Our New Name
In order to better fit with our mission and provide a more clear and consistant image as our offerings expand, we have changed our name from ‘DCC++ EX’ to DCC-EX, dropping the ‘++’.
We have also changed our product names to have a consistent form of EX-<product name> (without spaces in the product names if there are multiple words).
EX‑CommandStation - EX‑Installer - EX‑WebThrottle - EX‑RAIL - EX‑Turntable - EX‑DCCInspector
To go along with it we have created logos for the individual products
To synopsize:
DCC-EX is the organisation
EX-CommandStation (or EX-CS) is our command station product
Why We Made the Change
When we began this journey, we picked up on the work of Gregg E. Berman who created the original Arduino based DCC “Base Station”, called “DCC++”. He chose that name as a play on words between the NMRA’s “Digital Command Control” specification, “DCC”, and the computer programming language used on the Arduino called “C++”. If you put DCC and C++ together, you get DCC++. So DCC++ became the product name. When we extended and ultimately completely rewrote the software inspired by DCC++, we chose the name “DCC++EX” for “DCC++ Extended”. Over time and with much input from users, we decided we needed to make some changes.
The first change was calling the “Base Station” a “Command Station”. This better reflected standardised terms used in the model railroading community.
We also noticed that there was confusion between our company/team name and the product. “DCC-EX” is the company while DCC++EX was our first product, the Command Station. DCC++EX was being used interchangeably to refer to both the company and the command station. Additionally, DCC++EX is a mouthful, it is difficult to pronounce and requires special characters (the plus signs) when written or typed. This causes issues on places that do not accept plus signs in names, like GitHub and Google.
For the above reasons, and since we have long ago expanded byond the original DCC++ project, we felt it was best to drop the “++”. At the same time, we needed to address the fact that we had a growing list of products and trademarks that should be consistent. While “EX” was always in the name, sometimes it was as a prefix and sometimes as a suffix. To remedy this, all our offerings now begin with “EX”, as in “EX-CommandStation” or “EX-CS” for short.
What Has Not changed
Everything you knew and loved about what we now call “DCC++ Classic”. We have kept the old DCC++ command language and extended it. Switching to EX-CommandStation from DCC++ is a simple upgrade, and using accessories like throttles that speak the DCC++ command language still work as before (with many improvements).
Yet To Do
(These still refer to to DCC++EX and will be changed over time) :
GitHub
FaceBook
Won’t do
internal code references the <DCC++> codes/commands
BaseStationClassic (DCC++) won’t be renamed but does get a new logo