U.S. patent application number 10/285349 was filed with the patent office on 2003-10-02 for interactive electronic reference systems and methods.
Invention is credited to Tricomi, Frank, Watson, Mike.
Application Number | 20030187751 10/285349 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27502535 |
Filed Date | 2003-10-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030187751 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Watson, Mike ; et
al. |
October 2, 2003 |
Interactive electronic reference systems and methods
Abstract
Described herein, amongst other things, are electronically
available interactive reference materials that can preferably be
accessed by using a network, such as the World Wide Web or
Internet, to eliminate the need to create and transport paper.
There are further described systems, methods, and means for
generating, storing, and providing to a user these interactive
reference materials. There are also disclosed, system, methods, and
means for generating, storing, and providing to a user interactive
electronic systems for use with the interactive reference
materials.
Inventors: |
Watson, Mike; (St. Louis,
MD) ; Tricomi, Frank; (Chesterfield, MO) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LEWIS, RICE & FINGERSH, LC
ATTN: BOX IP DEPT.
500 NORTH BROADWAY
SUITE 2000
ST LOUIS
MO
63102
US
|
Family ID: |
27502535 |
Appl. No.: |
10/285349 |
Filed: |
October 31, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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60336192 |
Oct 31, 2001 |
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60336195 |
Oct 31, 2001 |
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60336204 |
Oct 31, 2001 |
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60336206 |
Oct 31, 2001 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/26.81 ;
705/27.2; 709/217 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/157 20200101;
G06F 40/143 20200101; G06F 30/00 20200101; G06Q 30/0635 20130101;
G06Q 30/0643 20130101; G06F 40/117 20200101; G06F 40/134 20200101;
G06F 40/12 20200101; G06F 40/151 20200101; G06F 40/174
20200101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/26 ; 705/27;
709/217 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60; G06F
015/16 |
Claims
1. A method for requisitioning an item for a device via a network
comprising: receiving, on a client an interactive reference
document, said interactive reference document including a pictorial
representation of said device; indicating on said pictorial
representation said item which is desired to be requisitioned;
receiving on said client a parts list showing the entry for said
item; indicating the intent to requisition said item in said entry;
obtaining a requisition form related to said item, said requisition
form being specific to said item; and sending said requisition form
to requisition said item.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of indicating, said
requisition form is sent directly to the item manufacturer.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said requisition form comprises an
electronic requisition form compatible with an electronic
government legacy system.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of sending, said
requisition for is sent to an electronic government legacy
system.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said device is a military
device.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said client comprises a
computer.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said client receives information
from a server via a network.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said client receives information
from storage media local to said client.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of sending, said
requisition form is printed in a hardcopy format.
10. An interactive reference system comprising: computer files
representing at least two interactive reference documents in a
browser readable format, said files residing on a computer;
computer files representing a requisitioning system and residing on
said computer; wherein: said first interactive document comprises
an interactive manual including a first piece of reference text
related to a part; said second interactive document comprises an
interactive parts list including a second piece of reference text
and a requisition link related to said part; and said interactive
manual is linked to said interactive parts list which is in turn
linked to said requisitioning system such that a user can click on
said first piece of reference text and be taken to said second
piece of reference text and can click on said requisitioning link
and be taken to said requisitioning system where a virtual
requisition is already populated with information about said
part.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein said information about said part
is obtained from said interactive manual and said interactive parts
list.
12. An interactive parts list comprising: a parts list displayable
on a computer screen; a figure displayable on a computer screen;
wherein when a user of a computer clicks on an index number
associated with a part shown in said figure on said computer
screen, an entry in said parts list corresponding to said part is
displayed on said computer screen.
13. A method for requisitioning an item comprising; accessing an
electronic manual on a computer; utilizing said electronic manual
in a procedure, during which time it is determined that an item
needs to be requisitioned; accessing, from within said electronic
manual, an interactive item list; locating said item in said
interactive item list; accessing, from within said interactive item
list, a virtual requisition form pre-populated with information
about said item; completing said virtual requisition; and
transferring a requisition for said item to another computer.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein said another computer is a
government electronic legacy computer.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein said another computer belongs to
said item's manufacturer.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS(S)
[0001] This Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Applications Serial Nos. 60/336,192; 60/336,195; 60/336,204; and
60/336,206 all filed Oct. 31, 2001. The entire disclosure of all
the above applications is herein incorporated by reference. This
application is also related to United States patent applications
entitled "Systems and Methods for Generating Interactive Electronic
Reference Materials" with Mike Watson listed as inventor (attorney
docket 2/1088US) and "Systems and Methods for Generating
Interactive Electronic Reference Materials" with Mike Watson listed
as inventor (attorney docket 2/1090US); both cases are filed
concurrently herewith, and the entire disclosure of all of which is
also herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This disclosure relates to the field of systems and methods
for generating interactive electronic reference materials from
non-interactive hard copy or soft copy reference materials, systems
and methods for providing the interactive reference materials to a
user, and systems and methods for combining interactive documents
with other interactive services into interactive electronic
reference systems.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Reference materials, such as, but not limited to, technical
manuals, operator's guides, maintenance guides, parts lists,
instruction sheets and the like are used in almost every sector of
the economy and are almost universally confined to paper. These
reference materials provide for information pertaining to a device
to which they refer. Therefore, those who are working with,
maintaining, repairing, or servicing those devices using those
reference materials need to have the device, themselves, and the
reference materials in the same place at the same time so that the
actions can be performed.
[0006] Throughout the years, many different ways have been
attempted to make sure that the three pieces meet up at the same
place. Many reference materials are printed to be attached to or
carried with the device so when the serviceman arrives, the
reference material is waiting there. While this solution provides
for a high degree of likelihood of the three meeting, the problem
lies in the cost of printing, transporting, and updating materials.
Keeping reference materials with the device provides that there is
usually a copy at the device when the serviceman arrives, but if a
single serviceman services 100 similar objects, that results in
there being printed 99 extra copies of the materials as the
serviceman could have carried a single copy. This both wastes
resources of paper and ink as well as storage and transportation
resources devoted to storing and moving all that paper. However, if
each serviceman was given a copy of the materials above, and 10
servicemen service the same device, resources are also wasted.
[0007] The need to change or modify written reference materials is
also common. A problem exists in creating a change to a paper
publication, delivering the change to every piece of equipment
effected by the change, and ultimately posting or attaching the
change to the written documentation which is often of fixed form.
The gap between completing a change and finally getting it to the
existing materials can often be as long as a year due to delays in
printing, shipping, and posting. Further, even when the update
arrives, it often is placed with the original reference material,
not incorporated within it.
