topic Re: Editing User Defined Vehicles .vlf Files - Old Autoloader? in Structural Bridge Design Forum

Editing User Defined Vehicles .vlf Files - Old Autoloader?

mike_strathearn — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 11:33:50 GMT

Several years ago our team created 3 groups of AIL vehicles similar to those in BD86, but set up to specifically allow our assessment team to provide a limiting axle capacity for abnormal load routing.

In the past we would have used a piece of software called (I think) Autoloader. This would allow us to edit the AIL vehicles without going through SBD (or Leap as it was then) We have since lost that programme during COvid and the switch to Laptops.

Is there a way to open .vlf files for user defined vehicles to edit them without using SBD? Does Autoloader still exist, or is there a "free" download programme that would allow these files to be viewed and edited?

Re: Editing User Defined Vehicles .vlf Files - Old Autoloader?

simon_hooper — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 13:04:43 GMT

Autoloader does not exist. Curious why you don't use SBD to open and edit these files? How do you intend to use these vlf files without SBD?

Simon

Re: Editing User Defined Vehicles .vlf Files - Old Autoloader?

mike_strathearn — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 14:29:19 GMT

Honestly it's a time thing.

Opening and creating each individual AIL vehicle with SBD takes far longer than copy/pasting axle loads directly into a .VLF file; which is what we did in the past.

It's not that we wont be using SBD, it just that programme was a more time efficient way of setting up the AIL vehicles.

Windows Notepad would be our normal route for doing this. However, Notepad doesn't read VLF files.

Re: Editing User Defined Vehicles .vlf Files - Old Autoloader?

simon_hooper — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 15:46:57 GMT

Thanks Mike.

I understand and will add the suggestion for saving the vlf in a text format (probably JSON) to align with other import / export.