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TM
Delivery Format Selection
Raster
Illustrated
Text Data Files
Text
Format
Graphics
and Illustration Formats
Page
Description Language (PDL)
Neutral
Data Files
Interactive
Electronic TM (IETM)
IETM
Viability
IETM
Development
Once the general considerations have been reviewed, the information
contained in this section can be used to select the options best suited for
the defence system program objectives. The options must be evaluated for
usefulness with respect to each phase of the defence system's life cycle and
whether the defence system program's infrastructure can support a particular
option. Once the most suitable options have been selected, the process to
validate and verify these options should be determined.
The following paragraphs discuss additional considerations that must be addressed:
- Deliverable formats and media selection;
- Determination of level of TM development or modification;
- Cost issues associated with the selected deliverable option;
- Sample language for contract deliverables.
The purpose of this paragraph is to determine the status and/or existence of the TM and ultimately to lead the project manager to a decision as to the specific type of digital data and media format required to support the defence system program. In addition to the immediate TM requirements (acquire and/or develop a TM), the project manager should be concerned with the potential long term engineering and support functions and requirements when procuring the TM.
Raster data is a binary representation of an image. Raster may be thought of as the electronic version of a paper document. It contains no intelligence and must be reviewed through human interpretation. There are two types of raster data, tiled, which is the preferred format, and untiled. A tiled raster image resembles a two-dimensional grid with each "tile" or set of pixels representing a portion of the image. Text and graphics in raster data formats allow more rapid and consistent access to the stored images than paper. In addition, raster data formats can be sent via electronic means to remote sites. Through a difficult process, raster files can also be converted to digital (word processor or desk top publishing) documents and edited through manipulation of individual pixels.
With the advent of raster scanning technologies, the ability to convert existing paper TMs to digital data files has become available. Raster conversion is the easiest and most cost effective method for digitizing the existing paper TMs. However, the quality assurance (QA) process by human interpretation required to verify the data contents may increase costs substantially. Also, raster image files require a large amount of memory storage due to their file structure and contain no additional information other than each tile's position on a grid. Technologies are evolving that will be able to convert the raster images to other digital forms (such as vector) for processing, but the project manager should consider other processable data forms first unless the TMs required are legacy data.
Illustrated text data files provide a dynamic form of source data with two possibilities:
- separated files for text, graphics, alphanumeric and audio/visual data; or
- integrated files consolidating some or all of these different data representations.
Text data files include word processing and desk top publishing applications. Such data files can provide the source data for multiple data applications that allow creation of standard and custom documents as well as manipulation of the data for annotate/excerpt or update/maintain purposes. Illustrated text data files can also import generic text and graphics from other sources that may be otherwise incompatible. In addition, there are PDLs, sometimes called text presentation metafiles, which are used to drive output devices such as printers. Finally, project managers may want to consider the new software products for creating platform-independent neutral data files that allow users to save information created in a variety of software applications and formats into a platform-independent file format, which can then be viewed and printed by anyone possessing the appropriate reader software.
There may be instances when illustrated text data files include more than one format of graphical data. The project manager must be aware of this possibility and be prepared to develop/modify the defence system contract requirements accordingly.
There are two possible text formats for consideration. They are the ASCII and tagged ASCII or Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). They are described below.
- ASCII
ASCII was developed as a method of translation for computer processors to interpret alphanumeric characters and symbols through binary representation. ASCII is the basic text information used by most word processing applications and contains no formatting information other than line feed and/or carriage returns. Word processing applications can import ASCII text from other word processing applications, and some word processing applications can translate formatted ASCII from other word processing applications into their own format. This makes ASCII text ideal for most interim deliverables since it can also be imported into an SGML application where it can be SGML-tagged to become a CALS-compliant deliverable.
- SGML
SGML is defined as "A standard that defines a language for document representation which formalizes markup and frees it of system and processing dependencies. It provides a coherent and unambiguous syntax for describing whatever a user chooses to identify within a document."
In the SGML scheme, the document contains only generic tags identifying such structural elements as paragraphs, sections, etc. but no typesetting markup. However, SGML's tagging of ASCII text is a rather cumbersome proposition and may be best suited for final data deliverables rather than interim deliverables.
When considering SGML as a deliverable format, the project manager must determine whether the applicable Document Type Definitions (DTD) and Formatting Output Specification Instances (FOSI) exist and whether the necessary computer environment is available and in place to accept the SGML documentation. Any TMs that will be maintained throughout the life cycle of a defence system should be delivered in SGML format.
Graphics
and Illustration Formats
The three possible graphics formats for consideration are Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM), Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES), and raster. These formats are described below.
- CGM
CGM data is a two-dimensional vector presentation used primarily for charts, figures, and simple drawings. Many types of TMs contain illustration data in this category. CGM is the preferred format for incorporating graphical digital data into TMs. Graphical enhancement has been added to the format, including complete integration of tiled compressed raster.
