rails-devel — List for discussion of Rails development

Re: [Rails-devel] Need help with Eclipse java/git setup

[Martin B. <dr....@t-...>]

Am 11.06.2017 um 18:50 schrieb Dave Mitton:
> I need a walk through or a pointer to how to configure an Eclipse Java
> "project" and how to setup the git relationship to sf.net.
>
> So far, I tried:
>
> - downloaded the jar, expanded it, - but Eclipse doesn't recognize any
> sort of project in there.  I don't know what it's looking for.
>
> - I tried several variations of using the git dialogs to pull from
> SourceForge, and the one that finally succeeded
> didn't find anything in there either. (I'm starting with 2.0.RC1)
>
>
> My current goal is to have a set of code that I can build/run/debug
> and checkin changes to a private branch.
> But I don't know the right magic in this environment.
>
> Dave.
> more of a Turtle Mercurial veteran....
>
>
> ---
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>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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Hi Dave and anyone else interested,


please find the necessary steps in this and the next messages.

[Rails-devel] Need help with Eclipse java/git setup

[Dave M. <da...@mi...>]

I need a walk through or a pointer to how to configure an Eclipse 
Java "project" and how to setup the git relationship to sf.net.

So far, I tried:

- downloaded the jar, expanded it, - but Eclipse doesn't recognize 
any sort of project in there.  I don't know what it's looking for.

- I tried several variations of using the git dialogs to pull from 
SourceForge, and the one that finally succeeded
didn't find anything in there either. (I'm starting with 2.0.RC1)


My current goal is to have a set of code that I can build/run/debug 
and checkin changes to a private branch.
But I don't know the right magic in this environment.

Dave.
more of a Turtle Mercurial veteran....


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Re: [Rails-devel] Is anyone home??

[<da...@mi...>]

Thanks guys.  
   I’ve just installed Eclipse and Java (had to figure out which version).
I’ll see if I can get the tool chain running then poke around.


Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: brett lentz
Sent: Thursday, June 8, 2017 10:48 AM
To: Development list for Rails: an 18xx game
Subject: Re: [Rails-devel] Is anyone home??

Hi Dave -

Sorry for the lack of response. I'm not sure I saw your previous e-mail.

Currently, as far as I know, nobody is working on the code at this point. So, if you'd like to jump in and revive things, you're certainly welcome. :)

---Brett.



---Brett.

On Wed, Jun 7, 2017 at 2:00 PM, Dave Mitton <da...@mi...> wrote:
Guys,
    I got no response to my last email.  And I don't see any signs of life?
The website latest is in 2015.   Who is working on the code?

I see that Martin was fixing things then stopped.  How are your branches organized in SF?

I might have some time to learn it.

Thanks,

Dave.


On 5/11/2017 11:27 AM, Dave Mitton wrote:
On 1/30/2017 04:37 PM, Dr. Martin Brumm wrote:
>     Good Day,
>
>apparently we have a bug with the route calculation in the RC2. I have
>deleted the archives from sourceforge right now. This got introduced
>somewhere between commit 015d1d7 and 7477c48. Thats as far as i was able
>to retrace that in a hurry.
>
>I'll try to find out whats the problem in the next days.
>
>Please dont use RC2 in the moment if you want to have the engine
>calculate the routes. This has been verified for the variant 1835 sofar.
>Others will be checked also.
>
>Thanks to madoar reporting the finding.
>
>Regards
>Martin
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
>Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
>engaging tech sites, SlashDot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
>_______________________________________________
>Rails-devel mailing list
>Rai...@li...
>https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel


What's the current status of RC2?

Is there a description of the development tools/environment anywhere?

Dave.

....


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Re: [Rails-devel] Is anyone home??

[Brett L. <bre...@gm...>]

On Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 12:45 PM, Martin Brumm
<dr....@t-...> wrote:
> Am 08.06.2017 um 16:48 schrieb brett lentz:
>
> Hi Dave -
>
> Sorry for the lack of response. I'm not sure I saw your previous e-mail.
>
> Currently, as far as I know, nobody is working on the code at this point.
> So, if you'd like to jump in and revive things, you're certainly welcome. :)
>
> ---Brett.
>
> Sorry to contradict you here Brett :) I am still working on it, not in the
> scale of Stefan or Erik before though. Btw with the vanishing stunt of
> Stefan, i lack the rights to edit the wiki or do other things on
> Sourceforge. Do you want to update stuff ? :)
>
> Regards
> Martin

Many apologies Martin!  Thanks for speaking up.

And, yes, I'm happy to grant access to the other bits. I'll do that
later today. :)

Re: [Rails-devel] Is anyone home??

[Martin B. <dr....@t-...>]

Am 08.06.2017 um 16:48 schrieb brett lentz:
> Hi Dave -
>
> Sorry for the lack of response. I'm not sure I saw your previous e-mail.
>
> Currently, as far as I know, nobody is working on the code at this
> point. So, if you'd like to jump in and revive things, you're
> certainly welcome. :)
>
> ---Brett.
>
Sorry to contradict you here Brett :) I am still working on it, not in
the scale of Stefan or Erik before though. Btw with the vanishing stunt
of Stefan, i lack the rights to edit the wiki or do other things on
Sourceforge. Do you want to update stuff ? :)

Regards
Martin

Re: [Rails-devel] Is anyone home??

