Automatically configuring product manual by binding document objects in logical structure to proper versions of component documents in a document

What is claimed is:

1. A system for automatically assembling product manuals based on a product model, a delivery model and a formal configuration specification comprising:

a structure instantiator for instantiating a product manual structure from a model-specific configuration specification to create a logical structure for a product manual, the product manual structure incorporating product information from a product model, the product manual structure including document objects;

a manual configurer for configuring the product manual by binding the document objects in the logical structure to proper versions of component documents stored in a document database; and

a manual generator for generating the product manual by physically extracting the document objects from the document database to a directory, based on a delivery model; wherein the instantiator further comprises:

a file structure builder for setting up a working environment on a file structure, the file structure including files related to the product which are copied from the document database in accordance with the delivery model;

a configuration template identifier for identifying and retrieving a model-specific configuration template from the document database, the model-specific configuration template for integrating information into a model-specific manual structure for the product manual;

a model-specific manual structure creator for parsing the model-specific manual structure to create an internal structure and for automatically validating the internal structure against product information in a product database;

a machine-specific manual structure creator for creating a machine-specific manual structure by incorporating machine-specific and customer-specific requirements into the model-specific manual structure; and

a configuration specification generator for generating a machine-specific configuration specification from the machine-specific manual structure with the properties and binding status of all the document objects.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the configuration specification includes sections for representing relationships in the logical structure.

3. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the configuration specification sections include:

a configuration section for specifying the logical structure of the product manual in terms of composition relationships of the document objects.

4. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the configuration specification sections include:

a work sequence section for specifying a list of operational work steps in terms of composition relationships between work steps.

5. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the configuration specification sections include:

a property section for specifying characteristics of the document objects in the logical structure.

6. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the configuration specification sections include:

a binding section for specifying a current binding status between the document objects in the logical structure and physical document files.

7. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the configuration specification sections include:

an unknown section for specifying unbound document objects and for listing the document objects to identify missing documents and identify a need to create new documents.

8. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the configuration specification supports incremental composition for updating and maintaining the document objects and the product manual.

9. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the formal configuration specification includes a product manual configuration specification language (PMCSL).

10. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the document objects include at least one of drawings, diagrams, text, photographs, video, animation and audio.

11. A system for automatically assembling product manuals based on a product model, a delivery model and a formal configuration specification comprising:

a structure instantiator for instantiating a product manual structure from a model-specific configuration specification to create a logical structure for a product manual, the product manual structure incorporating product information from a product model, the product manual structure including document objects;

a manual configurer for configuring the product manual by binding the document objects in the logical structure to proper versions of component documents stored in a document database; and

a manual generator for generating the product manual by physically extracting the document objects from the document database to a directory, based on a delivery model; wherein the manual generator further comprises:

a component document retriever for retrieving the component documents from the document database, based on a machine-specific configuration, and the component document retriever for storing the component documents in various subdirectories of a machine-specific directory, based on the delivery model;

a document evaluator for evaluating the retrieved component documents to convert the retrieved component documents into machine-specific documents;

a document transformer for transforming the structure of the retrieved component documents into a target document structure for the machine-specific product manual, based on a document structure transformation specification;

a supporting multimedia retriever for retrieving multimedia files associated with the retrieved component documents for the machine-specific product manual;

a machine-specific product manual generator for generating top-level standard generalized markup language (SGML) documents to complete the machine-specific product manual, including one or more of a table of contents, work sequence lists, a glossary and an index; and

a presentation style retriever for retrieving presentation styles for the machine-specific product manual structure, based on the delivery model.

