Cargo Manager

The Cargo Manager is a configurable machine in Steve's Carts where minecarts load and unload items. The Cargo Manager works in conjunction with the Advanced Detector Rail. Minecarts will always stop at the Advanced Detector Rail and process items according to the settings in the Cargo Manager.

Description
The Cargo Manager block has four color coded sides, each indicated by the colored square in the lower left corner of the panel: red, blue, yellow, and green. Minecarts that stop on an Advanced Detector Rail next to a one of the colors will only process items in the section of the Cargo Manager that have the same color. In the image to the right, a minecart that stops on the green side will only process items in the Cargo Manager that are coded green.

Recipe
The Cargo Manager is created with four Large Iron Panes, four Huge Iron Panes, and one Large Dynamic Pane.

GUI



 * A. Player inventory
 * B. Cargo Manager inventory, which can be split into four parts according to color when clicking on "H."
 * C. Processing Action
 * D. Load or unload the items
 * E. Quantity of items loaded or unloaded
 * F. Color chooser
 * G. Tells the minecart to either continue down the track or turn around once processing is complete.
 * H. Modifies how the Cargo Manager inventory work

B. Cargo Manager Inventory
In the GUI, both sides of the Cargo Manager, by default, act like one large chest. Clicking on H will split the inventory into four 18 slot parts. Clicking on H again will also color code the sides according to the color of C. See the "H" section below for more details.

C. Processing Action
The displayed icon will determine what type of items will be loaded or unloaded from the cart, and from which modules.

D. Load/Unload
Clicking on D will tell the manager to:
 * Cargo Manager loadarrow.png Load item(s) into the minecart (arrow pointing out, by default)
 * Cargo Manager unloadarrow.png Unload item(s) from the minecart (arrow point towards the center)

E. Quantity
Clicking on E will determine how many items will be loaded into or unloaded from the minecart. It has the following selections, where stack refers to one 64 item stack:

F. Color chooser
Clicking F will cycle through the four colors (red, blue, yellow, green) and black, which means no action will be taken.

G.Continue on or turn around
Clicking G tells the minecart what to do once processing is complete. There are two modes:
 * [[File:Cargo Manager G icon1.png]] Continue down the track (default)
 * [[File:Cargo Manager G icon2.png]] Turn around and go back the way the cart came.

H. Inventory split
Clicking H modifies the Cargo Manager inventory into three modes:
 * Entire inventory (default)
 * Four 18 slot parts, nonspecific
 * Four 18 slot parts, color-coded according to F

Usage
Using the Cargo Manager can allow carts to complete more complex functions automatically, without player input. Some of the functions minecarts can perform include: laying down rails, mining long tunnels, building bridges, harvesting trees and crops, and protecting a base. The Cargo Manager must be used in tandem with an Advanced Detector Rail; without one, the carts cannot interface with the Cargo Manager. Additionally, only Steve's Carts carts can make use of the Cargo Manager. Steve's Carts carts are able to interface with Railcraft Loaders and Unloaders, but not as effectively as with the Cargo Manager.

A single Cargo Manager can, at most, perform four loading or unloading operations. For instance, a Cargo Manager could be configured to load Charcoal in a Farmer cart's Engine, unload the cart's Storage module, load Seeds in the Farmer, and load Bones in the Fertilizer. If the Hydrator needed to be refilled, as well, a second Cargo Manager would have to be used.

Only the Cargo Manager is sensitive to the different module inventories, and is able to pull items out and place items into the proper slots (such as coal engine fuel slots). The Cargo Manager will act like a chest when used in conjunction with Pipes, Pneumatic Tubes, and Routers, but if the Manager's inventory is grouped using H, they cannot detect which grouping of slots they are pulling from or inserting to, limiting control over what goes where. The Cargo Distributor can be used to overcome that limitation; when placed below or above the Cargo Manager, it will interface with these means of item transportation and allow for a much higher degree of control.

A Steve's Cart cart will always stop at a Cargo Manager when it is paired with an Advanced Detector Rail, even if nothing can be loaded or unloaded. The engine's fuel use will halt during this time; this can be used to give Solar Engines a chance to charge while under sunlight.