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Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
--
-bm
www.brickmodder.net
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"Rob Hendrix" <rhendrix@cei.net> wrote in message
news:Hw49E2.1pwn@lugnet.com...
> Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
>
>
> --
> -bm
> www.brickmodder.net
>
>
Bueller? Bueller?
As I told Rob on IM last night, I recall discussion where someone in France
actual received the source code from Matthew Bates a number of years ago.
Ring any bells with anyone?
Mike
--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot
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In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
I know this is 5 years late but I think I have finally found the source code!
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AWESOME!!!!!!
"Matthew Bates" <train_depot@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:K9u5s7.555@lugnet.com...
> In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
>
> I know this is 5 years late but I think I have finally found the source
> code!
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In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> AWESOME!!!!!!
>
> "Matthew Bates" <train_depot@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:K9u5s7.555@lugnet.com...
> > In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > > Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
> >
> > I know this is 5 years late but I think I have finally found the source
> > code!
I've been looking for a backup copy for years. I'd thought I'd lost the source
when the hard drive crashed on an old laptop. I spent ages trying to find a
backup copy or a copy in an email archive (because I'm sure I sent it to someone
once). Anyway I was clearing out a junk drawer in my office at work and came
across an old floppy in the bottom and what do you know it had TD20R16 written
on it! And sure enough it has the source code on it.
Now I have to figure out if I can build it with my current version of Visual
C++.
Matt
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In lugnet.trains, Matthew Bates wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
>
> I know this is 5 years late but I think I have finally found the source code!
That is great news, Track Designer is very useful, I use it all the time when I
do a LEGO train show as I have a different layout for each show. It still works
very well but it would be nice to see a few enhancements.
David
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In lugnet.trains, David Graham wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, Matthew Bates wrote:
> > In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > > Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
> >
> > I know this is 5 years late but I think I have finally found the source code!
>
> That is great news, Track Designer is very useful, I use it all the time when I
> do a LEGO train show as I have a different layout for each show. It still works
> very well but it would be nice to see a few enhancements.
> David
Now I'm debating whether I should do some development on it myself or let
someone else do it or open it up for collaborative development.
I have been able to compile it but only with an older version of Visual C++
(version 4.0). Plus I have discovered that some of the source to the help system
is missing so I had to do some hacking to get it to build and the help still
isn't quite working right.
Matt
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> Now I'm debating whether I should do some development on it myself or let
> someone else do it or open it up for collaborative development.
>
> I have been able to compile it but only with an older version of Visual
> C++
> (version 4.0). Plus I have discovered that some of the source to the help
> system
> is missing so I had to do some hacking to get it to build and the help
> still
> isn't quite working right.
>
> Matt
Well, back when I was searching high and low for it, we wanted to intigrate
the source in with visual basic to control our switching and such on the
layout. Its great that you've found this gem even if it was 5 years later.
I still have a small vested interest in seeing some sort of control built
in, and of course, there are a couple new pieces to add. I guess if I had a
choice I'd say nominate someone to work on an updated version (if this is
the direction you want to go), release the updates *and* source for those
updates so tinkerers can tinker. We've always wanted to add a couple of
commands in the menus and such for personal use.
On a parallel note, how's the Track Draw project going? Who was heading
that one up again (apologees for not remembering!)?
Rob
www.lifelites.com
www.brickmodder.net
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In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> On a parallel note, how's the Track Draw project going? Who was heading
> that one up again (apologees for not remembering!)?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trackdraw/
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In lugnet.trains, Jordan Bradford wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > On a parallel note, how's the Track Draw project going? Who was heading
> > that one up again (apologees for not remembering!)?
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trackdraw/
All of the TrackDraw source (includuing the parts) is on SourceForge too.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/trackdraw/
Mike
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In lugnet.trains, Jordan Bradford wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > On a parallel note, how's the Track Draw project going? Who was heading
> > that one up again (apologees for not remembering!)?
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trackdraw/
All of the TrackDraw source (includuing the parts) is on SourceForge too.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/trackdraw/
Mike
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In lugnet.trains, Matthew Bates wrote:
> Now I'm debating whether I should do some development on it myself or let
> someone else do it or open it up for collaborative development.
Open the source code! My guess is that's the best thing which can be done.
Set up a open source project, and even if nobody contributes immediately, maybe
a day... and of course you can still develop it (and the source code will never
be lost again)
By the way, Pierre Normandin contributed a lot to extend the custom registry :
http://www.freelug.org/article.php3?id_article=227
Erik
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Matthew Bates wrote:
> Now I'm debating whether I should do some development on it myself or let
> someone else do it or open it up for collaborative development.
