9.4 Catalogs

Many elements of a scenario require a detailed description, which may not only be rather lengthy but can also be tedious to repeatedly write if the element is used in several different scenarios. The Catalog element offers the possibility to outsource the description of certain elements from the scenario to a separate file, which may then be referenced from a scenario.

Using a Catalog enhances the reusability of elements and the readability of the scenario at the cost of technical detail in the scenario file. In order to refer to an element detailed within a Catalog, a reference to the Catalog shall be specified in the scenario. At the location where the element is being used, the reference to both the Catalog and the specific element shall be given.

There are eight different kinds of elements that may be outsourced to a Catalog. All kinds of objects may be defined within a Catalog, for example, Vehicle, Pedestrian, and MiscObject, as well as their respective Controller. Navigational instructions in the form of Trajectory and Route may also be stored. Additionally, descriptions of the Environment and instances of Maneuver may be outsourced this way.