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

Hi Dave -

Sorry for the lack of response. I'm not sure I saw your previous e-mail.

Currently, as far as I know, nobody is working on the code at this point.
So, if you'd like to jump in and revive things, you're certainly welcome. :)

---Brett.


---Brett.

On Wed, Jun 7, 2017 at 2:00 PM, Dave Mitton <da...@mi...> wrote:

> Guys,
>     I got no response to my last email.  And I don't see any signs of life?
> The website latest is in 2015.   Who is working on the code?
>
> I see that Martin was fixing things then stopped.  How are your branches
> organized in SF?
>
> I might have some time to learn it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave.
>
>
> On 5/11/2017 11:27 AM, Dave Mitton wrote:
>
>> On 1/30/2017 04:37 PM, Dr. Martin Brumm wrote:
>> >     Good Day,
>> >
>> >apparently we have a bug with the route calculation in the RC2. I have
>> >deleted the archives from sourceforge right now. This got introduced
>> >somewhere between commit 015d1d7 and 7477c48. Thats as far as i was able
>> >to retrace that in a hurry.
>> >
>> >I'll try to find out whats the problem in the next days.
>> >
>> >Please dont use RC2 in the moment if you want to have the engine
>> >calculate the routes. This has been verified for the variant 1835 sofar.
>> >Others will be checked also.
>> >
>> >Thanks to madoar reporting the finding.
>> >
>> >Regards
>> >Martin
>> >
>> >-------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -----------
>> >Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
>> >engaging tech sites, SlashDot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
>> >_______________________________________________
>> >Rails-devel mailing list
>> >Rai...@li...
>> >https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>>
>>
>> What's the current status of RC2?
>>
>> Is there a description of the development tools/environment anywhere?
>>
>> Dave.
>>
>> ....
>>
>
>
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>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------------
> Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
> engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
> _______________________________________________
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> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>

Re: [Rails-devel] ralls-2.0RC2 withdrawn

[Martin B. <dr....@t-...>]

Am 11.05.2017 um 17:27 schrieb Dave Mitton:
> What's the current status of RC2?
>
> Is there a description of the development tools/environment anywhere?
>
> Dave. 
>
>
> ---
Hi Dave,

i fixed a couple of minor glitches. And now have to find some time to do
some more tests.


On your second question:
All one need is the JDK, Git and or an IDE (with git included). I
personally use eclipse together with jgit/egit.
On the wiki at sourceforge or in the archive there should be some
information regarding the setup.
But basically you create a new git project by cloning the sourceforge or
github repo inside eclipse (if you use that) or create a new local git
project by cloning the repo from sf or github.
Create a new development branch for your self and familiarize yourself
with the code. Beware the structure between 1.x and 2.0 changed
drastically. So i recommend you start with the 2.0 master or development
branch and look around there.
Common path for all java classes is src/main/java.
net.sf.rails.util.util.java contains the main-class.

Bsaic game code can be found in net.sf.rails.game/net.sf.rails.ui.swing
(Base game 1830)
Gamespecific coding can be found below net.sf.rails.game.specific._1880
for example or net.sf.rails.ui.swing.gamespecific._1880.

Setup for games is done via xml in data/18.. below src/main/ressources.
Check out for example 1880 (thats the one i know the most about.

Feel free to ask more questions.
Regards,
Martin

[Rails-devel] Is anyone home??

[Dave M. <da...@mi...>]

Guys,
     I got no response to my last email.  And I don't see any signs of life?
The website latest is in 2015.   Who is working on the code?

I see that Martin was fixing things then stopped.  How are your 
branches organized in SF?

I might have some time to learn it.

Thanks,

Dave.


On 5/11/2017 11:27 AM, Dave Mitton wrote:
>On 1/30/2017 04:37 PM, Dr. Martin Brumm wrote:
> >     Good Day,
> >
> >apparently we have a bug with the route calculation in the RC2. I have
> >deleted the archives from sourceforge right now. This got introduced
> >somewhere between commit 015d1d7 and 7477c48. Thats as far as i was able
> >to retrace that in a hurry.
> >
> >I'll try to find out whats the problem in the next days.
> >
> >Please dont use RC2 in the moment if you want to have the engine
> >calculate the routes. This has been verified for the variant 1835 sofar.
> >Others will be checked also.
> >
> >Thanks to madoar reporting the finding.
> >
> >Regards
> >Martin
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> -----------
> >Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
> >engaging tech sites, SlashDot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
> >_______________________________________________
> >Rails-devel mailing list
> >Rai...@li...
> >https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel
>
>
>What's the current status of RC2?
>
>Is there a description of the development tools/environment anywhere?
>
>Dave.
>
>....


