Einführung

Time Distance Diagrams

A time distance diagram decribes the movement of an object depending on the distance which the object has covered and the elapsed time. In this context the term "object" is kept very abstract because an object can represent all sorts of things which are able to move. The objects in the training module are trains, because the training module focuses on the application of time distance diagrams as timetables.

First of all time distance diagrams are two-dimensional coordinate systems. In such a coordinate system the axis of ordinates represents the elapsed time and the axis of abscissae represents the covered distance.
Fixed places on the axis of abscissae, where the objects range between, are marked by a vertical line. In the use case of timetables, the places are normally railway stations which are marked by a vertical line on the horizontal axis and a label (see Figure 4). The labels at the top of a lines show the identifiers which represent the names of the stations.

Beispiel Weg-Zeit-Diagramm
Figure 4

Normally the movement described by a time distance diagram could be linear or curved, depending on whether the tempo of an oject is constant or not. Within the training module the tempo of the trains between two stations is constant. As shown in Figure 4, in our training module the movement of a train will be displayed as a colord linear curve in the diagramm. A movement curve represents the timetable of a train. It defines at which time the train arrives at a station or leaves it, respectively. That means, each color represents a certain train.

In the most cases the context of a time distance diagram determines if the time is measured in hours, minutes, seconds or in an abstract time unit. The training module provides two kinds of time scale. On the one hand you can choose the scaling in hours, minutes and seconds (see Figure 5 right) and on the other hand you can choose the scaling in abstract time units, also called steps (see Figure 5 left). More details on the time scale you will find in the chapter Set Time Range.

Zeiteinteilung
Figure 5

In the diagrams of the training module the stations are placed with equal distances along the horizontal axis. A correct representaion of the spatial placement of the stations is given by a map. With the map you can arrange the stations in a way that the distance between them and their positions are represented correctly. (see Figure 6). More details on the building and editing of a map you will find in the chapter Map.

Lageplan
Figure 6

In the following subsections you will learn more about the working with time distance diagrams. In this context you will learn to create, to edit, to color and to delete stations and timetables. Furthermore, you will see how to set up the time range of a diagram or how to check a time distance diagram for correctness and consistency.

 
Introduction > Time Distance Diagrams

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