12. A system for automatically assembling product manuals based on a product model, a delivery model and a formal configuration specification comprising:

a structure instantiator for instantiating a product manual structure from a model-specific configuration specification to create a logical structure for a product manual, the product manual structure incorporating product information from a product model, the product manual structure including document objects;

a manual configurer for configuring the product manual by binding the document objects in the logical structure to proper versions of component documents stored in a document database; and

a manual generator for generating the product manual by physically extracting the document objects from the document database to a directory, based on a delivery model; wherein the manual configurer further comprises:

a model-specific document binder for binding model-specific document objects in a machine-specific product manual structure to physical document files in the document database;

a machine-specific document generator for extracting machine-specific product information from the document database and generating machine-specific documents for the document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure;

a machine-specific document binder for binding machine-specific document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure to physical document files in the document database;

a product document promoter for promoting machine-specific documents to model-specific documents for a product model;

a similar document finder for identifying similarities between the documents in the document database and the document objects in a machine-specific product manual structure to determine if the existing documents are reusable;

a configuration generator for capturing a current state of assembling the machine-specific product manual, and generating a machine-specific configuration to support incremental composition; and

an unknown list generator for generating a list of unbound document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure.

13. A method for automatically assembling product manuals based on a product model, a delivery model and a formal configuration specification comprising the steps of:

instantiating a product manual structure from a model-specific configuration specification to create a logical structure for a product manual, the product manual structure incorporating the product information from a product model, the product manual structure including document objects;

configuring the product manual by binding the document objects in the logical structure to proper versions of component documents stored in a document database; and

generating the product manual by physically extracting the document objects from the document database to a directory, based on a delivery model; wherein the step of generating further comprises the steps of:

retrieving the component documents from the document database, based on a machine-specific configuration, and the component document retriever for storing the component documents in various subdirectories of a machine-specific directory, based on the delivery model;

evaluating the retrieved component documents to convert the retrieved component documents into machine-specific documents;

transforming the structure of the retrieved component documents into a target document structure for the machine-specific product manual, based on a document structure transformation specification;

retrieving multimedia files associated with the retrieved component documents for the machine-specific product manual;

generating top-level standard generalized markup language (SGML) documents to complete the machine-specific product manual, including one or more of a table of contents, work sequence lists, a glossary and an index; and

retrieving presentation styles for the machine-specific product manual structure, based on the delivery model.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the configuration specification includes sections and further comprising the step of representing relationships in the logical structure using the sections.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of specifying the logical structure of the product manual in terms of composition relationships of the document objects using a configuration section.

16. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of specifying a list of operational work steps in terms of composition relationships between work steps using a work sequence section.

17. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of specifying characteristics of the document objects in the logical structure using a property section.

18. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the step of specifying a current binding status between the document objects in the logical structure and physical document files using a binding section.

19. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

specifying unbound document objects using an unknown section; and

listing the document objects to identify missing documents and identify a need to create new documents using the unknown section.

20. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprises the step of updating and maintaining the document objects and the product manual.

21. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the formal configuration specification includes a product manual configuration specification language (PMCSL).

22. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the document objects include at least one of drawings, diagrams, text, photographs, video, animation and audio.

23. A method for automatically assembling product manuals based on a product model, a delivery model and a formal configuration specification comprising the steps of:

instantiating a product manual structure from a model-specific configuration specification to create a logical structure for a product manual, the product manual structure incorporating the product information from a product model, the product manual structure including document objects;

configuring the product manual by binding the document objects in the logical structure to proper versions of component documents stored in a document database; and

generating the product manual by physically extracting the document objects from the document database to a directory, based on a delivery model; wherein the step of configuring further comprises the steps of:

binding model-specific document objects in a machine-specific product manual structure to physical document files in the document database;

extracting machine-specific product information from the document database and generating machine-specific documents for the document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure;

binding machine-specific document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure to physical document files in the document database;

promoting machine-specific documents to model-specific documents for a product model;

identifying similarities between the documents in the document database and the document objects in a machine-specific product manual structure to determine if the existing documents are reusable;

capturing a current state of assembling the machine-specific product manual, and generating a machine-specific configuration to support incremental composition; and

generating a list of unbound document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure.

