RailDriver Light Switch - Updated 10-12-2011

[GeorgeT93]

Hi fellow RailDriver users,

I had an issue where the light switch on the RailDriver was not properly changing to the correct lighting position. In order to fix this (or work around it, however you choose to look at it), I changed the section of the script that pertains to the actual switch itself. It was trying to change the light state in the sim, by using a RailWorks variable that is only a toggle (which always sets it to either position 2 or off, position 1 is ignored.) So I changed it so that the script is actually sending essentially keystrokes to RailWorks. In any case, I'll post what I changed below, just remember to backup your script before making any changes, so if you encounter any problems, you can easily revert back to the original script.

Please see my responses further down in this thread for the updated code and instructions.
-George

[Machinist]

Thanks George,

This happens since RW2 cause RSC didn't informed P.I.Engineering about the cammand codes. I'm warning Keith (RailDriver support) about this message, in order to P.I.Engineering update the patch for MacroWorks3 (hopefully it is still working with TS 2012).

BTW, which is the script file name that I have to backup before change?

Thanks,
Lisboa.

[Samwolf]

I agree with machinist!

[Machinist]

Hi there,

I'm sharing a valuable tip from RailDirver Support, from Keith.
You can set the "RANGE" (green switch) to gears ("e" and "shift+"e") or ICE "cruise control" ("y" and "c"), in the especial way described below.

For the gear switching (and any other keys that need to be held down, like the horn) you will want to program them using the following steps:

1. Make sure ‘Keystrokes’ is selected at the top of the programming pane for this key

2. Left-click your mouse in the top ‘On Press’ section to make sure it has the focus

3. Press the key(s) on your keyboard (like Shift+e) and hold them down

4. With your free hand, move the mouse cursor down to the ‘On Release’ area and left-click

5. Release both of the keys on your keyboard

6. Click Save and then repeat this step for other keys if needed

Programming in this way makes it so that holding the button/toggle will continue to send the command until it’s released and goes back to its standard position. We found this worked a bit better for the gears than a quick press.

I also use to set junction ahead ("g") and junction behind ("shift+g") to the "E-STOP" (red switcher), in this case the programming is the usual (not the especial quoted above).

IMHO, the F4 Virtual Console makes lose most of the feeling of cab sway. RailDriver's users are taking advantage in this regard.

[GeorgeT93]

Thanks George,

This happens since RW2 cause RSC didn't informed P.I.Engineering about the cammand codes. I'm warning Keith (RailDriver support) about this message, in order to P.I.Engineering update the patch for MacroWorks3 (hopefully it is still working with TS 2012).

BTW, which is the script file name that I have to backup before change?

Thanks,
Lisboa.

Hi Lisboa,

I already emailed the script to Keith this morning, and he thanked me for it and said he'd pass it along to the software guys for review/cleaning up, and if they're satisfied with how it works, then inclusion in the next version of the software. :)

As for backing up the default script, just load up MacroWorks programming interface, and select "File" then "Save As" from the menu, and save it someplace you can find it, with a name you'll recognize (like "original_raildriver_script.mw3). Once that's been backed up, you should be good to go to make edits to the original (just close MW3 and restart it to make sure it reloads the script you want to edit.).

Good luck, and I hope this helps! :)
-George

[Machinist]

Hi George,

It worked partially with me: now I can at least turn on the headlight (which is better then we had previously: only dim light or off), but it's not stable yet. I tried with many locos, varying the "HoldKeyTime" = from 150 up to 300 (in 25 steps)
Should I also try to handle "LightSWPosSensitivity"?

Better show then try to explain (my english is not good), moving RD switcher (new SD40-2), HoldKeyTime = 225:
RD Switcher Position | The light I get
OFF | Off
DIM (1st position) | Headlight
FULL (2nd position) | Backlight
DIM | Head
OFF | Off
DIM | Off
FULL | Back
DIM | Head
OFF | Head

It seems it's not always recognizing that switcher was thrown.

Cheers,
Lisboa.