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Re: [Rails-devel] ralls-2.0RC2 withdrawn

[Dave M. <da...@mi...>]

On 1/30/2017 04:37 PM, Dr. Martin Brumm wrote:
>     Good Day,
>
>apparently we have a bug with the route calculation in the RC2. I have
>deleted the archives from sourceforge right now. This got introduced
>somewhere between commit 015d1d7 and 7477c48. Thats as far as i was able
>to retrace that in a hurry.
>
>I'll try to find out whats the problem in the next days.
>
>Please dont use RC2 in the moment if you want to have the engine
>calculate the routes. This has been verified for the variant 1835 sofar.
>Others will be checked also.
>
>Thanks to madoar reporting the finding.
>
>Regards
>Martin
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
>engaging tech sites, SlashDot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
>_______________________________________________
>Rails-devel mailing list
>Rai...@li...
>https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel


What's the current status of RC2?

Is there a description of the development tools/environment anywhere?

Dave. 


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[Rails-devel] Rails2.0RC1 1835 doesn't Reload

[Phil D. <de...@gm...>]

I had a brief scan of the archive and hadn't noticed this reported
anywhere, but the Reload feature doesn't appear to work in 1835 on
2.0RC1 at all?  Pressing reload and choosing a file just doesn't seem
to do anything

Re: [Rails-devel] [Rails-users] ralls-2.0RC2 withdrawn - 1835 affected only ?

[Dr. M. B. <dr....@t-...>]

Good evening,

i have checked save games for 1880 and 1830 that i had available both do 
not show the problem with the route finding algorythmn reported for 1835.

If anyone of you out there using 2.0-RC2 could verify, in games that are 
played right now or have been saved, if the route finding algo does 
route suggestion and revenue calculation correctly (or wrong) it would 
be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Martin

Am 30.01.17 um 21:37 schrieb Dr. Martin Brumm:
>      Good Day,
>
> apparently we have a bug with the route calculation in the RC2. I have
> deleted the archives from sourceforge right now. This got introduced
> somewhere between commit 015d1d7 and 7477c48. Thats as far as i was able
> to retrace that in a hurry.
>
> I'll try to find out whats the problem in the next days.
>
> Please dont use RC2 in the moment if you want to have the engine
> calculate the routes. This has been verified for the variant 1835 sofar.
> Others will be checked also.
>
> Thanks to madoar reporting the finding.
>
> Regards
> Martin
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
> engaging tech sites, SlashDot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-users mailing list
> Rai...@li...
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-users

[Rails-devel] ralls-2.0RC2 withdrawn

[Dr. M. B. <dr....@t-...>]

    Good Day,

apparently we have a bug with the route calculation in the RC2. I have 
deleted the archives from sourceforge right now. This got introduced 
somewhere between commit 015d1d7 and 7477c48. Thats as far as i was able 
to retrace that in a hurry.

I'll try to find out whats the problem in the next days.

Please dont use RC2 in the moment if you want to have the engine 
calculate the routes. This has been verified for the variant 1835 sofar. 
Others will be checked also.

Thanks to madoar reporting the finding.

Regards
Martin

[Rails-devel] 2.0-RC1 AL-Fix released

[Martin B. <dr....@t-...>]

Hello,

a new RC of the 2.0 version is available.  Please note that two bugs and
some mechanics have been changed. This version WILL break 1835 games
ongoing. It is still recommend to be used as the previous versions
omitted some mechanic in the shareround. 1880 games might also break in
the late game.

18AL should now be playable again.


Kind regards,

Martin

Re: [Rails-devel] [Rails-users] Rails problems on ubuntu ? Was: [18xx] How do 18XX games get solved? 1856

[John D. G. <jd...@di...>]

