TransXChange

Publisher GUI 2.4a.1 - Help

The TransXChange Publisher allows users to render a TransXChange XML document into a human readable form suitable  for printing. The Publisher Desktop GUI allows you to invoke the publisher easily from a Windows desktop environment.

You can use it to...

  • Publish registration particulars from Registration TransXChange XML documents.
  • Publish timetable matrices from TransXChange XML documents.
  • Publish route track maps from TransXChange XML documents.
  • Diagnose validation and business rule errors in TransXChange XML documents.

Read a summary of the steps involved in using the publisher.

Overview

The Publisher Desktop GUI is a windows application with the following main areas:

  • Menu bar. Application menus for accessing the help system.
  • File choosers. Two file chooser boxes and browsers for choosing the input file and output directory.
  • Input Options tabs:
  • Publish button. Press this to publish the document.
  • Output console. Messages appear here after publication.

Illustration of main tab

The Menu bar has a Help menu with two menu items:

  • About This shows the version number of the publisher. (You should quote this if you ever need support.)
  • Online Help... This opens these help pages in a browser window for the version of the publisher that you are running.

File choosers

There are two boxes below the menu bar.

  • TransXChange document. The name of input file to be published. An error will occur if this box is left blank, or if the file doesn't exist.
  • Output directory. Where the output file (or files) will be published. Leave this blank to have output file(s) published in the same directory as the input file.

Main tab

The Main tab (illustrated above) provides options to control which document sections and content are included in the published output.

The Main Tab is made up of the following screen elements:

Document Sections

  • Particulars. The particulars section includes a summary of the contents of the TransXChange file, (for example how many stops and journeys) ) followed by a textual listing of the entities described in the file (such as operators, services, routes, and stops).
    • Full publishes all details from the TransXChange file. This is the default.
    • Basic publishes all required details from the TransXChange file for an EBSR registration. Omits certain additional informative values, such as alternative address, other operator code.
    • None omits the particulars section entirely.
  • Timetable. The timetable section contains matrix timetables for the services in the TransXChange file. Separate timetables are generated for different services, directions (e.g. outbound and inbound), and day types (e.g. a Monday to Friday timetable, and a Saturday timetable).
    • Full publishes timetable matrices with footnotes. This is the default.
    • Basic publishes timetable matrices, but suppresses footnotes.
    • Extra is as for Full, but publishes an additional separate Full timetable in a file named <inputfile>-timetable.pdf.
    • None omits the timetable section entirely.
  • Diagnostic Report. The diagnostics section contains a report detailing violations of consistency checks for the TransXChange document (over and above those expressed in the TransXChange XML Schemas alone). These are business-level rules that help enforce high quality data for TransXChange documents. See TransXChange Publisher Validation & Diagnostic Rules for more on which rules are used.
    • Full publishes a complete report. This is the default.
    • None omits the diagnostics section entirely.

Content

  • Stop points. This option controls which stops appear in the particulars and timetable sections of the output.
    • All includes all stop points in the particulars and timetable sections.
    • Principal points only excludes non-principal timing points (and "other" points) from the particulars and timetable sections.
  • Merge similar frequency journeys. If checked, then groups of consecutive vehicle journeys that are frequency-based (i.e. have Frequency elements specified ) and have the same EndTime value will be published as a single three-column frequency group in the timetable matrix. If unchecked, such vehicle journeys will be shown in the usual manner, as one journey per column.

This option allows you to include separate detailed operational running times and operation data (e.g. run numbers) for the many individual journeys making up a frequent service in a document, but still publish and register the service concisely as a frequent service (i.e. as just three columns: one for the start times; one for the frequency -.e.g. 'and then at least every 10 minutes'; and one for the end times).

  • Include embedded image content in particulars. If checked, then any image resources specified in the TransXChange document (e.g. schematic maps) will be included rendered in the particulars section. If unchecked these secondary resources will be omitted from the published document.

Route Track Map tab

The Route Track Map tab (illustrated immediately below) provides options to control the appearance of a route track map (if any) in the output. The map is to support registration and is not for general commercial use.

