Enhanced Transit Line Editor Module 2.22

The interactive transit line editor, module 2.22, has been enhanced significantly in the new release. Here is a list of some of these enhancements and additions:

• The modes entered in the ``Enter: Mode'' question of the introductory dialog are now used to restrict the displayed network, the pickable node subset and the transit lines that can be operated upon. This new feature is very useful when working with dense multimodal networks. It avoids picking wrong nodes when entering or identifying line itineraries in sections of the network where different modes are coded as separate parallel links, which are superimposed or coded very close together.
• The worksheet status is now displayed permanently, by filling and coloring red the currently active command boxes.
• 1-letter commands (similar to module 2.12) are now available as alternatives to clicking the corresponding command boxes:

      Operations:
          a   add line
          d   delete line
          m   modify line
          l   list line
      Line Itinerary:
          c   Cancel last segment
          e   End of line
      Options:
          s   Status
          n   Numeric input
          u   Use same data
          g   Graphic command (Update Plot)
          r   Restart
          q   Quit

• The CANCEL SEGMENT/ITINERARY/LINE command will now remove from the screen the section of the itinerary which has been canceled, to provide immediate feedback. Also, the CANCEL SEGMENT operation (which can now also be activated by the 1-letter command ``c'', see above) can now be applied repeatedly. For the first time, all segments that were added when the last node was entered will be removed. Subsequent cancel operations will remove (undo) the preceding segments one by one.
• The old color selection in which each transit line was colored differently (in a more or less random way) has been replaced by a new color scheme similar to the one used in module 2.12. Lines that are currently acted upon (add / modify) are shown in red. Once the operation has been completed, the segments remain on the screen but their color is changed to green. Blue is used for itineraries or segments which are just listed or displayed.
• The mode of a line can now be modified by clicking the MODE/NAME box, if at least one alternative transit mode is defined along the entire itinerary.

The most powerful functional enhancement, however, is the implementation of the concept of the USE SAME DATA command to introduce the concept of the reference line . This new feature provides a very general framework to perform much more complex operations on transit lines than just adding or deleting lines.

When the box ``USE SAME DATA'' is clicked (which can be done at any time the crosshair cursor is active) , the user is prompted on the left hand margin with ``USE LINE='' to enter the name of the line to be used as reference line. Once a reference line is specified this way, its definition (both header data and itinerary) becomes available to the editing process in the following ways:

• When adding a line, the default values for the line header attributes are taken from the reference line.
• When entering a line itinerary (add line, modify line itinerary), parts of the itinerary of the reference line can be copied to the new itinerary. This is done by entering ``='' when specifying a node for the continuation of the itinerary. In this case, the corresponding segments, including all their attributes, are copied from the reference line to the current itinerary. In particular, it is also possible in this way to modify the itinerary of the reference line itself. In this case, using ``='' copies the segments from the old itinerary of this line.
• The reference line can be changed or disactivated (by not entering a line name when prompted) at any time, even in the middle of the definition of a line itinerary. Also, the itinerary of the reference line can be plotted by entering the letter ``p'' on the USE SAME DATA box.

These new possibilities can be used to perform all kind of complex transit line editing operations, of which some examples are:

• copy transit line,
• modify itinerary of a line,
• lengthen or shorten transit lines,
• split one line into several lines,
• join several lines into a single line.