Upgrading from Version 5

ModuOps version 6 is a complete rebuild of the application. Your version 5 layouts come along with you, and most screens will feel familiar. This page explains how to bring a version 5 layout file into version 6 and lists what has been renamed, moved, added, or removed.

Opening a version 5 layout

Version 5 layout files use the .mop2 extension. Version 6 uses a new .mop3 format. ModuOps never changes a .mop2 file. Instead, it makes a .mop3 copy the first time you open it.

1. In the File menu select Open Layout..., or click Open Layout on the Dashboard.
2. Select your .mop2 file.
3. The Migration Required dialog opens. It shows:
   • Source: the full path of your .mop2 file.
   • Target: the new .mop3 file. It's always created in the same folder, with the same name.
   • Your original file will be preserved.
4. Click Migrate & Open.
5. The Set Length Unit & Scale step appears next. See below.

When you're done, the new .mop3 layout is open and added to File > Open Recent Layout. From now on, open the .mop3 file. Your original .mop2 file is untouched and still works in version 5.

warning

If a .mop3 file with the same name already exists in that folder, the dialog warns The target file already exists. Migrating will overwrite it. and the button reads Overwrite & Migrate. Click Cancel if you want to keep that file, and move or rename it first.

Screenshot needed

The Migration Required dialog showing the Source and Target files.

If something goes wrong during migration, the error appears in a red box inside the dialog and no .mop3 file is left behind.

Set Length Unit & Scale

Version 6 lets each layout have a length unit and a scale (see Layout). Because a version 5 file didn't record either, ModuOps asks you right after migrating:

Choose the unit of measure and scale ratio for this layout. This applies to all lengths (car types, drop zones, trains).

1. Pick a Length Unit: Feet, Centimeters, Meters, or Units (dimensionless).
2. Pick your Scale (for example HO (1:87.1)), or Custom... to enter your own ratio.
3. Click Continue.

This step has to be completed. There's no Cancel button.

warning

Nothing is converted in this step. You're telling ModuOps what the numbers already in your layout mean. If your version 5 lengths are in scale feet, as most layouts are, choose Feet and your scale so your lengths stay exactly as they were.

Your choice is also saved as the default unit and scale in Preferences, so new layouts start with the same settings.

If you later want to switch the layout to a different unit or scale and convert all the lengths, use the Layout screen.

What's changed

Here's a summary of the differences a version 5 user will notice, grouped by area. Each linked page has the details.

Files, menus, and navigation

• Layout files use the .mop3 extension. File > Convert... is gone; opening a .mop2 file converts it automatically.
• File > New Layout... is now File > New Layout. The Dashboard shows New Layout and Open Layout buttons when no layout is open.
• File > Open Recent Layout lists .mop3 files only, and has a Clear Recent item. Missing files are removed from the list for you.
• Preferences moved from the Edit menu (Windows) or application menu (Mac) to the sidebar, under Settings > Preferences. See Preferences.
• The Dashboard's groups of menus are gone. Use the sidebar to move between screens. See Dashboard.
• The Dashboard count cards are renamed: "Rolling stock" is now Equipment Types, and "Car Requests" is now Equipment Requests.
• The layout name is no longer shown at the top of every screen.
• Forms have Save and Cancel buttons instead of Done. If you try to leave a form with unsaved changes, ModuOps asks before discarding them.
• Remarks and instruction fields have a formatting toolbar (bold, italic, checklist item, indent, underline blank, and a ½ Page width preview). You no longer type <b> or <i> tags by hand. Formatting from version 5 files still displays.
• New: light and dark themes, automatic updates (Mac and Windows), and an About ModuOps window. See Preferences.

Layout

• "Layout/Railroad Name" is now Layout Name, and "Ops Chief" is now Operations Chief.
• New: a Length & Scale card with a length unit and scale for the whole layout, and a Convert All Lengths? option when you change them. See Layout.
• New: the Real-World Measurement converter next to length fields turns a tape-measure reading into your layout's unit and scale.

