S1000D's cost saving potential grabs Pentagon's attention

Besides keeping planes flying and ships sailing, the S1000D XML/SGML documentation specification is making technical publishing faster and less expensive. DCLnews reports.

The S1000D specification for creating technical publications is creating a big stir in documentation circles. The electronic standard from the Technical Publications Specification Maintenance Group (TPSMG) is already in widespread use in Europe. But industry insiders report that the S1000D's potential for cost savings has grabbed the Pentagon's attention too. Amongst other things, a draft memo has been cited from the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, which recommends making S1000D the standard for documentation associated with weapons systems.

The armed forces, however, haven't waited for official sanction from above. They've already begun deploying S1000D.

"The Global Hawk (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) has been using the specification for the past two-and-a-half years, and the F117A stealth fighter program has been using it for at least four years," says Steven Holloway, the Air Force's program support lead for technical manual specifications and standards in the Operations Support Systems Wing.

The Naval Air Systems Command is also using the specification in its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Leaders of several other NAVAIR programs are looking at the specification for possible use in new and existing products.

"...we are using the spec to pilot a conversion effort involving some F-18 engine data," says Robert Sharrer, a technical data liaison officer at NAVAIR. "[But] at this point NAVAIR hasn't issued a mandate for programs to use or convert to S1000D."

The Army may also adopt S1000D. A spokeswoman for the Army Aviation and Missile Command told Federal Computer Week magazine that the specification "has potential, but that some analysis is needed."

Compatibility

S1000D originated in Europe in the 1980s. But today government and industry representatives from the U.S. and eight European countries make up the TPSMG, which maintains the specification. The group operates under the banner of the U.S. Aerospace Industries Association and the Aerospace and Defense Industries Association of Europe.

"The joining of the U.S. in S1000D activity has meant a surge in progress and an acceptance from other parts of the world that take equipment and supporting information from the U.S. and Europe," says Dennis Hoyland of the British Ministry of Defense and chair of the TPSMG. "They can be assured that the technical information on all of their projects is compatible and can be viewed on the same systems, which will benefit both Europe and the U.S."

This is the key factor driving interest in S1000D - its potential to unify disparate approaches to creating and delivering technical documentation. Previous shots at establishing a standard resulted in fragmentation - too many groups were pushing different military specifications.

"You ended up with information consumers who had to deal with different types of IETMs [Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals] for different types of weapons systems," says P.G. Bartlett, vice president of product marketing at Arbortext, makers of enterprise publishing software.

Cross-platform

According to proponents, it is the inherent interoperability, or cross-platform nature, of S1000D that brings the potential for cost savings.

"S1000D data is easy to reuse and can be displayed on a range of devices, and in a variety of layouts," says Paul Haslam, secretariat and editor-in-chief for S1000D, from O'Neil & Associates. "Using S1000D cuts out unnecessary rework of data, and the expense that goes with that, together with significant reductions in maintaining the data and huge benefits in terms of data management; a few of key reasons it has been adapted by the British Ministry of Defense and other government defense agencies."

Translation into other languages is another area where S1000D reduces costs and speeds up the publication process.

"If a manufacturer of equipment produces its technical manuals to the S1000D standard, the documentation doesn't have to be revamped before it is translated - it is ready to go," says Haslam.

Mikhail Vaysbukh, S1000D technical manager at DCL, makes an additional point on the cost saving potential of S1000D. He says: "Since there will be a single standard across the services run by an independent group, the services will save the cost of developing and sustaining a DTD, FOSI, and IETM as well other related products such as Authoring and Management Tools because the vendors are supporting S1000D in their COTS (commercial off the shelf) products."

Non-linear

S1000D editor-in-chief Paul Haslam goes on to explain that S1000D publications aren't organized by chapters, as are traditional technical documents. This non-linearity facilitates the reuse of content.

"S1000D documents are stored in a database of 'data modules'," he says. "These data modules are made up of text in the form of SGML/XML instances and, together with their associated graphics, are geared to content reuse. A module is created once and can be reused in any amount of publications, which hugely speeds up the creation of documents."

Haslam says the next issue of S1000D - version 2.2 - will be released on May 16th at the TPSMG user forum held in Clearwater, Florida.

DCLnews Editorial