To publish route map you need a broadband internet connection and the Publisher web services need to be available.

Illustration of Route Track Map Tab

The Route Track Map Tab is made up of the following screen elements:

Document Sections

  • Route Track. The route track section is a separate document published in a file named <inputfile>-map.pdf. It consists of route plots for the services in the TransXChange along with an accompanying table of stops.
    • Full publishes a full route track.
    • Basic publishes a basic route track.
    • None omits the route track section entirely.

Content

  • Scale. This option controls the scale of the map tiles.
    • Auto : chooses a scale of 1:10,000 or 1:50,000 by looking at the extent of the route and using some simple rules to determine an appropriate level of detail.
    • 1:10,000 uses a scale of 1:10,000.
    • 1:50,000 uses a scale of 1:50,000.
  • Tiling This option controls how the map is split across pages.
    • A4 tiles splits the map into A4 size pages suitable for printing.
    • Single image scales the map to fit on a single page. This is appropriate for viewing on a screen using pan and zoom controls.
  • Combine route directions on single map. If checked, then all directions for a route will be plotted on the same map. If unchecked, then a separate map is plotted for each direction.
  • Stop List Order. Controls the order in which the list of stop are shown on a route track
    • timetable: stops are shown and numbered in same order as they appear in the matrix
    • map: Stops are listed in North south spatial order

Data Sources

  • Stop Location Data. This option controls the source from which to obtain stop point location data for plotting stops described in the the TransXChange document using Annotated Stop References (i.e. references to stops in the NaPTAN database).
    • Web service uses the official NaPTAN Web Service as the source for the location for stop points (The location for locally declared stops will still be taken from the local definition). If you use this option then you must have internet connectivity in order to access the data.
    • TransXChange document uses the TransXChange document being published as the source for the location for annotated stop points. The Web service will not be used. If you use this option then the document must contain the required stop data locally. Only 2.2a or later schema stops can contain this data.
  • Map Data. This option controls where map tiles are obtained from.
    • Web service uses the official Map Web Service as the map tile data source. If you use this option then you must have internet connectivity in order to access the data.
    • None turns off map tile retrieval. The route maps will be plotted with a blank background.

Advanced tab

The Advanced options tab (illustrated immediately below) provides advanced options to control the output of the publisher.

Illustration of Advanced Options Tab

The Advanced Tab is made up of the following screen elements:

Processing Options

  • Validate XML. If checked (the default), then the TransXChange document is validated against the XML Schema. The validating step for a large document takes some time. In order to save processing time you can uncheck this option if you have previously validated your document. Note that invalid documents may fail to publish in hard to diagnose ways, so it is not recommended that you disable validation.
  • Output format. This option controls the format of the output documents.
    • PDF publishes as Adobe's Portable Document Format (the default). This format is fully supported and is suitable for printing.
    • HTML publishes as HTML web pages. This format is for testing, and currently only supports publishing of timetable matrices. It is not suitable for printing.

Publish button

Press the Publish button when you have selected you options and are ready to publish your TransXChange document. The progress bar below the button will be animated while the publishing is underway. When the publishing has finished a message will appear in the Output console.

Output console

When a document has been successfully published a message will appear in the console including a link to the output document. Click on the link to see the published PDF. (It may take a few seconds to open Acrobat Reader if it is not already running.)

If there was a problem publishing a document then the console will display an error message. Have a look at the Publisher troubleshooting reference for further help.

Initial Defaults

The following are the initial defaults for the Publisher. these may be changed using the GUI.

The EBSR version of the publisher uses the default values.

Tab Option Defaults
Main Particulars Basic
  Timetable Full
  Diagnostic Report Full
  Stop Points PTP
  Merge Similar Frequency Journeys Journeys Yes
  Include embedded image Yes
Route Track Map Route Track Full
  Scale Auto
  Tiling A4
  Combine Route Directions No
  Stop List order (+TXC v2.4) Timetable
  Map Stop Location Data Source for Annotated Stop Point Refs Web
  Map Data Source Web
Advanced Validate XML Yes
  Stop Data Output PDF


Page last updated: 2010/04/05

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