Equipment Register

• "Classification" is now Class, "Car description" is Description, and "AAR Code" is now Code (up to 4 characters). Short Description is limited to 12 characters.
• Lengths are whole numbers, labeled with the layout's unit.
• There's an Edit button as well as double-click, and a Clone button.
• A Code is no longer required for switch lists. The SwitchList format uses the Short Description when there's no Code.

See Equipment Register.

Modules/Towns, drop zones, and consignees

• "Remove" module is now Delete, with a warning that lists everything that will be deleted along with it.
• "Depicted city" is now City; "Short name" is now Short Name.
• On drop zones: "Name" is now Drop Zone Name, "Zone Ref" is now Zone Reference (now optional), "Faces" is now Direction with a new A and B choice, and "Yard/Interchange/Staging" is now Train Origin/Terminus.
• Cars/Week is now called Demand.
• The request buttons are now New Request, Edit, Clone, and Delete.
• A new consignee must be saved before you can add Equipment Requests to it.
• Origin/terminus (yard) drop zones no longer appear in the drop zone list on an Equipment Request.
• New: a Flow Type on each Equipment Request (Producer or Consumer), used by the new Pull & Drop Ops engine.
• New: an Equipment tab on the Modules/Towns screen showing the equipment each module requests, and request counts in the Consignees tab.
• New: Add can import several module files at once and skips modules that already exist.
• Saving a module to a file is now Export above the module list.
• New: an Info tab, the first tab on the Modules/Towns screen, where you edit the module's details in place. The separate module edit screen and the Edit button are gone. A Jump to module... box filters the list.
• Gone: the "Use Consignee Name" menu on the drop zone form.

See Modules/Towns, Drop Zones, Consignees, and Equipment Requests.

Trains and routes

• The route is now the Route tab on the train form, not a separate screen. Double-clicking a train opens the train form.
• Route changes save as you make them. Rows are reordered by dragging instead of with Up/Down buttons.
• "Select Consignee" is now Consignee Filter, with a new Must Service choice. No Service now keeps that consignee off the whole train.
• "Length" is now Max Length, "Minimum length" is now Min Length, and "Limit modules" is Limit Modules.
• New: Car Distribution on each train. It replaces the Trainlist screen's "Drop Zone Favoring" slider (see below).
• New: Show on String Diagram and Add timetable instruction for the new Timetable.
• New: Clone a train, including its route.
• Deleting a train also removes it from any timetable ops sessions.

See Trains, Train Route, and Train Orders.

Trainlists

• The engines are renamed: "Mad River and Big Timber" is now Random (MRBT), and "Use Cars/Week" is now Weighted Selection, which is the default. Random (MRBT) is a simple random selection with no weighting.
• New: the Pull & Drop Ops engine, which tracks loads and empties and adds pickups on later runs.
• "Drop Zone Favoring" on the Trainlist screen is replaced by the per-train Car Distribution setting on the train form.
• The single output format menu is split into Output Format (MRBT, Modern, SwitchList) and a Half Page / Full Page choice.
• "Use equipment type codes" is now Use equipment code.
• "Generate Trainlist" is now Generate. The train list only shows trains that have a route.
• The preview is a full-size, readable copy of the printed page. The last trainlist is not shown again when you come back to the screen.

See Trainlists.

Reports

• The "Equipment Request Report" is now Car Requests, with filtering, sorting, grouping, and saved views.
• The "Modules/Towns Summary Listing" is now Module Summary, and adds Owner and total Demand.
• New: Equipment Summary, showing total demand for each equipment type so members know what to bring.
• Reports export to CSV. Printing reports and TSV export are gone.

See Reports.

Timetable

• New: the Timetable screen. Build ops sessions, set stop times, and produce a string diagram, a timetable report, and a crew schedule. See Timetable, Station Order, and Timetable Reports.