Asset Categorization

Assets are the configurable components available in the Trainz world. There are many ways that assets are categorized (classified, grouped).

Driver

A player does not directly interact with assets (in the sense described above). One exception is in Quick Drive mode, where the player may select assets of type "Train" or "Consist".

• Train - similar to "Rolling Stock" in Content Manager.
• Consist - similar to "Consist" in Content Manager.

Surveyor

In Surveyor, assets are grouped into the following human-friendly categories:

• Topology - mostly tools, rather than assets.
• Paint - mostly textures.
• Objects - many types of object that are placed into the scenery. Subdivided into single objects and object splines.
• Tracks - subdivided into "Track", "Trackside" and "Markers".
• Tools - mostly tools, rather than assets.
• Layers - no assets in this group.
• Trains - subdivided into " Rolling Stock" (engines and wagons) and "Consists".

Content Manager

Content Manager provides a "Category" filter, with a list of about 40 categories. The Content Manager categories provide a human friendly grouping of assets, similar but more refined than the grouping in Surveyor. The mapping to actual asset properties still needs to be determined.

Examples: Locomotive, Scenery, Track Object, etc.

Kind

The kind of an asset is defined in the config.txt file of the asset. It is a formal definition, and it determines what attributes are valid in the asset's config.txt.

The Kind classification supports a hierarchy, with a sub-type (child) inheriting all of the attributes of its super-type (parent).

Examples: engine, mesh, mojunction, mosignal, etc.

Category

The category of an asset is defined by ??? (possibly in Class AssetCategory. It is another formal specification of the type of the object.

The Category classification is hierarchical, with sub-categories refining a category.

The TrainzUtil searchbycategory command supports filtering by category.

Examples: BD (building), RT (route), TR (track), etc.

Category Class

Category Class is a tag in the config.txt file of an asset. It is a set of characters, with each character refining the class of the preceding one.

Examples: AL (motive-power -> diesel), BI (building -> industry), FT (foliage -> trees), etc

Scripting Class

Assets use object oriented programming to provide and customize behavior. Assets types are represented by a class, and these classes are hierarchical.

The classes and their hierarchy are defined in the TrainzScript Library.

Examples: GameObject, Signal, Vehicle, etc.