1. To set the number of backups, select Trainz Settings from the Launcher and then click the Dev tab.
2. One data entry box in this tab will be named Daily backups to keep and it will have a default value of 7. Set it to the number of backups you want each day.

		If you are working on developing a new route or session then 7 daily backups could be a suitable number.
		If you are making minor changes to existing routes or sessions then 3 or 4 daily backups could be a suitable number.
		If you are not working on any routes or sessions then 0 daily backups could be a suitable number - but remember to reset this when you do need the automatic backups again.

1. using Windows File Explorer, open your local data folder and then open the backups folder.
2. the backups that have been created during the past week will be listed by their dates using the YY-MM-DD date format.

1. open the backup folder for the date that you want. A list of backup files and folders created that day will be shown.

• if you know the time of the backup then sort the entries by date. Some entries, as shown above, have randomised names and will have to be sorted by date.
• if you know the kuid of the backup (it will be the same as used by the route/session) then sort the entries by name.

1. open Content Manager
2. drag and drop the selected backup folder from Windows File Explorer into Content Manager
3. the item will be shown in Content Manager as Open for Edit. Select the item and Submit it.

• open Content Manager and use a search filter to identify the assets to be backed up. Some examples:-

		to show all assets that have been altered today.
		to show all installed routes that are yours.

• highlight the asset or assets (more than one asset can be included in each backup file).
• right mouse click on one of the highlighted assets and select Export to CDP.

• select a drive, folder and (if required) a backup filename.

1. open Content Manager
2. open Windows File Explorer and locate the backup folder
3. highlight the .CDP file or files to be restored
4. drag and drop the file or files from Windows File Explorer into Content Manager
5. if the assets being restored are already installed in Content Manager then their status will be Open for Edit. Submit the assets.

• on a drive that is always attached to your system create a Project Backups Folder
• in this folder create another folder named Today

• use this folder to store your regular backups for today. For example, when you take a break and exit from Surveyor, start Content Manager and backup the current project (e.g. a route, a session or both) to the Today folder

• name each backup using the name of the project and the time as shown in the example above

Why Keep Multiple Time Backups For The Same Day? Suppose that after your first backup of the day, at say 07:52, you decided to make some significant changes to your route. The later backups made at 12:30 and 14:10 included this change. By 17:00 you decide that this major change is not working and you need to return the route to its starting state. If your only backup was the last one you had made at 14:10 then you could not restore the route to its starting state.

• at the end of each day copy the Today folder to an external drive such as a USB or a detachable SSD into a folder also called Project Backups
• rename the Today folder on the external drive to a format that identifies the date of the backups it contains (using the yyyy-mm-dd format) as shown below

• copy this renamed folder to a second external detachable drive (if you have one) in its Project Backups folder
• when starting work the next day, delete the contents of the Today folder on your main drive and make the first backup of the day using the project assets in their initial state for the day

How Long Should You Keep The Daily Backups? The ideal answer is until after the project has been finished but in reality it will depend on your available storage space. The use of a large capacity external storage device would be the ideal solution for a complex project that may involve months or even years of work and hundreds or thousands of backup files. Once the project has been completed then these files may be deleted. If a decision is later made to restart work on the project then it would be considered to be a brand new project with a set of starting assets (the route and sessions) and the backup procedure can be restarted from that point.

Detailed instructions on backing up and restoring Picklists as text files can be found on the Trainz Wiki Page at:-

• How to Backup a Picklist
  

More Tutorials and Guides to Using Trainz

• How to Guides
• Driver Commands List
• Session Rules List (Alphabetical) with Parameters
• Session Rules List (Categories) With Parameters