User Tools

Site Tools


rocrailonastick-en

Rocrail ZIP

Introduction

'Rocrail ZIP' is provided as ZIP archive, and can be downloaded from the Daily Build site.

Rocrail ZIP allows to "install"1) to (almost) any location on the computer: For example, on the desktop, on a second internal drive, etc. All files needed by Rocrail are stored in one folder; there are no files created or hidden outside this folder (except the optional desktop icon).

If enough memory2) is available, the ZIP file can even be unzipped to a memory stick.
This allows portable usage on changing hardware, but with the same operating system.

Important Notes:

  1. Backup your workspaces.
  2. Deinstall a previous Rocrail installation if the Setup.exe was used.
  3. In order for an update not to overwrite files modified for own purposes (Images, SVG, Decspecs etc.), these must be saved with changed file names or in a separate directory
  4. The User- and AmericanThemes, if needed must be unzipped separately, usually in the "svg" folder.


Instruction Videos

Unzipping and Starting

macOS

Select the right installer for your Mac:

CPU Installer ZIP Remark
Intel Catalina, Sierra, ElCapitan, Leopard The Catalina build runs also on newer macOS Intel versions.
Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3 Sonoma
  1. Double click on the zip file to unpack it.
  2. Move or copy the Rocrail.app to your personal Applications folder. ( /Users/<username>/Applications )

After every download the following steps are necessary for security reasons:

  1. Open the Rocrail.app context menu in the Finder and select "Open".
  2. Click on "Open" after the popup comes with "Are you sure you want to open it?".
macos-open-rocrail-1.jpg macos-open-rocrail-2.jpg macos-open-rocrail-3.jpg
After download the first double click blocks. Open in the finder the context menu and select "Open". Confirm to open the application.

Alternative use the security:


Windows

Help for switching from a classic installation to the installation with a ZIP file: Switching to ZIP installer explained step by step.

Simply unpack the ZIP archive into a directory of choice and double-click on the script file desktoplink.cmd 3) to create a shortcut of Rocview on the desktop. A workspace can be selected to start the server.

When starting for the first time a safety warning from Windows Defender may be displayed (screenshot). First, the text More info has to be clicked, then in the modified dialogue (screenshot) button Run anyway has to be clicked.

Detailed installation instructions can be found under Install Rocrail under Windows


Linux

Just unzip it in the home directory (not copied to the system) and double click on the desktoplink.sh to create a Rocview Desktop shortcut with all needed parameters to startup a workspace..

Builds

Check this table which build is compatible with the target Linux distribution:

Build Compatible with Architecture
Debian 11 Debian 12, LMDE 5, Mint 20, Manjaro LTS, Ubuntu 20, Ubuntu 22, openSUSE 15 i386, AMD64, x86_64

Terminal

If the file explorer opens the script files in an editor, its easier to open a terminal, and change the directory into the place where the ZIP file is located. Then issue following commands: (The same sequence can also be used for updating.)

cd 
unzip -u -d Rocrail Downloads/Rocrail*.zip
cd Rocrail
./desktoplink.sh

Gnome Desktop

An extension is needed if the Rocview Desktop Icon does not appear.
Open a terminal window and type in the following commands:

sudo apt install gnome-tweaks
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons
gnome-tweaks

After Gnome Tweaks did open, select in the left column "Extensions", and activate "Desktop icons".
The Rocview Desktop Icon will at first look like a text document. Activate in the context menu, right click on this icon, and activate "Allow Launching".

Taskbar Panel

To be able to pin Rocview on the Taskbar Panel the Rocview.desktop file must be copied to the applications directory:

sudo cp ~/Desktop/Rocview.desktop /usr/share/applications 

Search for Rocview in the Startmenu and start it. Now the Rocrail Icon can be pinned on the Panel.
Cinnamon
Note: On some systems the Desktop directory has another name like Schreibtisch. (Depending on the selected language.)


Raspberry Pi

Builds

Check this table which build is compatible with the target Linux distribution:

Build Compatible with Architecture Manufacturer
PiOS11 Ubuntu 20, Ubuntu 22, Manjaro, Armbian 22 ARMHF, ARM64 Raspberry Pi, Odroid


Update

macOS

  1. Download a current ZIP-Archive.
  2. Double click on the zip file to unpack it.
  3. Copy, overwrite, the Rocrail.app in your personal Applications folder. ( /Users/<username>/Applications )
  4. For opening the application see Unzipping and starting macOS


Windows

Important Note:
In order for an update not to overwrite files modified for own purposes (Images, SVG, Decspecs etc.), these must be saved with changed file names or in a separate directory.

