AndrewP

This looks great! Is it going to be an open standard; if I wanted to make my own controller, is that going to be possible?

As luck would have, I've been hit by this issue - I had to replace my hard drive and I've lost my layout plan because it wasn't in my Documents folder (and so wasn't backed up) and I'm awaiting my previous activation code to be cleared before I can reactivate this version. It doesn't matter that much, but if I was exhibiting tomorrow (say) - it would be a disaster. AndrewP said: Fishmanoz said: AndrewP said: As a matter of interest, is it possible to activate RM if there's no internet connection? Internet connection definitely required as it checks the licence code you enter. In fact, you even need internet to run a handheld even though the HH is wified to the PC. In fact that is another suggestion - HH to run without Internet connection being required.

Red/green can be difficult; ISTR 8% of UK men are colourblind - including me - and find it difficult to distinguish the two. Perhaps the traffic light solution would help; the green is actually a mix of green and blue so it's easier to tell from the red. -Andrew PJ_model_trains said: I have another item for consideration please. My layout is added to RailMaster schematic and although Hornby do not have points and accessories de-coders I have programmed all points, cross lanes two points on one code and they look and work (on screen) great. Looking ahead I also put in a few red/green loco traffic lights. They look good at 100% but as discussed very few people will view their layout at 100% once complete they will more than likely view it at 50% to see it all or as much as possible. When reduced to 50% the lights reduce also and on a laptop they are so small they are hard to see whether they are red or green. Can this little problem also be given consideration. The signals are clear it is just the size of the loco traffic lights. Compare the size of these lights to the circles for point control. Thank you.

Sorry; pressed the wrong button above - yes, for exhibition use, non-Internet use would pretty essential. ISTR RM asked me what kind of DCC controller I was using; if it could tell automatically, then I would argue that there's no need for any restriction if it's connected to to an elink as you can't get an elink without RM.

Another couple of things I've noticed; the locomotive control dialog is set to be topmost; so if you switch away to another program then the dialog will still be visible. When RM is maximized, it completely fills the screen - on Windows 8 (and presumably 7) this hides the task bar, so it's difficult to select another application. AndrewP said: Railmaster changes/improvements Here's my opinion after a couple of weeks using the program. Please understand, in many ways the program is excellent and well thought out, these are mainly the things I found confusing or slowed me down. So, here we go: Register Railmaster so UAC doesn’t kick in each time it’s run. Also, get the driver signed; most new computers will be 64 bit which makes it much harder to install unsigned drivers. Layout plans and locos are being saved in the Program Files/Railmaster folder. As they are more of the nature of documents, they should really be saved either in somewhere like Documents/RailMaster or, if they are considered as system files then in ProgramData/RailMaster. Saving them in Documents/RailMaster would mean they’d get backed up automatically if the user does a backup, also it would make it much easier to move them to another computer, so layouts could be designed on one machine, then moved to another for actual operation or, alternatively, so that a duplicate “back-up” machine could be maintained - this brings me to the next point: Allow the program to be registered on more than one machine, or at least two machines, trust users to only run one copy at a time; only allowing one machine creates a crisis if (say) a laptop is dropped during an exhibition as it’s currently impossible to have a spare duplicate machine. Don’t use customized close/minimise/resize buttons on windows; they’re too small to use with touch screens - and the program is intended to be used with touch screens. On a related subject, some “standard” windows shortcuts don’t work; Alt+F4 doesn’t close the program, ctrl+F4 doesn’t close a subwindow. Copy/Cut/Paste doesn’t seem to be supported - they would be useful when designing a layout or adding a new loco which is the same/similar as an existing loco. Double clicking the RailMaster header doesn’t maximise it’s window, neither does dragging the window to the top of the screen; you have to click the maximise button on the toolbar - and because it’s so small, it’s impossible to do that on a touch screen. The tick/cross options on windows are inconsistent; when editing an accessory, if you click Cross, it behaves like “cancel”, with Tick meaning “read settings”. If you click the Cross, RM then asks if you really want to abandon editing, now the Cross means “no” and Tick means “yes”. When editing a loco or layout, Cross again means “cancel”, but Tick means “save”. I know that a tooltip will appear when you hover the mouse over the button, but you can’t do that on a touch screen. Personally, I’d prefer “standard” windows yes/no/cancel/save buttons. Don’t display the “touch screen” or “mouse” options; it’s not clear what they’re for or if they actually do anything; clicking them doesn’t seem to make any difference to using the program on my touch screen laptop. On the Loco dialog, there’s no way to add a new loco if an existing loco has been selected; when you first open the dialog, one can add a new loco, but if you select an existing one, the only way I’ve found to add a new one is to close the dialog (using the too small “close” button!) then open the dialog again. Make the start-up sound optional. The “bleeps” when changing points or turning on accessories is useful feedback, but the start-up sound doesn’t really help me use the program - and if someone’s goes through half a dozen restarts because of a connection problem with the e-link, it’ll become annoying. On the accessory dialog, add a “generic” or “other” accessory option, even if it does nothing; it’s confusing what should be set for accessories controllers that aren’t on the list. When switching to design layout, load the current layout by default or remember the last one that was being edited. Until the interface is completely solid, a “re-connect link” option would be useful. Currently, I have to change to a different com port, then switch back to the “correct” one.

