Article search, web documents, and spare parts

RailKeeper can use external suggestions to complete a vehicle, import reference documents, and maintain spare parts. Those results are starting points, not authoritative model data. Open the source and verify the manufacturer and article identity before storing anything.

This workflow has four distinct states:

State	Meaning
Search result	External suggestion, not stored
Applied field or selected image	Local vehicle-editor state, not yet stored
Imported document or spare-part action	Immediate server-side write
Saved vehicle	Core fields and pending images persisted through the vehicle-save workflow

Prerequisites, settings, and access rights

Article data web search is enabled by default unless it was disabled in Settings. Its enabled flag and selected sources are preferences in the current browser. Another browser or device can therefore use different settings.

The default sources are manufacturer sites, Modellbahn-Fokus catalogs, dealer sites, and general web search. Modellbau Wiki is an optional fifth source. Normal article and document searches require the values below. RailKeeper migrates recognized legacy default-source combinations to the current defaults when it reads the browser preference.

• manufacturer;
• gauge;
• article number or designation.

An EAN-only barcode search is the exception and can run without those identity values.

Admin and Editor can use the editable vehicle UI, import files, and change spare parts. Viewer and Planner can inspect stored vehicles, attachments, and spare parts. The article-search API permits Viewer-level read access, but the read-only vehicle UI still disables search and apply controls. Image, attachment, and spare-part writes require Editor-level server access. Messe does not receive the general vehicle workflow.

Search for article data

Open a vehicle editor and use Search article data in Model. The action remains disabled until manufacturer, gauge, and either article number or designation are present. RailKeeper sends those values together with other non-empty searchable vehicle fields and the sources selected in this browser.

The server trims the input and can enrich a known manufacturer with aliases and preferred domains. It builds several targeted queries, applies a ten-second service timeout, scores and sorts the results, removes duplicate URLs, and returns at most ten results. Piko and Roco searches can also include direct manufacturer-specific spare-part results.

The result dialog exposes the evidence behind the suggestions:

• final query, active source classes, preferred domains, and planned search queries;
• result title, source, score, snippet, and number of fields;
• whether the detail page loaded, failed, or was skipped;
• Open source for independent checking;
• found images and their previews;
• current and found values, their status, and conflicts.

The stable result groups contain these fields:

Group	Visible fields
Model	Designation, article no., manufacturer, gauge, EAN, railway, epoch, series, vehicle no., subtype, category
Mass / construction	Length, weight, color, lettering, load, interior, axles, axle count, traction tires
Technology	Adapter, pickups, digital/decoder data, sound, lights, and technical descriptions
More data	Description, additional information, production period, list price, and source URL

RailKeeper removes obviously empty, advertising, cookie, manual-navigation, and implausible field values before display. Filtering and a high score improve review efficiency, but neither proves that a remaining value belongs to the physical model.

Search by barcode or camera

Use Search barcode in Model to open an EAN field initialized from the current vehicle form. Type or paste the value, use a keyboard scanner, or start the camera.

Submitting a non-empty code copies it into the local EAN field, leaves the article number unchanged, closes the barcode dialog, and runs an EAN-only search. The EAN is not stored until the vehicle itself is saved.

Camera scanning requires:

• a secure browser context such as HTTPS or localhost;
• browser camera support and permission;
• a readable code with at least eight digits after non-digits are removed.

RailKeeper requests the environment-facing camera when available. Detection fills the field but does not submit the search automatically. If permission, browser support, or detection fails, enter the EAN manually or use a keyboard scanner.

Review and apply one result

Selections belong to one result at a time. A found field starts selected only when the current vehicle field is empty. Equal values and conflicts are not selected automatically. Images are never preselected. An image whose preview fails disappears and is removed from the selection.

Open the source and compare the article identity before selecting anything. Check conflicts and plausibility across all field groups. Apply selected fields then applies only the checked valid fields from this result. Boolean text is converted into RailKeeper's stable boolean representation. Selected images become pending remote images. If no image is already pending, the first selected image becomes the main-image candidate.

Applying closes the result dialog but does not write to the server. Inspect the complete vehicle form and pending image list, then use Create or Save changes. Closing the vehicle editor or reloading before that save loses the applied fields, EAN, and pending images.

