Jens Vesterdahl

Just a quick update: As I have stated on the TouchCab web site, the oncoming iOS 7 has caused me to skip a release cycle and go straight to version 1.8. The reason for this is that once iOS7 ships, iOS4 support is no longer an option. Or rather: it's one or the other, so I want to get a version 1.8 out there with support for Märklin's CS2 on iOS4. That, however, will probably be the last release with iOS4 support. I know that a lot of Lenz users have been waiting a long time for version 1.7.5, and you may be upset by this decision, but in fact the CS2 is a very good-natured beast, and I have locomotive control done already. All I need is the accessory part and we're off to iTunes for a release. What I have in mind is to release the free app with CS2 support as version 1.7.9, so people can try it, and so I can fix any bugs before the full release. And it's almost there. TouchCab Free 1.7.9 is complete and waiting for beta test, pending Apple's developer site getting back online. If it's just as easy getting accessories working as it was locomotives, we're only a few weeks away. Best regards - and thanks for your patience Jens

Hi Bob - and everyone else ... It's been a while since I last posted here, and the reason is that life has demanded my attention to other things than programming. Basically I've been pretty much stalled for a year or so, but I am happy to report that I'm back at programming TouchCab, and doing very well, thank you. Bob: What I showed at Rawtenstall was a beta version, and as you may recall, the syncing was not really stable. Well, it was - but for some reason only outside the showroom. The sync feature will appear in the next version 1.7.5, which is approximately a year late by now. The device-to-device sync feature prompted me to build a configuration manager, which is essentially a file manager. That was an interesting job on a device where Apple has bent over backwards to hide the files from the user! The learning curve was pretty steep, but it works now. Why a configuration manager, you ask? Well, suppose you have spent an evening entering all your locomotives and all your points and everything is good. Then you go to a friend or a club and sync with whatever you find there, and you go back to your house, only to find that you brought the club setting home with you. With the configuration manager, you can add up to 16 different configuration sets in addition to the "home config", which can not be deleted, but may be swapped for any one of the others. Switching configuration is done simply by tapping in a list. Anyway, there is still some weird instability in the sync code. Once the devices find each other, there's no problem, but the discovery apparently hiccups now and again, but of course not when I am debugging the damn thing, so it's on the observation list. What else is new? A ton of bugfixes and minor tweaks, and two biggies that have caused a lot of rewriting of the internal code: Doubleheaders and advanced consists. Doubleheaders is working in the lab and the feature is complete. It's a breeze to form a doubleheader and even easier to break one up. I am currently working on advanced consisting - or decoder assisted consisting, as it is also called. Where the doubleheaders take place in the command station with max two locomotives, advanced consisting is done by writing a CV in all locos participating in the consist, and they will share and respond to this 'consist base' address. You can have a lot of locomotives in such a consist. I'm not going to speculate as to when this update will arrive, but progress is good, and I have some days off right now ... Oh, the update will be free - as always. If you have any questions, write me directly or drop a post at the TouchCab forum. I don't get out much these days ...