24. A method for automatically assembling product manuals based on a product model, a delivery model and a formal configuration specification comprising the steps of:

instantiating a product manual structure from a model-specific configuration specification to create a logical structure for a product manual, the product manual structure incorporating the product information from a product model, the product manual structure including document objects;

configuring the product manual by binding the document objects in the logical structure to proper versions of component documents stored in a document database; and

generating the product manual by physically extracting the document objects from the document database to a directory, based on a delivery model, wherein the step of instantiating farther comprises the steps of:

setting up a working environment on a file structure, the file structure including files related to the product which are copied from the document database in accordance with the delivery model;

identifying and retrieving a model-specific configuration template from the document database, the model-specific configuration template for integrating information into a model-specific manual structure for the product manual;

parsing the model-specific manual structure to create an internal structure and for automatically validating the internal structure against product information in a product database;

creating a machine-specific manual structure by incorporating machine-specific and customer-specific requirements into the model-specific manual structure; and

generating a machine-specific configuration specification from the machine-specific manual structure with the properties and binding status of all the document objects.

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BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure relates to product manuals and more particularly, to a system and method for assembling product manuals automatically based on product models.

2. Description of the Related Art

Due to the complexity and sophistication of technological products being manufactured and operated today, documentation which provides instructions and relevant technical information for properly operating and maintaining the products has become an integral part of the products. Product documentation includes a variety of product-related technical documents such as descriptions of machine parts, installation procedures, operation instructions, inspection schedules, maintenance records, etc. Compared to non-technical documentation, the contents and structures of product documents and technical documents are much more rigid and often comply to various industrial standards. There are three aspects of production documentation that may be further explored. First, a product type often includes a family of related product models, and they share a large percentage of common parts in the same family. Thus, technical documents for the common parts may be reused for the related product models. Secondly, product information is needed at different stages of the life cycle of a product from manufacturing and installation, to training, operation, and maintenance. Thus, a large portion of the technical documents can be reused in different contexts. Thirdly, technical documents tend to be highly cross-referenced, and often refer the users to many different forms of technical data including textual instructions, schematic diagrams, CAD drawings, photo images of machine parts, video of inspection procedures, etc.

As the products and the documents evolve in their own directions through time, a large number of models of products and a large number of versions of documents continue to be created and updated. The complexity of product documentation is thus dependent on the complexity of the products, the complexity of the documents, and the relationships between the products and the documents. To construct a multimedia manual for a specific product, which is composed of thousands of product documents together with thousands of schematic diagrams, CAD drawings, photo images, video and audio clips is really a major undertaking. In particular, product documents in all different media are prepared and processed for all machine parts of all product models in all product families by many authors and engineers on their own machines in different departments throughout an organization. Based on the configuration of a product, versions of the component documents, including versions of all related diagrams, images, drawings, etc., are selected, formatted and assembled into multiple volumes of a multimedia product manual. Thus, building a highquality product manual is a very time-consuming process, and ensuring the correctness of all the contents and the consistency with the customer's product is even more tedious, if not impossible.

Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for automatically assembling multimedia technical manuals for large-scale, complex products and services. A further need exists for a system and method for updating and maintaining such manuals as well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system for automatically assembling product manuals based on a product model, a delivery model and a formal configuration specification includes a structure instantiator for instantiating a product manual structure from a model-specific configuration specification to create a logical structure for a product manual. The product manual structure incorporates product information from a product model, the product manual structure including document objects. A manual configurer is included for configuring the product manual by binding the document objects in the logical structure to proper versions of component documents stored in a document database. A manual generator is also included for generating the product manual by physically extracting the document objects from the document database to a directory, based on a delivery model.

In alternate embodiments, the configuration specification may include sections for representing relationships in the logical structure. The configuration specification sections may include a configuration section for specifying the logical structure of the product manual in terms of composition relationships of the document objects, a work sequence section for specifying a list of operational work steps in terms of composition relationships between work steps, a property section for specifying characteristics of the document objects in the logical structure, a binding section for specifying a current binding status between the document objects in the logical structure and physical document files and/or an unknown section for specifying unbound document objects and for listing the document objects to identify missing documents and identify a need to create new documents. The configuration specification preferably supports incremental composition for updating and maintaining the document objects and the product manual.