[0008] Nowhere are the above problems more acute than in the
military. When a country is at war in a distant theatre it is
imperative that up-to-date maintenance, operation, training and
repair information (or other military reference material) be
available at the fingertips of those who have to repair, maintain,
service and use the systems fighting the battle. As war gets more
sophisticated, the problems get larger as more complex systems
require more and more documentation to support.
[0009] Currently, the United States military relies on paper
manuals to operate, repair, and order parts for its machinery, both
in peace-time and in war. Unfortunately, these reference manuals
are growing more massive by the day. Further, so as to always make
sure that anyone who might need a manual has access to the manual,
there is a huge amount of repetition and redundancy of documents
provided in the military. These manuals can cover everything from
how to inflate tires, to how to identify and repair a
non-functioning targeting computer. Every C-17 cargo aircraft
carries more than 750 pounds of technical manuals, basically the
equivalent of 4 additional passengers. Every tank carries technical
manuals covering everything from its main gun, to its radios, power
plant, turret, electronic data bus, and so on. Support units must
carry manuals for everything they support. Further, a general or
direct support maintenance unit will carry literally hundreds of
manuals covering the myriad of products and systems found in a
combat organization. The technical manuals required to support the
Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) number in excess of
25,000 pages. Further, there are more than 30,000 of these vehicles
in the U.S. Army in hundreds of different units deployed around the
world. Every one of these units has to carry, maintain, store, and
protect these manuals.
[0010] It should be apparent that logistically the transport of all
these reference materials results in a gargantuan amount of wasted
transport space, wasted fuel in hauling paper, and wasted space
within military systems as many of these manuals will simply be
unneeded as that device does not require maintenance, or, when it
does, it is located somewhere where there is another copy of the
reference. Hollywood has previously poked fun at exactly this
problem with individuals throwing manuals out of airplanes so they
can take off, or similar situations where the space and weight of
manuals is simply seen as pointless because the manuals are not
needed.
[0011] The reason for all these reference materials, however, is
clear. It is unknown which particular copy of which reference
document will be needed by what particular person at what time.
Therefore, the only solution to allow for universal access was to
provide all the reference materials to everyone who might need them
and with all the devices to which they are associated, so when the
need is determined, the material is available.
[0012] In addition to the space that these reference materials take
up, printed reference materials often have the problem of being
self-contained while still requiring internal and external
reference. That is, the material is in a fixed format which can not
be altered. The paper reference document is defined by what is
between the covers, and updates made to the material therein
require the use of separate reference documents, each of which must
be posted to one of the originals, and that require
cross-referencing therebetween. Even within a document, referencing
to other pages and/or sections is regularly necessary to make the
document as a whole vaguely useful as the single order layout
mandated by paper publication is rarely entirely sufficient. This
cross-referencing, however, requires a user to stop what they are
doing and spend time searching the document for what they need
next. While this process is simplified through indexing such as
tables of contents, page numbers, footnotes, and indexes, the
process is still less than ideal and just about everyone has had a
reference book held open with pens, papers, fingers, wrenches or
other items stuck in pages so that the disclosure of those pages
can be located quickly as work progresses and the material is
needed. This fixed presentation of the resource material is because
the document is not interactive. That is, the document cannot know
what the user wants to look at next, and therefore the chosen
format of the author may be completely wrong. Again, this problem
becomes even more acute in the military as different components of
the same device may have been built by different contractors so an
operation may be described in one document and continued into
another, or the explanation of a part may be in a different
document than the one which tells you how to remove the part, which
is in a still different document to the one which tells you when to
know that the part might have failed.
[0013] Yet another problem with paper reference materials in the
military is making sure they are secured. Many of these materials
include classified information related to the operation and
limitations of these devices and the reference materials may be
carried to the front lines (as that is where the device they relate
to is going) where they can potentially be captured by enemy
forces. Therefore, it is often necessary for the crew of a plane,
tank, or truck, to have the time to destroy the materials they
carry before they are captured, something which is often not
possible and further often requires the inclusion of incinerators
or other machines in the vehicle, taking up yet more space and more
weight.
[0014] Even as documents have become electronic, many of the
problems still remain. Computer form documents are still slaved to
the layout they had in paper form. Some documents may include
rudimentary linking (such as indexes or tables of contents) but
these are generally confined to a single reference document and
further do not provide for interlinking between multiple sections,
much less multiple documents as exists in an interactive system.
Further systems with rudimentary linking generally require massive
numbers of man-hours to produce and there are no systems which
allow for the rapid conversion of paper or plain-text documents
into interactive electronic documents.
SUMMARY
[0015] Because of these and other previously unknown problems in
the art, it is therefore desired to have electronically available
interactive reference materials (particularly military reference
materials) that can preferably be accessed by using a browser,
either from local storage media or over a network, such as the
World Wide Web or Internet, to eliminate the need to create and
transport paper. It is further desirable that these reference
materials allow a user to move about within a document, or between
documents, as they perform a task described in the various
materials. Finally, it is desirable that the interactive documents
be combined with other interactive services so that the interactive
systems are more than an electronic reference and can play an
active roll in the work being performed.
[0016] In this document, the following terms generally have the
meanings provided below, but these meanings are not intended to
limit the clear scope and meaning of any of these terms as known by
those of ordinary skill in the art.
[0017] `Reference materials,` `reference,` or `reference document`
generally refers to any type of matter which may be used for
reference. Typical reference material will be of a printed form,
either graphical or textual in design, providing for an indication
of some type of fact for reference to something other than the
printed form itself. Reference materials specifically include, but
are not limited to, technical documents, operator's manuals,
training manuals, maintenance guides, repair guides, instructions,
parts lists, price lists, disclosures, treatises, textbooks, and
reference books. While most reference materials in this disclosure
are presumed to originally be in paper form and to generally be
"manuals," it is easily understood that hard copy or soft copy
forms of a reference still both constitute a reference as do
documents other than manuals. Further, a single reference document
need not be a complete document, but may be a portion of a document
such as, but not limited to, a paragraph, an isolated figure, a
chapter, or a page.
[0018] `User` generally denotes an entity, such as a human being,
using a device, such as a computer. This is typically a computer
having a keyboard, a pointing device (such as a mouse or stylus),
and a display device (such as a monitor), with the computer running
software able to display computer-originated material typically
received from one or more separate computers or on board storage
media. Preferably, the user's computer is running browser software
enabling it to act as a client and communicate by the Internet to
one or more servers. The user can, however, be any entity using any
type of client.
