DIVA 4 and EFA 10 - Paradigm Change at the VVS

4 mdv news II/2011
Migration
A customer like the VVS in Stuttgart that
has had DIVA for more than 25 years naturally
uses every function available to the
system. Even when programs are not
exhaustively tested, they get refined in collaboration
with users. This was a main task
for the last few years and customer and
supplier were pleased to be able to deliver
all products by the end of November.
Mrs. Beckert und Mr. Oldenbürger (both VVS)
Timetable Management
With DIVA 4, the number of modules was
drastically reduced. Instead of having a
plethora of individual programs in DIVA 3
for stop management, common data
management, operating days, timetable
management, book pages, stop timetables,
the EFA conversion, etc., DIVA 4 uses a common
web interface called DIVA Web. Using
the DIVA Web layout as a browser application,
data can be accessed over the internet
regardless of server location. The user interfaces
were standardized with functions
being grouped in overview menus.
In addition to DIVA Web, DIVA Schedule is
also used as a client program to manage
timetables. This rich client includes composite
route management and connection
management for planned connections.
DIVA Schedule also provides the option to
plan a simpler vehicle schedule. ‘Vehicle
Schedule Light’ supplies consistency tests
to check the data for the corresponding
general requirements. In this way, trips of
multiple routes which have been combined
into a route group can be planned into
blocks. The finished blocks are subsequently
exported at VVS (AFAB interface)
for third-party ticket machines.
Mr. Kappler, Mr. Rieg (bohth VVS) and Mr. Gölz (mdv)
present the new print products
Book Pages and Timetables
DIVA4 utilizes DIVA Publisher as a central
element for the creation of print media.
This module is where all types of print
media are compiled, managed and printed.
A current application at the VVS is the timetable
book for the Stuttgart Region. Timetable
books include the directories of
routes and stops as well as operators and
points of sale. The directory contents are
automatically compiled from existing items
when the folder is created (a folder is a collection
of print products, e.g. a timetable
book). But for the stop index, a new technology
is in use: the map squares of stops
are automatically accessed based on their
coordinates. This makes manual data entry
of map coordinates unnecessary. The conversion
of the coordinate matrix has also
become simpler.
The directories are followed by the book
pages of the routes. Even items for advertisement
and empty pages can be added as
required. Multiple routes can be grouped
together. Property columns can be displayed
in the publisher view, which provide
an overview of information of the items at
a glance. The following screenshot shows
map items for a timetable book (see figure
1).
Another ‘book page’ type application is the
mini timetable at the VVS. More detail
about this app can be found in the ‘maps’
section below. This kind of timetable is
where book pages are combined with a
cover item and a route option map. The
mini timetables are actually folding maps
that passengers can take with them.
There are several types of stop timetables
that are in use by the VVS. The creation of
print products is done with the same layouts
used in DIVA 3. The outputs have not
changed from DIVA 3 to DIVA 4. In this way
the CBS multi-stop timetables, the regular
stop timetables and the fare tables have
remained identical to their previous versions
(see figure 2)
Figure 1: DIVA Web folder for timetable book
Figure 2: Stop timetable