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[WolfeyS]

Whenever I try to use the command to 'take from a pile' it seems to only be able to have two happening simultaneously.

For example:
A takes from D
B takes from E
but as soon as I try to add another one in:
C takes from F
the first one (A takes from D) will be removed.

Is this something that is hardcoded in, a bug, or is it fixable?

[i2amroy]

Currently piles are able to take from as many piles as they want but can only have one pile take "from" them. Other than you accidentally saying C takes from D or something like that, then yes, you are experiencing a bug.

[WolfeyS]

That may be it, I'm trying to have seperate stockpiles (one for coal and one for ore) siphon off from the main stone stockpile, I'll have to figure something else out.
Thanks for the quick responce.

Edit: I could be lazy and have different stockpiles for each resource but that is annoying.

[Sutremaine]

You can chain the stockpiles so that the main stockpile feeds into a coal / ore stockpile that feeds into an ore stockpile, but I'm not sure if haulers will go directly to the correct stockpile or go through as many links of the chain as necessary.

[melphel]

To my knowledge, haulers will relocate items only to the pile that is taking from. 

Sorting this way would make it better if you are trying to reduce the distance of individual hauling jobs.  However, sorting out items by making exclusive stockpiles would get items to where they need to be faster since they won't have to travel through a chain of stockpiles, but then haulers will travel the full distance to the item and back to the stockpile.

For example, a siege has just been defeated and the ground outside the walls is littered with equipment and bodies.  If you place a stockpile that will accept all of that stuff just inside the main gate, your haulers will have a short distance to bring all that stuff inside.  This will get the battlefield cleared relatively fast.  However, all that stuff is in one big unorganized pile, and far from the workshops.  It will have to travel through a chain of stockpiles to sort it all out and get the metal goodies to the piles next to the smelters.

Now suppose that big stockpile inside the gate isn't there.  Your haulers will take each item to it's appropriate pile right away, but they will have to travel all the way into the fort to drop off the item they are carrying before they can go pick up something else.  This could mean that the battlefield takes longer to be cleared, and dwarves will be exposed outside longer.

Unless you are really short on haulers, or want to clear out the mines asap, you probably don't need to chain your stockpiles.

[i2amroy]

You can chain the stockpiles so that the main stockpile feeds into a coal / ore stockpile that feeds into an ore stockpile, but I'm not sure if haulers will go directly to the correct stockpile or go through as many links of the chain as necessary.

I do know that haulers will haul things through multiple stockpiles assuming all of the stockpiles are set to be able to take the given objects. Say you have three food stockpiles and A->B->C then haulers will haul food into A, then haul it to B, and then finally haul it to C. Since the nearest "job" when they are done with any of the hauling tasks is to haul to the next stockpile however, you tend to get them carrying it straight A->B->C without stopping though. (A little funny sometimes when A is next to C since they haul it all of the way to B before hauling it back.) I don't think that chained stockpiles would work if say, A and C accepted plants but B did not. Plants would then probably get put into A and then be unable to make the jump to C since B wouldn't accept them.

[Sutremaine]

For fast battlefield clearing I use a dump zone to get everything out of the way and then sort it from there. Since anything that gets dropped gets forbidden, all dumping does is concentrate the spoils in one safe tile.

I don't think that chained stockpiles would work if say, A and C accepted plants but B did not. Plants would then probably get put into A and then be unable to make the jump to C since B wouldn't accept them.

Yeah, if you do chain stockpiles to replicate one pile going into many you can only take away options as you get further away from the initial pile.

[khearn]

You can chain the stockpiles so that the main stockpile feeds into a coal / ore stockpile that feeds into an ore stockpile, but I'm not sure if haulers will go directly to the correct stockpile or go through as many links of the chain as necessary.

They'll only carry an item one hop at a time.

The trouble with this is that if you use a lot of ore, but not much coal (say you have a magma furnace), then eventually your coal+ore stockpile gets filled up with only coal and no more ore gets to your ore stockpile because it never gets to the coal+ore stockpile. Even if you use equal amounts of coal and ore, if your coal supply is closer to the main stockpile than your ore supply, then you'll probably still eventually end up with the coal+ore pile getting filled up with just coal.

I use take chains for food and drink. My kitchens and stills are usually near the top of my fort, and each has a large output stockpile close by. A level or two down is my main dining room, with a stockpile next to it for drinks, and one for prepared food. Each takes from the stockpiles by the stills and kitchens. Down a few levels is my workshop area, which has a drink stockpile which takes from the dining room drink stockpile. Then down at the bottom next to the magma forge is another dining room with drink and prepared food piles. The drink pile takes from the workshop level drink pile, and the food pile takes from the main dining room prepared food pile. So the food flows down from the top of my fort to the bottom, as needed. But you have to keep the two chains separate, or the last pile will often end up with just drinks or just food.

I also use them for shop supplies. I'll have a small wood stockpile just above the carpenter's shop, usually 3x4. Then nearby I have a 10x10 wood pile, and the pile above the shop takes from the larger pile. The larger pile usually takes from a pile up on the surface (or just inside the front gate) that gets filled by haulers when the wood is cut. So the carpenter never has to go more than a few steps to get wood, but I don't waste a lot of space just above the shops. Before the carpenter can use 12 logs, the haulers have started refilling his handy pile and have no problem keeping up with him. Similar setups work for stones, bones, etc.

[WolfeyS]

I'm just trying to keep a pile of 3 of a resource near the workplace that uses it. Stones by masons, ore by smelter, ect.