When does your business need to implement the S1000D specification?

The S1000D specification was introduced by the ASD (AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe) to help produce, manage and maintain documentation used during military aircraft production. It has been adopted by many organisations and companies since and is often used in industries operating heavy assets. It is now also used for building and maintaining land and marine equipment, also for civil purposes.

Downloading and using the standard is free of fees, but it is usually recommended that professional advice or training be sought before introducing the standard.

There are many commercial tools for working with the S1000D standard. The documentation is managed by IETMs or IETPs (which stand for Interactive Electronic Technical Manual and Interactive Electronic Technical Publication respectively).  They allow compressing large amounts of text into electronic publications that can be distributed on CD/DVDs or accessed online.

IETMs include not only text but hyperlinks, which are an important part of the system. Figures, charts and images can also be stored in the system. The documents are often authored in XML/SGML. Depending on the class of the Interactive Electronic Technical Publication the data can also be stored in a relational database.

For more information on the S1000D specification and Interactive Electronic Technical Manual solutions visit the ADG website: www.absolutedata.com