The instantiator may include a file structure builder for setting up a working environment on a file structure, the file structure including files related to the product which are copied from the document database in accordance with the delivery model. A configuration template identifier may be included for identifying and retrieving a model-specific configuration template from the document database, the model-specific configuration template for integrating information into a model-specific manual structure for the product manual. A model-specific manual structure creator may be included for parsing the model-specific manual structure to create an internal structure and for automatically validating the internal structure against product information in a product database. A machine-specific manual structure creator may be included for creating a machine-specific manual structure by incorporating machine-specific and customer-specific requirements into the model-specific manual structure, and a configuration specification generator may be included for generating a machine-specific configuration specification from the machine-specific manual structure with the properties and binding status of all the document objects.

The manual configurer may further include a model-specific document binder for binding model-specific document objects in a machine-specific product manual structure to physical document files in the document database, a machine-specific document generator for extracting machine-specific product information from the document database and generating machine-specific documents for the document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure. A machine-specific document binder may be included for binding machine-specific document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure to physical document files in the document database. A product document promoter may also be included for promoting machine-specific documents to model-specific documents for a product model. A similar document finder may be included for identifying similarities between the documents in the document database and the document objects in a machine-specific product manual structure to determine if the existing documents are reusable. The manual configurer may further included a configuration generator for capturing a current state of assembling the machine-specific product manual, and generating a machine-specific configuration to support incremental composition and an unknown list generator for generating a list of unbound document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure.

In still other embodiments, the manual generator may further include a component document retriever for retrieving the component documents from the document database, based on a machine-specific configuration, and the component document retriever for storing the component documents in various subdirectories of a machine-specific directory, based on the delivery model and a document evaluator for evaluating the retrieved component documents to convert the retrieved component documents into machine-specific documents. The manual generator may also include a document transformer for transforming the structure of the retrieved component documents into a target document structure for the machine-specific product manual, based on a document structure transformation specification and a supporting multimedia retriever for retrieving multimedia files associated with the retrieved component documents for the machine-specific product manual. The manual generator may still further include a machine-specific product manual generator for generating top-level standard generalized markup language (SGML) documents to complete the machine-specific product manual, including one or more of a table of contents, work sequence lists, a glossary and an index and a presentation style retriever for retrieving presentation styles for the machine-specific product manual structure, based on the delivery model.

The formal configuration specification may include a product manual configuration specification language (PMCSL). The document objects preferably include at least one of drawings, diagrams, text, photographs, video, animation and audio.

A method for automatically assembling product manuals based on a product model, a delivery model and a formal configuration specification includes the steps of instantiating a product manual structure from a model-specific configuration specification to create a logical structure for a product manual, the product manual structure incorporating the product information from a product model, the product manual structure including document objects; configuring the product manual by binding the document objects in the logical structure to proper versions of component documents stored in a document database; and generating the product manual by physically extracting the document objects from the document database to a directory, based on a delivery model.

In other methods, the configuration specification may include sections and the method may further include the step of representing relationships in the logical structure using the sections. The method may further include the step of specifying the logical structure of the product manual in terms of composition relationships of the document objects using a configuration section, specifying a list of operational work steps in terms of composition relationships between work steps using a work sequence section, specifying characteristics of the document objects in the logical structure using a property section, specifying a current binding status between the document objects in the logical structure and physical document files using a binding section and/or specifying unbound document objects using an unknown section and listing the document objects to identify missing documents and identify a need to create new documents using the unknown section. In still other methods, the method may further include the step of updating and maintaining the document objects and the product manual.

The step of instantiating may further include the steps of setting up a working environment on a file structure, the file structure including files related to the product which are copied from the document database in accordance with the delivery model; identifying and retrieving a model-specific configuration template from the document database, the model-specific configuration template for integrating information into a model-specific manual structure for the product manual; parsing the model-specific manual structure to create an internal structure and for automatically validating the internal structure against product information in a product database; creating a machine-specific manual structure by incorporating machine-specific and customer-specific requirements into the model-specific manual structure; and generating a machine-specific configuration specification from the machine-specific manual structure with the properties and binding status of all the document objects.

