Users Forum

I have had a slightly belated look at the S1000D User forum which is taking
place this week - indeed as I post this it is already Day 3 with plenty still to
come. I know that we have several people attending this event and I
have no doubt that they will be very pleased to see you (Mekon Stand).

What has interested me quite a lot is that S1000D does seem to be catching up with work carried out in the UK under the banner of the MoD Def Stan 00-60 specification. In that document the link was very firmly made between the ILS LSA (Mil Std 1388), S1000D Technical Documentation, and parts handling and organisation via S2000M.

Another interest which is highlighted by some of the sessions at the S1000D User Forum is the direction and some of the thinking behind some of the 'new features' of S1000D Issue 4 more of which another time.

Integration of Documentation

As part of the work with the UK MoD it became obvious fairly early on that the Def Stan 00-60 view of the processes involved in documentation was not as straightforward as originally intended. The content of the LSA database was nowhere near comprehensive enough for publications, it was in the wrong format and there was no space to store the data modules when they had been created. Several companies within the UK modified their LSA offerings to accommodate this information. I guess that yet again (flag waving here) the UK led the way and hopefully lessons learned here helped make the work coming up much easier and less painful.

Use the Forum Time Wisely

I guess what I will miss by not being at the User Forum is that networking with suppliers of technology and users.

There will be developments which I know I would have found exciting (but not be carried away by - perhaps I am a cynic at heart), users who have solved problems in novel ways who are prepared to talk about them and just those who are attending so that they can try to get to grips with this S1000D Specification.

When I go to exhibitions or conferences and look at what is on offer I have the following golden rules in place:

• do not always believe what you hear
• look carefully at what you are being shown
• ask your obvious questions that closely affect your work
• if something does not say that it does something then it almost certainly does not (first law of software supply - from bitter experience)

Enjoy!