>
> I have been able to compile it but only with an older version of Visual C++
> (version 4.0). Plus I have discovered that some of the source to the help system
> is missing so I had to do some hacking to get it to build and the help still
> isn't quite working right.
>
> Matt
For me, the great think about Track Designer is that it runs just fine under the
Wine Windows emulator. I've used it that way under my X86-64 Linux machine for
several layouts, including working on NALUG layouts for train shows. I've never
been able to get software from LEGO to run that way. MLCAD used to, but doesn't
anymore, unfortunately, so I've been using LeoCAD.
Matt, would you be willing to let someone try to split out the OS-dependent parts,
so that ports to other platforms are easier? I've been programming for nearly 30
years, so that's something I can likely do. I haven't really done any GUI work,
but I might be able to interest a friend of mine in working with me to do a
Linux version. Given a Linux version, versions for MacOS and the BSDs, Solaris,
etc. should be fairly straightforward.
-Chris Gray
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> Matt, would you be willing to let someone try to split out the
> OS-dependent parts,
> so that ports to other platforms are easier? I've been programming for
> nearly 30
> years, so that's something I can likely do. I haven't really done any
> GUI work,
> but I might be able to interest a friend of mine in working with me to do a
> Linux version. Given a Linux version, versions for MacOS and the BSDs,
> Solaris,
> etc. should be fairly straightforward.
Given the reports that its using MFC, it would be easier to rewrite a new
version from scratch than to port the existing one.
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In lugnet.trains, Jonathan Wilson wrote:
> > Matt, would you be willing to let someone try to split out the
> > OS-dependent parts,
> > so that ports to other platforms are easier? I've been programming for
> > nearly 30
> > years, so that's something I can likely do. I haven't really done any
> > GUI work,
> > but I might be able to interest a friend of mine in working with me to do a
> > Linux version. Given a Linux version, versions for MacOS and the BSDs,
> > Solaris,
> > etc. should be fairly straightforward.
> Given the reports that its using MFC, it would be easier to rewrite a new
> version from scratch than to port the existing one.
If Matt or someonelse rewrite the code (open sourced or not) I would suggest to
use a framework that is available to most of the OS like Qt or GTk. That way it
would be really easy to port to all OS not just the most known. Wine is working
fine for now but if TD is recompiled with the new visual C..., will it still run
thru wine?
Open source would be realy realy god.
Anyway, a big thank you Matt for your work with TD.
Martin
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Martin Legault wrote:
> If Matt or someonelse rewrite the code (open sourced or not) I would suggest to
> use a framework that is available to most of the OS like Qt or GTk. That way it
> would be really easy to port to all OS not just the most known. Wine is working
> fine for now but if TD is recompiled with the new visual C..., will it still run
> thru wine?
My understanding is that the new Wine supports the .NET framework using MONO
(open source implementation of nearly all of .NET). I think it is older
programs, and game-like programs (like LEGO's designer) that it has trouble
with.
-Chris Gray
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In lugnet.trains, Chris Gray wrote:
> Martin Legault wrote:
>
> > If Matt or someonelse rewrite the code (open sourced or not) I would suggest to
> > use a framework that is available to most of the OS like Qt or GTk. That way it
> > would be really easy to port to all OS not just the most known. Wine is working
> > fine for now but if TD is recompiled with the new visual C..., will it still run
> > thru wine?
>
> My understanding is that the new Wine supports the .NET framework using MONO
> (open source implementation of nearly all of .NET). I think it is older
> programs, and game-like programs (like LEGO's designer) that it has trouble
> with.
>
> -Chris Gray
Although Mono make it possible to run .NET application over Linux (without
wine), currently Mono fully support only .NET version 2 while microsoft already
have .NET 3.x and .NET 4 comming soon if not already available.
Mono will always be catching up .NET as nobody can implement the future version
before they are released as nobody know what will come next. Even if a (open
source) project is started with restriction that you must not use feature that
are not included in release X, someone will eventually do it, making it
impossible to run the application on Mono for some time.
The only way we can be sure that an application will run on all major desktop
platform (Linux, Mac and window) is to use only fully open-source framework as
any closed source one will rely on the closed source project for update and bug
fix and will eventually end with duplication of work as we can currently see
with Track Designer, Track Draw, Blue Brick, other??
Martin
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In lugnet.trains, Chris Gray wrote:
> Martin Legault wrote:
>
> > If Matt or someonelse rewrite the code (open sourced or not) I would suggest to
> > use a framework that is available to most of the OS like Qt or GTk. That way it
> > would be really easy to port to all OS not just the most known. Wine is working
> > fine for now but if TD is recompiled with the new visual C..., will it still run
> > thru wine?
