Software Platform as Information Interface
More than two third of cargo handling in Austria takes place on feeder lines. To get an overview of the situation of these railways and to identify future potentials the research project AB_2010 was set up.
IQSOFT was in charge of the project management and the development of the database based software solution. An access-controlled web-enabled platform was developed to record all relevant data of about 1.500 feeder lines, evaluate them and to do trend calculations.
The platform is organised in three big parts:
- A web-enabled database
- Input and output interfaces
- A project homepage
The Database
The database is highly complex und based on a specially developed data model. Altogether 202 attributes are listed; the list of entities contains 40 entries. To be able to use the database also for further analyses, all possible items should be covered. The final database contains a total of 92 linked tables. The license-free open source solution PostgresSQL provides the basis for it.
The Interfaces
Via the input interface developed by IQSOFT all data of every single feeder line can be entered. Data can be entered parallel via multiple computers as well as via internet. The database is accessed via the project homepage und protected against unauthorised access.
There are several options for data output. The export out of the entry mask is by default supported in CSV, Excel or XML. In addition the data can be exported in external systems, like MS Access via an ODBC interface.
Furthermore every user can make two different types of print-out of the data of their feeder line via a printer interface.
- An abridged report with basic information
- A detailed report which contains all data
The Project Homepage
The project homepage fulfils four main functions:
- Publicly available information on the research project
- Database access for authorised user
- Information source for news from the world of feeder lines
- Platform for sending the newsletter to more than 700 feeder line officers
The platform developed by IQSOFT supports data recording, analyses, development of future scenarios as well as information exchange. Thereby it points out important potentials to increase the competitiveness of the Austrian feeding lines.
Technical Facts: PostgreSQL, JSF, Java, Hibernate
