Customize Train List column order

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Customize Train List column order 06/07/2014 at 13:24 #62493
maxand
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1637 posts 		I seem to remember suggesting that the user have the ability to customize the order in which (F2) Train List columns are displayed, but can't find the original thread. As I recall, there was support for this idea and even a promise to incorporate it into a future version.

(In Windows Explorer, one can easily rearrange column order in the RH pane simply by dragging the column headers sideways. I was thinking along those lines.)

I've just discovered that at the extreme right side of the Train List window is a column labelled Workstation, which I now find very useful as it narrows the search to a particular panel of a sim when the location is unfamiliar. It was so far to the right that I was unaware of its existence! I would like to be able to move this column to be the next one after Location. Currently I'm using postal's excellent trainlist.css but this only changes the styling of the page and does not affect the column order.

Is there much chance of this feature being implemented?
Last edited: 06/07/2014 at 13:27 by maxand
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Customize Train List column order 06/07/2014 at 14:19 #62494
Peter Bennet
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5419 posts 		Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I can't see any difference between the the train lists from the different css files.

Peter
I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Customize Train List column order 06/07/2014 at 17:11 #62501
JamesN
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1611 posts 		there is no current way of rearranging the columns in the F2 window - the previous disucussion I think you are referring to was regarding the ability to sort by different columns, which has been implemented.
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Customize Train List column order 06/07/2014 at 17:17 #62502
Finger
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220 posts 		You can, however, make them disappear, or extra small, something like that.
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Customize Train List column order 07/07/2014 at 07:24 #62511
Forest Pines
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525 posts 		I think you probably could use some sort of css trickery to reorder the columns using absolute positioning- but it would be a nasty hack. I am not enough of a css expert to recall, off the top of my head, just how well such things work within a table element.
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Customize Train List column order 07/07/2014 at 08:29 #62513
maxand
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1637 posts 		I guess JamesN answered my question. As Peter Bennet said, CSS is all about style, while table structure (including column order) is unalterable.

Quote:
You can, however, make them disappear, or extra small, something like that

To make the Train List window narrower, the only recourse is to drag the RH border of the window to the left, which obscures, not compresses, the rightmost columns. It's impossible to vary the width of any particular column as it is with Windows Explorer.

One solution might be to add a View submenu to this window's context menu, wherein each column could be checked (visible) or unchecked (omitted). This might be easier to implement than fiddling with sliding columns. I would cheerfully hide the Pass, Sig, Non-stop, Next, Driving and Rules columns, possibly even the Description column, but voicing this opinion is sure to incur the wrath of the dedicated community.
Last edited: 07/07/2014 at 08:30 by maxand
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Customize Train List column order 07/07/2014 at 11:54 #62528
Peter Bennet
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5419 posts 		" said:
As Peter Bennet said, CSS is all about style, while table structure (including column order) is unalterable.
I did! You credit me with more knowledge than I thought I had.

Peter
I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Customize Train List column order 07/07/2014 at 12:55 #62530
maxand
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1637 posts 		A little flattery goes a long way. In that case, you won't mind considering making column display optional?
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Customize Train List column order 07/07/2014 at 13:01 #62532
Prof Jolly
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61 posts 		You should already be able to do this via css styling (display: none; if I remember correctly)
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Customize Train List column order 07/07/2014 at 13:03 #62533
onlydjw
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456 posts 		" said:
" said:
As Peter Bennet said, CSS is all about style, while table structure (including column order) is unalterable.
I did! You credit me with more knowledge than I thought I had.

Peter
We always knew you had some form of style Peter!
God bless, Daniel Wilson
Last edited: 07/07/2014 at 13:53 by onlydjw
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 08:29 #62559
maxand
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1637 posts 		Prof Jolly wrote:
Quote:
You should already be able to do this via css styling (display: none; if I remember correctly)
Good suggestion, but since I can't see any .html or .xml files that use trainlist.css (e.g., "trainlist.html"anywhere, we're stuffed yet again.

Some food for thought:
Places It’s Tempting To Use Display: None; But Don’t
What's the difference between display: none and visibility: hidden in CSS?
Last edited: 08/07/2014 at 08:38 by maxand
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 08:51 #62560
Sacro
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1171 posts 		" said:
Prof Jolly wrote:
Quote:
You should already be able to do this via css styling (display: none; if I remember correctly)
Good suggestion, but since I can't see any .html or .xml files that use trainlist.css (e.g., "trainlist.html"anywhere, we're stuffed yet again.
You don't need to per-se, the Loader generates the HTML on the fly and renders it itself, you can click to view in an external browser, then it'll write the HTML to disk.

