A subset
of FlightPubs is the FlightComply family. The FlightComply
family consists of Conversion Tools, DTDs, and Compliance
Verification Tools tailored to the airline
environment. The following is a brief description
of those functions.
Conversion Tools
The Arbortext Import/Export tool is used to convert
the customer documents into equivalent XML files.
A 'mapper' file converts specific Word styles
and features. For example, a Word ‘Heading
2' might be converted to a Docbook Sect2. Most
of the content is converted without any issue.
The rest must be inspected visually to see how
to solve some basic problems. In some cases, changing
the original Word document is easiest, especially
when the hierarchical structure of the document
is affected. After a reasonably good XML file
is produced, then the content is further enhanced
by the use of some Arbortext Control Language
(ACL) scripts that remove unnecessary content
like the 'page intentionally left blank' which
is handled by the style sheet. Finally, a manual
visual review of the content looks for obvious
organizational problems or text that should be
tagged differently. A side by side visual inspection
of the content with the original document is necessary
to ensure the XML carries the same content and
meaning.
What Conversion Does
This list outlines what the conversion process
accomplishes, both in the mapper process and additional
ACL code run after the XML is generated:
1. It converts embedded FARs to compliance markup,
when the FAR is using the FAR Reference Word style.
2. Insert Warning/Caution/Note markup for admonitions
that are in a Word style.
3. Remove <para> tags in table cells since
they're not needed.
4. Switch Emphasis tags from default italic to
bold.
5. Elements which are meant to be subheadings
are converted to the 'bridgehead' element
defined in the Docbook standard. This is done
as a manual visual check.
Data Modeling
Most Airline Operations Manuals include content
that is ideally suited for the Docbook standard
for technical documentation. Since the content
is mostly Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
and not highly technical in nature, a subset of
the Docbook tags is generally expected to be used
predominantly. Some specific manuals like the
MEL and CDL have different characteristics and
will be based on a different data model (most
likely one of the DITA specializations) as the
content may be reused elsewhere. While Docbook
is the base standard, there is a need for additional
features specific to the airline business. A specialization
of Docbook written by TechPubs, Inc is called
'FlightBook'. This is the reference that will
be seen in most XML files.
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