The information in this Wiki Page applies to TANE, TRS19, Trainz Plus and TRS22. This page describes how to configure the Message Popup Rule.
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Workflow Diagram
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The Message Popup Rule is a Trainz Session Rule that creates onscreen messages for users in Driver Mode. |
The Message Popup Rule is added to a Session and configured using the  Session Editor in Surveyor. The rule will open a browser window on the screen in Driver Mode that will remain on the screen until it is closed by the user or by another rule. |
There are three ways the message window can be created:-
Options: Choose one of:- |
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with a Custom Message - the quickest and easiest method, OR |
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with a HTML (Web) Page - the most complicated method but it often gives the best results, OR |
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with a String Table Message |
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Using a Custom Message
The settings shown in this example will direct Trainz to load the message from text entered in the Custom Message box.
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The custom message popup created by the example shown above |
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To find additional graphic icons that can be added to the Message Popup window, use Content Manager and set a Custom Filter to search for:-
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Category select Texture- Not Environmental |
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Name type icon |
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On Download Station select True |
| Not all those shown will be suitable. Double Left Click on a possible icon to display its details before downloading |
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For information on how to create your own Message Popup Icons, see the Trainz Wiki Page at:-
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Using a HTML Page
The settings shown in this example will direct Trainz to load the message from a HTML file in a HTML asset.
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Settings: Shown in the example above:-
 A pre-defined HTML page (advanced) |
 Pause game while message is displayed - this will halt the game play until the window is closed. This may be needed if you have a long introductory HTML information page, otherwise leave unchecked |
| Close previous message popup windows - this is usually a good idea unless you want multiple message windows open |
 Message location: Top left of the screen has been chosen as the location for the message window. Other positions are Top right, Bottom left and Bottom right |
| HTML Asset: General Purpose Session HTML one of the HTML assets installed with Trainz |
| HTML Page: right_away.html which is a HTML file inside the General Purpose Session HTML asset |
| HTML Wave: General Purpose Session HTML HTML asset contains the optional sound file to be played |
| Wav Name: all-aboard.wav is the optional sound file to be played |
| Autoplay Wav - the sound will be played when the page is displayed |
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Using a String-Table Message
The settings shown in this example will direct Trainz to load the message from text stored in the config.txt string table of a specified HTML asset.
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Notes:
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The config.txt file of the HTML asset must have a string-table container which holds all the text messages to be displayed |
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The string-table token is the "tag" which identifies the message text in the config.txt file |
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Settings: Shown in the example above:-
| A pre-defined string-table entry from a HTML asset (advanced) |
 Pause game while message is displayed - game play will not be paused |
| Close previous message popup windows - this is usually a good idea unless you want multiple message windows open |
| Message location: Top left of the screen has been chosen as the location for the message window. Other positions are Top right, Bottom left and Bottom right |
| HTML Asset: General Purpose Session HTML one of the HTML assets installed with Trainz |
| String Table Token: html_warning_late the string table token in the config.txt file of the General Purpose Session HTML asset contains the message to be displayed |
| HTML Wave: General Purpose Session HTML HTML asset contains the optional sound file to be played |
| Wav Name: all-aboard.wav is the optional sound file to be played |
| Autoplay Wav - the sound will be played when the page is displayed |
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For example, the config.txt file of the asset General Purpose Session HTML contains the following:-
string-table
{
html_warning_late "You are running late!"
}
...which will produce the message "You are running late!" from the Message Popup Rule settings shown above.
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There are other HTML message window rules that are alternatives to the Message Popup rule. A few possibilities are:-
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Trainz Wiki
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More Tutorials and Guides to Using Trainz
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Related Links
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This page was created by Trainz user pware in April 2018 and was last updated as shown below.