[GeorgeT93]

The LightSWPosSensitivity value is a buffer that's created around each detent so that if you're not exactly on the right number, it should detect it as long as it's close (within the range LightSWPosSensitivity specifies.) A smaller number will make the range narrower, and a higher one will make the range higher. For example, the "Dim" position (as calibrated on my machine) should give a value of 133. Because of the way the logic of detecting the switch position is (not my logic, as I used the same logic that was already in place for the most part), If you aren't stopped at exactly the value of 133, then the switch isn't seen as being in that position. By creating a buffer (LightSWPosSensitivity) around the value, as long as the switch is registered as being in between those values (133 - LightSWPosSensitivity to 133 + LightSWPosSensitivity), then any value from 128 to 138 would be considered 'valid' for that switch position (if the value of LightSWPosSensitivity is set to '5' for example).

For the HoldKeyTime value, you have to be careful, as if it's too low, some locos don't detect the button press(es) that get(s) sent, and if set too high, can cause other locos to act like you've held the key down too long, causing it to 'jump' to the rear lights position. The main thing I don't understand is why some locos respond differently in regards to the HoldKeyTime. For example, a setting of 200 is typically too low for Portsmouth Direct Line's "End of Days" scenario, where a value of 250 works great there. Yet a value of 250 is too high for Seebergbahn's "Back and Forth" scenario, as that will force the lights to cycle to the rear headlights when in the dim slot. So after lots of playing and tinkering, 225 seemed to be the best balance I could find, that worked across each scenario I tried (at least 8 or so). The biggest issue is what you've encountered, where sometimes it seems as though the switch doesn't detect that it's been moved, and the next time you move it, all the switch positions seem to be 'shifted'. I've found that going up to the highest position, then back down to off a couple of times seems to straighten it out for me. I was hoping that I would be the only one experiencing that, as this laptop that I used to write the code on, isn't all that powerful, but knowing that you've encountered it too, I'm going to take a look at the position detection code, and see if I can't come up with a better means for detecting the switch's position for improved reliability. :)

Hope this info is helpful, and I'll let you know when I've gone through the switch position detection logic, and see if I can't improve that in some way. If so, I'll post the changes here, provided you don't mind testing them on your end. :)

-George

[Machinist]

Thank you George, for your explanations and efforts to make RD better

My pc is not powerfull (low/medium specs), maybe something related to the issue, as you was wondering.

Looking forward your researches, and waiting to test them

Regards,
Lisboa.

[GeorgeT93]

I'm definitely experiencing some oddities that I'm not quite sure how to isolate. I included a bunch of debugging code in the build I'm working on now, and the issue seems to be with the switch itself. As I cycle through the positions, I should be getting a value (from the switch directly) of 80ish in the off position, around 133 for my center position, and about 181 for the full position. What I've been encountering, however, is that I will sometimes switch to the 'off' position, but the switch will return a value in the high 150's range. Switching up and down through the positions a few times seems to straighten it back out, but only temporarily. I've been trying to isolate the switch position's value into a range, and preventing the code from running once it has been run in that range (unless the switch moves to a different range), but even that isn't behaving correctly. The other thing that I've noticed during my debugging efforts are that when the switch is moved, it can 'trigger' itself anywhere from 1 - 4 times. Even if I'm able to isolate the switch into ranges, I still am not sure how to accommodate for the oddball behavior of the switch sometimes reporting an invalid number for the position it's in (like a 150's number when I should be getting a result in the 80's.)

In any case, I'm done working on it for tonight. It's almost 1:30am, and every different logic I've come up with to detect the switch position has yielded the same results. I'll see what else I can think to try tomorrow, after I've had some sleep and coffee. :)

-George

Added on Oct 12, 2012 - Just wanted to come back and say that the issue was not with the switch itself, but the fact that the RailDriver uses its own 'buffer zones' around each position, that were causing some oddities with the 'buffer zones' that I created. Disabling the default buffer zones has stopped that behavior on my end. So it was definitely just a software bug on my end of things.

[GeorgeT93]

Ok, I've got some new code here. Please read everything below.