Vehicle save writes the core vehicle first, then downloads selected remote images sequentially. If a later image fails, the vehicle and earlier images remain stored, and the normal final refresh is not performed. Reload the vehicle, compare its stored images, and retry only the missing ones. See Vehicle images and attachments for ordering, metadata, previews, maintenance links, and deletion after import.

Find and import web documents

Open the saved vehicle's Uploads tab and use Found documents. The search uses the vehicle's stored identity and the normal manufacturer, gauge, and article-number-or-designation requirement. Results are deduplicated by URL or title and show title, kind, and source.

RailKeeper recognizes a previously imported document when its URL occurs in an attachment description. Such a row cannot be selected again and offers local download and open actions. Import one remaining result, or select all results that are not already stored.

An import downloads the external content and stores it as a real local vehicle attachment. Its description records the source and source URL. RailKeeper infers one of these categories:

• Ersatzteilliste for spare-parts signals;
• Anleitung for manual or instruction signals;
• Dokumentation otherwise.

The server accepts only public HTTP(S) URLs, rechecks redirect destinations, and blocks private or internal targets. It also enforces the configured attachment size and type rules, rejects empty files, and applies a ten-second remote request timeout.

Importing several selected documents sends requests sequentially. A later failure leaves earlier documents stored and prevents the normal final refresh and selection reset. Reload the vehicle, compare the attachment list, and retry only missing URLs.

Extract spare parts from an attachment

Every stored attachment offers Extract spare parts. The action first saves that selected attachment's current description, category, and maintenance link. It then analyzes only this attachment and creates the accepted suggestions. Only after the complete sequence succeeds does RailKeeper reload the vehicle and switch to Spare parts.

Extraction requires a saved vehicle article number. The server reads at most 12 MiB from the attachment and returns at most 80 unique suggestions. Likely spare-parts PDFs, manuals, service sheets, HTML, and supported text content can be analyzed. PDF text is extracted directly first. Scanned PDFs can use optional OCR supplied by the operator. Without working OCR, a scan can legitimately produce no suggestions.

The stable action has no confirmation or row preview. It cleans descriptions, drops empty and document-title-like rows, removes duplicates already stored on the vehicle, and creates every remaining candidate sequentially. A source URL pointing back to RailKeeper's own attachment download is not stored as an external spare-part link.

Attachment metadata and earlier spare parts remain stored if a later request fails. The normal reload and tab switch then do not occur. Reload the vehicle manually and compare its attachment and spare-part data before retrying.

Maintain spare parts manually

The Spare parts tab becomes writable after the vehicle exists. The editor contains article number, description, price as free text, and external link. At least article number, description, or link is required. Price alone is invalid.

New and updated values are trimmed. The initial table order is article number ascending. Select a column heading to toggle ascending or descending order for article number, description, price, or link.

Creating a part with an existing identity updates the matching entry instead of adding another row. Identity uses normalized article number first, otherwise normalized URL, otherwise description. Article-number normalization ignores an ET prefix, punctuation, spaces, and case. The create merge preserves existing non-empty values and fills only fields that are still empty. Editing a selected row writes exactly its four submitted fields.

Save, apply, and delete actions persist immediately and reload the complete vehicle after success. Delete has no additional confirmation. Because a full reload replaces unrelated unsaved vehicle-editor state, save or intentionally discard other edits first.

Look up one stored spare part

A stored part with an article number offers Search this spare part. The lookup uses the vehicle manufacturer, the spare-part article number, manufacturer and catalog sources, and a Piko or Roco lookup mode when applicable. The stable UI displays at most five candidates, preferring results with price, then availability, then link.

Each result can show price, availability, source, and an external link. Apply price and link updates the stored part immediately. Article number and description remain unchanged. Availability is displayed but not stored. If the selected candidate has no price, the stable controller can use another priced candidate's price and URL from the same result list.

Opening the tab also checks linked spare parts once for the current vehicle state. Piko and Roco use one manufacturer-overview request. Other manufacturers check only the first four externally linked parts that also have article numbers. The indicator classifies recognizable text as available, limited, unavailable, or unknown. It remains a live suggestion, not local inventory or a purchase promise.

