rails-devel — List for discussion of Rails development

Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

On Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 12:46 PM, Erik Vos <eri...@hc...> wrote:
>> I know that registering an association with the .rails file extension
>> is very platform specific. We'll need to investigate if Java has a
>> platform agnostic way of doing this, or if we just need to figure out
>> how to do this on each platform we want to support.  In my mind, the
>> primary targets are Windows XP or better, OS X (10.4 or 10.5 and
>> beyond, I'd guess), and Linux (Gnome 2.25+ and KDE 4+).
>
> Brett,
>
> I have checked in some code in an attempt to get this feature implemented.
> There is a new class rails.util.RunGame to replace rails.util.GameTest.
> Mostly because of the more appropriate name and package, but also
> to add a filename pickup feature: the first argument passed into
> main() will be considered a filepath of a Rails saved file to be loaded
> (the .rails extension is currently not checked).
>
> This works to some extent, the file gets loaded and the windows get
> displayed,
> but when laying a tile the program runs into tile finding problems.
> I don't know if this is a code or a classpath problem.
>
> To sort this out I would ask you if you create a new executable jar file
> (let's call it 1.0.7 alpha), with the added feature that an
> argument can get passed into RunGame.main().
> In Windows, the Rails extension must then be bound to the script rails.bat
> that starts Rails and which must be updated to pass the filename to Rails.
>
>
> Other stuff I have checked in includes fixes to all recently reported bugs,
> and the much-wanted feature to draw bars over impassable hex sides.
>
> When this all works, I'd suggest to publish a beta 1.0.7 version first, to
> give
> people in this group a chance to find any remaining bugs (there is always
> something).
>
> Regards,
> Erik.
>


Works for me.  I'll get a 1.0.7-rc1 put together later tonight.

---Brett.

Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[Erik V. <eri...@hc...>]

> I know that registering an association with the .rails file extension
> is very platform specific. We'll need to investigate if Java has a
> platform agnostic way of doing this, or if we just need to figure out
> how to do this on each platform we want to support.  In my mind, the
> primary targets are Windows XP or better, OS X (10.4 or 10.5 and
> beyond, I'd guess), and Linux (Gnome 2.25+ and KDE 4+).

Brett,

I have checked in some code in an attempt to get this feature implemented. 
There is a new class rails.util.RunGame to replace rails.util.GameTest.
Mostly because of the more appropriate name and package, but also
to add a filename pickup feature: the first argument passed into
main() will be considered a filepath of a Rails saved file to be loaded
(the .rails extension is currently not checked).

This works to some extent, the file gets loaded and the windows get
displayed,
but when laying a tile the program runs into tile finding problems.
I don't know if this is a code or a classpath problem.

To sort this out I would ask you if you create a new executable jar file
(let's call it 1.0.7 alpha), with the added feature that an 
argument can get passed into RunGame.main().
In Windows, the Rails extension must then be bound to the script rails.bat 
that starts Rails and which must be updated to pass the filename to Rails.


Other stuff I have checked in includes fixes to all recently reported bugs,
and the much-wanted feature to draw bars over impassable hex sides.

When this all works, I'd suggest to publish a beta 1.0.7 version first, to
give
people in this group a chance to find any remaining bugs (there is always
something).

Regards,
Erik.

Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

Where would one find the my.properties file?  I've searched all the rails
directories without success.

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.


On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 11:44 AM, Erik Vos <eri...@hc...> wrote:

