How to Use Session Editor

The information in this Wiki Page applies to TANE, TRS19, Trainz Plus and TRS22.

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 the Session Editor is found in the Surveyor Main Menu. In TRS19 and later versions it is in the Surveyor Edit Menu. In either case select the  Edit Session  option 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 Description of the Session is the Description tag entry in the config.txt file Both can be directly edited in the Session Editor, or in the config.txt file using a text editor. 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 into lists 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 above. Left Click on an arrow head to open up its nested list of child Rules as shown in the image below.



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. Left Click on the arrow head again to close the list.

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, first select a Rule with a Left Click 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

Left Click to Accept your edits and close the Session Editor

Left Click to Cancel your edits and close the Session Editor

The above operations, and more, can also be found by a Right Click 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.

Adding Rules to Sessions

Left Click on the  Add  button to add or insert a new rule

New rules can be added from those that have been installed in your copy of Trainz.

Left Click on the  Add  button on the button bar will insert a new rule either:-

• below the selected (highlighted) rule, or
• at the end of the list if no rule is highlighted

Alternatively, Right Click on a rule and select either:-

•  Insert above , or
•  Insert below 

to position the new rule above or below the selected rule.

A new window showing all the installed and available rules will appear.

If a rule that you want to use does not appear in the list, then check in Content Manager that it has been installed and is free of errors.

Select the rule to be added and Left Click on the icon.

Copying Rules Between Sessions

Rules can be copied between Sessions

The  Copy  and  Paste  commands can be used to copy configured rules from one session to another. This saves you having to reenter the same data sets, such as driver commands, in each session.

	Steps: in the Session Editor Right 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 Click after the last rule entry and select Paste

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 the Driver Setup Rule: The Driver Setup Rule can be copied from one Session to another using the method described above, but there are some conditions that must be met for this to work. Drivers, Driver Assignments and Driver Commands ONLY are Copied Copying the Driver Setup Rule will NOT copy the actual locomotives and consists that the drivers are assigned to. These must be copied or recreated separately No Duplicate Locos Allowed - this is only an issue if you keep both the original and the copied Driver Setup Rule in the Session If the same loco is present in both Driver Setup Rules then only the first loco (in the top copy of the rule) will be active. The duplicate loco in the second copy of the rule will be ignored Missing Locos will be Ignored If a loco is listed in the copied Driver Setup Rule but does not exist in the new Session because it was not copied across then it will be ignored

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

TRS19 Platinum Edition, Trainz Plus and TRS22 UDS

TRS19 Platinum Edition and later Trainz versions have a Unified Driver Surveyor (UDS) which allows you to switch seamlessly between Driver and Surveyor modes. The UDS allows an edited Session to be continued without having to restart it from the beginning. This includes editing the Session Editor on an active Session where some of the Rules may have already been completed or others have started. To allow for this additional features have been added to the Trainz versions with the UDS interface.

	At the bottom of the Session Editor is a new button,  Restart All Rules . This will reset or restart ALL rules in the Session.
	Some rules, as shown in the screen shot above, have the label (complete was-complete) after the rule name. This indicates that the rule has already been completed. These rules can be individually restarted by a Right Click on the rule and selecting the  Reset  option from the pop up menu. This will change the rule status to (paused).
When the Driver Mode is selected again, all the reset or (paused) rules will be restarted.

A detailed description of the UDS can be found on the Trainz Wiki Page at:- How to Use the UDS Interface

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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