Fishmanoz said: Great list Andrew, and RM Support are monitoring this thread and taking notice. A few of your things are already on their list too from previous posts. Go back and find the last HRMS post to see what they say about their future plans. Just on one of your points, you do realise that there is a deactivate/reactivate feature that allows you to move your licence to any other machine at any time, although it can only be active on one machine at a time, not two. Then for disasters, you can contact them and they will do the deactivation for you. The latter won't cover your exhibition disaster instantly, but they do work long hours including weekends. Apologies to RDS for discussion not being specifically updates listing. Thanks for the reply; I did think that some/all of these would have been thought of. I did know about the deactivation/reactivation system, but what went through my mind was dropping the laptop on the Saturday morning of an exhibition - currently, they'd be stuck. As a matter of interest, is it possible to activate RM if there's no internet connection?

Railmaster changes/improvements Here's my opinion after a couple of weeks using the program. Please understand, in many ways the program is excellent and well thought out, these are mainly the things I found confusing or slowed me down. So, here we go: Register Railmaster so UAC doesn’t kick in each time it’s run. Also, get the driver signed; most new computers will be 64 bit which makes it much harder to install unsigned drivers. Layout plans and locos are being saved in the Program Files/Railmaster folder. As they are more of the nature of documents, they should really be saved either in somewhere like Documents/RailMaster or, if they are considered as system files then in ProgramData/RailMaster. Saving them in Documents/RailMaster would mean they’d get backed up automatically if the user does a backup, also it would make it much easier to move them to another computer, so layouts could be designed on one machine, then moved to another for actual operation or, alternatively, so that a duplicate “back-up” machine could be maintained - this brings me to the next point: Allow the program to be registered on more than one machine, or at least two machines, trust users to only run one copy at a time; only allowing one machine creates a crisis if (say) a laptop is dropped during an exhibition as it’s currently impossible to have a spare duplicate machine. Don’t use customized close/minimise/resize buttons on windows; they’re too small to use with touch screens - and the program is intended to be used with touch screens. On a related subject, some “standard” windows shortcuts don’t work; Alt+F4 doesn’t close the program, ctrl+F4 doesn’t close a subwindow. Copy/Cut/Paste doesn’t seem to be supported - they would be useful when designing a layout or adding a new loco which is the same/similar as an existing loco. Double clicking the RailMaster header doesn’t maximise it’s window, neither does dragging the window to the top of the screen; you have to click the maximise button on the toolbar - and because it’s so small, it’s impossible to do that on a touch screen. The tick/cross options on windows are inconsistent; when editing an accessory, if you click Cross, it behaves like “cancel”, with Tick meaning “read settings”. If you click the Cross, RM then asks if you really want to abandon editing, now the Cross means “no” and Tick means “yes”. When editing a loco or layout, Cross again means “cancel”, but Tick means “save”. I know that a tooltip will appear when you hover the mouse over the button, but you can’t do that on a touch screen. Personally, I’d prefer “standard” windows yes/no/cancel/save buttons. Don’t display the “touch screen” or “mouse” options; it’s not clear what they’re for or if they actually do anything; clicking them doesn’t seem to make any difference to using the program on my touch screen laptop. On the Loco dialog, there’s no way to add a new loco if an existing loco has been selected; when you first open the dialog, one can add a new loco, but if you select an existing one, the only way I’ve found to add a new one is to close the dialog (using the too small “close” button!) then open the dialog again. Make the start-up sound optional. The “bleeps” when changing points or turning on accessories is useful feedback, but the start-up sound doesn’t really help me use the program - and if someone’s goes through half a dozen restarts because of a connection problem with the e-link, it’ll become annoying. On the accessory dialog, add a “generic” or “other” accessory option, even if it does nothing; it’s confusing what should be set for accessories controllers that aren’t on the list. When switching to design layout, load the current layout by default or remember the last one that was being edited. Until the interface is completely solid, a “re-connect link” option would be useful. Currently, I have to change to a different com port, then switch back to the “correct” one.