Understand Content Manager Status Labels

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The information in this Wiki Page applies to TRS19 and Trainz Plus. This page is intended to provide information for understanding the different asset Status classifications used by Content Manager.

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Content Manager Status

The Status column in the Content Manager display gives information about each listed assets location, availability, and its "currency" (current, obsolete, not active, disabled, unknown or a newer version available).

PencilTips.PNG If the Status column is not present in the Content Manager display, right mouse click on the column heading where you want it to be inserted and select Insert Column and then Status
 
insert Status Column
  • You can remove a column. Right mouse click on a column heading and select Remove Column
  • You can move a column. Hold down the left mouse button on a column heading and drag it left or right
  • You can resize a column. Move the tip of the mouse pointer onto the dividing line between two column headings, hold down the left mouse button and drag it left or right


NotePad.PNG Notes:

It is important to remember that:-

DotPoint.JPG many assets on the Download Station (DLS) are available in more than one version, the original and at least one update. When an asset is updated by the release of a new version, the original, and any previously existing updates, will remain on the DLS for those who prefer to use them instead of the latest release
DotPoint.JPG an update will not always have the same name as the original or previous updates. It may also have a completely different <kuid> code number

The Status of an asset will fall into one (or more) of several classifications.

DotPoint.JPG If one of those classifications is Obsolete then there is a later version of the asset already installed on your system

Available for Download

Set the Content Manager search filter to Download Station. These assets are all available on the DLS but some may already be installed on your system. The Status classifications that you may see would be:-

Available for download
Available for download This IS the latest version available on the DLS and it is not already installed on your system. If you are looking to install a new asset or update an existing one, then this is the one you would normally select
Available for download, Newer version available This is NOT the latest version available on the DLS and it is not already installed on your system. There is another newer version available on the DLS
Available for download, Obsolete This is NOT the latest version available on the DLS and it is not already installed on your system. There is a version of this asset on your system but it may not be the latest version

You can download and install an earlier asset version by using a right mouse click on the asset name and selecting the command Download this version.

You can also check to see the latest version of an asset that is listed as Newer version available or Obsolete. Simply right mouse click on the asset and select the command List Asset Versions as shown below.

List Asset Versions

In this case the latest version of the selected asset is already installed on your system (Installed from DLS) and it does not have exactly the same name as the original. If the latest version is not installed on your system then it will show Available for download.

Installed

Set the Content Manager search filter to Installed. The Status classifications that you may see would be:-

Installed assets
Modified The asset is one you have created yourself, or have modified or cloned from another asset
Built-in The asset was installed when Trainz was installed on your system. Built-in assets cannot be deleted
Packaged The asset is included in a DLC package that you have installed. See Notes: below
Installed from DLS The asset was installed from the DLS
Base The asset was installed when Trainz was installed on your system. Like Built-in assets, Base assets cannot be deleted


NotePad.PNG Notes:

For current DLC packs, there are two important clarifications:-

DotPoint.JPG Packaged - means that the asset in an installed DLC package. DLC packages are normally installed using Content Store selected from the Trainz Launcher. If there is no Payware label after the Packaged then the asset will be Freeware and will, most likely, also be available on the DLS. But it could also be on an independent 3rd party web site and not on the DLS. Depending on any license conditions given by its creator, it can be modified for personal use and it may be possible for your modified version to be uploaded to the DLS or another site
DotPoint.JPG Packaged, Payware - means that the asset is Payware and has been encrypted so it cannot be edited or copied

Third Party

You may occasionally see the following classification on installed assets:-

Third Party assets

This will appear on assets that:-

  • you have uploaded to the DLS but they have not yet been approved for distribution. Usually it takes 24 hours (sometimes more) before approval is given. After approval the Third Party label will be changed to Installed from DLS
  • have been removed from the DLS for some reason after it was downloaded and installed on your system. Reasons for removal can include copyright violation and undergoing repair. If you include these assets in Routes or Session that you upload then they will appear as <unknown assets> for those who download and install your Routes/Sessions
  • are not in the DLS listing but may still be downloaded from the DLS as a dependency of other assets. When installed they will be classified as Third Party. If they are not installed but are referenced in some way then they will be classified as <unknown assets>

Disabled

You may occasionally see the following classification on installed assets:-

disabled

This will appear on assets that you have manually Disabled so that they will no longer appear in Routes or Sessions. This is a useful technique for deleting troublesome assets from a Route or Session without actually deleting the assets themselves. For an example of this see WikiLink.PNG Deleting Stubborn Scenery Assets. Normally you would restore the Disabled assets after fixing the Route or Session.

Payware assets that are Disabled will have Payware (not active) as their status classification.

Open for Edit

Open for edit

This classification will appear on any asset that you have:-

  • currently open in Surveyor (a Route that is being edited) or Driver (a Session that is running)
  • opened in Content Manager for editing
  • imported into Content Manager from a Content File (.cdp file) or a Content Folder when the same asset is already installed

In the first case, exiting Surveyor or Driver will close the open Route and Session assets. In the second and third cases you will normally select the open assets, right mouse click and select the Submit Edits command as shown below to close them with the edits saved. Selecting Revert to Original will cancel the edits and return the assets to their previous unedited states.