The step of configuring may further include the steps of binding model-specific document objects in a machine-specific product manual structure to physical document files in the document database; extracting machine-specific product information from the document database and generating machine-specific documents for the document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure; binding machine-specific document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure to physical document files in the document database; promoting machine-specific documents to model-specific documents for a product model; identifying similarities between the documents in the document database and the document objects in a machine-specific product manual structure to determine if the existing documents are reusable; capturing a current state of assembling the machine-specific product manual, and generating a machine-specific configuration to support incremental composition; and generating a list of unbound document objects in the machine-specific product manual structure.

The step of generating may further include the steps of retrieving the component documents from the document database, based on a machine-specific configuration, and the component document retriever for storing the component documents in various subdirectories of a machine-specific directory, based on the delivery model; evaluating the retrieved component documents to convert the retrieved component documents into machine-specific documents; transforming the structure of the retrieved component documents into a target document structure for the machine-specific product manual, based on a document structure transformation specification; retrieving multimedia files associated with the retrieved component documents for the machine-specific product manual; generating top-level standard generalized markup language (SGML) documents to complete the machine-specific product manual, including one or more of a table of contents, work sequence lists, a glossary and an index; and retrieving presentation styles for the machine-specific product manual structure, based on the delivery model.

The formal configuration specification may include a product manual configuration specification language (PMCSL). The document objects may include at least one of drawings, diagrams, text, photographs, video, animation and audio.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

This disclosure will present in detail the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a hierarchical product manual structure in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is block diagram of a system for automatically assembling product manuals in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block/flow diagram for product manual composition in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts a configuration section for a configuration specification in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 depicts a work sequence section for a configuration specification in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block/flow diagram for instantiating a product manual structure in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block/flow diagram for configuring a machine specific manual in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 depicts a property section for a configuration specification in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 depicts a binding section for a configuration specification in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a block/flow diagram for generating a machine specific manual in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This disclosure relates to product manuals and more particularly, to a system and method for assembling product manuals automatically. The present invention automatically assembles multimedia technical manuals for large-scale, complex products and services. However, small-scale products and services are also covered by the invention. For simplicity, any reference hereinafter to products and product documents includes services and service documents, respectively. Further, the product manuals are preferably hierarchical. Therefore, the description of the invention herein will be described in terns of two levels a model level (model-specific) and a machine level (machine-specific. Other level types, amounts and names are contemplated and may be implemented by the present invention.

One method in accordance with the invention is referred to as Automatic Product Manual Composition, it makes use of product information from a product database and component documents from the document database to generate highly customized technical manuals for specific products, referred to as machine-specific product manuals.

The present invention is preferably based on Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). SGML separates the contents of the documents from the presentation styles, and is the basis to support content composition of several volumes of documents in a hierarchical structure preferably for a large-scale, complex product. On top of SGML, the invention provides a Product Manual Configuration Specification Language (PMCSL) for an author to describe the logical structure of a product manual, and the relationships between the document objects of the product manual and the parts of the product model. It also provides mechanisms to automate all aspects of the process of building machine-specific product manuals, including validating machine-specific manual structures, generating machine-specific documents, associating document objects to physical document files, identifying reusable documents, evaluating and transforming machine-specific documents, retrieving related multimedia data and generating a complete multimedia product manual.

Traditional document composition places more emphasis on arranging the components of a single document on a specific layout for printing. On the other hand, the SGML-based method in accordance with the present invention supports content composition of several volumes of documents in a hierarchical structure for a large-scale, complex product. In an SGML-based approach, the detailed layout of individual documents may be handled separately by SGML transformations and style specifications. Thus, during the product manual composition process, the authors may concentrate on the technical contents of the product documents, and ultimately, a more efficient and effective authoring process is achieved.

The present invention provides a specification language, referred to as Product Manual Configuration Specification Language (PMCSL), for the author to describe the logical structure of a product manual, and the relationships between the document objects of the product manual and the parts of the product model. A product manual configuration specification is used to keep track of the configuration of a product manual at the document object level. Based on the configuration specification of a product, the invention provides mechanisms to automate all aspects of the process of building machine-specific product manuals, including validating the machine-specific manual structure, generating machine-specific documents, associating document objects to physical document files, identifying reusable documents, eval