Application structuring is currently in the process of being added to the CGM format. Extensions will allow CGM generators to tag "objects" of application significance. It will therefore serve to meet the needs of leading edge and future applications of hypertext and hypermedia documents, multimedia documents, IETMs, network-distributed graphical applications, and graphic object databases. (See Section 9 for a more complete discussion on CGM).
- IGES IGES data is a three-dimensional vector presentation used primarily for engineering drawings. IGES may be the preferred choice for graphical data if a CAD database was used as the source. (See Section 9 for a more complete discussion on IGES)
- Raster
See Above for discussion of raster.
Page Description Language (PDL)
A PDL file is executed by an interpreter that controls a raster printer or other output device. A PDL can be used to ensure that the composed document produced by an electronic publishing system (which may impose additional processing limitations, such as font variations or hyphenation) would produce nearly identical hardcopy output on the widest possible spectrum of printer devices.
PDLs are currently not standardized, and a Standard Page Description Language (SPDL) is still being developed. MIL-STD-1840 requires that a system must provide portability of files (PostScript or Impress PDL specifications). PDL document image files can be acquired as interim deliverables or as final deliverables in addition to, but not in place of, other digital data deliverables developed in accordance with the CALS standards.
Several industry-developed software products for creating platform-independent neutral data files have recently become available that allow users to save information created in a variety of software applications and formats, including text, graphics, and spreadsheets, into a platform-independent file format. These files can then be viewed and printed by anyone possessing the appropriate reader software. Many applications also allow reader-software users to annotate data and copy information to paste into other word processing programs. The NATO/NATO nations should consider these applications cautiously since they are not part of the CALS standards.
Interactive
Electronic TM (IETM)
An IETM is a computer-based collection of information needed for the diagnosis and maintenance of a defence system. It is optically arranged and formatted for interactive presentation to the end user on an electronic display system. Unlike other optical systems that display a page of text from a single document, IETMs present interrelated information from multiple sources tailored to user queries.
An IETM is essentially a hypertext document, which consists of a collection of "interconnected writings." These interconnections allow a user to browse through a document by selecting points of interest or hotspots that may be connected to other related text, hotspots, or menus. The user could then continue to follow along these "paths" to other cross-referenced points in that collection of writings. This creates a "pageless" document that, depending on the source database, can contain a collection of information from a variety of sources. Also, rather than limit these documents to pure text, we may incorporate graphics, audio, video, and/or computer programs into the content of the document, creating what is known as a hypermedia document.
By streamlining access to the desired information and by providing multiple paths to other related information, the IETM offers a more efficient and more comprehensive method of using technical information.
Unrestricted by the page-oriented display and the use of sole-source information, the IETM duplicates on the Personal Computer (PC), the research environment available in a well-equipped multimedia library; displays only the actions appropriate for resolving a specific problem; provides fault-isolation tables and diagrams; and guides the technician through the troubleshooting process via a user-friendly query method. IETMs permit the user to locate information more easily and to present it faster and more comprehensively in a form that requires much less storage than paper.
Derived from the LSAR and CAD data, the IETM will inherently become an integral part of the defence system from the outset. Data created throughout the defence system's life cycle will contain all of the information needed to create and revise the necessary IETMs for the program. IETMs require a computer environment with the appropriate presentation systems and software to invoke them.
The project manager should consider whether the TM will ultimately be used in an interactive computer environment, the IETM. The IETM format offers the user distinct advantages over the traditional TM.
Some IETM benefits include:
- reduction in the false removal rate of Line Replaceable Units (LRU) or Weapon Replaceable Assemblies (WRA);
- reduction in troubleshooting time;
- reduction in the TM support costs associated with distribution, management, and storage;
- allowing training activities to concentrate more on generalized training versus system specific training.
The project manager should first determine whether the end item or defence system program is currently in the early phases of design, whether the life cycle requirements for the TM exceed five years, and whether the Technical Data Package (TDP) or LSAR database is available.
If any of these considerations can be answered "NO," then an IETM is not recommended. If all considerations can be answered "YES," then a business case analysis should be performed to determine the economic feasibility of the IETM. If results from this analysis recommend pursuing an IETM or quality readiness and/or support factors lend adequate credence to the need for an IETM, development of an IETM should be pursued.
If IETM development has been selected, the project manager must first determine whether this effort will be associated with an existing IETM in terms of either the modification of an existing IETM or the creation of a supplement to an existing IETM. If this is indeed the case, then the project manager must determine whether an existing infrastructure and display device will be used in conjunction with the IETM and whether this infrastructure uses a proprietary format. If all of the above conditions are true, then the final IETM developed should remain in the existing proprietary format. However, if any of these conditions is not met, then it is advised that the IETM be developed using the new IETM standards.
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10/4/2000 11:16:26 AM by TK Copyright© 1999-2009 LAMP / IDE Virtual Enterprise |