George’s RailDriver Light Switch Replacement Code v0.2b
This document was last updated on: October 12, 2011

Changes from v0.1b (original release)
- Complete code re-write to better determine switch position. The script now does a much better job of detecting the current switch position.

- Added LED Support. The LED now displays the position of the switch, as determined by the script. The purpose is two-fold.
1) You can easily see which code block the script actually ran, and 2) it acts as an indicator so you know that the script has completed running. The LED output should be self-explanatory, but I’ll break it down for you here.

L-0 (Switch is in the ‘Off’ position)
L-1 (Switch is in the ‘Dim’ position)
L-2 (Switch is in the ‘Full’ position)

You will want to wait until the indicator changes back to displaying the current speed, before changing the switch to a different position.


Known Limitations
- There is no support for ‘position hopping’. In other words, the script expects you to stop at each position before moving to the next one. Jumping from the ‘Off’ position to the ‘Full’ position (or vice-versa) will not work properly and can cause odd behavior from the script. If you are switching from ‘Off’ to ‘Full’, you MUST stop at ‘Dim’ (position 1) and let that segment of script run, before moving to the ‘Full’ position. You will know the script for the current position has completed when the switch position indicator on the LED has gone back to displaying speed.

- You MUST let the currently executing script finish what it is doing, before changing to a new position. ALWAYS wait for the Light Switch Position indicator to appear on the LED, then wait for it to go back to displaying the current speed, before switching positions.

- Turning the knob too slowly can cause the script to not execute. Just turn the knob normally from one position to the next, and there should be no problem. If the switch doesn’t respond, turn it back to the ‘Off’ position, wait a couple of seconds, then turn it again. It should start responding again. This can easily be avoided by changing the default thresholds from 4 to 0 as outlined in the ‘Recommendations’ section of this document.

- When turning on the front headlights from the ‘Off’ position, there is a delay before the lights actually turn on. This is because of the way I had to work around the raildriver.dll options, by sending simulated keystrokes to the sim, instead of being able to directly send a value through the dll file. Obviously, if there were a way to properly set the variable, instead of it just being a toggle, there would have been no need for me to try and work around this limitation by modifying the script. In any case, the delay is there to try to prevent ‘position drift’ (where a switch position is acting like a different position), by cycling the headlights off before being turned on for the front (or ‘Dim’) position. From the ‘Off’ position, this gives the appearance of a delay, but in actuality, the code is just making sure the lights actually are off, before turning them on for the front position.

- When turning on the front headlights from the ‘Full’ position, the headlights flash off before coming back on. This is normal, expected behavior. See the paragraph above this one, as it explains that when the switch changes to the front (or ‘Dim’) position, the lights are cycled off before being set to the front position.

- Occasionally, when the speed hasn’t changed (like when the train isn’t moving,) the L code may get ‘stuck’ on the LED. You can correct this by either switching positions and going back again, or just wait until the train starts to move, and it will start displaying the speed again.



Recommendations
- For best results, it is highly recommended that you change the default thresholds to 0 as the script creates and uses its own thresholds. The section that should be changed is as follows:

Find this section (about 80% of the way down the script)

Code: Select all

lever(6).position(0).min = minvals(19) 'rotary 2 position 1 (off)
        lever(6).position(0).max = maxvals(19) 'rotary 2 position 1 (off)
   lever(6).position(0).upperthreshold=4 'must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(0).lowerthreshold=4 'must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(1).min = minvals(20) 'rotary 2 position 2 (slow)
        lever(6).position(1).max = maxvals(20) 'rotary 2 position 2 (slow)
   lever(6).position(1).upperthreshold=4 'must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(1).lowerthreshold=4 'must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(2).min = minvals(21) 'rotary 2 position 1 (full)
        lever(6).position(2).max = maxvals(21) 'rotary 2 position 1 (full)
   lever(6).position(2).upperthreshold=4 'must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(2).lowerthreshold=4  'must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below

Then change the thresholds from 4 to 0, so that it reads as follows:

Code: Select all

lever(6).position(0).min = minvals(19) 'rotary 2 position 1 (off)
        lever(6).position(0).max = maxvals(19) 'rotary 2 position 1 (off)
   lever(6).position(0).upperthreshold=0 'Default value=4, must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(0).lowerthreshold=0 'Default value=4, must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(1).min = minvals(20) 'rotary 2 position 2 (slow)
        lever(6).position(1).max = maxvals(20) 'rotary 2 position 2 (slow)
   lever(6).position(1).upperthreshold=0 'Default value=4, must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(1).lowerthreshold=0 'Default value=4, must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(2).min = minvals(21) 'rotary 2 position 1 (full)
        lever(6).position(2).max = maxvals(21) 'rotary 2 position 1 (full)
   lever(6).position(2).upperthreshold=0 'Default value=4, must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below
   lever(6).position(2).lowerthreshold=0 'Default value=4, must not be 0 w/o changing the logic below

Things I’ve Learned

I can’t say if this is a MacroWorks 3 issue, or a Train Simulator 2012 (RailWorks 3) issue, however during my debugging, I noticed that for no reason that I can pin down, the RailDriver re-reads the configuration of the current train while a scenario is already in progress. This, in and of itself, would not be an issue, but there are times when the information it gets back is wrong, thereby affecting the operation of the unit. For example, I’ve seen the code receive data showing that there should be a dynamic brake when a dynamic brake doesn’t exist. I don’t know if this is something in the MacroWorks 3 software that is causing it to request the data again, or if Train Simulator 2012 itself is sending a ‘train changed’ event or something similar.

In any case, this could easily be worked around IF the Train Simulator 2012 developers were to update the Raildriver.dll file so that it would include some kind of an identifier for each locomotive, and IF the script for the RailDriver itself in MacroWorks 3 were to be updated to identify lever configurations based on the individual locomotive.

How this affects me is that, just like the default RailDriver script, I have to read variables to determine what configuration of throttle and brake types are present, in order to make timing exceptions for certain locomotives, to have as much compatibility as possible.

When the information that comes back is incorrect, then the timings used will change and cause the lights to behave erratically. The throttle, brakes and/or reverser will also usually be affected at this time as well. Hitting the ESC key to bring up the menu, then resuming play from there usually straightens things out, as that apparently causes the RailDriver script to re-read the values (and hopefully get all the correct values back.)

[GeorgeT93]

The Code - Installation

Below is the replacement light code. You should have already performed the changes that were recommended previously, in the Recommendations section. If you do not perform those steps, the script will still work, but the responsiveness can decrease and “position drift” (where one switch position is acting as another) is more likely to happen.

Make sure you have backed up your default script before making any changes. I am not responsible if you don’t have a backup if things go wrong. In MacroWorks 3, choose “File -> Save As” and save a copy of the script someplace you’ll easily remember, (like your ‘Documents’ folder, and give it a name that you can easily identify later.

Once you have backed up the default script, in the MacroWorks interface, click on “View -> Advanced View”.

Scroll down to the section that reads “Case 2007”, and highlight from there down to the line that reads “End Select 'Analog Check End [/MWTAG13]”. Then replace that with the following:

Code: Select all

      Case 2007 '3 Position Rotary Switch 2
         Dim LightSWPosSensitivity as Integer 'Used to create a buffer around the Off and Full positions
         Dim LightSWDimSensitivity as Integer 'Used to create a buffer around the Dim position
         Dim HoldKeyTime as Integer 'Used to determine how long a key press is held down
         Dim HoldKeyDoubleTime as Integer 'Used for double-length keypresses
         Dim CurLightSWPos as Integer 'Values are 0=Off 1=Dim 2=Full 3=Not In Range
         Dim LightSwitchPosChanged as Boolean 'Used to verify switch is in a different position
         Dim LtSwLastAnalog as Integer 'Used to check if switch is still moving
         Dim LtSwLEDVal as Integer=0
         Dim LtOffLo as Integer
         Dim LtOffHi as Integer
         Dim LtDimLo as Integer
         Dim LtDimHi as Integer
         Dim LtFullLo as Integer
         Dim LtFullHi as Integer
         Dim LtSwFirstRun as Boolean
         Dim LtSwWriteToLED as Boolean
         Dim LtSwSkipThrottleStyleCheck as Boolean = False

