Revision as of 13:22, 8 August 2017

With the introduction of Trainz A New Era Service Pack 2, there are a number of changes to how data is backed up and restored. This article discusses Routes, but the principles apply to sessions and other assets.

In-game backups

New in SP2, backups are now made continuously while you editing a route and/or session. If you have a power cut or if the game crashes, it is possible to pick up where you left off by simply reloading the map you were working on and following the prompts. You will be presented with a choice to either "Use changes" or "Revert changes".

If you choose "Revert changes", the last manually saved version of the route will be loaded.

If you choose "Use changes" then any changes written to disk after the last manual save will also be loaded.

Note that if you want to keep this version of the route, then after loading and checking everything is ok, you need to use "Save" to permamently save those recent changes.

In other words, if you choose "Use Changes" then exit the route without saving, those changes will be lost forever.

Also, if disk activity was occurring at the time the fault occurred, that the relevant parts of the route have a small chance of being corrupted. After reloading the autosaved changes into Surveyor (ie. Use changes), and before saving the route, you should check that there is no corruption present. If you decide that the route is too corrupt to be worth keeping, then close Surveyor without saving to permanently discard the autosaved changes.

Manual Backup Process (External Backup)

If your main hard drive fails and you do not have you data saved elsewhere, then you can lose all your data. We therefore recommend that you back up your local data folder to an external hard drive to ensure that your data is protected.

You can find the location of your local data folder by reading the Help:Moving_Content guide.

Windows 10 provides a regular backup utility and there are a variety of other software backup utilities available online to ensure your data is protected.

Restoring a Route

There may be a time where a route becomes corrupted and you need to restore a previous version. This process has changed for TANE SP2 and the following guide will assist you in restoring your old version.

What are Backup Files?

In TANE SP2, your saved data is stored in backup archive files. These files have the suffix .tzarc. Tzarc files are readable only by Trainz (using "Rebuild Database")and cannot be edited by an end user.

Finding the Backup Files

To find your .tzarc files, navigate to your local data folder (see above for help), then click on the backups folder. Here you will see folders named with a YY-MM-DD date format (i.e 17-08-07 means 7th August 2017) Within each folder are a number of different backup files and folders. This folder is much like your "Recycle Bin" and contains copies of saved and deleted content. The important files you will need for your restore process at the .tzarc files.

More about .tzarc files

Each time you use "Save" or "Save As" in Trainz, a new .tzarc file is created. These files are saved with the naming format of KUID xxx xxxx.tzarc_xxxxx where xxxx is a random number. To find your most recent .tzarc file, sort the backups folder by date and then look for the KUID that matches your route.

Restoring the Backup Files

If you decide that you need to restore an older version of your route, this is possible using a .tzarc file found in the backups folder. We suggest that you backup your local data folder prior to attempting any restore operation so that you have original copies of all the files. Please note that these principles also apply to sessions and other assets.

• Find the .tzarc file you wish to restore
• Copy the file from \backups into \editing
• Rename the file by removing the "_xxxxx" suffix (i.e. the file MUST be named in the format KUID xxx xxxx.tzarc)
• You may be prompted "If you change a file name extension, the file might become unusable. Are you sure you want it changed?". Answer Yes.
• Open Content Manager then click Developer > Rebuild Database
• This will result in your .tzarc file being read back into the database
• The restored asset will now show as "Open for Edit" (this may take up to 30 seconds)
• Select the asset in Content Manager and right-click > Submit Edits

Your route has now been restored and is ready to be worked on again.

Deleting the Backup Folder

It is safe to delete anything in the backup folder or the whole folder (a new folder will be created automatically when required). To avoid moving the deleted files into your Recycle Bin, in Windows you can use Shift + Delete. Of course, once deleted, the files are then permanently irrecoverable.