Car

This dialog is invoked from the Car Inventory and the Custom Management dialogs.

This dialog can be displayed in three different ways to enter Car Items, Car Part definitions or Prototype definitions.

The Add button creates a new definition. The dialog remains open so you can enter multiple definitions. You can Close the dialog when you are finished. If you are editing an existing definition then the Add button will be replaced by the Update button which updates the selected definition and closes the dialog.

The New button on the Car Item dialog invokes the Car Part or Car Prototype dialog which you can use to create new part or prototype definitions for your cars. The New button on the Car Part dialog invokes the Car Prototype dialog.

Car Item dialog

The dialog contains:

• Car Description which contains lists of Manufacturer, Prototype and Part Number which are used to select the Car Part. The Manufacturer list contains the entries Custom and Unknown for special Car Parts. For these entries you can enter the Part Number and Description fields.
  If the manufacturer of your car is not listed in the Manufacturer list you can type in the new name. Also, if the Part is not listed you can enter a new part number. The new part will be added to the list of Custom Car Parts.
• The Mode Radio button group lets you choose between the Information controls described here or the Customize controls described in the next section. You would use the Customize option to change Roadname, Number or Color if you have repainted the car or to adjust the dimensions.
• Details about the individual Car Item such as Index, Price and Condition, Dates and Notes. The Index value must be unique for all Car Items.
  To enter multiple New Cars you can set the Quantity field to a value greater than one. The Numbers Radio button group specifies whether the new Car's numbers will be sequential (such as 1234, 1235, ...) or repeated.
• Message Line which will contain instructions if there any fields that need to be completed.
  

Car Part dialog

This dialog is similiar the the Car Item dialog except that the Car Item Information section is not displayed. The Manufacturer Drop Down List is editable so you can enter a new Manufacturer, and you must enter a Part Number. If you are adding a new Car Part, the Part Number field will be incremented (if it is a numeric value) so you can enter a number of Car Parts.

The middle section contains:

• The Road, Reporting Mark, Number and Color. You can choose a Roadname from the list of known Roadnames or enter a new value. If known, the Reporting Mark (Roadname abbreviation) is filled in.
• Car Dimensions which contains the major dimensions of the Car and how the coupler is mounted on the car. The Coupler Length is measured from the edge of the car body to the pulling face of the coupler. It is equivalent to half the separation between two coupled cars.
  When entering values, the p key will convert a Prototype measurement to a Scale measurement.
  The length dimensions have the following relationship, so changing one value will affect the others:

  	Coupled Length = Car Length + 2 * Coupler Length
  

• A diagram is displayed showing the position of the trucks and couplers.

Car Prototype dialog

This dialog is used to create or edit Prototype definitions.

The first section contains the Name of the Prototype and its Type.

If this dialog was invoked from the Car Item or Car Part dialog then the Prototype diagram will be copied from the selected part. Otherwise, the Prototype is drawn as the default image which is a simple Blue rectangle or, if it is a locomotive, with one end angled.

The Import button creates a Prototype definition from the Selected lines and shapes. To use this, first create a set of shapes (Filled Rectangles, Polygons, Circles, Lines etc) using the Draw commands on the Main Canvas. Select the shapes and use the Import button. The Reset button will reset the figure to the default image.

If this dialog is invoked by the New button on the Car or Car Part dialog then the initial image will be copied from the Prototype displayed on those dialogs. You can use this to make variations of existing Prototypes.

The Color control on the Car Part dialog will replace any color of the Imported shapes which is not Black or a shade of gray with the selected hue.

The Flip button flips the diagram horizontally. For locomotives, the forward direction is to the right.

Unlike the other dialogs, dimensions in this dialog are in prototype units. When entering values, the s key will convert a Scale measurement to a Prototype measurement.

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