>
> My understanding is that the new Wine supports the .NET framework using MONO
> (open source implementation of nearly all of .NET). I think it is older
> programs, and game-like programs (like LEGO's designer) that it has trouble
> with.
Compiling pre-existing code with the latest Visual C++ won't introduce the .NET
framework into an app. The app would have to be rewritten to use .NET in order
to get a .NET dependency in, so that's not an issue. Apps compiled with Visual
Studio 2005 no longer work on any version of Windows prior to Windows 2000, but
I doubt that would be a problem in Wine.
--Travis
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In lugnet.trains, Jonathan Wilson wrote:
> > Matt, would you be willing to let someone try to split out the
> > OS-dependent parts,
> > so that ports to other platforms are easier? I've been programming for
> > nearly 30
> > years, so that's something I can likely do. I haven't really done any
> > GUI work,
> > but I might be able to interest a friend of mine in working with me to do a
> > Linux version. Given a Linux version, versions for MacOS and the BSDs,
> > Solaris,
> > etc. should be fairly straightforward.
> Given the reports that its using MFC, it would be easier to rewrite a new
> version from scratch than to port the existing one.
It is indeed written using MFC, which it makes extensive use of for the GUI.
Porting it to another platform would take considerable effort.
I think what I'm going to do first is get the source code into a package I can
release (and archive!) and then decide what to do with it. I at least need to
work on fixing the help system because it appears I do not have the source to
that.
I am open to suggestions as to what to do with TD, both in terms of releasing
the source code to the community and what improvements people would like to see.
Has anybody kept a list of bugs anywhere? I know of at least one bug where it
leaves trails of black squares lying around which never happened on slower
machines when I wrote it.
Matt
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In lugnet.trains, David Graham wrote:
| |
In lugnet.trains, Matthew Bates wrote:
| |
In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
| |
Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
|
I know this is 5 years late but I think I have finally found the source code!
|
That is great news, Track Designer is very useful, I use it all the time when
I do a LEGO train show as I have a different layout for each show. It still
works very well but it would be nice to see a few enhancements.
David
|
What about BlueBrick, as discussed in
RailBricks #3? Might be good to coordinate efforts.
Benn
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In lugnet.trains, David Graham wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, Matthew Bates wrote:
> > In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > > Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
> >
> > I know this is 5 years late but I think I have finally found the source code!
>
> That is great news, Track Designer is very useful, I use it all the time when I
> do a LEGO train show as I have a different layout for each show. It still works
> very well but it would be nice to see a few enhancements.
> David
One particular enhancement I'd like is better track height and slope management.
I'd like to be able to set each individual track piece end height to the nearest
1/6 of a plate height. My layout has many track pieces at non-integer plate
heights, such as 4 plates height change in 3 straights (needing 1/3 plate
heights) and half plate height changes at the ends of a 1 plate/piece slope.
I often use 1 or 2 straights between each curve, each set of additional
strtaights over a 90-degree curve adding 32.219M to the X and Y dimensions, but
the existing TD doesn't fit it very well to the intended approximation of 32M in
X and Y. Perhaps the approximation could be enhanced or made into a standard
form of track parts group with master dimensions.
I expect that, with the advent of plastic track, more track shapes may be
possible, so more track parts versatility would be good, especially shorter
pieces and different angles.
Whatever is developed, please make sure it will run on XP as well as it does
now, so that all of us who have been reluctant to upgrade(?) to Vista can use
the new edition of TD on XP till Windows 7 comes good (hopefully!).
Mark
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In lugnet.trains, Matthew Bates wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> > Track Designer source code??? Anyone???
>
> I know this is 5 years late but I think I have finally found the source code!
Great News!
Even if you don't plan to go OpenSource please do provide information for the
file formats of the layout files and the parts library. I guess this is where it
is most needed and people are most willing to work on. Opening the library
format would allow to update the new tracks and to merge different projects,
while opening the layout file format would ease import/export such as with
BlueBrick.
Other issues that I think might be of interest to the community might be making
translating the GUI easy or at least possible and maybe along that line making
the GUI skinable and maybe providing possabilities for plugins. I guess this may
amount to a rewrite in the end but it would be neat for TD to be as adjustable
and localizable as possible and be able to comunicate with as many other apps as
possible. (Well, this would be great for any software ;-) wouldnt it?)
hmm- might also be five years from the last time I actually posted here.
Interesting....
bye/tschuess
thomas
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