[0019] `Browser` generally denotes, among other things, a process
or system that provides the functionality of a client, such that it
interconnects by a network to one or more servers. The browser may
be Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Netscape's Navigator, or any
other commercial or custom-designed browser or any other thing
allowing access to material on a network. A browser can also be a
process or system designed for network access, even if not used to
access a network but only to access storage media local or native
to a client.
[0020] `Client` generally denotes a computer or other thing such
as, but not limited to, a PDA, pager, phone, WebTV system, or any
software or hardware process that interconnects by a network with
one or more servers.
[0021] `Server` generally denotes one or more computers or similar
devices that interconnect by a network with clients and that have
application programs running therein, such as for the purpose of
transferring computer software, data, audio, graphic and/or other
similar material. A server can be a purely software based function.
Server also includes any process or system for interconnecting via
a network with clients.
[0022] `Network` generally denotes any collection of interconnected
clients and servers whether or not such connection is maintained or
any client or server may leave the network at any time. A network
specifically includes, but is not limited to, the Internet, the
World Wide Web, any extranet system, any intranet system, a
telecommunications network, a wireless network, a media broadcast
network (such as, but not limited to, a broadcast television
network, a broadcast radio network, or a cable television network),
a satellite network, or any other private or public network.
[0023] `HTML` is an abbreviation known to those of ordinary skill
in the art for HyperText Markup Language.
[0024] `XML` is an abbreviation known to those of ordinary skill in
the art for eXtensible Markup Language.
[0025] `XSL` is an abbreviation known to those of ordinary skill in
the art for eXtensible Stylesheet Language.
[0026] `ASCII` is an abbreviation known to those of ordinary skill
in the art for American Standard Code for Information
Interchange.
[0027] There is described herein, in an embodiment, a method for
requisitioning a item for a device via a network comprising:
receiving, on a client an interactive reference document, the
interactive reference document including a pictorial representation
of the device; indicating on the pictorial representation the item
which is desired to be requisitioned; receiving on the client a
item list showing the entry for the item; indicating the intent to
requisition the item in the entry; obtaining a requisition form
related to the item, the requisition form being specific to the
item; and sending the requisition form to requisition the item.
[0028] In an embodiment, in the step of indicating, the requisition
form may be sent directly to the item manufacturer, may comprises
an electronic requisition form compatible with an electronic
government legacy system, may be printed in a hardcopy format
and/or may be sent to an electronic government legacy system.
[0029] In another embodiment the device may be a military device
and/or the client may comprise a computer which may receive
information from a server via a network. and/or from storage media
local to said client.
[0030] In another embodiment, there is described an interactive
reference system comprising: computer files representing at least
two interactive reference documents in a browser readable format,
the files residing on a computer; and computer files representing a
requisitioning system and residing on the computer; wherein the
first interactive document comprises an interactive manual
including a first piece of reference text related to a part; the
second interactive document comprises an interactive parts list
including a second piece of reference text and a requisition link
related to the part; and the interactive manual is linked to the
interactive parts list which is in turn linked to the
requisitioning system such that a user can click on the first piece
of reference text and be taken to the second piece of reference
text and can click on the requisitioning link and be taken to the
requisitioning system where a virtual requisition is already
populated with information about the part which may have been
obtained from the interactive manual and the interactive parts
list.
[0031] In another embodiment, there is described an interactive
parts list comprising: a parts list displayable on a computer
screen; and a figure displayable on a computer screen; wherein when
a user of a computer clicks on an index number associated with a
part shown in the figure on the computer screen, an entry in the
parts list corresponding to the part is displayed on the computer
screen.
[0032] In another embodiment, there is described a method for
requisitioning a item comprising; accessing an electronic manual on
a computer; utilizing the electronic manual in a procedure, during
which time it is determined that a item needs to be requisitioned;
accessing, from within the electronic manual, an interactive item
list; locating the item in the interactive item list; accessing,
from within the interactive parts list, a virtual requisition form
pre-populated with information about the item; completing the
virtual requisition; and transferring a requisition for the item to
another computer. The other computer may be a government electronic
legacy computer and/or belong to the item's manufacturer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0033] FIG. 1 provides a flowchart showing general steps for
converting non-interactive reference materials into interactive
electronic reference materials.
[0034] FIG. 2 provides pages from a non-interactive reference
document showing different types of text.
[0035] FIG. 3 provides a flowchart showing the conversion of
reference materials into interactive reference materials, and the
setup of an interactive library and related systems for use by a
user in a first embodiment of the invention.
[0036] FIG. 4A provides a flowchart showing an example of how a
soldier can utilize an interactive reference system in the field to
order parts and perform repairs.
[0037] FIG. 4B shows the flow of requests and information during
the use of an embodiment of an interactive reference system.
[0038] FIG. 5 shows a computer screen display of raw ASCII text
from a first embodiment of conversion software to generate
interactive electronic reference materials from non-interactive
reference materials.
[0039] FIG. 6 shows a computer screen display of a menu for
identifying and tagging the ASCII text of FIG. 5 from the first
embodiment of conversion software.
[0040] FIG. 7 shows a computer screen display of text after being
run through the system of FIG. 6 from the first embodiment of
conversion software.
[0041] FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of a
hot-spotting interface from the first embodiment of conversion
software.
[0042] FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of a
spreadsheet including tabular text from the first embodiment of
conversion software.
[0043] FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
a interactive parts list generated by the first embodiment of
conversion software.
[0044] FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
an interactive manual generated by the first embodiment of
conversion software.
[0045] FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of a computer screen
display of an interactive manual generated by a first embodiment of
conversion software specifically showing interactivity between
prose text and pictorial text.
[0046] FIG. 13 provides a flowchart of the operation of computer
conversion software to convert non-interactive reference materials
to interactive reference materials of a second embodiment.
[0047] FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
XML text after initial scanning from the second embodiment of
conversion software.
[0048] FIG. 15 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
a mapping construction module from the second embodiment of
conversion software.
[0049] FIG. 16 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
a manual editing module from the second embodiment of conversion
software.
[0050] FIG. 17 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
XML text after mapping with global controls from the second
embodiment of conversion software.
[0051] FIG. 18 shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
a conversion module for converting the text of FIG. 17 into HTML or
into an HTML shell utilizing XML and an XSL style sheet from the
second embodiment of conversion software.
[0052] FIG. 19A shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
an interactive manual from the second embodiment of conversion
software utilizing HTML only.
[0053] FIG. 19B shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
an interactive manual from the second embodiment of conversion
software utilizing an HTML shell, XML, and an XSL style sheet.
[0054] FIG. 20 provides a flow chart of the operation of an
embodiment of a requisitioning system.
[0055] FIG. 21A shows an embodiment of a computer screen display of
a virtual requisition form from the requisitioning system of FIG.