         'Locomotive features variables used for creating exceptions to timing rules
         Dim LtSwCombinedThrottle as Boolean = False
         Dim LtSwGearLever as Boolean = False
         Dim LtSwTrainBrake as Boolean = False
         Dim LtSwLocoBrake as Boolean = False
         Dim LtSwDynamicBrake as Boolean = False

         'Debugging variables
         Dim LightSwitchDebug as Boolean   
         Dim LightSwitchReportedValue as String      
         Dim LtOffLoDebug as String
         Dim LtOffHiDebug as String
         Dim LtDimLoDebug as String
         Dim LtDimHiDebug as String
         Dim LtFullLoDebug as String
         Dim LtFullHiDebug as String
         
         LightSwitchDebug=False 'Should be set to False or message boxes will appear every time the switch changes positions

         'Tweakable values to modify sensitivity of each position and length of time keys are held down
         LightSWPosSensitivity = 5 'the higher the number, the broader the acceptable range for off and full positions
         LightSWDimSensitivity = 20 'Same as above but only for the dim position to account for drifting values coming from the center point of the switch
         HoldKeyTime = 250 'Base value for holding keys for this amount of time in milliseconds and gets adjusted later in the script based on ThrottleStyle

         'Do not change anything below this line as it will break the script
         LightSwitchPosChanged = False
         
         'Check for switch movement         
         If (AnalogValue(0)<>lever(6).LastValue) Then   'Switch movement detected

            'Determine Locomotive Features
            If (RailSimCombinedThrottleBrakeMin<>0 Or RailSimCombinedThrottleBrakeMax<>0) Then 'Combined Throttle
               LtSwCombinedThrottle=True
               'MsgBox("Combined Throttle Exists",1)
            Else
               LtSwCombinedThrottle=False
            End If

            If (RailSimGearLeverMin<>0 Or RailSimGearLeverMax<>0) Then 'Gear lever
               LtSwGearLever=True
               'MsgBox("Gear Lever Exists.",1)
            Else
               LtSwGearLever=False
            End If

            If (RailSimTrainBrakeMin<>0 Or RailSimTrainBrakeMax<>0) Then 'Train Brake
               LtSwTrainBrake=True
               'MsgBox ("Train Brake Exists.",1)
            Else
               LtSwTrainBrake=False
            End If

            If (RailSimLocoBrakeMin<>0 Or RailSimLocoBrakeMax<>0) Then 'Locomotive Brake
               LtSwLocoBrake=True
               'MsgBox ("Locomotive Brake Exists.",1)
            Else
               LtSwLocoBrake=False
            End If

            If (RailSimDynamicBrakeMin<>0 Or RailSimDynamicBrakeMax<>0) Then 'Dynamic Brake
               LtSwDynamicBrake=True
               'MsgBox ("Dynamic Brake Exists.",1)
            Else
               LtSwDynamicBrake=False
            End If

            LtSwLastAnalog=lever(6).LastValue
            LightSwitchReportedValue=AnalogValue(0) 'Convert the analog value to a string for debugging message boxes

            'Create ranges for switch positions
            LtOffLo = (lever(6).position(0).min-lever(6).position(0).lowerthreshold - LightSWPosSensitivity)
            LtOffHi = (lever(6).position(0).max-lever(6).position(0).upperthreshold + LightSWPosSensitivity)
            LtDimLo = (lever(6).position(1).min-lever(6).position(1).lowerthreshold - LightSWDimSensitivity)
            LtDimHi = (lever(6).position(1).max-lever(6).position(1).upperthreshold + LightSWDimSensitivity)
            LtFullLo = (lever(6).position(2).min-lever(6).position(2).lowerthreshold - LightSWPosSensitivity)
            LtFullHi = (lever(6).position(2).max-lever(6).position(2).upperthreshold + LightSWPosSensitivity)

