Revision as of 21:58, 11 December 2022

The information in this Wiki Page applies to TANE, TRS19, Trainz Plus and TRS22. This page describes how to configure the Message Popup Rule.

For examples of how to use this rule in Sessions see the Trainz Wiki Page at:-

How to Use Message Popup Rule (Applications)

Add a Message Popup Rule

In Summary:
	The Message Popup Rule is a Trainz Session Rule that creates onscreen messages for users in Driver Mode.
	The rule provides you with three different ways of creating an onscreen message:- a simple (custom) text message with an optional graphic a HTML asset with a full HTML (web) page a string table entry in the config.txt file of a HTML asset Option 1 is the easiest but the more limited choice of the three.

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.

with a Custom Message

with a HTML (Web) Page

with a String Table Message

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.

Settings:

Custom text
In This Example:

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

Custom Message - the message entered into the text box will be displayed

Icon - the selected optional icon will be displayed

No optional sound has been added

Notes:

No knowledge of HTML is required for this option.
You can select and display an optional icon with the message.
You are no longer limited in the number of lines of text you can add. Although the popup window will only show 7 lines, a vertical scroll bar will appear for longer messages.
Text only can be entered (box cannot be left blank). Some HTML markup is acceptable, for example italic and bold tags.

For more information, see the Trainz Wiki Page at:-

How to Create a HTML Asset

The custom message popup created by the example shown above

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:-

Category select Texture- Not Environmental
Name type icon
On Download Station select True

Not all those shown will be suitable. Double click a possible icon to display its details before downloading.

For information on how to create your own Message Popup Icons, see the Trainz Wiki Page at:-

How to Create a Message Popup Icon

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.

For more information, see the Trainz Wiki Page at:-

How to Create a HTML Asset

Settings:

A pre-defined HTML page (advanced)
In This Example:

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

Notes:

Knowledge of HTML, as used by Trainz, will probably be required for this option.
The HTML page (with filename extension ".html") must be in a Trainz asset of type HTML.
Graphics and a limited set of HTML effects are possible.
The sound file settings HTML Wave and Wave Name are optional.
If a sound file is to be played when the message is displayed then it must be of type WAV (with filename extension ".wav") and must be in a Trainz asset of type HTML. It does not have to be in the same HTML asset as the HTML page.

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.

Settings:

A pre-defined string-table entry from a HTML asset (advanced)
In This Example:

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

Notes:

The config.txt file of the HTML asset must have a string-table container which holds all the text messages to be displayed.
The string-table token is the "tag" which identifies the message text in the config.txt file.

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.

For more information, see the Trainz Wiki Page at:-

How to Create a HTML Asset

Alternatives to the Message Popup Rule

There are other HTML message window rules that are alternatives to the Message Popup rule. A few possibilities are:-

Trainz Wiki

More Tutorials and Guides to Using Trainz

This page was created by Trainz user pware in April 2018 and was last updated as shown below.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 </tr>
 </table>
-<br>
+<table>						<!-- BEGIN Nav Buttons Table -->
+<tr valign="top">
+<td width=729><span id="stepNewAsset"></span>&nbsp;</td>
+<td width=46>[[file:BackToTop.png|link=#top|alt=Top|Top]]</td>
+<td width=75>&#160;</td>
+<td width=75>[[file:NextDown.png|link=#stepCustom|alt=Next Down|Next Down]]</td>
+<td width=75>[[file:BackToBottom.png|link=#bottom|alt=Bottom|Bottom]]</td>
+</tr>
+</table>								<!-- END Nav Buttons Table -->
 ='''Add a Message Popup Rule'''=
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 <td width=729><span id="stepCustom"></span>&nbsp;</td>
 <td width=46>[[file:BackToTop.png|link=#top|alt=Top|Top]]</td>
-<td width=75>[[file:NextUp.png|link=#top|alt=Next Up|Top]]</td>
+<td width=75>[[file:NextUp.png|link=#stepNewAsset|alt=Next Up|Top]]</td>
 <td width=75>[[file:NextDown.png|link=#stepHTML|alt=Next Down|Next Down]]</td>
 <td width=75>[[file:BackToBottom.png|link=#bottom|alt=Bottom|Bottom]]</td>

How to Use Message Popup Rule

Revision as of 21:58, 11 December 2022

Contents

Add a Message Popup Rule

Using a Custom Message

Using a HTML Page

Using a String-Table Message

Alternatives to the Message Popup Rule

Related Links

Trainz Wiki

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