On 08/20/2016 02:26 AM, Martin Brumm wrote:
> Am 20.08.2016 um 02:09 schrieb John David Galt:
>> "sh rails.sh" produces the message:
>> 
>> Error: Unable to access jarfile ./rails-@VERSION@.jar
>> 
>> FWIW, there is no file with a name of that form in the project 
>> directory.  Here's what "ls" produces:
>> 
>> AUTHORS buildRails.xml data doc html images lib LICENSE 
>> localisedText.properties log4j.properties make_rails_pkg.sh 
>> manifest my.properties rails rails.bat Rails-format.xml rails.sh 
>> README readme.txt test tiles tools version.number
>> 
>> 
>> On 08/19/2016 05:02 PM, john guthrie wrote:
>>> Or type: sh rails.sh from the directory it's in
>>> 
>>> On Friday, August 19, 2016, Justin Rebelo
>>> <jus...@gm... <mailto:jus...@gm...>>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I was figuring the issues is that it's not executable, which
>>> it would need to be for a "./script" type command to execute.
>>> 
>>> So what does running "sh rails.sh" produce then? That should
>>> work even with simple read permissions.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Fri, 19 Aug 2016, 16:51 John David Galt, 
>>> <jd...@di... 
>>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','jd...@di...');>>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> rails.sh is world readable.  So is java.
>>> 
>>> On 08/18/2016 04:04 PM, Justin Rebelo wrote:
>>>> chmod +x rails.sh
>>>> 
>>>> Alternately, run:
>>>> 
>>>> "sh rails.sh"
>>>> 
>>>> On Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 4:00 PM John David Galt 
>>>> <jd...@di...
>>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','jd...@di...');>
>>>
>>> 
<mailto:jd...@di...
>>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','jd...@di...');>>>
>>>
>>> 
> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Now I've gotten the JDK and git installed, and Rails
>>> cloned.  However,
>>>> when I go to the Rails repository and perform ./rails.sh I
>>>> get "permission denied".  Any ideas?
>>>> 
>>> 
> Good Morning John,
> 
> you havent build the jar-file yet. The directory listing you show
> is the srcdistribution from sourgeforge. rails.sh is in there
> because its needed and will be put into the release file by the
> build process. What kind of IDE do you use or plan to use ? eclipse
> ?
> 
> If so and you have it installed switch to the ant-view in eclipse
> add the build.xml from the root-src-directory and run build project
> or build release. This should lead to a directory named rails-1.9.x
> or rails-2.x to appear :) Inside that directory you'll find another
> rails.sh this then should start rails from the commandline.
> 
> if you want to work without an IDE you need to have "Apache Ant" 
> installed to work with the provided build.xml in the root
> directory.
> 
> Kind regards, Martin

I've gotten Eclipse installed and Rails downloaded, but when I try to
"build project" I get two errors:
*  Default target build does not exist in this project
*  Target clean does not exist in this project

This when looking at build.xml on the screen.  Any ideas?

Re: [Rails-devel] ***UNCHECKED*** Tile Creation in rails

[Alex M. <ha...@ha...>]

On 11/8/2016 12:27 PM, Martin Brumm wrote:
> Instructions for Inkscape
>
> If tiles are modified with Inkscape, before saving, set the following 
> properties before saving the new image:
>
>   * Under File | DocumentProperties:
>       o First press 'Fit page to selection'. For edited images, this
>         should change the size to Width=393.00 and Height=341.00.
>       o For unknown reasons, TileDesigner adds extra whitespace below
>         the tile image. To emulate this, change the Height to 357.50.
>   * Then save the tile.
>
> For newly created tiles, make sure that the size ends up identically, 
> i.e. Width=393.00 and Height=357.00
>

Thanks for this.

My experience was that when editing an existing tile with Inkscape, even 
a simple Open-and-save would cause major scaling problems with the 
standard tiles.

Through trial and error I was able to work out that changing the page 
size seems to have an effect on the mis-scaling result. By tweaking the 
page size to 400x400 (Leaving the tile image itself at 393x357) I 
*think* I got the scaling just perfect that way.

Not sure if that's intentional and should be documented or what, but it 
definitely seems odd to me. I would expect the program to either expect 
the SVG page size to be at some standard size and want the image data to 
match that size -- or ignore the page size and scale the image data to 
the size needed.

[Rails-devel] Tile Creation in rails

[Martin B. <dr....@t-...>]

Tile identifiers

Since Francis Tresham created the first 18xx game - it was 1829 - the
tiles have a number printed on the face side to identify them. To make a
long story short, the numbering of tiles in the growing 18xx genre was
not a linear affair. We can read and see the fruits of efforts by
individuals in the Tile Encyclopedia
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20130111061408/http://www.18xx.net/tiles/index.htm>.


The consequences for the Rails projects are mainly:

  * There are no identifiers for hexes on the maps
  * Some identifiers have been used for different tiles
  * Some identifiers have alphabetic characters, but TileDesigner 1.3.1
    accepts only numbers

The approach to circumvent these limitations is, since the "Storm and
Stress"-phase till today, not standardized in Rails. Mainly it was up to
the volunteers to come to a solution day by day. Erik Vos wrote a nice
summary that can be found on Excerpts#Excerpt_002
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20130111061408/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#Excerpt_002>



    Working with TileDesigner

/This section describes the setup and actions that are used by Erik Vos
on his local Windows PC in creating tile images and XML. Not all of the
mentioned files and scripts have been stored in the repository./

Introduction

Most 18xx tiles for Rails are created with TileDesigner, a program
written by Marco Rocci (see http://www.rails18xx.it/software.html
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20130111061408/http://www.rails18xx.it/software.html>
). This program has not been maintained for many years, and we don't
have the source code. But this program is currently all we have to
create tiles, and the quality of the images is very good, so we have
chosen to live with its limitations and bugs.

TileDesigner is used to create both the tile images, and the XML files
that describe each tile for the purpose of route and revenue
calculation. Only the SVG image format is currently supported by Rails.
It is possible to create SVG tile images in other ways (e.g. by editing
existing SVG files in a text editor, or by Inkscape), but any new tile
IDs created this way cannot be used as primary tile identifiers in the
descriptive XML. See below for more details.

