How to Use Session Editor

The information in this Wiki Page applies to TANE, TRS19 and Trainz Plus.

What is the Session Editor

	The Session Editor allows you to add, delete and edit the Rules in a Session
	The Rules control the operation of the Session

Notes: The Rules added and edited by the Session Editor control:- behaviour of drivers (and their trains) weather conditions time of day signals and switches display of information and instructions to the player train timetables responses to events (time, triggers, load levels, other trains, etc) decisions on what happens next to name just a few.

In TANE and TRS19 the Session Editor is found in the Surveyor Main Menu. In TRS19 SP1 and Trainz Plus it has been moved to the Surveyor Edit Menu. In either case select Edit Session from the menu.

 

When loaded, the Session Editor will show all the Rules that have been added to the Session. If you have just opened the Editor on a Route without a Session then it will show a very basic set of Rules. The Editor will allow you to add additional Rules, and delete or edit those shown. Links to extensive lists of Rules that are built into Trainz or available on the DLS can be found at the end of this document.

Notes: the Name of the Session is the Username tag entry in the config.txt file the Session Description of the Session is the Description tag entry in the config.txt file Both entries can be edited in the Session Editor and the config.txt file for the Session asset will be updated when you save the Session and exit Surveyor. The order of the Rules in the Editor list is usually not important. All the rules shown will be executed simultaneously although some rules will take longer to complete than others If the order in which some of the Rules are executed is important, then group them together in a Ordered List Rule (examples are shown in the image) in the order you want them to be executed. Information on using Ordered Lists can be found at Using Ordered Lists Rules can be grouped together for convenience (e.g. all the Rules that set signals at the start of the Session) or because they depend on a particular event (e.g. a time, a train arriving at a set point, a wagon being loaded, etc). These form Nested Rules and are indicated by arrow heads as shown in the image. Click on an arrow head to open up its nested list of child Rules. Each of the Rules that have been nested under the Ordered List Rule in the image above have been indented one level to the right.

More information on the various types of List Rules and how to create Nested Rules can be found on the Trainz Wiki Page at:- How to Use Parent and Child Rules

The "Button Bar"

At the bottom of the Session Editor is the "button Bar".

the  Add  button will insert a new Rule below the selected (highlighted) Rule or at the end of the list if no Rule has been selected To use the other buttons, select a Rule first by clicking on it the  Edit  button will open the selected (highlighted) Rule for editing the  Delete  button will delete the selected Rule the  Indent/Outdent  buttons will move the selected Rule right or left the  Up/Down  buttons will move the selected Rule Up or Down

Click to Accept your edits and close the Session Editor

Click to Cancel your edits and close the Session Editor

The above operations, and more, can also be found by right mouse clicking on a Rule to open up a menu

Edit rule  is the same as the  Edit  button  Insert above  is the same as the  Add  button but inserts the new Rule above the selected Rule  Insert below  is the same as the  Add  button (inserts the new rule below the selected Rule)  Cut  Copy  Paste  will move/copy the rule (and its nested child rules if it has any) between the Session Editor and the Clipboard  Delete  is the same as the  Delete  button  Indent  is the same as the  Indent  button  Outdent  is the same as the  Outdent  button  Move up  is the same as the  Up  button  Move down  is the same as the  Down  button Warning: The  Cut ,  Copy  and  Paste  operations will NOT correctly copy ALL the settings in some rules, for example the Navigation Display Rule. It is a good idea to check the settings of each rule that you paste into the Session Editor

Copying Rules Between Sessions

Rules can be copied between Sessions

The Copy and Paste commands can be used to copy rules between different sessions. This can save you having to reenter complex sets of data, such as driver commands, in a new session.

	Steps: in the Session Editor right mouse click on the Rule to be copied (more than one Rule can be highlighted) select Copy from the popup menu exit the session load the second session (where the Rules are to be copied to) into Surveyor and open the Session Editor right mouse click after the last rule entry and select Paste

If, for example, the Driver Setup Rule was copied by this method from one Session to another, then all the drivers with their assigned locos and driver commands will now be duplicated in the second Session.

If the second Session already has a Driver Setup Rule then there will now be two copies of that rule, the original and the imported copy. This will only be a problem if the imported copy uses the same locos or drivers as the original Rule. If this is the case then you will need to edit one of the Driver Setup Rules to remove or reassign the duplicates.

Warning:
	The Cut, Copy and Paste operations will NOT correctly copy ALL the settings in some rules, for example the Navigation Display Rule. It is a good idea to check the settings of each rule that you paste into the Session Editor

Examples of Using the Session Editor

Wiki pages that show examples of using the Session Editor to solve particular problems or to carry out particular tasks can be found at the following links:-

• Adding Message Popups - Sample Applications
• Adding Navigation Points - Sample Applications
• Controlling Junctions in Sessions
• Controlling Signals in Sessions
• Using Track Triggers
• Using Variables in Sessions - Sample Applications

Trainz (TRS19) "Plus"

The Plus version of TRS19 (also known as Trainz Plus) has the ability to edit saved Driver Games in Surveyor and allowing the edited game to be continued without having to restart the entire Session. This includes using the Session Editor on an active Driver Game Session where some of the Rules may have already been completed and others partially completed. To allow for these possibilities, additional features have been added to the Session Editor in the Plus version.

This version is currently undergoing beta testing.

Related Links

How to Use Parent and Child Rules

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Trainz Wiki

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

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This page was created by Trainz user pware in October 2019 and was last updated as shown below.

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