or would if I could get the RouteViewer to accept a route script as a parameter. The documentation just says it will, not how! Anyone got the answer?

Thanks.

Phil

I think that routeviewer uses the same command line arguments as openBVE itself, which are as follows

/route=File
File: The route file (CSV or RW) to start immediately. If the associated train is not found, and if /train is not also used, this opens to the main menu with just the route selected.
/train=Directory
Directory: The train folder which contains a train.dat. If /route is not also used, this opens to the main menu with just the train selected.
/filesystem=File
File: The configuration file to customize the file system. See Organization of files and folders for more information.

Thanks for that LabRatAndy .

I'll give it a go and hopefully report back with success. It certainly bears out what I saw in the viewer source code.

Phil

Not a lot of joy starting the Route Viewer with the developing route inserted as the .net routines don't seem to want to work. Not forgotten it though and it will be worked on.

Anyway - alpha version 3 is now ready for evaluation (you don't need to promise to use it, just evaluate/test it for me so that I can see that its going in the right direction for the new developer target!) in exchange for a PM with an e-mail address.

Thanks.

Phil

Well, that was a successful week!

After discovering that OBVE and the RouteViewer have entirely different start-up syntax (the hair is beginning to grow back!) the Editor now has the facility to run either, with the route being edited already loaded, by a selection from the Editor menu (or directly by using hot-keys).

Next up - editing multiple documents.

Phil

Hang in there! This could be very good.

Michael

Thanks Michael - It's getting there, the problem is that for every 'feature' I add I find two more to add to the TODO list!

Spent today avoiding the eagle eye of SWMBO, who had a day off work, by adding functions to the toolbar instead of being 'found' something to do ...

The Law of Sod has not been repealed, as many other's have found before me, but, hey, that's the fun of learning to program aint it?

Anyway a PM with an e-mail address will enable you to evaluate the Editor (so far) for yourself.

Phil

It's been a while since I posted some pictures, so here is one of Anthony Bowden's routes loaded into the text editor - with its individual sections folded. No need to plough through the whole file to reach something in the Track section, just unfold the bit you need.

Just to prove that the whole file is there I have run it in the RouteViewer (from the editor menu item!).

Phil

[Edit for yet another typo ...!!!!]

Hi Phil,

Great work was having a play with it this morning. .FreeObj could just simply be .freeobj, CAPS are nice but totally unnecessary. Also .FreeObj 0; 0; 0; etc, could also just be .freeobj 0;0;0; etc ie remove unnecessary spaces. We're talking bytes and route files never really end up that big a file size, but hey.

I will get more time over our long weekend here in Oz to play some more. It would be great if as you moved along the route in RouteViewer that the position within our text editor moved along with it, is this even possible?

Bye for now,

Stephen.

Official documentation -> Routes -> The CSV Route -> 2. Syntax -> Commands -> Rules: ""NameOfTheCommand" is case-insensitive. [...]"

So you're right, but if you look into the existing files, it seems most/many people stick to cases as written in the documentation. Adds a bit to clarity. This goes for spaces as well and even more; we're not using cassettes as discs, capacitors as RAM and modem as download method. A clear, well-legible code is worth those few bits and bytes more.

Stephen Cross wrote:
Great work was having a play with it this morning. .FreeObj could just simply be .freeobj, CAPS are nice but totally unnecessary. Also .FreeObj 0; 0; 0; etc, could also just be .freeobj 0;0;0; etc ie remove unnecessary spaces. We're talking bytes and route files never really end up that big a file size, but hey.

That's a stylistic thing really and only affects how readable the code is to humans. You could also have every command on one long line with no comments either, it would still be readable by openBVE but would be a nightmare to work with if you get my point. Personally I prefer easily readable code over saving a kilobyte or so in white space characters.

Stephen Cross wrote:
I will get more time over our long weekend here in Oz to play some more. It would be great if as you moved along the route in RouteViewer that the position within our text editor moved along with it, is this even possible?

I'd say that wouldn't be possible, short of completely integrating routeviewer with the editor, as I don't believe routeviewer has the ability to report the position it's at.

Thanks for the reply Stephen - I'll look forward to the results of your long weekend's investigations .....

Although I tend towards the well formed and readable tendency so far as code is concerned I can see what you mean. However you don't have to put up with my choice, you can change the command text.

You do this by editing any of the name-space XML files in the Data folder (but NOT those with the 'User' prefix) which are fairly user friendly in the labelling of sections, in the text editor of your choice and then re-compile it from the Route Tools/Re-build Route Data menu item. Thus you get what you want, how you want it. Give me a shout if you want some more pointers on what each section is for, as it's all re-writable.

The RouteViewer will keep up when developing by (Quick) saving and using F5 (refresh) in the route viewer as the view stays at the same place as previously set which is where you are working, but the only other way I can see is to manually type the distance from the start (literally) on the RouteViewer page and press return - the view will 'jump' to the position specified. No way I know of doing it the other way round! Total RouteViewer integration is possible but a long way off.

If you get stuck let me know.

Thanks for looking at it.

Phil

A quick update.

Multi tab/document is now effected - although I seem to have introduced a slight problem with intermittent script code 'collapsing'. The answer is probably staring me in the face . It usually is.

A good bit of news is that a (very) established developer has told me that he is now seriously developing with OTE (new working title). As I told him - my very first user ..... which of course wins him a lifetime's supply of bug fixes! It also means that I've got to be a damn sight more careful - which is no bad thing.

Alpha testers (although we are getting towards beta 1.0 now) still needed. Volunteers?

Phil

PS I'm now starting on the second year of my York University course on Railway History (I've chosen to do an essay on the Railway Clearing House and its influence on current railway rules/regs). Sad or what! Anyway things OTE will now slow down a bit.

Hi Phil, sorry for not providing the feedback that would have been needed - I have so little time that I basically don't check my mail more than once a week lately. :-( Who is this developer? Graymac?

No