  1. Download a current ZIP-Archive.
  2. Extract the new zip file into the Rocrail folder
  3. Extract all files.
  4. Confirm the following question "Replace the files in the destination":


Advanced Update Option

Not for novice users!
  1. Download a current ZIP-Archive.
  2. Extract only the BIN folder into the Rocrail folder.
    This only updates Rocview, Rocrail server and libraries.
  3. Confirm the following question "Replace the files in the destination":
  • Important note:
    As files in other directories (svg, decpecs, …) are also updated and expanded irregularly, it is strongly recommended to carry out complete updates more often.


Demo and Wiki Plans

Demo-Plan Wiki-Demo-Plan
"Step by Step"

To access the Demo plan select File→Demo Workspace.
To access the Wiki Demo plan select File→Open Workspace (in this directory look for the wikidemo folder and select.)

  • Note: If a workspace is active, then the termination of the server must be confirmed.


Directory structure

Windows / Linux

Rocrail
├───desktoplink.cmd     (Windows -- Icon on the desktop)
├───rocview.cmd         (Windows -- Rocview and Server)
├───readme.txt          (Information)
├───start.html          (Startup Help with links to the stepbystep-xx Wiki pages)
├───revision-xxxxx.info (Revision number and the last 500+ revisions)
├───desktoplink.sh      (Linux   -- Icon on the desktop)
├───rocrail.png         (Linux   -- Rocrail icon)
├───rocview.sh          (Linux   -- Rocview and Server)
├───rocrail.sh          (Linux   -- Server only)
├───startrocrail.sh     (Linux   -- Script for use with crontab; Copy or symlink it into ~)
├───initdefault.sh      (Linux   -- Init default workspace with symlinks to: svg, web, images, decspec)
├───update.sh           (Linux   -- Update Rocrail by Server Monitor)
├───sysupdate.sh        (Linux   -- Update OS by Server Monitor)
├───default             (Default empty workspace in case of crontab and/or Server Monitor)
├───wikidemo          
|   └───plan.xml        (wiki demo plan)
├───demo                (default demo workspace)
|   └───plan.xml        (larger plan with shadow station)
├───web                 (Rocweb data)
├───bin                 (Executables and libraries)
├───decspecs            (Rocpro decoder specification)
├───stylesheets         (Docu formats)
├───images              (Pictures: Symbols, Locs, Wagon, ...)
└───svg                 (Scalable Vector Graphics)
    └───themes
        ├───Accessories
        ├───CTC
        ├───Roads
        ├───SLIM
        ├───SLIM-COLOR
        └───SpDrS60
  • Note: The individual "Rocrail Zip" ZIP archives contain only the parts of the Directory structure above
    that are relevant for the respective Operating system.


macOS

Rocrail.app
└───Contents          
    ├───_CodeSignature            (Optional code signing with Apple Developer ID)
    ├───Frameworks                (Libraries *.dylib)
    ├───MacOS
    |   ├───Run
    |   ├───rocrail
    |   └───rocview
    ├───Resources
    |   ├───Rocrail.icns
    |   ├───data
    |   |  ├───decspecs            (Rocpro decoder specification)
    |   |  ├───stylesheets         (Docu formats)
    |   |  ├───images              (Pictures: Symbols, Locs, Wagon, ...)
    |   |  ├───web                 (Rocweb data)
    |   |  └───svg                 (Scalable Vector Graphics)
    |   |     └───themes
    |   |        ├───Accessories
    |   |        ├───CTC
    |   |        ├───Roads
    |   |        ├───SLIM
    |   |        ├───SLIM-COLOR
    |   |        └───SpDrS60
    |   └───demo
    |   |  └───plan.xml
    |   └───wikidemo
    |      └───plan.xml
    └───Info.plist

The Run command will create the following local directory structure:

~/rocrail
├───decspecs
├───images
├───stylesheets
├───svg
├───web
├───wikidemo      (Wiki plan)
└───plan.xml      (Demo plan)          

Newer files in the Rocrail.app will overwrite the existing files in the ~/rocrail directory except for ~/rocrail/plan.xml.

  • Store local user SVGs in its own directory.
  • Use a separate Workspace for your own plan.xml.



Trouble shooting Linux

Wayland

The Wayland WindowManager comes with following restrictions:

  • Rocview cannot restore its inner windows correctly if the vertical toolbar option is set.
  • Restoring window and dialog positions is not possible.

Solution

Change the Exec line in the desktop file into:

Exec=env GDK_BACKEND=x11 ....


Serial Device Access

Add the user to the group dialout: FAQ

1)
Rocrail ZIP is not actually installed, but only unzipped
2)
For WIN64 with the ZIP files and all themes about 120 MByte
3)
depending on your windows installation the .cmd might not show. See: FAQ
rocrailonastick-en.txt · Last modified: 2024/03/13 13:17 by rjversluis