Sorry for briefly going on what may appear as a tangent.
This thread has offered an opportunity to emphasize that as the QSI Titan decoder is a perfect example of an abundance of
functions/features "lights", "sounds", "motor control", "smoke", etc...
it is important to emphasize, that a maximum "generality" and "abstraction" combined with maximum
"flexibility" is the way to achieve the simplest and most effective way
to configure, and to use/control a decoder and its functionality.
As Jan''s post is pointing out, DCC and DCC/sound decoders on one side, and DCC throttles on the other side, have reached a level of sophistication that leaves far behind the simple model of DCC infancy, in which decoder functions were physically and permanently linked to certain DCC decoder electrical control ports and certain DCC throttle keys, allowing the use of one term for all participating elements. For a better understanding and for a better control of the available features, there is a need for a more adequate use of terms and language.
With the ability of "logically" associating decoder internal functions or controls of lights in a very flexible way to the physical electrical ports of the decoder, the QSI Titan decoders have brought this to a superior level than seen before, which is so great!.
A similar ability of "logically" associating control functions to throttle keys is present in some DCC throttles. For instance on a NCE Power Cab throttle one can change the "default" association of the "horn" button to any other key.
As the control of other model/scale locomotive functions is just around
the corner for HO or N scale, while it may be already present at larger
scales - for instance decoder control of coupling/uncoupling, doors/hatches
opening, cooling fans motion, etc..., the meaning and the distinction
of "function" from the "control/electrical port" of the decoder is
brought to a new level.
As Jan has mentioned the QSI decoder owners/users are already benefiting from a careful choice of terms and language in QSI decoder documentation, With more and more functions/features, that trend, that quest for clarity need be continued, and we can do that too on this forum.
Note: "logical association", or in other words, a "soft association" is
opposite, or different from a "physical association", or in other words
"hard (or hardwired) association". A "logical association" provides the
flexibility of allowing a change through some explicit commands, as opposed
to the "physical association", which is permanent for the life of a
decoder, or throttle
Note2: "generality" and "abstraction" is meant to indicate that even though from a certain perspective functions may be physically completely different/distinct, they can be treated in a similar way, from the perspective of the decoder's control and configuring mechanisms.
