Desirable features for future Railmaster Software updates

[beejack]

 

Having now had the elink/railmaster for about a month and using the software in evaluation mode whilst rebuilding the pc, I have now started to use it properly and one thing that bugs me is the large loco control window.

 

when you double click

 

on the loco controls you get a nice big control window open up. This is great but you can only have one window of this type open so when you double click on another loco it changes to that loco.

 

Would it be possible to have more than one of these windows

 

open say upto a maximum of 4 windows, the amount being definable in the options window?

This would allow others like myself who are using dual displays to put these windows on the second screen allowing easier control of locos in use?

 

Also lets

 

have some decent colour themes. The ones included are not brilliant.

 

 

 

 

[Fishmanoz]

Beejack, take a look at page 17-18 of your manual for the setting to display up to 10 locos on your screen.

[idlemarvel]

Hornby should digitally sign the Elite/eLink driver. Easy to do and will remove a lot of the installation problems. Also good security practice as people should be discouraged from installing unsigned drivers.

[beejack]

Fishmanoz said:

Beejack, take a look at page 17-18 of your manual for the setting to display up to 10 locos on your screen.

Yes I was aware of that plus that you can decide how many columns you wish to display them in.
What

I was interested in was the extra large window that appears when you click on any of the controllers.
This is handy as you can move it about and onto a second monitor. The downfall is that as you click on each controller this bigger window changes to the

controller last clicked.

It would be better if when you clicked each controller, additional windows opened up to show which locos are currently being controlled.

The number of additional windows opening up could be configured in the options

page so that you can enable or disable as wished.

It was just a thought!

[Graskie]

Yes, beejack, that's a very good suggestion. Whereas the small windows only show only 6 selected functions, the larger ones show up to 26. With some of my sound locos having quite a few more than 10 functions, I prefer to use the larger window, but, as

 

you say, you can only show one at a time. Perhaps a system of stacking might help in the big window, where you would just click the top of one to bring it to the foreground.

[Deltic_Malc]

I have a loft layout and would like to have a dedicated PC to running rail master, with the minimum amount of software on it, so I would like to have the facility of designing tracks and writing routes and timetables on a separate pc and then being able

 

to transferring them onto the dedicated one.( I use the laptop at the moment and its not ideal).I would also like to see a print facility to print off the track plan and time tables. My track plan is to big to be shown on one screen even at 50%. Setting your

 

own default screen size would be good. Also I would like to see a version for mac operating system.

[St1ngr4y]

Deltic_Malc said:

I have a loft layout and would like to have a dedicated PC to running rail master, with the minimum amount of software on it, so I would like to have the facility of designing tracks and writing routes and timetables on

a separate pc and then being able to transferring them onto the dedicated one.( I use the laptop at the moment and its not ideal).I would also like to see a print facility to print off the track plan and time tables. My track plan is to big to be shown on

one screen even at 50%. Setting your own default screen size would be good. Also I would like to see a version for mac operating system.

RM produces a file called TrackPlan,bmp in the Railmaster folder. It's a bitmap image, but it retains the black

background that you see on the RM screen. You can use Windows Paint or similar to change the background to white, otherwise it uses a great deal of black ink if you print it out. A track plan print button might be desirable inside the layout designer, but

only if the background is kept white!!
Ray

[St1ngr4y]

RDS said:

Could I respectfully ask that we keep this thread for 'Desirable features' only.
Thank you

Ok - how about adding a print button to the layout designer which causes the current track plan to be printed without a background

colour, irrespective of the colour theme in use.
Ray

[idlemarvel]

I would like to be able to start a program from the floating keys. Currently you an only select a loco, play a sound, select a route or select a plan.

[RDS]

The facility to run a program at a pre-determined time is very powerful but it is only since I someone mentioned that you cannot do anything else before it runs, that I have been able to get this feature to work.

Would it be possible for RailMaster

 

to detect that the user has done something that would otherwise stop the timed programs running and issue some sort of a warning or request, to see if the user still wants the timed program to run.

Another option and this would be my preference would be

 

to add an extra column to the timer window, to enable a date to be added, or an option to run every day, or weekdays or weekends etc, with a warning given say 5 minutes before the program is due to run with an option to be able to cancel it.

[henly]

Is it possible to have a scissors crossover added to the track planning screen?

[Graskie]

I can't see that it is. You can use various permutations of points but not suitable for achieving that configuration.

[AndrewP]

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.

 

[96RAF]

RDS said:
... I suggest that users continue to add to this thread as and when new ideas crop up.
Thanks again,

Another item for the RM wish list.

I would like to see route definition made easier than the multi-point click

table fiddling and floating button definition method used at present, which I find very tedious and prone to input error (due mainly to finger trouble as the lists jump about).

I would like to be able to plant a push-button at each point on the plan

where a route could possibly start/end, then by simply pressing any 2 buttons in sequence (start - end) a route would be defined and all necessary points in between switched to the correct direction.

In the event of more than one possible route between

buttons then an intermediate button selection would confirm the preferred route. In the event a route is not possible the screen would flag this and request a reselection.

I'm not reinventing the wheel here, as this is a proven method used by a popular

open source railway software package.

[Fishmanoz]

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.

 

 

[AndrewP]

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?

[Fishmanoz]

An option to turn off Rsilcom in either Elite or eLink to facilitate programming accessory decoders which require RailCom off to do so.

 

More accessory decoders in the drop down list, including automatically turning off RailCom in those requiring

 

it for programming, followed by turning RailCom back on when the programming is complete.

 

And as others have said, an Other option 4 port, and Other option single port, in the accessory decoder programming drop done list, including the option to turn

 

off Rsilcom when programming them.

[Fishmanoz]

Drop down, not drop done.

[Fishmanoz]

And RailCom, not Rsilcom.

[AndrewP]

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.

[St1ngr4y]

I've noticed that too, so I use Alt+Tab to switch applications.

Ray

[Fishmanoz]

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.

[Fishmanoz]

PJ_model_trains said:

 

1 - allow users to reduce the size of loco setup control boxes

2 - allow users to have their layout, either fit to screen or to be able to adjust the percentage size not just have 50%, 75%, 100% etc every computer and laptop

 

etc has a different size screen but also type percentage eg. 62%, 58%, 74% etc as is best for viewing on their system. Also layouts vary from person to person, narrow shelf, oval, L shaped etc.

[96RAF]

Would the (RM) mod please consider making this thread a stickie with, if possible, the pages reverse indexed to bring the latest posts to the front of the Q.

Thanks...

[AndrewP]

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.