Import a Piko or Roco manufacturer overview

Find available spare parts is enabled only when all of these conditions are met:

• the vehicle is saved;
• its manufacturer name contains Piko or Roco;
• the vehicle article number is not empty;
• the user has Admin or Editor access to the editable UI.

The button can still be selected while article search is disabled. In that case RailKeeper stops before the external request, displays the Settings message, and stores nothing.

RailKeeper searches the manufacturer overview and builds a conservative import plan. Matching prefers normalized spare-part article number, then description, then URL. Repeated suggestions are consolidated. Existing matches are updated first, and missing parts are created second.

Existing article number and description are retained. Existing price and external URL also win; only missing price or URL is filled. The updates and creates run sequentially without a transaction or confirmation preview. A later failure leaves earlier rows stored and prevents the normal final refresh. Reload and compare before retrying. No missing spare parts found can mean that every manufacturer suggestion already matches a stored row, not that the manufacturer has no parts.

Protect data during multi-step actions

The timing of persistence and refresh differs by action:

Action	Persists data	Full vehicle refresh
Run article or barcode search	No	No
Apply result fields or images	No, local editor only	No
Save vehicle after applying a result	Core vehicle, then remote images sequentially	Only after full success
Search found documents	No	No
Import one web document	Immediately	After success
Import selected web documents	Sequentially	Only after full success
Extract spare parts	Attachment metadata, then parts sequentially	Only after full success
Add, update, apply lookup, or delete one spare part	Immediately	After success
Check price or availability	No	No
Import Piko/Roco overview	Updates, then creates sequentially	Only after full success

No later failed request rolls back an earlier successful request in the same sequential workflow. Reload, compare stored data, and retry only missing work after any partial failure.

Search responses, result selections, and unsaved form changes are transient browser state and do not belong to a backup. Once saved, article-derived vehicle fields, imported images, attachment metadata and blobs, and vehicle spare parts belong to local RailKeeper application data and are included in the application backup scope.

Before a large document batch, extraction run, manufacturer import, or cleanup, create an application backup and validate it. External source URLs and spare-part links can still disappear outside RailKeeper and are not made durable by a local backup.

Resolve empty, partial, and error states

Situation	What to do
Article search is disabled	Enable it in Settings for this browser, or continue without external suggestions.
Normal search is disabled	Enter manufacturer, gauge, and article number or designation.
Camera does not start	Use HTTPS or localhost, check permission and support, or enter the code manually.
No article result appears	Refine the identity and selected sources without weakening source verification.
Detail page failed or was skipped	Open the source and use only fields you can verify.
A found image disappears	Its preview failed. Select a different source image.
Applied values vanish	They were local draft state. Apply them again and save the vehicle.
Remote-image save partly fails	Reload and compare stored images before retrying only missing ones.
No web documents appear	Check saved vehicle identity and sources. Not every source exposes documents.
Document import fails	Check public URL, redirects, type, size, and remote availability.
Document batch partly fails	Earlier documents remain stored. Reload and retry only missing URLs.
Extraction finds nothing	Check vehicle article number, content, text extraction, and optional OCR.
Extraction partly fails	Metadata and earlier parts can already be stored. Reload and compare.
Spare-part form is rejected	Enter article number, description, or link. Price alone is insufficient.
Single lookup is disabled	Store a spare-part article number and enable article search.
Availability is unknown	Treat it as unverified external status and open the source.
Manufacturer overview is disabled	It requires Piko or Roco and the saved vehicle article number.
Manufacturer import partly fails	Reload, compare, and rerun only after understanding stored results.
A spare part was deleted without a prompt	Deletion is immediate. Recovery requires a suitable backup.

Some stable backend and frontend branches still show German errors in English mode. Treat the message as a stable UI limitation and use the persistence rules above to determine what may already have been stored.

Related pages

• User Guide overview
• Accessories overview, for accessory articles and stock kept separately from vehicle-specific spare-part records
• Vehicle inventory and basic data
• Vehicle images and attachments
• Vehicle maintenance and condition
• Decoder, functions, and CV data

Documented RailKeeper version

This page documents stable RailKeeper v0.1.20.3 and was last reviewed on 2026-08-16.