>  There is an option in the user-customizable properties file (default name
> my.properties) that you can set to your save-file directory:
>
> save.directory=
> c:/projects/rails/save
>
> By default this is commented out.
>
> Erik.
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* Chris Shaffer [mailto:chr...@gm...]
> *Sent:* Thursday 05 November 2009 20:26
>
> *To:* Development list for Rails: an 18xx game
> *Subject:* Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly
>
> My friend says this:
>
> I've also spent the last half hour or so trying to implement Mr. Black's
>> suggestion for -Duser.dir, without success.  After several trials, I was
>> able to get Rails to start with that switch in place, but it always starts
>> out in "My Documents," regardless of what directory I specify for user.dir.
>>
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Also, is this something I should submit as a formal enhancement request?
>
> --
> Chris
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:33 AM, Jim Black <jim...@ya...>wrote:
>
>> Chris,
>>
>> I might be able to help with the working directory- a Windows user
>> told me to use java's "-Duser.dir" argument to set the working
>> directory.  (I think that's -Duser.dir=/foo/bar, then- whatever the
>> typical java cmd-line syntax is.)  This is working for windows users,
>> apparently, but it doesn't work for me on my mac.
>>
>> Incidentally, to get consistent time stamps in filenames (like GMT
>> time- independent of players' local timezones), start up rails like
>> this-
>>     java -Duser.timezone=UTC -jar rails-1.0.6.jar
>> That way, all timestamps will be in UTC format, and consistent.
>>
>> Like you, I would also like to know how to associate the file type to
>> load java/rails- so I can just 'doubleclick' on someone's saved move.
>> It would be a little different windows vs mac, I guess, since it's
>> batch args to the java cmd line in either case (the association is to
>> java, I assume).
>>
>>  - jim
>>
>> On Nov 5, 2009, at 10:14 AM, Chris Shaffer wrote:
>>
>> > Is there any way to associate the .rails extension with the program,
>> > so you can open a save file directly?  Failing that, is there a way
>> > to change the default location in which Rails looks for files?  I
>> > have a friend using Windows and it always defaults to opening his My
>> > Documents folder, instead of the Dropbox folder in which we're
>> > keeping the files.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Chris
>> >
>> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>> >
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008
>> > 30-Day
>> > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and
>> > focus on
>> > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
>> > Crystal Reports now.
>> http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july_______________________________________________
>> > Rails-devel mailing list
>> > Rai...@li...
>> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008
>> 30-Day
>> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
>> on
>> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
>> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july
>> _______________________________________________
>> Rails-devel mailing list
>> Rai...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day
> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
> on
> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july
> _______________________________________________
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> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>

Re: [Rails-devel] using dropbox

[Jim B. <jim...@ya...>]

On Nov 5, 2009, at 12:12 PM, Erik Vos wrote:

>> a) hex-edge boundaries displayed on the map
>
> That is a long-standing request, and I will give it another look,  
> but it's
> not trivial (and programming graphics isn't really my best skill).

Ok, thanks- the idea is that "impassable" hex edges would be outlined  
clearly - eg, in red (or equiv).

>> b) rollover city names more consistent
>>
> You can easily add names yourself in the Map.xml file of each game.
> Indeed it has not been not done consistently in [18al].
> Why not update it yourself and submit the result?

Thanks for that pointer- I was hoping it would be outboard/easy- I'll  
take a look at this before starting another game; when we update it,  
I'll plan to submit it back.

  - jim

Re: [Rails-devel] using dropbox

[Erik V. <eri...@hc...>]

> However!  While I have your ear, I did want to mention the 1-2  
> features that we would most want-   %-)
> 
> a) hex-edge boundaries displayed on the map
> 
> Eg, around Erie in 1830- none of these edges show on the rails map,  
> although rails enforces them in track-tile play.
> 
> This is a fairly big deal, as we have to use a separate jpg of the  
> static game map, to actually see the boundaries- in 1830 and 18AL (I  
> think there's only 1 impassable hex-edge in 18AL).

That is a long-standing request, and I will give it another look, but it's
not trivial
(and programming graphics isn't really my best skill).
 
> b) rollover city names more consistent
> 
> Eg- in 18AL, Nashville isn't identified as Nashville- just A3 or  
> whatever.  (I think it's Nashville, but anyway there's numerous  
> examples- lots of 1830 cities like baltimore, etc.)
> 
> In hot-seat play, it might not matter- but, when using rails 
> as a pbem  
> console, this makes it substantially more awkward to verify or  
> summarize route and track coordinates in email.

You can easily add names yourself in the Map.xml file of each game. 
See 18AL/Map.xml for examples, e.g. <Hex name="F1" tile="-112"
city="Tupelo"/> 
Indeed it has not been not done consistently in that game.
Why not update it yourself and submit the result?

On 1830, opinions differ on which cities belong to which hexes 
(see http://www.18xx.net/1830/1830n.htm) and I don't want to take sides in
that debate.
But you may do it for yourself the way you want it, see above.
 
> Finally- is this list a reasonable place for comments like this, or  
> should I strictly file these on the rails project page, or your team  
> to review at your leisure, and not clutter this list with 
> this kind of  
> discussion?

It's absolutely fine to ask for features here. 
At least it guarantees that requests get some attention on the short term.
The tracker database is not really frequently looked into.

There is a reasonable chance that easy to fulfill requests get implemented
quickly 
if you put these up here, or at least you might get some indication if
implementation
is anywhere on the horizon.

But for long-term memory you would do well to enter requests into the
Tracker database,
certainly if you don't get any response within a few days.

Regards,
Erik.

Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[Erik V. <eri...@hc...>]

There is an option in the user-customizable properties file (default name
my.properties) that you can set to your save-file directory:
save.directory=c:/projects/rails/save

By default this is commented out.

Erik.