20.
[0056] FIG. 21B shows a computer screen display of the virtual
requisition form of FIG. 21A scrolled to show later text.
[0057] FIG. 22 shows a computer screen display of a government
requisition form from the requisitioning system of FIG. 20.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
[0058] Although the document conversion systems and methods
discussed herein primarily relate to computer software used for
converting paper or software based military equipment manuals and
related references into interactive reference materials and serving
those interactive reference materials through a network from a
server to a client, one of ordinary skill in the art would
recognize that the systems and methods below could alternatively be
used for many other types of conversion such as, but not limited
to, conversion of other military documents, conversion of
non-military reference materials, or conversion of any other
printed matter into interactive electronic versions for any reason.
Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that
serving of the reference materials using a network structure is
merely one of many ways a user can use interactive reference
materials and interactive systems according to the disclosures
herein and in other embodiments the reference materials could be
located on storage media associated with a particular client
disconnected from any networks. One of ordinary skill in the art
would also recognize that the interactive reference materials
served via a network could be joined to any other interactive
service in addition to, or instead of, the interactive services
described herein.
[0059] FIG. 1 provides for a general overview flowchart of the
process undertaken in this disclosure to generate interactive
reference materials from non-interactive originals. First, in step
(11), non-interactive reference materials are obtained in a
computer readable form. Within these reference materials, there
will be included reference text.
[0060] Each piece of reference text comprises text which serves to
provide a connection, reference point, or link within the reference
materials (or to other reference materials) to a location where
related disclosure may be found and other than the disclosure
currently being examined. Alternatively or additionally, a piece of
reference text may also indicate a location, by its own placement,
where another piece of reference text leads to. By way of example,
a table of contents comprises very simple reference text. The table
provides little information other than where to look in the
document for information from a certain chapter, the subtitles
(and/or page numbers) in the document to which the table of
contents refers is also reference text as it is what is linked to.
Linking the opposite direction is also possible (although not
likely). In the same way, a figure number comprises reference text
as it allows the interconnection of the user from text referencing
the figure to a pictorial drawing of the figure. This patent
disclosure will in fact utilize exactly this type of reference text
where a written description of a part refers to a portion of a
drawing and vice-versa. In non-interactive reference material the
user wishing to follow the reference text must search through the
material to locate the reference. This will generally, but not
always, require flipping to a different page, but alternatively can
simply be looking elsewhere on the same page or looking in a
different document.
[0061] The easiest way to determine that something is reference
text, is that the reader of reference text is implicitly intended
to look somewhere else upon seeing the text or is implicitly
intended to find the text from somewhere else. This includes such
things as, but is not limited to, figure numbers, internal figure
references (index numbers), labels, tables of contents, page
numbers, footnotes, or other things which direct attention
elsewhere. Reference text can also be text which indicates it is at
the location the user is supposed to go when referred there. A
reference to "see FIG. 1" in text is generally useless if figures
are unlabeled. Therefore reference text also includes the
indications to which the user is indicated to go. In particular, if
text says "see FIG. 1" the user is generally directed to a related
text "FIG. 1" labeling a particular figure. The dual nature of
reference text is logical because a reference generally goes both
ways, a user looking at "FIG. 1" from the prior example may search
the text for references to "see FIG. 1" to locate textual
information related to the figure.
[0062] Reference text will be included within "disclosure text"
which is anything providing information to the user and is the text
the user is reading when using the reference material. This could
be a description of the part associated with reference text (e.g.
"bracket" is disclosure text associated with reference text "9")
For ease, disclosure text is generally broken into three sub-types
which relate to how that disclosure is provided and which relate to
how the disclosure is searched for reference text. Pictorial text
is disclosure which is primarily graphic in nature, this includes,
but is not limited to, drawings, pictures, and diagrams. Reference
text is usually easily segregated from pictorial disclosure text as
the reference text is usually reference words or numbers within the
picture or associated with the picture. Prose text is designed to
be read to provide meaning from traditional grammatical formation.
That is, prose disclosure text is words, sentences, and paragraphs
lexicographically describing what the reference text refers to
(e.g. "bracket" above). Tabular disclosure text is prose text where
the meaning of the text is not so much obtained from grammatical
rules, as from pictorial or graphical placement of the text within
a page. This is, for example, a table, spreadsheet, balance book,
or similar type of text where the text primarily has meaning from
its placement on the page with regards to the placement of the
reference text and other text.
[0063] FIG. 2 provides for pages from a reference manual showing
different types of text. There is pictorial text (90), prose text
(92) and reference text (94). This particular reference does not
include tabular text. One can see how the text is effectively mixed
in the reference but a user, when reading the prose text (92) for
instance, is referred to the pictorial text (90) by the reference
text (94). FIG. 2 also provides a good indication of the implicit
searching as a user would read the prose text to understand the
operation, trouble-shooting, and maintenance for the depicted
device, but must refer from the prose text to the figures to
understand what device is referred to. To give another example, a
reader of this paragraph is implicitly referred in the prior
sentences to a different page (that including FIG. 2), making this
paragraph itself a combination of reference text and disclosure
text. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that
reference text can disclose and disclosure text can reference,
these terms are simply used to describe different types of text
having different functions as used herein.
[0064] Returning to FIG. 1, once reference materials have been
obtained into a computer readable format, the reference document is
searched to locate all reference text in step (13). As the
reference text is located it is "tagged" as reference text in step
(15) of a particular type based on the type of disclosure text it
appears in and what type of reference text it is. The tag will also
be associated with the particular value of the reference text. For
instance, a reference to a figure index number can have a tag which
indicates that the particular reference is an "index number" (a
number referring to a part within a figure) the value of that
reference text is then the actual text that is there (for instance
"9"). Each piece of reference text is therefore tagged so that,
once completed, each piece of reference text includes a tag and a
value. In some cases the tag may be textual or programmatical tags
(such as tags used in HTML or XML) or may be simple textual
formatting (e.g. a number in "()" is reference text of an index
number type).
[0065] The tagging, in an embodiment, occurs in an automated or
semi-automated fashion through a computer scanning through the text
of the document and inserting tags based on patterns it finds. The
tagging, preferably marks similar reference text similarly across
different reference materials if they are similar. Once the tagging
has been completed, reference text is linked with the reference
material where related occurrences of reference text (tag/value
combinations) occur in step (17). That is if two items of reference
text are both referring to "FIG. 1," those two pieces of reference
text will usually be linked together in some manner. This need not
be direct linking. This step creates the interactivity of the
documents. By following the linking, the user can quickly go from
one piece of reference text to a corresponding piece of reference
text in the available reference material.