            LtOffLoDebug = LtOffLo
            LtOffHiDebug = LtOffHi
            LtDimLoDebug = LtDimLo
            LtDimHiDebug = LtDimHi
            LtFullLoDebug = LtFullLo
            LtFullHiDebug = LtFullHi

            'Check if this is the first movement of the switch
            If (lastrp2=-1) Then
               LtSwFirstRun=True 'First run
            Else
            End If

            'Check current light switch position
            If (AnalogValue(0)<LtOffHi) Then 'Switch is in the Off position
               CurLightSWPos=0
            Else If (AnalogValue(0)>LtDimLo) And (AnalogValue(0)<LtDimHi) Then 'Switch is in the Dim position
               CurLightSWPos=1
            Else If (AnalogValue(0)>LtFullLo) Then 'Switch is in the Full position
               CurLightSWPos=2
            Else 'Switch is in between positions
               CurLightSWPos=3
            End If

            If (LtSwFirstRun=True) Then
               lastrp2=CurLightSWPos 'Since this is the first run we need to set the position the switch is in at the start
            Else
            End If         

            'Make sure current switch position is different than the last position
            If (CurLightSWPos<lastrp2) Or (CurLightSWPos>lastrp2) Then 'The switch is in a different range so run the code
               LightSwitchPosChanged=True 'The switch is in a valid range so continue running code
            Else
               LightSwitchPosChanged=False 'The switch is in the same range as the last position
            End If   
            
            If (CurLightSWPos<>3) Then 'Switch is in a valid position
               lastrp2=CurLightSWPos   
            Else
            End if

            If (LightSwitchPosChanged=True) Then 'The switch is in a different position so run the code below

               'Create special case exceptions to the rules below based on locomotive features.
               'Rule exception for BR294. This works because it is the only locomotive with a combined throttle with train and locomotive brakes
               If (LtSwCombinedThrottle=True And LtSwTrainBrake=True And LtSwLocoBrake=True And LtSwDynamicBrake=False And LtSwGearLever=False) Then
                  HoldKeyTime=HoldKeyTime-100
                  LtSwSkipThrottleStyleCheck=True
                  'MsgBox("BR294 Detected.",1)
               End If

               If (LtSwSkipThrottleStyleCheck=False) Then 'no exceptions have been applied so use default ThrottleStyle timing configuration
                  'Check ThrottleStyle to modify hold key times
                  Select Case (ThrottleStyle)
                     Case 0 'throttle as labeled on RD (throttle on bottom half)
                        'MsgBox("Throttle as labeled on RD",1)
                        HoldKeyTime=HoldKeyTime-50
                     Case 1 'throttle/train brake
                        'MsgBox("Throttle-Train Brake",1)
                        HoldKeyTime=HoldKeyTime
                     Case 2 'throttle/dynamic brake
                        'MsgBox("Throttle-Dynamic Brake",1)
                        HoldKeyTime=HoldKeyTime-100
                     Case 3 'all throttle
                        'MsgBox("All Throttle",1)
                        HoldKeyTime=HoldKeyTime-50
                  End Select
               End If

               HoldKeyDoubleTime = (HoldKeyTime + HoldKeyTime + 200) 'This is used to calculate how long to hold down the key to simulate an extended keypress
         