Directory structure

/Not prescriptive, but for information only/

My local directory structure, to which I will refer below, is shown
here. Only files relevant to the tile creation process are mentioned.
Only directories and files shown in *bold* are in the repository.

                        *tiles*
                          |
   +----------------------+-------------+-----------------+----------------+
   |                      |             |                 |                |
   |                     *svg*         TDwithID          TDwoID          handmade
TileDesigner.exe          |             |                 |                |
*TileDictionary.18t*        |             +------+          +------+         |
*TileDictionary.xml*        |             |      |          |      |         |
*Tiles.xml*             *tile#.svg*     tile#.svg  |      tile#.svg  |     tile#.svg
*CombineTiles.pl*                                |                 |
*FixInvisibility.pl*                       TileDictionary   TileDictionary
tileset.bat                                    |                 |
tilexml.bat                                tile#.svg         tile#.svg

Designing tiles

TileDesigner is not very well documented; a few hints on Marco Rocci's
site is all we have. In its first run, the program uses the Italian
language. For those who don't master that language: English can be
selected under Modifica | Opzioni (Edit | Options), select Inglese
(English).

The user interface will not be described here. It has some quirks, but
it is not too difficult to sort that out. /(If necessary, details can be
added here in a later stage.)/

The order of tile numbers in the database (named *TileDesigner.18t*) is
not sequential. The database contains Marco's original tile set followed
by all tiles created for Rails in chronological sequence. To create a
new tile, select the final tile id and press Ins. Then go ahead drawing
junctions and tracks. It is essential that all track end points are
either on a tile edge or on a junction (city, town), otherwise route
calculation will fail.

Exporting images

To export SVG image files:

Select File | Export | Images. Select or enter the following details:

  * Folder: where you want to store the images. Note: TD creates a
    subdirectory named *TileDictionary* /below/ the directory that is
    entered here and saves all image files in that subdirectory.
  * Image format: SVG
  * Scale: 1
  * Tile size: 170
  * Tile elements:
      o ID: either checked or unchecked, see below.
      o Grid: unchecked
      o Frame: checked
  * File name template: tile<c0> (note: this is essential, and deviates
    from the factory setting).
  * Leave all other options unchecked, except the Top checkboxes.

Finally press OK.

*Preprinted* tiles are exported to directory TDwoID. Uncheck the ID
checkbox to ensure that the tile IDs are suppressed.
*Layable* tiles are exported to directory TDwithID. Check the ID
checkbox to ensure that the tile IDs are included.
Export overwrites existing images in the TileDictionay subdirectories
without warning.

Fixing images

For unknown reasons, TileDesigner includes 'xmlns=""', which makes the
tiles invisible (note: this was not originally the case; I don't know
what triggered it). To fix this, run the Perl script
*FixInvisibility.pl* with the path to the relevant TileDictionary
directory as a command-line argument. E.g.

perl FixInvisibility.pl TDwithID/TileDictionary 

This script removes the xmlns attribute. A free Windows Perl
implementation can be downloaded from
http://www.activestate.com/activeperl
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20130111061408/http://www.activestate.com/activeperl>.


'Handmade' images

Many special tiles cannot be created by TileDesigner, which pretty much
is limited to creating the kind of tiles known shortly after 2000. Other
tiles can be created in various ways:

  * By editing an SVG file in a text editor (SVG is based upon XML).
  * By creating a new tile, or editing an existing tile in Inkscape (the
    leading SVG editor). In this case, special instructions apply (see
    below).

Any tiles created or modified this way should be stored separately, to
avoid being overwritten by a new export from TileDesigner. I am storing
such tiles in the directory *handmade*.


        Instructions for Inkscape

If tiles are modified with Inkscape, before saving, set the following
properties before saving the new image:

  * Under File | DocumentProperties:
      o First press 'Fit page to selection'. For edited images, this
        should change the size to Width=393.00 and Height=341.00.
      o For unknown reasons, TileDesigner adds extra whitespace below
        the tile image. To emulate this, change the Height to 357.50.
  * Then save the tile.

For newly created tiles, make sure that the size ends up identically,
i.e. Width=393.00 and Height=357.00

/Note: I remember having had problems with using tiles newly created by
Inkspace. That is why modifying existing tiles is recommended./

Publishing images

To be included in the repository, the tile images must be copied to the
*svg* directory. Usually I only copy new or changed tiles, first from
*TileDictionary* to *TDwithID*/*TDwoID* (the contents of the latter
serve as a backup up to that point). Then the relevant tiles from
*TDwithID* (positive numbers), *TDwoID* (negative numbers and zero) and
*handmade* are copied to *svg*.

A Perl script named *CombineTiles.pl* exists that can do this job, but
using it is not recommeded, as it overwrites all images in *svg*, which
can cause excessive updates to the repository. These days, I'm only
(manually) copying new or changed tiles.

Creating XML tile descriptions

Exporting XML from TileDesigner

The file *TileDictionary.xml* contains all tile definitions in a
TD-specific XML format. To export this file:

  * Select File | Export | XML.
  * Press OK.