[0066] It is preferred in this step that the linking be defined
according to a particular scheme of understanding. In particular,
if there are three tag/value combinations which are related, there
can be any connections between them. However each particular piece
of reference text will generally only have a single location that
it can link to. Therefore, the arrangement of links generally
allows for logical progression (or chaining) of the links. In this
way, associated disclosure is available in a logical way and as it
is likely to be needed by the user. This pattern is, however, by no
means required.
[0067] One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the
term "linking" is used purposefully herein. In an embodiment, it is
intended that each piece of reference text so linked actually allow
a user to jump from the material originally displayed to him on a
computer screen to a new display including the reference text
linked to. To put it generally, a user reading "see FIG. 1" need
only indicate that they wish to view FIG. 1 to be taken to a
display showing FIG. 1. In an embodiment, this linking is performed
by the use of an HTML or similar hyperlink structure within the
computer files for the reference materials where a user clicking on
a piece of linked reference text is taken to another piece of
linked reference text, clicking on the new piece takes the user to
another piece of linked reference text, and so on until a logical
pattern of all pieces of reference text has been completed. The
reader should note that a user "going" between files generally
means that different files are made available for viewing on their
display.
[0068] During the step (17) of linking, the documents may also be
converted into a more universal format. This will generally be a
format readable by numerous different computers. It is preferable
that this format comprise a browser-readable computer code such as
HTML, XML, SGML, JavaScript or the like, but any type of language
or format may be used. In an embodiment, HTML or other network
language is chosen so that the user can access the reference
materials (which are stored on a server or servers in an
embodiment) from any client through the use of a network.
[0069] In step (19), the materials are made available to a user for
his access via a network or by being provided on storage media for
use on a standalone machine. Generally, the materials will be
provided so that they can be viewed through a browser and reference
text can be followed via embedded hyperlinks wherever it appears.
The hyperlinks therefore provide interactivity allowing rapid
switching from different points within reference documents, and
separate, but related reference documents which are available. In
this way, reference documents can be made interactive and reference
materials can be interlinked with each other. Further a user can
have a computer with which they can access the interactive
reference system, and review materials as they need them by
following the linking as they perform the operation desired on the
device to which the reference materials refer. One can see from
FIG. 1 that the interactive linking provided effectively unifies
disparate parts of reference materials, and in fact disparate
reference materials into readily accessible interactive electronic
reference materials.
[0070] While FIG. 1 provides for a general overview of the process
which is performed, the process is most easily understood by
examining its operation in specific embodiments. In the first
embodiment of conversion, there are disclosed systems and methods
for converting a paper manual into an interactive reference
document. This embodiment can be accomplished in a completely
automated manner without human intervention, or in a semi-automated
fashion where human intelligence is used to check the machine's
work and/or deal with unique problems. FIG. 3 provides the general
flowchart of a first embodiment of the steps of a conversion that
can be taken by conversion software running on a computer. Later
FIG. 13 will provide a second embodiment. In step (101), a
reference document is obtained in a computer readable form
regardless of its original form. The prose disclosure text is
separated from the pictorial disclosure text in step (103) and the
text is saved as raw ASCII text into a text file, which may then be
checked for errors in step (105). Each of the figures or pictorial
disclosure is independently saved as a graphical file in step
(107). If there are any specific parts lists or other large tabular
disclosure text present, these can also be separated and stored in
step (109) or can be processed with the prose disclosure text (as
discussed later). Once the document has been separated into various
types of disclosure text with each type in a selected file, the
different files can be formatted into tagged files. These steps can
be performed sequentially (as shown or in any other order) or could
alternatively be performed simultaneously as would be understood by
one of ordinary skill in the art. The prose disclosure text file
goes through a pre-scan evaluation which serves to recognize
textual formatting issues of the prose text based on the type of
document present and tags them based on expected textual structure
in step (111). This step (111) also can perform a first pass scan
for reference text within the textual file. The value of the
reference text is noted and the reference text is tagged as the
appropriate type of reference text to create the tag/value
combinations. After the pre-scan has completed, in step (113), the
pre-scan text may be reviewed to correct any oversights or
mislabeled entries, if desired, and the tagged text file is then
saved in step (115).
[0071] Either after, before, or during the pre-scan and review of
the prose text (steps (111), (113), and (115)), the graphical files
of pictorial disclosure text are hot-spotted in step (117) to
locate and tag the reference text within them. The tags are then
linked to the appropriate reference text values in step (119) so as
to create a graphical map file showing the locations of all
reference text within the figure. This map file is then saved in
step (121).
[0072] Either before, during, or after the pictorial text steps
((117), (119), and (121)), tabular disclosure text may be
separately analyzed. While tabular text may be analyzed with the
prose text in steps (111), (113), and ( 15), large tables or other
tabular text may be handled separately as the tabular text may be
intended to stand alone as a portion of the document, or may simply
be easier to analyze when the pictorial representation can be
maintained. In step (123) tabular text is analyzed to search for
any reference text therein. Again, the reference text value is
recorded and the text is tagged. The tabular file is then stored in
step (125).
[0073] In the next step (127), which may be performed after other
linking steps as files can be linked in any order once created, the
map file is linked to the tabular file. To link, tagged reference
text (that which has the associated tags and values) in the two
files are linked together based on relationships therebetween. This
is generally performed by an automated or semi-automated process.
This linking may be a double link where each piece of reference
text refers to the other or a single link where only one file
refers to the other (e.g. there is a referring and a referred to
file). These links are generally created as HTML (or similar)
hyperlinks between the two locations within the documents. At this
time, the two linked files are also converted into HTML, JavaScript
or another browser-readable language so that they can be accessed
by a client as in step (129) to provide for an interactive
reference (in this particular case, an interactive parts list). The
HTML conversion allows for the tags to specifically be converted
into HTML instructions so that formatting, labeling, etc., of text
is also placed into the resulting HTML document.
[0074] If this is all that is desired, the system may be halted at
this point. However, this is simply a part of the available
reference materials. In the following step (131), the prose text
file is linked to the above interactive parts list and converted
into a file to be accessed by clients in step (133). This is
similar to steps (127) and (129) where the reference text is
converted into appropriate HTML links (and link targets) and the
prose disclosure text is HTML formatted. In the prose text case,
the inclusion of formatting tags back in step (111) also allows for
the machine performing the conversion to locate the tags, and place
HTML formatting instructions therein for appearance purposes. In
this way, the text is formatted within HTML for screen display at
the same time that it is being converted. The use of the HTML
formatting allows for a more uniform appearance of textual prose
across multiple references. There can also be included software
functionality and a step of checking the resulting files of the
interactive reference materials, once those files are created and
converted into a browser-readable format. The step (135), of
checking can be automated with a computer program checking that all
the links created by the system actually lead somewhere, and there
are no broken connections within the document.