  _____  

From: Chris Shaffer [mailto:chr...@gm...] 
Sent: Thursday 05 November 2009 20:26
To: Development list for Rails: an 18xx game
Subject: Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly


My friend says this:



I've also spent the last half hour or so trying to implement Mr. Black's
suggestion for -Duser.dir, without success.  After several trials, I was
able to get Rails to start with that switch in place, but it always starts
out in "My Documents," regardless of what directory I specify for user.dir.



Any suggestions?

Also, is this something I should submit as a formal enhancement request?

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.



On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:33 AM, Jim Black <jim...@ya...> wrote:


Chris,

I might be able to help with the working directory- a Windows user
told me to use java's "-Duser.dir" argument to set the working
directory.  (I think that's -Duser.dir=/foo/bar, then- whatever the
typical java cmd-line syntax is.)  This is working for windows users,
apparently, but it doesn't work for me on my mac.

Incidentally, to get consistent time stamps in filenames (like GMT
time- independent of players' local timezones), start up rails like
this-
    java -Duser.timezone=UTC -jar rails-1.0.6.jar
That way, all timestamps will be in UTC format, and consistent.

Like you, I would also like to know how to associate the file type to
load java/rails- so I can just 'doubleclick' on someone's saved move.
It would be a little different windows vs mac, I guess, since it's
batch args to the java cmd line in either case (the association is to
java, I assume).

 - jim


On Nov 5, 2009, at 10:14 AM, Chris Shaffer wrote:

> Is there any way to associate the .rails extension with the program,
> so you can open a save file directly?  Failing that, is there a way
> to change the default location in which Rails looks for files?  I
> have a friend using Windows and it always defaults to opening his My
> Documents folder, instead of the Dropbox folder in which we're
> keeping the files.
>
> --
> Chris
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008
> 30-Day
> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and
> focus on
> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> Crystal Reports now.
http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july_______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
on
what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
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_______________________________________________
Rails-devel mailing list
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Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 11:25 AM, Chris Shaffer <chr...@gm...> wrote:
> My friend says this:
>
>> I've also spent the last half hour or so trying to implement Mr. Black's
>> suggestion for -Duser.dir, without success.  After several trials, I was
>> able to get Rails to start with that switch in place, but it always starts
>> out in "My Documents," regardless of what directory I specify for user.dir.
>
> Any suggestions?
>

I think there's a multiple things we can do to begin accommodating
this.  Adding the extra flags to the batch file and shell script that
we ship is the easiest and fastest. This can probably slide into 1.0.7
if we can identify the appropriate settings.

If you guys want to test using your own systems and send in patches,
that would be ideal.

Beyond that, we can probably look at building the support into Rails
more directly.

I know that registering an association with the .rails file extension
is very platform specific. We'll need to investigate if Java has a
platform agnostic way of doing this, or if we just need to figure out
how to do this on each platform we want to support.  In my mind, the
primary targets are Windows XP or better, OS X (10.4 or 10.5 and
beyond, I'd guess), and Linux (Gnome 2.25+ and KDE 4+).

I personally have access to Windows XP, Windows Vista, and RHEL5 and
Fedora 11/12 systems.

> Also, is this something I should submit as a formal enhancement request?

Yes, please submit this as a feature request.

>
> --
> Chris
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>


---Brett.


>
> On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:33 AM, Jim Black <jim...@ya...> wrote:
>>
>> Chris,
>>
>> I might be able to help with the working directory- a Windows user
>> told me to use java's "-Duser.dir" argument to set the working
>> directory.  (I think that's -Duser.dir=/foo/bar, then- whatever the
>> typical java cmd-line syntax is.)  This is working for windows users,
>> apparently, but it doesn't work for me on my mac.
>>
>> Incidentally, to get consistent time stamps in filenames (like GMT
>> time- independent of players' local timezones), start up rails like
>> this-
>>     java -Duser.timezone=UTC -jar rails-1.0.6.jar
>> That way, all timestamps will be in UTC format, and consistent.
>>
>> Like you, I would also like to know how to associate the file type to
>> load java/rails- so I can just 'doubleclick' on someone's saved move.
>> It would be a little different windows vs mac, I guess, since it's
>> batch args to the java cmd line in either case (the association is to
>> java, I assume).
>>
>>  - jim
>>
>> On Nov 5, 2009, at 10:14 AM, Chris Shaffer wrote:
>>
>> > Is there any way to associate the .rails extension with the program,
>> > so you can open a save file directly?  Failing that, is there a way
>> > to change the default location in which Rails looks for files?  I
>> > have a friend using Windows and it always defaults to opening his My
>> > Documents folder, instead of the Dropbox folder in which we're
>> > keeping the files.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Chris
>> >
>> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008
>> > 30-Day
>> > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and
>> > focus on
>> > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
>> > Crystal Reports now.
>> >  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july_______________________________________________
>> > Rails-devel mailing list
>> > Rai...@li...
>> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008
>> 30-Day
>> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
>> on
>> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
>> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july
>> _______________________________________________
>> Rails-devel mailing list
>> Rai...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day
> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
> on
> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>

Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

My friend says this:

I've also spent the last half hour or so trying to implement Mr. Black's
> suggestion for -Duser.dir, without success.  After several trials, I was
> able to get Rails to start with that switch in place, but it always starts
> out in "My Documents," regardless of what directory I specify for user.dir.
>

Any suggestions?