For this export action, it does not matter what options are selected or
entered; everything is ignored. In particular, the contents of the
*Folder* field is entirely ignored. TileDesigner always exports XML to
the directory where the executable TileDesigner.exe is located. For this
reason, it is recommended to store the executable in the Tiles directory.

TileDictionary.xml is created as a one-line XML file. To properly format
it, use the Perl script <tools_path>/formatxml.pl, or load the file in
Eclipse and format it with XMLBuddy.

Making Tiles.xml

As explained elsewhere in this Wiki, Rails uses two types of files named
*Tiles.xml*. The processes to create these files are explained below.

*Warning*: never modify Tiles.xml files manually; such modifications
will mercilessly be overwritten when the processes described below are
executed. All additional tile properties must find a place in either
TileSet.xml or Map.xml, as best fits the needs.

The overall Tiles.xml file

The overall *Tiles.xml* file is located in the *tiles* directory. It is
created by running Java class *tools.ConvertTilesXML*, which is included
in the Rails repository. I use the following Windows script (named
*tilexml.bat*):

java -Dconfigfile=<properties_path>.properties -cp <classes_path>\classes;<lib_path>\log4j-1.2.14.jar tools.ConvertTilesXML
perl <tools_path>\formatxml.pl <tiles_path>\Tiles.xml
pause

where the properties file includes the log4j configuration (I suppose
this is not really necessary).

The Java program creates a one-line XML file. The Perl script
formatxml.pl should properly format it. Alternatively, load it in
Eclipse and format it with XMLBuddy.

The per-game Tiles.xml file

Each game has its own subset of tile descriptions in a file that is also
named *Tiles.xml*, but is located in *data/<game-name>*. This type of
file is created by running Java class *tools.MakeGameTileSets*, and uses
the information in *TileSet.xml* (which must already exist) to create
the per-game Tile.xml. The game name(s) must be provided as argument(s).
I use the following Windows script, named *tileset.bat*:

java -cp <classes_path>\classes;<lib_path>\log4j-1.2.14.jar tools.MakeGameTileSets %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
for %%A in (%*) do (
   perl <tools_path>\formatxml.pl <data_path>\%%A\Tiles.xml
)
pause

Again, the Java program creates one-line XML files. The Perl script
formatxml.pl should properly format each file. Alternatively, load each
Tiles.xml file in Eclipse and format it with XMLBuddy.

[Rails-devel] From Way Back Eriks Excerpts about tiles...

[Martin B. <dr....@t-...>]

  Excerpts


      From rails

Jump to: navigation
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#column-one>,
search
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#searchInput>

In the last years the project Rails had not a wiki, so most of the
shared knowledge can be found in the archives
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/https://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_name=rails-devel>
of the rails-devel mailinglist. The reading and finding of information
in the archives is not always very simple. You can find here some,
partly heavily editet, excerpts of interesting threads or emails.


    Contents

  * 1 Summary of the excerpts
    <https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#Summary_of_the_excerpts>
  * 2 The excerpts
    <https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#The_excerpts>

      o 2.1 Excerpt 001 - Creation Tree for the different xml files
        <https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#Excerpt_001_-_Creation_Tree_for_the_different_xml_files>
      o 2.2 Excerpt 002 - Tile identifiers
        <https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#Excerpt_002_-_Tile_identifiers>


    Summary of the excerpts

  * #Excerpt 001
    <https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#Excerpt_001>:
    Erik Vos recapitulates the workflow for the creation of the
    different xml files
  * #Excerpt 002
    <https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://sourceforge.net:80/apps/mediawiki/rails/index.php?title=Excerpts#Excerpt_002>:
    Erik Vos recapitulates how the tile identifiers are numbered in the
    rails project.


    The excerpts


      Excerpt 001 - Creation Tree for the different xml files

Source
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/https://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=24341290>
Re: [Rails-devel] Tiles.xml, TileSet.xml, and svg files
From: Erik Vos <erik.vos@xs...> - 2010-01-11 22:40


*1. Why do we have separate TileSet.xml and Tiles.xml?*

TileSet.xml contains the game-specific tile properties, and Tiles.xml
has the game-independent tile properties. The latter file is generated
by rails.util.MakeGameTileSets (a stand-alone Java class/program) from
TileSet.xml and the overall Tiles.xml file that has *all* tiles (this
file and several other files that I'm going to mention are in directory
18xx/tiles of the CVS repository on Sourceforge). This program also
checks TileSet.xml against Map.xml for consistency.


*2. Why do we have separate XMLand SVG files?*

That is because we use an SVG renderer that understands SVG, whereas
both I and the Java code I have written only understand XML. And I doubt
if the twain will ever meet.


*3. Where do Tiles.xml and the SVG files come from?*

Ultimately everything comes from a tile database named TileDesigner.18t
created by Marco Rocci's TileDesigner program (see
http://www.rails18xx.it/software.html
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://www.rails18xx.it/software.html>).
In the mean time I have added a lot of tiles to Marco's original tile
set. From that database I export both the SVG tiles and an XML
descriptive file called TileDesigner.xml.