               Select Case (CurLightSWPos)
                  Case (0) 'Set lights to Off                  
                     'SetRailSimValue(eRailSimControlID.HEADLIGHTS_ID, 1) 'toggle off headlights
                     'The following ScanCodes tell RD to send SHIFT+H to RW long enough to ensure lights turn off
                     MW3.sendScanCode("42:1,35:1") 'Press SHIFT (42) H (35)
                     MW3.insertDelay(HoldKeyDoubleTime) 'Uses double HoldKeyTime for extended keypress
                     MW3.sendScanCode("35:0,42:0") 'Release SHIFT (42) H (35)
                     LtSwLEDVal=63 'LED Value for 0
                     LtSwWriteToLED=True 'Finished this code block so it is ok to write to the LED
                     If (LightSwitchDebug=True) Then 'Switch debugging messages are turned on so display them
                        MsgBox("The current light switch position is: OFF. Current switch value is: " & LightSwitchReportedValue & ". Valid numbers for the range are: " & LtOffLoDebug & " - " & LtOffHiDebug & ".",1)
                     Else
                     End If
                  Case (1) 'Set lights to position 1                     
                     MW3.sendScanCode("42:1,35:1") 'Press SHIFT (42) H (35) 'Hold down SHIFT+H long enough to turn off lights
                     MW3.insertDelay(HoldKeyDoubleTime ) 'HoldKeyTime is doubled for extended keypress
                     MW3.sendScanCode("35:0,42:0") 'Release SHIFT (42) H (35)
                     MW3.insertDelay(50) 'Small delay before sending new keystrokes
                     MW3.sendScanCode("35:1") 'Press lower-case h (35)
                     MW3.insertDelay(HoldKeyTime)
                     MW3.sendScanCode("35:0") 'Release lower-case h (35)
                     LtSwLEDVal=6 'LED Value for 1
                     LtSwWriteToLED=True 'Finished this code block so it is ok to write to the LED
                     If (LightSwitchDebug=True) Then 'Switch debugging messages are turned on so display them
                        MsgBox("The current light switch position is: DIM (Front). Current switch value is: " & LightSwitchReportedValue & ". Valid numbers for the range are: " & LtDimLoDebug & " - " & LtDimHiDebug & ".",1)
                     Else
                     End If
                  Case (2) 'Set lights to position 2
                     'SetRailSimValue(eRailSimControlID.HEADLIGHTS_ID, 1) 'toggle on headlights
                     MW3.sendScanCode("35:1") 'Press lower-case h (35)
                     MW3.insertDelay(HoldKeyDoubleTime) 'Double the HoldKeyTime for extended keypress
                     MW3.sendScanCode("35:0") 'Release lower-case h (35)
                     LtSwLEDVal=91 'LED Value for 2
                     LtSwWriteToLED=True 'Finished this code block so it is ok to write to the LED
                     If (LightSwitchDebug=True) Then 'Switch debugging messages are turned on so display them
                        MsgBox("The current light switch position is: FULL (Rear). Current switch value is: " & LightSwitchReportedValue & ". Valid numbers for the range are: " & LtFullLoDebug & " - " & LtFullHiDebug & ".",1)
                     Else
                     End If
                  Case (3) 'Light switch is in an area between positions so do nothing
               End Select

               'write switch position to LEDs
               If (LtSwWriteToLED=True) Then 'OK to write to LEDs
                  Dim OutputReport() as Byte = {0,134,LtSwLEDVal,64,56,0,0,0,0}
                  Dim LtSwLEDDisplayCounter as Integer=0
                  Dim LtSwLEDWriteSpeedCounter as Integer=0

                  For LtSwLEDDisplayCounter=1 to 200
                     MW3.SendGenericOutput(MyDevice,OutputReport)
                  Next

                  'Finished writing L code so get current speed to display
                  Dim speed As Single = GetRailSimValue(30, 0) 'speedometer
                  'make absolute and put in desired units
                  speed=Math.Abs(speed)

                  If (speedunit=True) Then speed=Math.Abs(speed*1.609344)         
                     Dim speeds As String=speed.ToString("000") 'assumes that the train will never be faster than 999, this rounds also

                     If (appactive=true) Then 'write current speed if RailWorks is still the active app
                        'write to LEDs
                        Dim AltOutputReport() as Byte = {0,134,ToDigits(speeds.Substring(2, 1)),ToDigits(speeds.Substring(1, 1)),ToDigits(speeds.Substring(0, 1)),0,0,0,0}
                        For LtSwLEDWriteSpeedCounter=1 to 5
                           MW3.SendGenericOutput(MyDevice,AltOutputReport)
                        Next
                        lastspeed=speeds
                     End If

                  LtSwLEDDisplayCounter=0
                  LtSwLEDWriteSpeedCounter=0
                  LtSwWriteToLED=False

               Else 'Do not write to LEDs
               End If
               LtSwWriteToLED=False

            Else 'The switch is in the same position as last time so do not run the code
            End if

         Else
         End If
         lever(6).LastValue=AnalogValue(0)

      End Select 'Analog Check End [/MWTAG13]

The following locomotives have been tested and work on both my laptop and my main pc. The specs are quite far apart, so they are a good representation of opposing ends of the spectrum of pc performance.