Also, is this something I should submit as a formal enhancement request?

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.


On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:33 AM, Jim Black <jim...@ya...> wrote:

> Chris,
>
> I might be able to help with the working directory- a Windows user
> told me to use java's "-Duser.dir" argument to set the working
> directory.  (I think that's -Duser.dir=/foo/bar, then- whatever the
> typical java cmd-line syntax is.)  This is working for windows users,
> apparently, but it doesn't work for me on my mac.
>
> Incidentally, to get consistent time stamps in filenames (like GMT
> time- independent of players' local timezones), start up rails like
> this-
>     java -Duser.timezone=UTC -jar rails-1.0.6.jar
> That way, all timestamps will be in UTC format, and consistent.
>
> Like you, I would also like to know how to associate the file type to
> load java/rails- so I can just 'doubleclick' on someone's saved move.
> It would be a little different windows vs mac, I guess, since it's
> batch args to the java cmd line in either case (the association is to
> java, I assume).
>
>  - jim
>
> On Nov 5, 2009, at 10:14 AM, Chris Shaffer wrote:
>
> > Is there any way to associate the .rails extension with the program,
> > so you can open a save file directly?  Failing that, is there a way
> > to change the default location in which Rails looks for files?  I
> > have a friend using Windows and it always defaults to opening his My
> > Documents folder, instead of the Dropbox folder in which we're
> > keeping the files.
> >
> > --
> > Chris
> >
> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008
> > 30-Day
> > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and
> > focus on
> > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> > Crystal Reports now.
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july_______________________________________________
> > Rails-devel mailing list
> > Rai...@li...
> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day
> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
> on
> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>

Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

I'd also like to be able to o the click-save-file-to-play on Linux.

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.


On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:33 AM, Jim Black <jim...@ya...> wrote:

> Chris,
>
> I might be able to help with the working directory- a Windows user
> told me to use java's "-Duser.dir" argument to set the working
> directory.  (I think that's -Duser.dir=/foo/bar, then- whatever the
> typical java cmd-line syntax is.)  This is working for windows users,
> apparently, but it doesn't work for me on my mac.
>
> Incidentally, to get consistent time stamps in filenames (like GMT
> time- independent of players' local timezones), start up rails like
> this-
>     java -Duser.timezone=UTC -jar rails-1.0.6.jar
> That way, all timestamps will be in UTC format, and consistent.
>
> Like you, I would also like to know how to associate the file type to
> load java/rails- so I can just 'doubleclick' on someone's saved move.
> It would be a little different windows vs mac, I guess, since it's
> batch args to the java cmd line in either case (the association is to
> java, I assume).
>
>  - jim
>
> On Nov 5, 2009, at 10:14 AM, Chris Shaffer wrote:
>
> > Is there any way to associate the .rails extension with the program,
> > so you can open a save file directly?  Failing that, is there a way
> > to change the default location in which Rails looks for files?  I
> > have a friend using Windows and it always defaults to opening his My
> > Documents folder, instead of the Dropbox folder in which we're
> > keeping the files.
> >
> > --
> > Chris
> >
> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008
> > 30-Day
> > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and
> > focus on
> > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> > Crystal Reports now.
> http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july_______________________________________________
> > Rails-devel mailing list
> > Rai...@li...
> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day
> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
> on
> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>

Re: [Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[Jim B. <jim...@ya...>]

Chris,

I might be able to help with the working directory- a Windows user  
told me to use java's "-Duser.dir" argument to set the working  
directory.  (I think that's -Duser.dir=/foo/bar, then- whatever the  
typical java cmd-line syntax is.)  This is working for windows users,  
apparently, but it doesn't work for me on my mac.

Incidentally, to get consistent time stamps in filenames (like GMT  
time- independent of players' local timezones), start up rails like  
this-
     java -Duser.timezone=UTC -jar rails-1.0.6.jar
That way, all timestamps will be in UTC format, and consistent.

Like you, I would also like to know how to associate the file type to  
load java/rails- so I can just 'doubleclick' on someone's saved move.   
It would be a little different windows vs mac, I guess, since it's  
batch args to the java cmd line in either case (the association is to  
java, I assume).