[0075] Once again, if this is all that is desired, the process can
be halted at this point, however the interlinked files can still be
linked to other files or services which may also be available on
the client or over the network. In step (139) the reference files
are linked to another system, such as a requisitioning system,
which is also available and may have been created in step (137).
Further, multiple files and services can be connected to multiple
other files and services in this way so as to produce an
interactive reference system.
[0076] Once the interactive reference system has been created, it
can be stored on a computer, such as a server, or on any type of
storage media. To access the interactive reference system in an
embodiment, the components may be loaded onto storage media
accessible by a computer or the reference system may be made
available over a network, such as the Internet. The use of the
above embodiment of an interactive library over the Internet (or
other network) by a soldier in the field is explained with
reference to the flowchart in FIG. 4A and the diagram in FIG.
4B.
[0077] A soldier in the field (201) has need to perform maintenance
on a particular system (203) such as a damaged tank, the soldier
(201), in step (301), takes a client (205), which will generally be
a battle hardened portable computer or similar device, and connects
to a server (207) on the Internet (209) using a browser resident on
the client (205). In the next step (303), the soldier may be
required to pass various security measures to insure that the
soldier (201) is authorized to access the information they wish to
access from the server (207). These security measures may include,
but are not limited to, passwords, keys, digital signatures,
biometric systems, or any other type of security system.
[0078] The server (207) in step (305) then sends the requested
reference materials to the client (205) and the soldier (201). This
will generally be a prose text reference document such as a manual
for repairing the device (203). The soldier (201) then utilizes the
reference text links in the material they received to obtain
additional information as needed during the repair work in step
(307). This may be through regular downloading from server (207) or
from within information already transferred from the server (207)
to the client (205). The soldier has quick access to any necessary
material that is available in the reference system.
[0079] During the soldier's (201) work on system (203), he
discovers that a part is broken at step (309). The soldier (201)
then accesses a parts list through a picture of the broken part so
the parts list is already referenced to the broken part in step
(311). The soldier (201) then accesses a requisition system on the
server (207) in step (313), and completes a purchase request for
the part in step (315). He may then print out and send this
purchase request the traditional way, or may complete an electronic
order in step (317) purchasing the part using electronic forms
which are sent to the Internet (209) and forwarded to a commerce
server (211) in step (321). The commerce server then provides the
order to the facility (213) in step (323). The facility (213) fills
the order in step (325) and sends the part (215) to the waiting
soldier (201) which is received in step (327).
[0080] While FIGS. 4A and 4B describe an embodiment where the
client accesses the information from a remote server via a network,
such as the Internet, one of ordinary skill in the art would
understand that in an alternative embodiment, the interactive
reference system could actually be stored on storage media resident
at or otherwise associated with the client, whether permanent or
removable. In this embodiment, the network connection is not
required and the server functionality can be local to the client.
The storage media could include, but is not limited to, Compact
disk (CD) or other removable optical memory, floppy disks or other
removable magnetic memory, hard disk(s) or other resident memory,
Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), or any other
type of storage media known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
This embodiment may still operate using browser software and a
client/server-type architecture but with the functions of the
server being local on the client. In a still further embodiment
some functionality can be found and other functionality available
via the network.
[0081] To describe the steps of FIG. 3 in greater detail, an
embodiment of a computer system for converting of an existing paper
manual into an interactive manual and ordering system will be
described in conjunction with FIGS. 5-12. This embodiment will be
shown from various computer screens showing what a human user might
see and do to carry out the conversion assisted by a conversion
computer. Further, this embodiment uses HTML text formatting and
tagging to provide for resulting files which are placed on a
server.
[0082] As previously discussed, in step (101) the document is
obtained into a computer readable format from the original
document. In some cases, the document will already be available in
a computer readable format (e.g. as a word processor file).
However, because of the multitude of software available to
manipulate text, the text is converted in this embodiment into a
simple text format so that changes in formatting can be eliminated
and replaced by a universal formatting. The universal formatting
eliminates formatting performed to make the document look correct
in the resulting hardcopy paper printout but being of non-standard
computer language form. Different typists may use different
formatting to accomplish the same appearance (e.g., one typist may
have centered text on a page using a word processor's "center"
command, while another may have centered the text using a
combination of tabs and hard returns). In many documents these
methods will be indistinguishable in appearance, but very different
in machine understanding, so they are removed.
[0083] In this embodiment, the prose text of the document is
converted to raw ASCII text in step (103) to remove the formatting.
Depending on the type of initial document available, this may be
performed through a variety of methods. If the initial document is
a hardcopy or paper printout (which will often be the case), this
step will generally be considered to involve scanning in the paper
document and performing text recognition on the result which is
then stored as ASCII raw text. In another embodiment, any other
method could be used to get the text into a computer readable
format including, but not limited to, entry of the text via
keyboard from a source document, or since many paper documents are
now originally generated on computer, loading of a computer file
that is then converted to a raw text format.
[0084] FIG. 5 provides for an embodiment showing a screen of text
converted from a scanned document which is part of a paper manual
which has been converted to ASCII plain text (401). The text only
includes minimal formatting with line feed carriage return
characters to delimit paragraphs, titles, or other areas which are
clearly separated from each other. If tabular text has been
included in this portion of the scanning, cells within tables may
be separated by tabs, and table rows may be separated by line feed
carriage returns. The text lacks formatting such as underlining or
indenting.
[0085] This plain text file comprises the raw text (401) from the
manual. If the original scanned document (or computer format
document) included pictorial text, it will be separated out in this
embodiment and saved as a graphical file (in step (107)) which will
be used as discussed later. The scanned text of FIG. 5 may be
verified for correctness in step (105). For example, a human
operator can make sure that the text was correctly recognized and
that each symbol in the text has been correctly understood by the
recognition software. That is "I" and "1" and other similar terms
were correctly interpreted. In other embodiments, this step may be
unnecessary.
[0086] Once the initial creation of the raw text file has been
completed, the ASCII text will be pre-scanned utilizing pre-scan
software as discussed in step (111). An example of the screen to
begin pre-scanning is shown in FIG. 6. In this step, the ASCII text
file created in the previous step is inputted into window (501) and
an output file is designated (503). There may also be a block for
the entry (505) of the particular manual that this text is from.
This block (505) may allow for the use of certain global parameters
based on the type of work this manual is or simply to provide a
label to associate the raw text to a particular reference document.