The SVG export is somewhat buggy. Originally Brett fixed that by a
procedure that I don't have the details of. I have recently taken over
and I'm now using a procedure described in the comments of a Perl script
named CombineTiles.pl. That script builds the Rails SVG file set by
combining parts from three sets of SVG files: - tiles with ID > 0
(layable tiles, the ID is printed on the tile). - tiles with ID <=0
(preprinted tiles, no ID on the tile; this is a separate export from
TileDesigner) - special tiles that I have modified manually with
Inkscape (such as the red off-board tiles -901 throught -903, which
TileDesigner cannot create with "arrows". So for these tiles the XML
does *not* exactly correspond with the SVG!).

The XML export (TileDesigner.xml) is converted by another Java
program/class named rails.util.ConvertTiles into the overall Tiles.xml
that I mentioned before. I'm doing this conversion because I think that
the latter format is better suitable for use in Rails.


*4. Why is this procedure so complex?*

Well, we're doing the best we can with the limited knowledge and
imperfect tools that we have.


/BTW#1: Is there any routine to display all of the SVG files?/

No. Only TileDesigner has everything.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


      Excerpt 002 - Tile identifiers

source
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/https://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=27072563>
Re: [Rails-devel] Tiles and Their Identifiers
From: Erik - 2011-02-16 20:17

To create tile images and XML description, we use TileDesigner from
Marco Rocci (see http://www.rails18xx.it/software.html
<https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20121022042804/http://www.rails18xx.it/software.html>
). This program has not been maintained for many years, and we don't
have the source code, but this program is all we have to create tiles,
so we have to live with its limitations and bugs. One limitation is that
identifiers must be numeric.

The program comes with a tile database, containing 442 tiles, mostly
tiles with IDs as defined in Blackwater Station's Tile Encyclopedia. It
also contains the preprinted 1830 hexes as tiles with negative numbers.
We have continued this approach when new tiles were added for other
games, initially without much of a system, but more recently we have
started to use a more systematic approach using large negative numbers
for preprinted tiles. The total tile set now adds up to 559 tiles.

For the real (positive) tiles we follow the physical tile IDs where
possible, adding 1000/2000/3000 in case of duplicate IDs (as did the
original Tile Encyclopedia). The occasional alphanumeric ID has to be
replaced by some number; there isn't yet a rule for that.

Since some time it is possible to display a different ("external")
number than the (internal) tile ID to identify tiles textually in all
Rails windows, and from the next release this external ID can be
alphanumeric (see 1830 Coalfields, in progress). However, the tile
images still display internal IDs only. I suppose the SVG tiles could be
tweaked manually to show alphanumeric IDs well, but I haven't looked
into that. (BTW the internal IDs are omitted on the preprinted tiles,
TileDesigner has a seperate 'export' option for that).

Some specific points raised:

> Regarding the towns and cities, this I'm sure is purely
> aesthetic, dits and city circles are rarely placed in the
> very centre of the tile on maps, they are usually off to
> one side, the rotation of the
> tile on the map helps to match the original board aesthetic.

The off-centre city (-10) and village (-1) tiles come from the original
TileDesigner database, and in most cases we have used these in creating
maps without particular attention to correct placement. The simplest
solution would be to rotate such tiles,and/ or to replace these by the
centered city (-3008) and village (-3009) tiles, that have been created
for 18EU in a much later stage.

> OK So how do you deal with games which have letters like AL?
> As the IDs are currently required to be numbers.

For such cases it was proposed to use six-digit negative numbers. But
that proposal came after 18AL and 18EU had been done, and IIRC no
decision has yet been taken.

[Rails-devel] SVG tile scale/size?

[Alex M. <ha...@ha...>]

Hi all -- I've been working on adding 1800 to Rails. This requires 
adding some new tiles. I've run into problems getting the new tiles to 
the proper scale; they always seem to end up slightly larger than the 
default tiles.

I'm using Inkscape on Windows to edit them, based on TileDesigner 1.3.1 
export. The SVGs generated by TileDesigner tend to show up too small, in 
the wrong place, and with text out of place, while if I open them up in 
Inkscape and make a few edits, they look better but are just a little 
bit too big.

I also see this problem if I merely open the standard tiles in Inkscape 
and save them again without modification.

Is there any documentation around for how big the tiles should be, or 
other ideas on why this might be happening / how to resolve this problem?

[Rails-devel] Bug tracker groups?

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

At this page https://sourceforge.net/p/rails/bugs/new/ the only 2.0 group
offered is "2.0 alpha." Since we're past beta and into RC1, should this be
updated?

I went ahead and submitting my ticket using the 2.0 alpha group, but it
really belongs to 2.0 RC.

Chris

[Rails-devel] Rails 1.9. Maintenance Release

[Martin B. <dr....@t-...>]

Fellow 188x Players,

we have a released a maintenance release for the Rails 1.9 Version.