  - jim

On Nov 5, 2009, at 10:14 AM, Chris Shaffer wrote:

> Is there any way to associate the .rails extension with the program,  
> so you can open a save file directly?  Failing that, is there a way  
> to change the default location in which Rails looks for files?  I  
> have a friend using Windows and it always defaults to opening his My  
> Documents folder, instead of the Dropbox folder in which we're  
> keeping the files.
>
> --
> Chris
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008  
> 30-Day
> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and  
> focus on
> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july_______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel

[Rails-devel] Opening save files directly

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

Is there any way to associate the .rails extension with the program, so you
can open a save file directly?  Failing that, is there a way to change the
default location in which Rails looks for files?  I have a friend using
Windows and it always defaults to opening his My Documents folder, instead
of the Dropbox folder in which we're keeping the files.

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

Re: [Rails-devel] using dropbox

[Jim B. <jim...@ya...>]

Erik,

 > I'm willing to consider a feature request to add such an option

However!  While I have your ear, I did want to mention the 1-2  
features that we would most want-   %-)

a) hex-edge boundaries displayed on the map

Eg, around Erie in 1830- none of these edges show on the rails map,  
although rails enforces them in track-tile play.

This is a fairly big deal, as we have to use a separate jpg of the  
static game map, to actually see the boundaries- in 1830 and 18AL (I  
think there's only 1 impassable hex-edge in 18AL).

b) rollover city names more consistent

Eg- in 18AL, Nashville isn't identified as Nashville- just A3 or  
whatever.  (I think it's Nashville, but anyway there's numerous  
examples- lots of 1830 cities like baltimore, etc.)

In hot-seat play, it might not matter- but, when using rails as a pbem  
console, this makes it substantially more awkward to verify or  
summarize route and track coordinates in email.

Finally- is this list a reasonable place for comments like this, or  
should I strictly file these on the rails project page, or your team  
to review at your leisure, and not clutter this list with this kind of  
discussion?

regards,
-  jim


On Nov 4, 2009, at 12:30 PM, Erik Vos wrote:

> Hi Jim,
>
> Good to hear that Internet play can so easily be accomodated with  
> Rails!
>
> Some news for you and everyone: in the past year I have been working  
> on
> 1856,
> and it has recently been finished.
> The source code is available in the current code base.
> In my opinion, a new release (1.0.7) can be prepared pretty soon.
>
> Before that, I will have another look at the bugs list and see what  
> can be
> done about it.
> A while ago I already reported that I couldn't reproduce some of the  
> bug
> reports from early this year.
>
> I have noticed some new ones, including your report on 1830 brown  
> shares.
> I can already say, that AFAIK there is a consensus that multiple brown
> shares
> can only be bought from the Pool, not from IPO.
> So that's why it is as it is.
>
> To play otherwise would require a new selectable game option.
> I'm willing to consider a feature request to add such an option,
> but it wouldn't be a high priority item.
>
> Best regards,
> Erik.
>
>> I've been playing 18xx pbem using rails and and a dropbox, with the
>> person who posted on BGG.
>>
>> Here's a quick overview of what dropbox does for us, in tandem with
>> rails-
>>
>> First, dropbox essentially it gives you a shared folder 'in the
>> cloud'- it looks like a local/desktop folder, but gets automatically
>> sync'd across everyone.  (www.getdropbox.com)
>>
>> No saving attachments and forwarding along- we save directly to the
>> dropbox, from rails.  (As I mentioned, it looks like a local drive.)
>>
>> We see a shared record of the game.
>>
>> We use a java runtime option to coerce timestamps into UTC
>> format, so
>> the default Rails filenames all sequence properly across timezones.
>>
>> Also, dropbox supports notifications- I see popup
>> notifications on my
>> mac, via growl- so, we don't even really need to email each
>> other when
>> we move (though we typically do).  Instead, we use a reserved/
>> placeholder file in a game folder (a 'token'), that we update
>> to name
>> the next player.
>>
>> It works quite well- I get notifications of someone's move from
>> dropbox, long before I usually get the email.  I quickly notice any
>> game activity, and immediately can see if it's my move in any
>> current
>> game(s)- it's also easy to review the 'current player' across
>> a bunch
>> of games simultaneously.  And, of course, I get a lot less
>> unnecessary
>> email noise and corrections, from the pbem.
>>
>> Rails has been working well!  We've stumbled into some bugs
>> (which we
>> filed), but overall it's very simple and easy to use.
>>
>> - jim
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008  
> 30-Day
> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and  
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Re: [Rails-devel] using dropbox

[Jim B. <jim...@ya...>]

Eric,

Thanks for the followup.