Invincible
7F 2-8-0
BR101
BR143
BR151
BR294
BR52 2-10-0
Big Boy (Properly activates on HUD, but lights are fixed)
Black 5 4-6-0
Class 166
Class 37
Class 43 (Just Trains)
Class 450
Class 47
Class 483
Class 55
EMD F7
EMD GP7
EMD SD40-2
GE ES44AC
GP40
HST BR Blue
HST FGW Blue
Permaculp Carrier
Super Express Concept

The following locomotives do not work correctly:
B&M E7a - Lights will frequently show pos 1 is active on the HUD, but the lights only flicker on then go off.

BRV200 - This could be fixed if I could make an exception that applied to this loco only, as it is a timing issue. But fixing the timing for this one breaks it for four other locos, so I felt it was better to leave this one not working, and four others working.

The following locomotives are not tested because I have no scenarios to test them on:
Class 43 (RSC)
Consolidation 2-8-0 (Scenario I have fails to load.)
DB BR 151 002-3

Those represent all the locomotives I currently have. So no other locomotives have been tested. If it's not listed here, I don't have it and can't test it.

Hope this is helpful to my fellow RailDriver users. :)

-George

[Samwolf]

Thanks for working on this George.

Hopefully RS and Raildriver can get together and resolve this long outstanding issue someday.

[GeorgeT93]

Thanks for working on this George.

Hopefully RS and Raildriver can get together and resolve this long outstanding issue someday.

Not a problem! I just hope the code is helpful to all RailDriver users who run Railworks (TS2012). :)

I also really hope RS and RailDriver can get together and resolve this someday, because it looks like it could be such an easy fix! If RS were to just change the light variable in the raildriver.dll file that comes with TS2012, so that it supports 3 values, (off, dim (front), full (rear)) instead of the variable only being a toggle, then it would be very easy using MacroWorks 3 to make sure the right value is sent, and that would be that, and things would work across all locomotives. But until that happens, even the RD folks would have had to figure out some logic (as I did) to try and cover as many locomotives as possible (but will never work with 100% of the locomotives out there).

So RS devs... any chance of there being updates to the RailDriver.dll file sometime in the future? The biggest two additions/changes I would love to see are:
1) Change the variable used for triggering the lights, so that it is no longer a toggle and can be set directly using the appropriate value
2) Add a variable that identifies the locomotive in use, so special cases can be created for locomotives that don't respond the the 'detected' controls configuration, can have exceptions made to accommodate those specific locos (and should help with RD occasionally getting back incorrect data as I've outlined above, in the "Things I've learned" section.

Anyhow, I hope the script changes I've made are helpful to you, and all our other fellow RailDriver users. While it's not perfect, it's much better to me, than the default behavior. :)

-George

[Samwolf]

Made the changes and so far they work. Although I don't notice the LED changing from the MPH/KPH display. Only tested it on a couple for US engines so far.

[GeorgeT93]

Hi Samwolf,

Let me know if you continue to not see the L codes. It is possible that MacroWorks may need to be shut down and restarted after the new code is in place. Also, try to watch the LED as you change switch positions, as the L code should only display for a very brief second or two, then it should go right back to the speed. It's just there as an indicator so we know what block of code the script ran versus what shows up on the screen. The L codes have displayed fine on this end, on both my main pc and on my laptop, so I'm very curious as to why they wouldn't be showing up properly on yours. Please keep me updated, and if the behavior persists, I can always look at rewriting the LED output code. :)

-George