[James Ross]

I have removed the contents of the "Program" directory in the Open Rails Subversion repository because:

• It serves no purpose when we have automatic builds of every version.
  
• It prohibits certain styles of development, such as only committing parts of a larger feature.
  
• It has allowed people to (accidentally) commit binaries that do not match up with the source code.
  
• It causes grief among developers who constantly get conflicts when updating to the latest code.

The other parts of the Subversion repository - mostly Documentation and Source - are untouched. You can continue to use TortoiseSVN to see what the latest commits are (although I also have a website for that). This also brings us into line with many other open source projects, who only host their source code in their repository.

If you wish to stay up-to-date with Open Rails development versions, you have two choices:

• Weekly experimental releases from http://openrails.org/experimental.html
  
• Automatic builds from http://james-ross.co...jects/or/builds

Both of the above options include a built-in updater which will alert you whenever a new version of that particular release is available and allow you to update to it with just two clicks (one to accept the update and one to restart Open Rails).

If you have any unanswered questions, please use this forum thread.

Thanks.

[captain_bazza]

A good idea, James, this change keeps the release code ''clean''.

Cheers Bazza.

[jonas]

Hello James,

maybe I'm not up to date, but I can't download a running source code version of the current OR project. Neither the version I get from the OR website under Download -> Source -> Testing Version (get a lot of errors in C# and message about missing files such as ORTS.Common.dll) nor under the here given link: "http://openrails.org/experimental.html" (the link dosen't work!)

Where can I get a current source version? Can you help?

Greetings
Jacob

[James Ross]

jonas, on 03 June 2018 - 01:59 PM, said:

maybe I'm not up to date, but I can't download a running source code version of the current OR project. Neither the version I get from the OR website under Download -> Source -> Testing Version (get a lot of errors in C# and message about missing files such as ORTS.Common.dll) nor under the here given link: "http://openrails.org/experimental.html" (the link dosen't work!)

Where can I get a current source version? Can you help?

Hi Jacob,

I'm not sure what the problem you are having with the source code downloaded from the Open Rails website could be. Downloading the testing version, extracting, opening, and compiling it with Visual Studio 2017 works fine for me. You will need Visual Studio 2015 or later - the free versions are fine - and be sure to include the directories when extracting.

[jonas]

Hi James,

jonas, on 03 June 2018 - 01:59 PM, said:

maybe I'm not up to date,

and I wasn't! My Visual Studio Version was too old. Thanks for the hint!
Only the question remains about the link: http://openrails.org/experimental.html
I get a "404 - file or directory not found" when I click on it.

[James Ross]

jonas, on 04 June 2018 - 02:29 PM, said:

Only the question remains about the link: http://openrails.org/experimental.html
I get a "404 - file or directory not found" when I click on it.

That link is outdated and no longer valid. http://openrails.org/download/program/ is where you download the ready-to-run versions and http://openrails.org/download/source/ is where you download the source now.

[gdineshnathan]

Hi,

As an attempt to understand OR code structure, I was intending to do a simple implementation
This post is intended to clarify some newbie developer queries. Hence certain content of the post might be irrelevant.

Aim:

• To understand OR code structure, compiling, testing/debugging.

Task:

• Key Binding for Starter Motor
  
• Establish discrete sound trigger
  
• Print Confirmer Messages
  
• Display HUD information

Code Base and Tools:

• Clone master from <https://github.com/Csantucci/openrails.git> - (Source Code for OR_NEWYEAR_MG from Csantucci repository)
  
• Install VS 2019 + all necessary tools needed to run Build.cmd

Queries:

Build.cmd Stable prints out an error message (Attachment given below). Although, Build.exe Unstable gives a message - "Everything is ok".

• Is it normal behavior with Stable Build or am I missing something. I have installed all the necessary Build tools and updated the Environment variables as well.

After coding, compiling in VS2019, I could see that the dlls are updated. However when I try to run Program/OpenRails.exe, OR crashes while loading the Explore Activity and the OpenRailLogs reads as "Thread 'Loader Process' has hung;". I have read previous forum posts this is due to watch dog response to extremely slow loading of threads in my laptop and OR_MG version will help. However in develop mode that isn't the case, as we don't have a possibility to turn off watchdog timer, if I am right.

• Is there a work around to test my implementation? OR_MG versions run fine for me with watchdog timer ticked off though. Is there a possibility to replace certain dlls in MG version of OR and leave out a few to test my implementation?