On Nov 4, 2009, at 12:30 PM, Erik Vos wrote:
> I have noticed some new ones, including your report on 1830 brown  
> shares.
> I can already say, that AFAIK there is a consensus that multiple brown
> shares can only be bought from the Pool, not from IPO.
> So that's why it is as it is.
> To play otherwise would require a new selectable game option.
> I'm willing to consider a feature request to add such an option,
> but it wouldn't be a high priority item.

Please don't worry about it- it's easy to work around.  (By passing  
around the table when ness- if that's the way the group is playing it-  
either way.)

The other problems were actual bugs, and I think you already may have  
fixed them- the M&H exchange regression, and a math error when  
purchasing multiple brown shares together.

We're looking forward to updating to 1.0.7 for these when you're ready  
for release- and for¸ 1856, of course.  :-)

  - jim

Re: [Rails-devel] using dropbox

[Erik V. <eri...@hc...>]

Hi Jim,

Good to hear that Internet play can so easily be accomodated with Rails!

Some news for you and everyone: in the past year I have been working on
1856,
and it has recently been finished. 
The source code is available in the current code base.
In my opinion, a new release (1.0.7) can be prepared pretty soon.

Before that, I will have another look at the bugs list and see what can be
done about it. 
A while ago I already reported that I couldn't reproduce some of the bug
reports from early this year.

I have noticed some new ones, including your report on 1830 brown shares. 
I can already say, that AFAIK there is a consensus that multiple brown
shares 
can only be bought from the Pool, not from IPO. 
So that's why it is as it is.

To play otherwise would require a new selectable game option.
I'm willing to consider a feature request to add such an option, 
but it wouldn't be a high priority item.

Best regards,
Erik.

> I've been playing 18xx pbem using rails and and a dropbox, with the  
> person who posted on BGG.
> 
> Here's a quick overview of what dropbox does for us, in tandem with  
> rails-
> 
> First, dropbox essentially it gives you a shared folder 'in the  
> cloud'- it looks like a local/desktop folder, but gets automatically  
> sync'd across everyone.  (www.getdropbox.com)
> 
> No saving attachments and forwarding along- we save directly to the  
> dropbox, from rails.  (As I mentioned, it looks like a local drive.)
> 
> We see a shared record of the game.
> 
> We use a java runtime option to coerce timestamps into UTC 
> format, so  
> the default Rails filenames all sequence properly across timezones.
> 
> Also, dropbox supports notifications- I see popup 
> notifications on my  
> mac, via growl- so, we don't even really need to email each 
> other when  
> we move (though we typically do).  Instead, we use a reserved/ 
> placeholder file in a game folder (a 'token'), that we update 
> to name  
> the next player.
> 
> It works quite well- I get notifications of someone's move from  
> dropbox, long before I usually get the email.  I quickly notice any  
> game activity, and immediately can see if it's my move in any 
> current  
> game(s)- it's also easy to review the 'current player' across 
> a bunch  
> of games simultaneously.  And, of course, I get a lot less 
> unnecessary  
> email noise and corrections, from the pbem.
> 
> Rails has been working well!  We've stumbled into some bugs 
> (which we  
> filed), but overall it's very simple and easy to use.
> 
> - jim

Re: [Rails-devel] using dropbox

[Jim B. <jim...@ya...>]

Chris Shaffer wrote:
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2009 07:39:12 -0700
> From: Chris Shaffer <chr...@gm...>
> Subject: [Rails-devel] Using dropbox
> To: rai...@li...
> Message-ID:
> 	<ad2...@ma...>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Someone posted on BoardGameGeek that they are using Rails to play by  
> email
> with DropBox, a file sharing service.  The players presumably just  
> need to
> email each other to say "it's your turn."  Very neat.

I've been playing 18xx pbem using rails and and a dropbox, with the  
person who posted on BGG.

Here's a quick overview of what dropbox does for us, in tandem with  
rails-

First, dropbox essentially it gives you a shared folder 'in the  
cloud'- it looks like a local/desktop folder, but gets automatically  
sync'd across everyone.  (www.getdropbox.com)

No saving attachments and forwarding along- we save directly to the  
dropbox, from rails.  (As I mentioned, it looks like a local drive.)

We see a shared record of the game.

We use a java runtime option to coerce timestamps into UTC format, so  
the default Rails filenames all sequence properly across timezones.

Also, dropbox supports notifications- I see popup notifications on my  
mac, via growl- so, we don't even really need to email each other when  
we move (though we typically do).  Instead, we use a reserved/ 
placeholder file in a game folder (a 'token'), that we update to name  
the next player.