Most military manuals (and other manuals across a trade) utilize a
generally similar format. Therefore, by entering a document
identifier, the system in an embodiment, can recognize what type of
manual the ASCII text is from. Therefore, in an embodiment, it can
load a global set of parameters specific to that type of manual so
that it formats the manual in the appropriate fashion. The global
parameters may provide for indications of how to identify reference
text of a particular type (e.g. some documents may say "figure"
while others say "fig.") and/or may provide for indications of
formatting style. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand
that these global parameters could be based on the type of
technical manual, the branch of service the manual is from (for
instance army, navy, or air force) or any other selectable
criteria.
[0087] The pre-scan module now scans the ASCII text file searching
for particular patterns, tables, references, steps, paragraphs,
figures or even words such as "maintenance" or "figure" that would
indicate a particular pattern of text, indicating a particular
format of text would be appropriate for that text or reference text
is present. Reference documents used by the military and/or other
organizations are generally supposed to have a common style so as
to be easily understood by one familiar with the format, even if
they are not familiar with the device the reference document
describes. For instance, a chapter heading in a particular document
is potentially supposed be formatted in bold 14 point text. The
pre-scan is looking for a particular pattern of raw text (for
instance a single sentence, having all words capitalized, and
followed by a hard return, and then another paragraph), that
comprises text which is probably a title to indicate that it is
supposed to be a 14 point title (bold text).
[0088] The pre-scan is therefore identifying and inserting into the
raw text tags about format and/or type of text. Each piece of
reference text will generally be tagged to indicate the type of
reference text it is and what its value is (where the value is
essentially the text itself) while other tags can indicate
formatting such as text is a "title" or is even directly "bold." In
example, from locating text which includes "FIG. 1," the "FIG. 1"
may be determined to be reference text to a particular figure
drawing with the value of "FIG. 1."
[0089] Tables may be either embedded within the prose disclosure
text or may be removed to a separate file by checking or unchecking
box (507). Formula items identified as outlines, tables of
contents, multi-level numbered lists, or other tabular text could
be appropriately laid out and labeled. Further tables can be
quickly identified so that relevant related text located in the
tabular text format can be maintained. It is important to remember
here that this original pre-scan is being performed by a machine in
this embodiment, and therefore the tags can be either an
instruction understandable to the machine (e.g. make the following
text bold) or may be an indication a machine understands to go
somewhere else to look up a meaning (e.g. this text is a title).
This is most easily thought of in HTML, and in an embodiment the
tags are HTML tags. In HTML programming, a tag indicates to do
something (e.g. <bold> indicates to make everything following
the tag bold until an instruction to stop making things bold is
received). In a similar fashion the tag "#FR:" while not an HTML
command, can reference to the machine to make what follows a
hyperlink to something labeled "#figure:" so long as what follows
the colon in both cases is the same.
[0090] FIG. 7 provides for the same text as FIG. 5, after it has
passed through the pre-scan of FIG. 6. It is apparent that there is
now additional formatting present and some machine tags are
visible. In addition to the clear indenting of the multi-level list
(601) (essentially formatting tags recognized by the text display
used in FIG. 7), there are also some tags visible. Tag (603) of 3
pound signs in a row (###) indicates the end of a table, tag (605)
of "#FIGURE:" identifies that there is reference text here with
value "FIG. 1-1." Further, tag (607) of "#FR:" indicates reference
text tagged as a figure reference to a value "FIG. 1-2." In FIG. 6,
the index numbers (e.g. "(6)") are not tagged yet. In another
embodiment, they could have been.
[0091] The inclusion of tags in the text allows for the later
recognition by the final scan that a certain piece of text is to be
placed in a particular format and/or treated in a particular way.
For instance the #FR reference will become a link to the particular
figure whose value occurs after the tag. For instance, this may be
tagged "#FIGURE: FIG. 1-2" or simply the figure referenced by the
document file name in brackets. This file name may have been
previously generated for use in the tagging or could be of a
standard format to refer to a particular figure of a particular
matter.
[0092] What should be clear from FIG. 7 is that each piece of
reference text now comprises two things. It has a tag (e.g. #FR)
which will be understood by the machine as an instruction to
utilize a certain function during conversion, and the value (e.g.
FIG. 1-2). These two items therefore define the interlinking. In
particular, all occurrences of "#FR:FIG. 1-2" mean the same thing
as those references are the same whereas if either part is
different, the reference text is different. In this way, a
predetermined number of instructions, can be combined with any
number of actual pieces of reference text to always create a
discrete matrix of possible outcomes. One of ordinary skill in the
art would understand that referencing the same thing does not mean
they are the "same" tag/value combination, e.g. "#FR:FIG. 1-1" and
"#Figure:FIG. 1-1" could both refer to the same figure, but use
different tags to provide different results in the later linking.
For example, #FR could link to #figure, but #figure may not link to
#FR but may link to a different piece of reference text also
associated with that figure.
[0093] In addition to tagging pieces of reference text within the
prose text, text in tabular text can also be tagged. This may occur
through the processes discussed above in conjunction with the
general formatting (e.g. the first column of a table is generally
the reference that is used as it is the most easily located in a
paper table, so the machine could recognize a table, the type of
table based on its layout and label the first column in the
appropriate manner). Alternatively, the tables may be treated
separately. Generally, because tabular text is arranged so
interrelationships are visually clear, it is generally easy to
instruct a machine, once the type of table is known, how to label
any reference text within the entries. For example, each cell in
the first column could provide a value for a piece of reference
text with all cells having the same type of tag.
[0094] Once the prose text has been tagged, there is still the need
for the pictorial text to be tagged. FIG. 8 shows the first step of
figure formatting which is called "hot-spotting." While the step
(117) of hot-spotting is shown in FIG. 3 as occurring after the
textual pre-scan and review, one of ordinary skill in the art would
recognize that these are actually separate operations and therefore
could be performed in any order. Hot-spotting allows for a link to
a particular index number (piece of reference text) in a figure
(701) from the reference material to be linked to the location of
that index number in the drawing. In particular, it is particularly
useful for the system to know that the reference for the part
labeled "1" in a certain drawings is at a certain X/Y coordinate in
the pictorial presentation.
[0095] The hot-spotting module provides for a slight variation on
the textual pre-scan. In the pre-scan the machine determined, based
on the general parameters, what was reference text and what tag was
appropriate for a particular type of reference text. In particular,
was the reference text referring to a figure as a whole, an index
number within a figure, another page or section in the text, etc.
This was accomplished by the "look" of the text. In a figure, it is
generally known that all reference text within the figure comprises
figure index or reference numbers. Therefore, the hot-spotting
allows the user to associate a particular value of the index or
reference number to a particular location corresponding to the
location of the reference number in the figure. In this way with
knowledge of the value of the index number, that index number can
be quickly located and highlighted in a figure.
