Interactive Electronic Technical Publications (IETPs) and Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETMs), in the most elementary terms, are technical documentation authored and published in digital formats for on-screen presentation via a compatible electronic display system (tablets, desktop computers, etc).
Although both IETP and IETM provide access to electronic repositories or documents containing images and other data and both terms may be unknowingly used interchangeably, there are fundamental differences in the way IETM and IETP deliverables are procured and produced. As a result, it is crucial to thoroughly review your client’s requirements for content delivery format and consult a subject matter expert before creating either an IETP or IETM. This also applies to selecting a compatible software solution for your aerospace technical content, as pricing can vary depending on its capability to navigate more complex classes of the documentation. For an overview of IETM and IETP, please refer to the information below.
IETM, the classes of IETM, and corresponding system compatibility
IETM – an interactive electronic technical manual is a digitally formatted maintenance/operation/training manual per international standards such as ATA. The functionality of an IETM is broken down into five main classes, in which each successive class further advances the system’s capabilities to efficiently navigate the data of the technical content. A sixth class exists, but its implementation is extremely limited and very rare
1. Class I – II: Portable Document Format (PDF) outputs natively supported by most legacy and modern operating systems/web browsers
- Class I:
- Structured similar to a printed publication, this IETM system displays content in full-page with raster images. Basic navigation is allowed via indexes and table of contents hyperlinks into the content of the document.
- Class II:
- Still abiding by the structure of scrolling PDF, this system adds hypertext (usually SGML /XML) tags to ASCII-encoded, page-oriented documents, allowing a limited degree of extensibility for the author to add navigation components.
2. Class III: Formatted with a markup language, outputs require a dedicated SGML/XML-based Software
- Class III:
- Authored in Standard Generalized Markup Language) SGML or (Extensible Markup Language) XML towards a complete hypertext presentation system with fully hyperlinked content, the system features a next-level degree of extensibility and flexibility by permitting the author to employ rich navigation features. The document is rendered similarly to a web page with similar components including dialog boxes and Page/Keyword search.
3. Class IV – V: Formatted with a markup language, output requires a dedicated SGML/XML-based Software
- Class IV:
- In this class, data is now authored into and maintained in a relational or object-oriented hierarchical database, this essentially indicates the document is no longer “static” and data can change dynamically to meet a user’s inputs while eliminating content redundancy.
- Class V:
- The documentation is integrated with a state-of-the-art system possessing the ability to aggregate and analyze data in real-time from various sources of user input. Class V IETM is highly complex and currently finds limited real-world application, mostly in the defense sectors of aerospace.
S1000D IETP – The golden standard for exchanging technical documentation
IETP – interactive electronic technical publication is the digital technical content format produced in accordance with the S1000D Functionality Matrix. Instead of a “solid”, monolithic publication, S1000D compliant documentation is broken down into independent data modules marked with XML metadata containing various information relating to the asset. This results in a highly dynamic system allowing data to be optimally arranged towards a customized viewing experience, as well as an enterprise-grade extent of content reuse and ease of cross-organizational exchange.
S1000D IETP outputs will also require an XML-based solution designed for using the data modules per the S1000D standard and presenting them informatively for human interpretation. This also includes the capabilities to fully/accurately render all graphics file formats recommended under S1000D such as Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM).
Are you currently looking for an IETM/IETP solution?
A product of SYNAXIOM, the NIVOMAX Suite offers a three-in-one solution to build, use, and deliver IETMs & IETPs compliant with the next-generation S1000D specification and Air Transport Association (ATA) legacy data formats.
Used with confidence in the industry including one of three aircraft manufacturers globally, NIVOMAX gives a significant contribution to ensuring accuracy, compliance, and efficiency of the technical content delivery process for thousands of individual users and mission-critical business units in the aerospace industry.
Let SYNAXIOM hear you – we can help you address any specific concerns and requirements with displaying S1000D and ATA technical publication as well as help you determine whether NIVOMAX is the right solution for your operations.