Blank Name Property on 3D UTM Tiles

[Kookaburra]

Sometimes I generate a 3D UTM tile, import it into TANE SP3 using TANE Content Manager, then manually place it on an existing map. When I do this (manually place a 3D UTM tile on an old map instead of using the new Transdem-generated map with the automatically placed 3D UTM tile), the Name property of the 3D UTM tile is blank. I have to manually open the 3D UTM tile's properties dialog and type in a name like UTM-10S-593-4135-SE. Is this a bug? I think that by default the Name property should contain the Transdem generated name.

[geophil]

Sometimes I generate a 3D UTM tile, import it into TANE SP3 using TANE Content Manager, then manually place it on an existing map. When I do this (manually place a 3D UTM tile on an old map instead of using the new Transdem-generated map with the automatically placed 3D UTM tile), the Name property of the 3D UTM tile is blank. I have to manually open the 3D UTM tile's properties dialog and type in a name like UTM-10S-593-4135-SE. Is this a bug? I think that by default the Name property should contain the Transdem generated name.

No, it's not a bug. When TransDEM places a UTM tile as part of the tile creation process, it modifies the .obs file. It sets the coordinates, the orientation and it also explicitly sets the name. Naming is not automatic.

In object-oriented lingo the UTM tile asset is a type. When TransDEM or you use this tile and place it into a route, TransDEM/you create(s) an instance of that type. In Trainz, such an instance is merely a reference to that type plus instance-related attributes, such as location and name.

In theory, you can create more than one instance of a UTM tile. Technically, a UTM tile asset is not much different from a tree or a building asset. It's far bigger, but that's all. And you can place as many instances of a tree as you wish and you can assign them individual per-instance names if you want to. Placing more than one instance of a UTM tile does not make much sense, though, as the tile is modelled after a tiny but very specific portion of Mother Earth that only makes sense when put at its designated location. But Trainz does not know that and hence does not know that the name of the asset type is the only reasonable name for the asset instance.