Submit edits
NotePad.PNG Notes:

DotPoint.JPG Assets that are Open for edit cannot be exported to a .cdp file. They must be closed first
DotPoint.JPG If Trainz unexpectedly closes while using Surveyor or Driver, such as a Crash To Desktop or it is terminated by Task Manager, then the loaded Route and Session will be Open for edit when you restart Trainz. See the Trainz Wiki Page WikiLink.PNG Route and Session Basics for more information on dealing with this situation

Unknown Location, Incompatible, Not Installed

Set the Content Manager search filter to All Content and click the Status column heading (once or twice) to sort the very long list according to their Status labels. Scroll down the list and you may see:-

unknown
Unknown location
The asset is listed as being on the DLS but it is currently unavailable
PencilTips.PNG Some assets labelled as Unknown location can actually be downloaded through the DLS, but if an asset is also labelled as Obsolete then a later version is already on your system. If not then try a right mouse click on the asset and select Download


not installed
Not installed, Payware (not active)
The asset is in a DLC package and must be installed using the Content Store option from the Trainz Launcher


incompatible
Incompatible
The asset is designed for a more recent version of Trainz than you are currently using. The Build Version column will identify the minimum Trainz build that the asset needs.
PencilTips.PNG To display the Build Version column in Content Manager, right mouse click on any column heading where the new column will be inserted and select Insert Column and Build Version
  insert Build column
  A list of all the Trainz Build Version Numbers with their corresponding Trainz Version Names and service pack numbers can be found at WikiLink.PNG "Trainz-build"_number

Multiple Classifications

Assets can be shown with several additional classifications - Obsolete and Newer version available are two examples covered in the previous sections.

Multiple classifications
Payware The asset is part of a payware package (usually from the DLC). Most DLC Payware can be modified for your personal use but cannot be uploaded to the DLS. The exception is Packaged, Payware which is encrypted and cannot be modified
Payware (not active) The asset is part of a payware package that is no longer active on your system. You may have uninstalled the package or disabled it
Obsolete The asset has been updated by a newer version which is installed on your system. Packaged, Built-in and Payware assets can be made obsolete by updates
Newer Version Available The asset has been updated by a newer version which is not installed on your system. Packaged, Built-in and Payware assets can be made obsolete by updates that are Available for download from the DLS


NotePad.PNG Note:

DLC packages cannot be installed, updated or uninstalled using Content Manager. The Content Store in the Trainz Launcher will perform those tasks

Missing Dependencies

This is a classification to be avoided.

missing

The Missing dependencies label means exactly that. The asset relies on the presence of other assets (dependencies) that must be installed on your system and at least one of those assets has not been installed.

The first thing to check is to see if the missing asset or assets can be identified. Simply right mouse click on the asset and select the command List Dependencies as shown below. All the assets that are required by this asset will be identified.

missing

In this case, the Missing dependency is shown as Available for download so it is on the DLS and can be installed to fix the problem. This situation can occur if you have deleted the asset without realising that it is needed in other assets, such as a Route or a Session.

PencilTips.PNG

To avoid the possibility of accidentally deleting an asset that is a dependency of other assets:-

List Dependants
  • right mouse click on the asset to be deleted
  • select List Dependants


This is give a list of all other assets that use the selected asset.

Unknown Asset

A more serious problem can be the Unknown asset.

unknown

The label <unknown asset> is shown in the Name column and the Status will be blank. It literally means that the asset cannot be found on your system or on the DLS.

Unknown assets are almost always dependencies of other assets that you have downloaded and installed.

NotePad.PNG Note:

Having an <unknown asset> is not always a problem. It is not unusual for assets to list them as dependencies when they are not actually needed. If an asset with an <unknown asset> as a dependency is not classified as Faulty or with Missing dependencies then the <unknown asset> can be safely ignored.

The unknown asset may:-

  • be from an independent (3rd party) web site
  • have been made by the same creator as the dependent asset but was not uploaded to the DLS
  • have been removed from the DLS due to a copyright violation, for example

Fixing this may not be easy.

PencilTips.PNG Some unknown assets can actually be downloaded through the DLS. Try a right mouse click on the <unknown asset> and select Download

Possible solutions are:-

  • There is a very long thread in the Trainz Forum where you can find posts looking for missing/unknown assets. See WikiLink.PNG Missing kuids? Post them here
  • You can try contacting the creator via email (their address may be in the config.txt file) or a PM (Personal Message) through the Forum

Neither is a guaranteed solution.

A third option is to use the Delete Missing Assets command from the Tools menu in Surveyor to remove the asset or assets from a Route or Session, but make a backup copy of the Route or Session first.

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This page was created by Trainz user pware in January 2022 and was last updated as shown below.


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