Package a Route For Email

[spetragl]

Does anyone have a procedure for packaging a Route so that it can be sent through email?

The current route is about 1GB and most mail servers can't handle anything that big.

[cnotp]

make it a zip then www.sendthisfile.com
www.dropload.com
www.sendspace.com

[Swissie]

Hi Steven,

I would recommend first to optimize the actual file size of the route before sending it off, secondly you may want to break up the file into a set of spanned zip files for easier handling, and last but not least - as my foreposter did - I would consider putting it on a temporary file storage / exchange site.

1) Compacting and Packaging the Route

Before even thinking about releasing a route either to the beta-testers or the general public, you should:

1a) compact it with RouteRiter. The "Compact Route" function removes all unused files, such as scenery items, sounds, terrtex textures you did not actually use in your route. RouteRiter will also update the .ref file and provide you with a list of what has been removed.

1b) In a next step, you can and should use Route Riter's "Delete raw" function to remove the terrain buffers from your tiles folder ( _e.raw and _n.raw files). When the tester or user installs the route and runs it for the first time, the terrain buffers will be rebuilt.

1c) Finally, use RouteRiter's "Write bat" function to remove all default files - which every user already owns on his machine - from your route. Route Riter will automatically write the "installme.bat" file which will copy these default items back into your route once it is installed by the tester or end user.

With these three steps, a route which is 1GB on your machine should come down to about half that size, and result in a .zip file of perhaps 300mb to 350mb - which still is a lot!


2) Creating a spanned .zip file

Again, Route Riter will be a big help: Use the "My Zipp" button of Route Riter to produce a set of spanned .zip files instead of one huge .zip file. A common size for the individual parts of the spanned archive would be between 30mb and 50mb. Thus, the 350mb file in the above example would be split into seven spanned archives of 50mb each. The advantage is that you can upload and download the file in smaller chunks, thus circumnavigating ISP time-out or maximum file size limits.

3) Uploading the file to a ftp client or web-based file storage/sharing site

To give your testers access, you do ideally upload the spanned .zip files via FTP to a file server - if you have access to one - or via your browser to a file storage site such as the ones mentioned in post 2. You then just need to e-mail the links of the individual zip(s) to your beta-testers, they can then download the files when time permits.

Hope that's useful info to you, cheers

Lukas a.k.a Swissie

[spetragl]

I'll give it a try.
Thanks a lot.