In the ReadMe file present inside Program gives a link to the Available Packages.

• Are these the build dlls pushed to the repository by doing a " git push origin master " and so the Jenkins starts? or how does it work. I do understand that the changes are to be meaningful, I want to know as how to get it done the right way.

Thanks for reading this extremely long post.

Attached thumbnail(s)

• 

[YoRyan]

Hi gdineshnathan,

I recommend ignoring Build.cmd. It's used to produce release builds, but if you're just editing and testing code, all of the prerequisite tools are overkill and not necessary for your work. Just build and test in Visual Studio instead.

gdineshnathan, on 07 October 2020 - 10:37 AM, said:

After coding, compiling in VS2019, I could see that the dlls are updated. However when I try to run Program/OpenRails.exe, OR crashes while loading the Explore Activity and the OpenRailLogs reads as "Thread 'Loader Process' has hung;". I have read previous forum posts this is due to watch dog response to extremely slow loading of threads in my laptop and OR_MG version will help. However in develop mode that isn't the case, as we don't have a possibility to turn off watchdog timer, if I am right.

You could edit the master repository's code to disable the watchdog. However, over the long term it would be better to upgrade to a more modern system - it's going to be pain to debug with multi-minute loading times. Do you have an SSD? That would certainly reduce loading times.

gdineshnathan, on 07 October 2020 - 10:37 AM, said:

Are these the build dlls pushed to the repository by doing a " git push origin master " and so the Jenkins starts? or how does it work. I do understand that the changes are to be meaningful, I want to know as how to get it done the right way.

Note that you cannot "git push origin master" because the Open Rails repository is read only to the public. You should make your own fork, push to your own feature branches, and then file GitHub pull requests to have your changes peer-reviewed and then potentially merged into the Open Rails testing version (and eventually, the next stable release). In addition, a developer can add a GitHub label that instructs the code bot (Jenkins) to incorporate your pull request into the unstable version.

[gdineshnathan]

Hi YoRyan,

YoRyan, on 07 October 2020 - 11:28 AM, said:

I recommend ignoring Build.cmd. It's used to produce release builds, but if you're just editing and testing code, all of the prerequisite tools are overkill and not necessary for your work. Just build and test in Visual Studio instead.

Could you please brief me about "test in Visual Studio instead.". Typically what is the efficient way to test an implemented feature?

YoRyan, on 07 October 2020 - 11:28 AM, said:

You could edit the master repository's code to disable the watchdog. However, over the long term it would be better to upgrade to a more modern system - it's going to be pain to debug with multi-minute loading times. Do you have an SSD? That would certainly reduce loading times.

Ok, I will disable watchdog and try it out. Yes, I have an SSD. How could it prove useful?
Also, is there an easy way to disable the watchdog?

Thanks for the details regarding the checkin.

[cjakeman]

Hi gdineshnathan,

gdineshnathan, on 07 October 2020 - 10:37 AM, said:

After coding, compiling in VS2019, I could see that the dlls are updated. However when I try to run Program/OpenRails.exe, OR crashes while loading the Explore Activity and the OpenRailLogs reads as "Thread 'Loader Process' has hung;".

When I am trying something out, I use a test route which is quick to load. Also I get the Visual Studio debugger to start RunActivity.exe, not OpenRails.exe as follows. (Forgive me if you already know this.):

The test route comes from CoalsToNewcastle (Peter Newell) and has one of every feature including water troughs for steam locos.

To start RunActivity.exe, make that the "Startup Project" by right-clicking on the RunActivity project in the Solution Window.

Then set the Command line arguments for RunActivity using Project > Properties > Debug > Command line arguments to a version of the values saved in the OpenRailsLog.txt.

For example, where OpenRailsLog.txt reports:

Executable = RunActivity.exe
Argument = -start
Argument = -timetable
Argument = C:\data\OneDrive\Open Rails\Demo Models\Demo Model 1\Open Rails\Demo Model 1\ROUTES\SCE\ACTIVITIES\OPENRAILS\SCE_total.timetable_or
Argument = SCE:Observer
Argument = 0
Argument = 1
Argument = 0

the command line arguments become:

-start -timetable "C:\data\OneDrive\Open Rails\Demo Models\Demo Model 1\Open Rails\Demo Model 1\ROUTES\SCE\ACTIVITIES\OPENRAILS\SCE_total.timetable_or" "SCE:Observer" 0 1 0

Hope this helps.