" said:

Some food for thought:
Places It’s Tempting To Use Display: None; But Don’t
What's the difference between display: none and visibility: hidden in CSS?
Useful for Web Developers who are required to make accessible (screen reader compatible) sites, but I don't think SimSig is screen reader compatible.
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 09:18 #62561
maxand
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1637 posts 		Quote:
the Loader generates the HTML on the fly and renders it itself, you can click to view in an external browser
I started up a Loader sim then looked in the Loader directory and its subfolders for an HTML file without finding one. Can you tell me what the name of this file is and where to find it please?
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 10:09 #62563
Sacro
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1171 posts 		" said:
Quote:
the Loader generates the HTML on the fly and renders it itself, you can click to view in an external browser
I started up a Loader sim then looked in the Loader directory and its subfolders for an HTML file without finding one. Can you tell me what the name of this file is and where to find it please?
If you click to show in an external browser the URL will be in the address bar.

If you're just viewing it via the F8 window then no, I can't tell you, I'm not sure whether it gets written to a temporary file or if it just sits in RAM.
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 13:12 #62573
maxand
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1637 posts 		Quote:
If you click to show in an external browser the URL will be in the address bar.
Click what?
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 13:28 #62574
Sacro
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1171 posts 		" said:
Quote:
If you click to show in an external browser the URL will be in the address bar.
Click what?
Primary mouse button is the usual choice.
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 13:29 #62575
welshdragon
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315 posts 		See the blue circle/arrow ;)

[img size=800]http://i.imgur.com/dYjlyjZ.png[/img]
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 13:55 #62577
maxand
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1637 posts 		To welshdragon:
I'm not interested in the Simplifier - this thread is about the Train List.

To Sacro:
I don't take kindly to fools like you. Either tell me which file or screen icon to click, or shut up.
Last edited: 08/07/2014 at 14:00 by maxand
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 14:05 #62578
Sacro
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1171 posts 		" said:

To Sacro:
I don't take kindly to fools like you. Either tell me which file or screen icon to click, or shut up.
I (and many others) don't take too kindly to you either, nor others with a bad case of illusory superiority.
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 14:06 #62579
maxand
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1637 posts 		Well that confirms you've been stringing me along all this time. Thanks for nothing.
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 14:15 #62580
postal
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5269 posts 		What next ? My dad's bigger than your dad?
“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 14:22 #62582
JamesN
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1611 posts 		Both the simplifier and new train list use HTML/CSS - it appears at some point the conversation inadvertently strayed from discussing the F2 window to the F8 window. Given the similarities in this regard it's an easy mistake to make.

Benji/Mark - we're on about F2 - there is no show in browser option
Max - if you don't want hostile responses to your questions then don't use phrases like "tell me which screen icon to click, or shut up"

***

From my recollections of how it all works (at work away from PC so can't confirm for definite), as Sacro said previously it's all rendered on the fly - as such you can only influence the style of what is displayed (custom CSS file), there is never any access to the HTML that is being displayed.
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 14:35 #62583
maxand
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1637 posts 		Thanks James for the first helpful answer to the last question. You've confirmed my suspicions that HTML is not displayed. And even if it were, each column element would need its own individual class or ID for display:none to work in a .css file. Unfortunately, the style elements that trainlist.css applies to are all too general for this. So we're still stuffed, unless the developers decide to assign column-specific classes/IDs.

But this is in reality a rather clumsy workaround, requiring some CSS knowledge on the part of the user. Far better if a choice of which columns to make visible could be incorporated into the RH context menu of the Train List, even if the current column order remains fixed.
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 15:06 #62584
postal
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5269 posts 		Even with CSS knowledge, I'm not sure it would be possible to customise the display. The css for the train list (either the default set up or the modified version in Downloads) contains only this information about the display of the train information:

td.description,td.id,td.activities,th.description,th.id,th.activities

My knowledge of css is very limited, but I don't think there is anything in there to enable any editing to customise the columns which can be viewed.

Edit: Prof Jolly next shows how limited my knowledge is.
“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
Last edited: 08/07/2014 at 15:53 by postal
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Customize Train List column order 08/07/2014 at 15:22 #62585
Prof Jolly
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61 posts 		td.tid { display:none;}
td.tt {display:none; }
td.dir {display:none; }
td.status {display:none; }
td.loc {display:none; }
td.len { display:none;}
td.passsig {display:none; }
td.nonstop { display:none;}
td.power {display:none; }
td.desc { display:none;}
td.rules {display:none; }
td.wks { display:none;}

th.tid {display:none; }
th.tt {display:none; }
th.dir { display:none;}
th.status {display:none; }
th.loc {display:none; }
th.len {display:none; }
th.passsig { display:none;}
th.nonstop { display:none;}
th.power {display:none; }
th.desc {display:none; }
th.rules {display:none; }
th.wks {display:none; }

adding this will stop all fields from displaying ao just take out the ones you do need

Quote:
why do people have to over complicate things?
Last edited: 08/07/2014 at 15:24 by Prof Jolly
Reason: missed a line
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