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What is the DNA Editor?

The DNA Editor is a dedicated desktop application for creating, editing, and maintaining RailCOMPLETE DNA files. It replaces the manual XML editing that agents have historically relied on, providing a visual, structured environment purpose-built for the task.

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Who is it for?

The DNA Editor is designed for RC Agents — the specialized companies that create and maintain DNA customization files on behalf of Infrastructure Managers. Agents are technical users with expertise in Lua scripting, XML, and a deep knowledge of national railway standards and object catalogs.

End users (planners and engineers) do not typically use the DNA Editor. They work with the finished DNA inside RailCOMPLETE. However, Infrastructure Managers evaluating RailCOMPLETE may find this page useful for understanding how national customization is authored and maintained.

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Why a dedicated editor?

Before the DNA Editor, creating and updating a national DNA meant working directly with raw XML files — a tedious and error-prone process requiring intimate knowledge of the schema. Even experienced agents found it slow and difficult to maintain consistency across hundreds of object type definitions, thousands of properties, and complex Lua integrations.

The DNA Editor addresses this with:

• A visual, structured interface — Navigate and edit every part of a DNA through an organized tree of disciplines, categories, and object types, rather than scrolling through XML.
• Real-time validation — Consistency and integrity checking as you work, so errors are caught before export rather than discovered during testing.
• Integrated Lua editing — A syntax-highlighted code editor for property formulas, model checks, and automation functions, all embedded within the context of the object type or discipline they belong to.
• Full import/export — Round-trip with RailCOMPLETE’s XML format, including detailed validation reports on import.

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Core capabilities

Project management

Create new DNA projects from scratch or import existing ones from RailCOMPLETE XML files. The editor parses and validates imported data, giving you an immediate view of any issues. Projects can be exported back to the XML format that RailCOMPLETE consumes at runtime.

Object type authoring

This is the heart of the editor. For each object type, you define everything RailCOMPLETE needs to know: general classification, custom properties with data types and defaults, 2D and 3D geometry references, snap points for insertion behavior, Lua-based model checks for validation rules, and presets with variants and insertion options. Object types can be duplicated to accelerate the creation of similar items.

Visual configuration

Define the full visual language of a national DNA: custom color palettes, linetypes with dash pattern previews, text styles, layer hierarchies, symbol definitions, and all 24 annotation types used in CAD production. Every styling choice is referenced by name throughout the project, ensuring consistency.

Relations

Define typed connections between object types — such as the relationship between a signal and its distant signal — with forward and reverse prompts, cardinality constraints, and CAD styling for relation lines. Relations are organized through named spaces that group participating object types.

Railway rules

Configure project-wide rules that reflect national standards: fouling point calculation parameters, sighting settings and train window dimensions, display gauge profiles, linear addressing methods, and construction stage patterns.

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How agents use it in practice

Creating a new national DNA

An agent starting a DNA for a new country begins by setting up the project profile (administration, country code, agent identity) and configuring global settings such as units and appearance. They then establish the visual foundations — colors, text styles, linetypes, and annotation configurations — before creating disciplines and building out the object type catalog. Each object type is fully specified with properties, geometry, snap points, model checks, and presets. Finally, relations are defined, the project is validated, exported to XML, and tested in RailCOMPLETE.

Updating an existing DNA

When standards evolve, or new infrastructure types are introduced, agents import the current DNA, make targeted changes — adding new object types, updating model checks, modifying property defaults, refining geometry — and re-export. The import process includes a full validation report, so any issues inherited from the existing XML are visible immediately.

Adding a new object type

A focused task like adding a new signal type follows a clear path: navigate to the appropriate discipline, create or duplicate an object type, configure its properties and geometry across the editor’s tabs, attach model checks for validation, set up variants and insertion options, assign it to relation spaces, then validate and export. The structured interface ensures no step is missed.

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Get involved

The DNA Editor is approaching its open beta. Whether you are an established RC Agent or an organization exploring the agent role, early access gives you the chance to work with the tool before general availability and to influence its direction with your feedback.

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Related pages

• What is DNA? — The full explanation of Definition of Network Assets and how national customization works.
• Who Creates DNA? — The agent model and how national DNA is developed and maintained.
• Anatomy of a DNA — The technical structure of object types, properties, relations, and more.
• Glossary — Key terms and definitions used across the documentation.