Rails release 1.9.2

This is a minor release fixing the following bugs:
 
    -1880:     Created a silent Discard Train Routine to handle the case
that a special
            train buy will trigger a Phase Change.
            Fixes a Bug reported by Rick Westermann.     
    -1835:     Corrected behaviour in 1835 Stockround that treated a
share selling
            action so far as prolonging the stockround. According to the
german
            rules that was not correct. A Share selling action only does
not prolong
            the round, a share must be bought.
    -1856:     Corrected Bug in Phase handling of ports. The port marker
got removed
            one phase earlier than intended by the rules.
            Fixes a Bug reported by Erik Vos
           
    1856:     fixed bugs in certificate limit recalculation

            Recalculation was:
            - not done if CGR did not form
            - not done when companies closed after CGR formation
            - incorrect even if done if CGR did not form and companies
closed
            - missing some checks 

Thank you to all our testers.

Please report any bugs you find on the mailinglist as usual. 
 


Thank you for the patience and feedback.

Martin & Erik

Re: [Rails-devel] More 1856 bugs fixed

[Martin B. <dr....@t-...>]

Am 19.08.2016 um 21:15 schrieb Erik Vos:
> After Martin has fixed the 1856 bugs that I had reported earlier, I 
> found some more in the area of certificate limit recalculation during 
> and after CGR formation.
>
> The problems were:
> - the limit was not recalculated if the CGR does not form;
> - also not if any company closed after CGR formation (or non-formation);
> - the recalculation would have been off by one step even if it would 
> have been performed for companies closing after CGR was NOT formed.
>
> Now that I have managed (after some 5 years of absence) to recreate a 
> working Rails development environment, I was able to fix these 
> (non-trivial) problems myself. I have also added some checks and cleaned 
> up the comments a bit.

Hooraahh :) Welcome back.

> The fixes have been committed into the 1.8.x branch (which also covers 
> 1.9.x).

Thank you so much !

> Perhaps it would be an idea to release a new version on behalf of the 
> brave people who are planning a Rails 1856 combat.
>
> Erik
I'll do that today later :)


Kind Regards
Martin

[Rails-devel] More 1856 bugs fixed

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

After Martin has fixed the 1856 bugs that I had reported earlier, I 
found some more in the area of certificate limit recalculation during 
and after CGR formation.

The problems were:
- the limit was not recalculated if the CGR does not form;
- also not if any company closed after CGR formation (or non-formation);
- the recalculation would have been off by one step even if it would 
have been performed for companies closing after CGR was NOT formed.

Now that I have managed (after some 5 years of absence) to recreate a 
working Rails development environment, I was able to fix these 
(non-trivial) problems myself. I have also added some checks and cleaned 
up the comments a bit.

The fixes have been committed into the 1.8.x branch (which also covers 
1.9.x).

Perhaps it would be an idea to release a new version on behalf of the 
brave people who are planning a Rails 1856 combat.

Erik

Re: [Rails-devel] 2.0 RC1 - Add to Last!

[Russell I. <mwn...@ya...>]

Cool name if this is not just a handle!!!!

      From: John David Galt <jd...@di...>
 To: rai...@li... 
 Sent: Friday, June 24, 2016 11:43 AM
 Subject: Re: [Rails-devel] 2.0 RC1
   
On 06/24/2016 07:00 AM, Russell InNC wrote:
> Also, in looking at the interface it is adding the number of owned
> Privates to the number of certificates held.  IIRC in 1830 this is not
> the correct as Privates do not count as certs.

Yes, they do, at least in Avalon Hill 1830.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Re: [Rails-devel] 2.0 RC1

[Russell I. <mwn...@ya...>]

WOW!
I learn a new rule everyday!  Little, subtle things that I missed!!!!
I have the Mayfair rules and it's there too!

      From: John David Galt <jd...@di...>
 To: rai...@li... 
 Sent: Friday, June 24, 2016 11:43 AM
 Subject: Re: [Rails-devel] 2.0 RC1
   
On 06/24/2016 07:00 AM, Russell InNC wrote:
> Also, in looking at the interface it is adding the number of owned
> Privates to the number of certificates held.  IIRC in 1830 this is not
> the correct as Privates do not count as certs.

Yes, they do, at least in Avalon Hill 1830.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attend Shape: An AT&T Tech Expo July 15-16. Meet us at AT&T Park in San
Francisco, CA to explore cutting-edge tech and listen to tech luminaries
present their vision of the future. This family event has something for
everyone, including kids. Get more information and register today.
http://sdm.link/attshape
_______________________________________________
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Rai...@li...
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/rails-devel


  

Re: [Rails-devel] 2.0 RC1

[John D. G. <jd...@di...>]

On 06/24/2016 07:00 AM, Russell InNC wrote:
> Also, in looking at the interface it is adding the number of owned
> Privates to the number of certificates held.  IIRC in 1830 this is not
> the correct as Privates do not count as certs.

Yes, they do, at least in Avalon Hill 1830.