Platform Independent data model
The DATEX II development focussed on the production of a set of reference documents which make a very clear distinction between data (content) and exchange mechanisms. The main part of the work has been focused on the subject of Traffic and Travel Data Models. The technical description provides a very clear distinction between platform independent modelling aspects (PIM) and platform specific modelling aspects (PSM). PIM aspects are described in UML. In each case, a clear distinction between the data modelling (referring to traffic domain) and the data exchange specifications (referring to information and communication technology) were introduced. This approach has been chosen, as it provides several advantages:
- The separation of these aspects provides better understanding of the standard to the users and makes it easier to apply.
- The platform independent aspects can be considered as more stable than the platform (and technology) specific aspects.
- The project has produced explicit models in Unified Modelling Language (UML), which define the contents of DATEX Traffic and Travel publications independent of the exchange mechanism or implementation technology.