railML.org has officially launched railVIVID 2.0 with significant improvements to the validation of railML® data. The release introduces completely restructured features with a strong focus on maintainability and usability and is now available for productive use.

What is railVIVID?

railVIVID is a free tool for validating and visualising railML® data. It provides an accessible way to check railML® files without requiring deep knowledge of XML or railML® syntax. The tool is particularly useful for railway software developers, data analysts and certification applicants to resolve errors in their railML® files. While it does not replace official certification of railML® interfaces, it serves as an essential pre-validation tool to refine their files prior to submission.

Where it started?

At the 45th railML® Conference, discussions highlighted the complexity and functionality issues of railVIVID 1.3.0 for railML® validation and visualisation. After evaluating several options, the decision was made to develop railVIVID 2, a modernised version based on .NET 8.

Key features  in railML 2.0

With this release, railVIVID 2.0 refines its validation process, in particular accurate syntactic and semantic checks based on official railML® schemas and approved semantic constraints. The tool is freely available as desktop  application with a better performance and compatibility. It provides various export options for users to save validation results in PDF, CSV or Excel formats for further analysis and reporting. Notable improvements include:

• Extended syntactic validation capabilities for official railML 2.x, 3.x files with more precise checks for improving data consistency;
• Partial semantic validation, in particular against approved railML 2.X constraints;
• Detailed insights into syntactic and semantic errors, warnings and schema extensions.

What is planned?

Future developments for railVIVID 2 include semantic validation for railML 3.X files, along with integrated reference checking to ensure if references in the file correctly correspond to the element types. Furthermore, a structured, phased approach is planned to implement advanced visualisation capabilities that will allow users to view railML® subschemas in tabular and graphical formats. These visualisation updates will initially focus on railML® 3.X, followed by railML® 2.X, to further enhance the tool's capabilities and make data analysis even more intuitive.

A free download and further information for all interested is available on our website. For further inquiries and feature requests, please contact our railVIVID developer Marharyta Vyskarka via email.