It works quite well- I get notifications of someone's move from  
dropbox, long before I usually get the email.  I quickly notice any  
game activity, and immediately can see if it's my move in any current  
game(s)- it's also easy to review the 'current player' across a bunch  
of games simultaneously.  And, of course, I get a lot less unnecessary  
email noise and corrections, from the pbem.

Rails has been working well!  We've stumbled into some bugs (which we  
filed), but overall it's very simple and easy to use.

- jim

Re: [Rails-devel] 1.02 on home page?

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

Fixed.   Looks like Sourceforge made some changes to the way they
classify the files we distribute.

We're categorized as a Java app. The .zip and .tar.bz2 aren't
immediately recognizable as Java.

It looks like it just defaulted to the last file we uploaded that was
obviously Java, which was the 1.0.2 jar file.

I've set the 1.0.6 files to suggest the appropriate file for the OS
each client is using (.zip for windows and mac, .tar.bz2 for all
others).

---Brett.



On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 10:10 PM, brett lentz <wak...@gm...> wrote:
> Good question.  I'll look into it.
>
> ---Brett.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 9:24 PM, Chris Shaffer <chr...@gm...> wrote:
>> On this page:
>>
>> http://sourceforge.net/projects/rails/
>>
>> why is the big green link to version 1.02?
>>
>> --
>> Chris
>>
>> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day
>> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
>> on
>> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
>> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july
>> _______________________________________________
>> Rails-devel mailing list
>> Rai...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>>
>>
>

Re: [Rails-devel] 1.02 on home page?

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

Good question.  I'll look into it.

---Brett.



On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 9:24 PM, Chris Shaffer <chr...@gm...> wrote:
> On this page:
>
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/rails/
>
> why is the big green link to version 1.02?
>
> --
> Chris
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day
> trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus
> on
> what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with
> Crystal Reports now.  http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>

[Rails-devel] 1.02 on home page?

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

On this page:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/rails/

why is the big green link to version 1.02?

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

[Rails-devel] Bugs

[Erik V. <eri...@xs...>]

Recently I found some Rails bug reports in the Sourceforge tracking
database.
Some (or perhaps all) of these had been reported by Chris Fawcett.

Only one of these bugs I have been able to reproduce: the initial number of
start items buyable in 1835 standard version. Indeed this was a bug in the
latest released version 1.0.6, but it had already been fixed in the current
working version.

The other reported bugs (regarding 18EU and 18AL) I could not reproduce in
v1.0.6 either. I will not research these bugs any further unless I receive a
save file, from which the problem can be shown with v1.0.6 or later.

Erik.

Re: [Rails-devel] Using dropbox

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

Yes, there are definitely people, myself included, using it for pbem.

Thanks for developing it. I really like the rules enforcement and Mac  
compatibility.

--
Chris Shaffer

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

On Oct 3, 2009, at 10:18 AM, "Erik Vos" <eri...@hc...> wrote:

> Yes, Rails can already be used for PBEM by sending saved files, as I  
> suggested a while ago. Good to hear that Rails is actually used!
>
> I have almost completed 1856, and I'm also working on a few reported  
> bugs. After that, it's getting time to bring out a new release.
>
> Erik.
>
> From: Chris Shaffer [mailto:chr...@gm...]
> Sent: Saturday 03 October 2009 15:39
> To: rai...@li...
> Subject: [Rails-devel] Using dropbox
>
> Someone posted on BoardGameGeek that they are using Rails to play by  
> email with DropBox, a file sharing service.  The players presumably  
> just need to email each other to say "it's your turn."  Very neat.
>
> --
> Chris
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> --- 
> --- 
> --- 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Come build with us! The BlackBerry&reg; Developer Conference in SF, CA
> is the only developer event you need to attend this year. Jumpstart  
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> developing skills, take BlackBerry mobile applications to market and  
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> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel

Re: [Rails-devel] Using dropbox

[Erik V. <eri...@hc...>]

Yes, Rails can already be used for PBEM by sending saved files, as I
suggested a while ago. Good to hear that Rails is actually used!
 
I have almost completed 1856, and I'm also working on a few reported bugs.
After that, it's getting time to bring out a new release.
 
Erik.


  _____  

From: Chris Shaffer [mailto:chr...@gm...] 
Sent: Saturday 03 October 2009 15:39
To: rai...@li...
Subject: [Rails-devel] Using dropbox


Someone posted on BoardGameGeek that they are using Rails to play by email
with DropBox, a file sharing service.  The players presumably just need to
email each other to say "it's your turn."  Very neat.

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

[Rails-devel] Using dropbox

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

Someone posted on BoardGameGeek that they are using Rails to play by email
with DropBox, a file sharing service.  The players presumably just need to
email each other to say "it's your turn."  Very neat.

