Activity Uploaders, Please Read............

bravedan · Post by **bravedan** » Thu May 13, 2004 6:48 am

Hi Guys,

Firstly thanks for bothering to share your Activities, much appreciated.

Secondly, could I please implore you to clearly name the ROUTE and the VERSION of that route that the activity was written for, not just in the readme, but ideally up front in the Title or at least in the site Description???

Thanks,

Dave Bran

highterrace · Post by **highterrace** » Thu May 13, 2004 7:58 am

Isn't the route for an activity defined under what heading it's found under in the file library?

jbilton · Post by **jbilton** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:37 am

highterrace wrote:Isn't the route for an activity defined under what heading it's found under in the file library?

I think some have got muddled up a little....as the library needs sorting.
Plus that doesn't help if you've used search or you are looking from the newfiles page.

highterrace · Post by **highterrace** » Thu May 13, 2004 10:24 am

I don't know, *if* the uploader has put it in the correct class on when he/she uploaded it, the class should define the route.

I have included a grab of the relevant page, I agree that some the fields are a bit cryptic, but on the whole I find it very easy to find an activity for a specific route.

Perhaps some authors should be looking more at where they upload their activity to, perhaps scrolling down the class list to find one that is suitable before creating their own?

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tinsley · Post by **tinsley** » Thu May 13, 2004 2:24 pm

I agree with Dave...I'd like to know what route/version the act. is for without having to open files..go to library etc..Can't be difficult

A question for Matt...is there any reason for the library sections not being in alpha/num order...the screenshot above being the point of my question!!!
BTW..I am not moaning..keep the activities coming..and UKtrainsim is the best.. thanks to all ..

TractorBasher · Post by **TractorBasher** » Thu May 13, 2004 8:20 pm

The ones I always wonder about are those for the LBE route. Some require the add-on which I don't have, so I know they're no good to me. Some say you don't need the add-on, which is great. But some don't specifiy, and that doesn't help.

alan2 · Post by **alan2** » Fri May 14, 2004 5:50 am

Iw ould like to say that the File library is organised Yes!

but I don't browse the File Library.

I use the Newest files Search.! which gives no catagories. I download as the files are uploaded. (Usually *curses ISP*)

ebensoussan · Post by **ebensoussan** » Fri May 14, 2004 6:03 am

Just to say its perhaps quite difficult for a newby when uploading an activity to choose the right section. For instance, once I uploaded an actviity for the SMJ on the section "[route]SMJ" instead of "[activity]SMJ" as the route section appeared fisrt in the upload list.
And notice too that there are 2 SMJ sections in the activities list. I finally moved my SMJ activities uploads in the "SMJ Route".
Anyway I fully agree with Bravedan's suggestion.

Emmanuel

choccy · Post by **choccy** » Fri May 14, 2004 9:28 am

The class list above is getting into something of a jumble! Besides two SMJ categories we have Activity Cambrian Coast and Cambrian Coast, Skipton and Skipton to Carlise 1920 etc and I notice a recent addition to the community has placed an activity he has uploaded in the category BirminghamNewStrreet, which is his user name! Having said all that the list is much tidier than my office. Mark

mdanie · Post by **mdanie** » Fri May 14, 2004 1:33 pm

I guess it's the price we pay for the freedom to upload where we want. All the categories (for stock etc.) seem to have become disorganised but it would be a brave man or woman who undertook a reorganisation now

The web interface lends itself very well to an expanding "tree" structure (eg. for loco company / class / modified class) with hyperlinks to related relevant files (eg. cab or sounds) but it would be a major task to implement that style now and to keep it updated.

On activities, huge thanks to those who do put in the "see also .... " links. Helps a lot.

alan2 · Post by **alan2** » Fri May 14, 2004 3:42 pm

I do believe that matt is making it request only for new catagories on the UKTS 2 site!

we know there is a problem and it will hopefully be dealt with when UKTS 2 is finished.

(drops matt a note so he can add his two penneth)

ianmacmillan · Post by **ianmacmillan** » Fri May 14, 2004 6:03 pm

Everybody with uploads could help by editing their uploads to correct these mistakes.

ash888 · Post by **ash888** » Sat May 15, 2004 5:54 am

I usually try to use existing critia's for my activitys but when i uploaded some activitys for the LGV Atlantique V2.0 i did clearly state that in the readme that they will NOT work on the V1.0 or earlier versions of the route because the track database is totally different

. Also LGV-A is another TGV route so try not to confuse it with Lucweb's LGVmed

. The website is http://trainclaudius.free.fr

. I think the website is correct - If not - Google it and accept my apologies

.

cheers

Yuri

Post by **NeutronIC** » Sun May 16, 2004 10:34 am

Sorry, meant to add my $0.02 in here a while back...

As Alan has said, UKTS 2 will be radically different, users will not be able to create their own categories and I haven't decided yet, but they might not even be able to configure them at all, they may only be able to suggest and then a file library moderator will assign them.

I have updated the sorting on a few screens this morning and all the drop down boxes for uploading and so forth should also now be sorted, hopefully that will help matters in the short term.

I am going to have a tidy up once time permits and see if I can't at least get it a little more under control, I have a few tools that i've written to help me out but with the large number of files etc they're getting a bit slow to run these days

The other problem is that the file database structure as it stands was designed for loco's and I really didn't grasp activities, routes, utilities and so forth properly - but now there are so many of those types on the site I have a much better understanding of what's needed.

I've already designed the new database for UKTS 2 and it's infinitely more flexible than the current one and will permit specific attributes for different types, so a route might describe some of the stations on it, the length of it, the era and so forth. An activity might say how difficult, what era, what kind (freight/passenger), which route is required etc etc.

The other thing is that the new database is flexible in that I can create new attributes and change things around on the fly - the current database is more traditional in that adding new attributes means creating columns and updating all the screens - the new one will be entirely dynamic, if I decide a new attribute is needed then I will just have to add it to the database and it will magically appear on the screens instantly

Categorisation in the new database will mean you can do searches like "show me all the BR 0-6-0 steamers" or "show me all stock from the 60's".

The down side of this is it means that effectively all 6,000 files will have to be manually added to the new database so they get all the new classification terms on them - so it will take a little while for the new system to be fully loaded, but the idea will be to run the new system side-by-side with this one and once the new system is fully loaded shut this one down.

As a general guide, most people have been classifying activities as:

File Type : Activity
Class : The Route Name
Operating Company : The company stock thats used, e.g. LMS, Freightliner, Intercity etc.

Matt.

longbow · Post by **longbow** » Sun May 16, 2004 4:55 pm

Matt, a useful feature at trainsim.com is a forum for freeware route descriptions. Any chance of something similar here?