S1000D Issue 4.2 vs. Issue 4.1 - Parts I & II
Part 1: The Changes Made
The principal changes made in Issue 4.2 are identified below:
- A substantial number of clarifications and rewording to eliminate ambiguities have been made.
- The requirements for the display of the ICN in the final output is now optional.
- Colored lines may be used in line art.
- The generic ICN title given in the ICN metadata file can be used to populate figures and multimedia titles in data modules.
- The element
<derivativeClassification>
is introduced. - Each project has to set up a style guide for presenting captions and caption groups.
- The project can use OEM renamed part numbers instead of part numbers allocated by the part design authority in the attribute partNumberValue.
- The illustration annotations requirements have been relaxed.
- The element
<learning>
has been revised to include optional occurrences of element<title>
in several locations. This provides a readable and unambiguous presentation. - The top-level preliminary requirements may be used for maintenance inspections.
- The attribute timeLimitCategoryValue in the element
<timeLimit>
is used to identify safety items. - Business rules documents are introduced and include:
- Both single or multiple business rules document data modules may be used.
- New data in business rules document data modules may exceed five levels of depth.
- The attribute brDecisionIdentNumber and the attribute id are identified in the business rules document
- Standardized responses to describe business rules decision values are allowed.
- The presentation of controlled content is decided by the project.
- The number of levels to be presented in the Table of contents is decided by the project.
- Whether and when to present the DME in references and tables is a project decision.
- Whether and when to present the issue number of the data module or the technical publication in references and tables is a project decision.
- The presentation of production management data is a project decision.
- Whether to present only Name or both Name and Alternate name in the list of support equipment is a project decision.
- There were a large number of changes to Business Rule Decision Points. These include:
- 23 new Business Rule Decision Points (BRDP) were introduced.
- 136 BRDPs were deleted
- 128 BRDPs were reworded to some extent.
- The most substantial changes in Issue 4.2 are those related to Business rules and the BREX:
- A new schema has been introduced for the Business rules document. The Business rules document has been assigned to ICN 024. A template has been created that includes the business rules decision points in Issue 4.2.
- This schema provides a way to document business rules in a standardized way. The use of the template ensures that no business rule is omitted or overlooked.
- Both single or multiple business rules document data modules may be used.
- New data in business rules document data modules may exceed five levels of depth.
- Standardized responses to describe business rules decision values are allowed.
- There is nothing compelling about issue 4.2 that requires projects to adopt this issue of S1000D over Issue 4.1. This is particularly true if the organization already has business rules and BREX developed for issue 4.1
- The inclusion of the Business rules document does offer some potential advantages. The business rules documents are discussed in greater detail in Part 2 of this document.
- If the organization does not have business rules and BREX developed for issue 4.1, consideration should be given to adopting Issue 4.2. Consideration must be given to customer preference. If the customer (who is always right) has expressed their preference for issue 4.1 of S1000D then the movement to issue 4.2 cannot be made. This is currently the case with US military implementations. The Joint Service rules are based on issue 4.1
- Publications for the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 777X series aircraft are being prepared using S1000D issue 4.2.
Part 2: The Business Rules Documents – Concept
The business rule documents are used as a method of governing the business rule in the life cycle of the project.
The business rules document data module provides unambiguous descriptions of business rules decisions for a project. The use of the business rule document is optional, a project can decide to exclusively use the business rules document data module or use another means to capture the business rules.
The business rules document data modules provide:
- a place to record decisions
- a means of exchanging business rules between concerned parties while rules are being developed
- a reference to business rules in various documents
- a reduced risk of any misinterpretations and misunderstandings through formal descriptions of the business rules
- governance and capturing of business rule decisions including explanations and guidance through the life of the project and/or organization
- a means to record the priority and severity information for each business rule decision
- a means of identifying the business rules decisions to capture in a BREX data module
- a means of indicating relationships between various BRDP and various constructs defined by S1000D
- a method of tracking the required dates for business rules development and recording the progress of business rules development
There are two approaches to using the Business rule document information included in S1000D Issue 4.2.
- For those of us not so capable with XML and those working in groups where XML may not be convenient. A pdf format of the temple is also included in the specification. The pdf format includes each business rule decision point.
- Paragraphs numbered 1.N (where N is any number) is entitled Business rule decision point – (followed by the business rule decision point number) – (followed by the short title)
- Paragraph 1.N.1 is entitled Business rule decision point and identifies:
- Places in specification
- Business rules categories
- Related S1000D XML Schemas
- Paragraph 1.N.2 is entitled Business rule decision point content (with a short title) and identifies:
- A more detailed definition of the business rule decision point
- Values allowed
To effectively use this pdf format of the template, create a new paragraph 1.N.3 with the following content:
- 1.N.3 Business rule decision:
- Date business rule must be completed or was completed
- Business rule priority (if the BR priority is used)
- Business rule severity level (if the BR severity level is used)
- Current date
- Business rule: (When the decision is made, include the text of the business rule decision made including the value or values)
- Explanation: Why was this decision made? / Why has the decision not been made?
- Next Action and who is the owner of the next action
- Next action date
- Should this item be encoded in the BREX?
As the business rules are completed the information could be provided to someone with the XML skills to encode the business rules in the newly introduced business rule document data module.
Where organizational or project business rule decision points exist, paragraphs 1.N, 1.N.1, and 1.N.2 must be created where N is the unique identifier of the organizational or project business rule decision point. Then paragraph 1.N.3 must be created
For those skilled in XML, the specification includes an XML template for a business rule document. The template has collected for each business rule decision point identity, title, explanation of the decisions to be made, and related information including the business rule category and related schema.
Each business rule decision has been assigned the value of
<brDecisionPending>
. To use the template, replace the element<brDecisionPending>
with the element<brDecision>
and add the appropriate<brAudit>
information.After completing this task 427 times the business rules are essentially complete. Furthermore, they are rigidly defined in an S1000D compliant data module. This information is easily exchanged and maintained. The use of the template helps ensure completeness because every business rule decision point has been included in the template which was prepared as part of S1000D Issue 4.2.
The next part of this document will identify the XML elements, their attributes, and children which were introduced in Issue 4.2 to create the business rule data module.