--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

Re: [Rails-devel] Finally getting around to starting that PBEM game

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

OK, thanks.  We'll let you know how it goes.  The game is scheduled to start
in August when a player returns from summer vacation.
--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.


On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:45 AM, brett lentz <wak...@gm...> wrote:

> There haven't been any changes to 1830, that I'm aware of.  Checking
> the code out of CVS is probably more effort than it's really worth for
> your use case.
>
> I think you should just use the released version.
>
> ---Brett.
> Adrienne Gusoff  - "Opportunity knocked. My doorman threw him out." -
> http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/adrienne_gusoff.html
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Chris Shaffer<chr...@gm...>
> wrote:
> > I'm willing to do that if you think there is a benefit to be gained from
> it.
> >  Is there a good reason to use the current code?  Is the current code
> > (relatively) stable?  Or would we be just as beneficial to the project
> using
> > the 1.0.6 release?
> > --
> > Chris
> >
> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:25 AM, brett lentz <wak...@gm...> wrote:
> >>
> >> 1.0.6 is the latest release, unless you want to check the code
> >> directly out of CVS. :-)
> >>
> >> ---Brett.
> >> A. P. Herbert  - "A high-brow is someone who looks at a sausage and
> >> thinks of Picasso." -
> >> http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/a_p_herbert.html
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:23 AM, Chris Shaffer<chr...@gm...>
> >> wrote:
> >> > I'm (finally) about to start a game of 1830 PBEM as a beta test of the
> >> > Rails
> >> > software (and also to learn 1830 strategies).  Should we use the 1.0.6
> >> > release from last December, or is there a newer version that you would
> >> > prefer us to use for beta testing?
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Chris
> >> >
> >> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Rails-devel mailing list
> >> > Rai...@li...
> >> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Rails-devel mailing list
> >> Rai...@li...
> >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
> >
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Rails-devel mailing list
> > Rai...@li...
> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
> >
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>

Re: [Rails-devel] Finally getting around to starting that PBEM game

[brett l. <wak...@gm...>]

There haven't been any changes to 1830, that I'm aware of.  Checking
the code out of CVS is probably more effort than it's really worth for
your use case.

I think you should just use the released version.

---Brett.
Adrienne Gusoff  - "Opportunity knocked. My doorman threw him out." -
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/adrienne_gusoff.html


On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Chris Shaffer<chr...@gm...> wrote:
> I'm willing to do that if you think there is a benefit to be gained from it.
>  Is there a good reason to use the current code?  Is the current code
> (relatively) stable?  Or would we be just as beneficial to the project using
> the 1.0.6 release?
> --
> Chris
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:25 AM, brett lentz <wak...@gm...> wrote:
>>
>> 1.0.6 is the latest release, unless you want to check the code
>> directly out of CVS. :-)
>>
>> ---Brett.
>> A. P. Herbert  - "A high-brow is someone who looks at a sausage and
>> thinks of Picasso." -
>> http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/a_p_herbert.html
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:23 AM, Chris Shaffer<chr...@gm...>
>> wrote:
>> > I'm (finally) about to start a game of 1830 PBEM as a beta test of the
>> > Rails
>> > software (and also to learn 1830 strategies).  Should we use the 1.0.6
>> > release from last December, or is there a newer version that you would
>> > prefer us to use for beta testing?
>> >
>> > --
>> > Chris
>> >
>> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
>> >
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Rails-devel mailing list
>> > Rai...@li...
>> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> _______________________________________________
>> Rails-devel mailing list
>> Rai...@li...
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>

Re: [Rails-devel] Finally getting around to starting that PBEM game

[Chris S. <chr...@gm...>]

I'm willing to do that if you think there is a benefit to be gained from it.
 Is there a good reason to use the current code?  Is the current code
(relatively) stable?  Or would we be just as beneficial to the project using
the 1.0.6 release?
--
Chris

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.


On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:25 AM, brett lentz <wak...@gm...> wrote:

> 1.0.6 is the latest release, unless you want to check the code
> directly out of CVS. :-)
>
> ---Brett.
> A. P. Herbert  - "A high-brow is someone who looks at a sausage and
> thinks of Picasso." -
> http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/a_p_herbert.html
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 11:23 AM, Chris Shaffer<chr...@gm...>
> wrote:
> > I'm (finally) about to start a game of 1830 PBEM as a beta test of the
> Rails
> > software (and also to learn 1830 strategies).  Should we use the 1.0.6
> > release from last December, or is there a newer version that you would
> > prefer us to use for beta testing?
> >
> > --
> > Chris
> >
> > Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Rails-devel mailing list
> > Rai...@li...
> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
> >
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-devel mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>