[0096] The particulars of hot-spotting can be described in
conjunction with FIG. 8. The graphical figure (701) being
hot-spotted is shown on the right hand side of FIG. 8. On the left
hand side of FIG. 8 are the image file name (703) as well as
buttons to load (705), save (707) and restart (709) work on figure
(701), and a box to enter the title of a figure (711). There are
also columns of index numbers (713), reference designation (715)
and X and Y coordinates (717) and (719) in a tabular form. The
buttons (705), (707), and (709) are relatively self-explanatory
with the capability of loading, saving or restarting work on figure
(701). The title entry is also self explanatory allowing the
operator to enter a title for figure (701) (this may be a display
title and/or may provide for linking to the figure by figure
number, etc.).
[0097] The tabular column entries (713), (715), (717), and (719)
provide for the entry of index numbers (values) and the association
of those index numbers with particular locations in the figure. In
many reference materials, figures are labeled with index numbers
that allow the reference of a particular drawing of a part to a
textual description associated with that part. The columns allow
for a computer association between the index number and a location
of the index number within the figure.
[0098] In operation, the hot-spotting module is generally used as
follows. Either a human operator can examine the figure (701) and
go through and click on each index number, or the computer can scan
through the figure (701) locating the numbers itself and
highlighting them. As each number (for instance index number "11"
(721)) is located or clicked, the computer places the X/Y
coordinate of that point in a row of the X and Y columns (717) and
(719) as shown. It then also places a box (723) of predetermined
size around that point to indicate the reference location it has
assigned based to that X/Y coordinate and therefore that row. Once
all the index references have been identified, the operator can go
through them, or the machine can automatically go through them, and
enter the index number corresponding to that box (723) (basically
the number in that box) into the correct row. Generally, when a row
(725) corresponding to a particular X/Y coordinate includes the
cursor (791), the box (723) at the coordinates in that row is
highlighted. As can be seen from FIG. 8, the cursor (791) is in row
(725). Therefore the box (723) is highlighted in the figure (701).
In this way, an operator can see which box corresponds to which row
and enter the appropriate index (in this case "11") into the row
(725).
[0099] In some figures, there may alternatively or additionally be
a reference designation associated with a particular part. A
reference designation is particularly appropriate when figure (701)
is a schematic of an electronic system (e.g. a circuit diagram).
There may be a resistor shown with index "11" but that is also
indicated to be "R100." This reference designation could provide
additional information about the part indicated by the reference
number (for instance its resistance) or may provide a universal
lookup for similar parts (e.g. there could be two resistors each
shown with its own unique index number because they are in
different places on the circuit board but both having the same
reference number because they are interchangeable parts).
[0100] Once all values of the index and/or reference numbers have
been entered in columns (713) and/or (715), there exists a map file
indicating the connection between various index number's values,
the locations of these index numbers in the various figures and
therefore the indexed part, and any reference number associated
with that part. This map file is stored and will be used for
interactive linking as is discussed later.
[0101] Military manuals often include a combined parts list or
similar tabular document with all the index and/or reference
numbers used in the reference materials tabulated with the
associated part identification information. This is essentially a
part glossary having index numbers associated with parts numbers
and other information about the part. In military manuals it is
often called a Repair Parts Special Tools List (RPSTL) or an
Illustrated Parts Breakdown (IPB). These are essentially the same
for the purposes of this disclosure.
[0102] This parts list, which is generally a table, may also be
extracted and edited in the same manner as the prose text (see
FIGS. 5 through 7 and the associated discussion). However, because
a parts list is generally only a table, it is preferable that the
text be extracted into a spreadsheet or similar computer system
instead of as a pure text document. Such a parts list is extracted
in this embodiment into a Microsoftg Excel.RTM. spreadsheet as
shown in FIG. 9. The tagging can then relate to indications that
values in particular columns correspond to different types of
instructions. In this case, column C (801) is the column which has
the index numbers so the text in column C (801) is reference text.
Other columns can also include reference text such as column D
(803) which has the part number. Once the reference text has been
identified, the file is saved. One of ordinary skill in the art
would recognize that the tagging of reference text in this type of
document can be simplified as the tagging can essentially be
accomplished by simple recognition of which column (or row)
contains reference text entries of a particular type.
[0103] As can be seen, by this point in the steps of FIG. 3 there
are three files existing which have been created. Each of these
files includes identified reference text indicated by tags and
values. There is a tagged prose file (created by step (115)), a map
file (created by step (121), and a parts list spreadsheet (tabular
file) (created by step (125)). In addition to the reference text,
each file also includes a selection of disclosure associated with
that reference text which is unique to that file.
[0104] In the next steps of FIG. 3, these three files are now
combined in various patterns to provide for interactive reference
materials. In this particular embodiment, two types of interactive
manuals are formed but any type of interlinking between any
combination of two or more documents may be carried out in another
embodiment of the invention. The first of the interactive reference
documents formed in this embodiment is an interactive parts list.
To form an interactive parts list, the map list information and the
parts list spreadsheet are combined to provide for interlinking
between related reference text. At the same time, both the figures
and the parts list spreadsheet information are converted into a
browser readable format. This may be by converting the information
into computer code such as HTML, XML, JavaScript, or other computer
code. In the preferred embodiment, this step is done automatically
by a computer. In other embodiments, files can be combined in a
different order and/or with human assistance.
[0105] As was discussed previously, each file includes reference
text comprising index numbers tagged as such and indicating the
value. Each file also has information associated with the index
number value which the other file does not (one has part
information, and the other has the index value's location in
pictorial text). The files are converted into a particular browser
readable code which links each of the related tag/value pairs
together. For instance, on each figure, the coordinates previously
selected (and in fact all the coordinates in the box (723)) can be
turned into a graphical hyperlink within the figure at that point
so that clicking in box (723) (clicking on the index number) links
to the row of the parts list spreadsheet associated with the index
number assigned to that box. One could also provide a hyperlink the
opposite direction. This type of linking can be part of why
different tags are used for similar references. The machine can
know to convert #FR(value) to connect to #figure(value) and
#figure(value) to #FR(value).
[0106] In this way, if a user were to click on the part's reference
number in a figure the screen (or a portion of the screen) would be
instantly taken to the row in the parts list showing what that part
is and providing the part list information associated with it. In
the same way, and individual looking at the parts list, could click
a parts index number they needed more information about and be
taken to a figure showing that part with that part's index number
already highlighted in a box to show where that part is used in
context.
[0107] FIG. 10 shows a screenshot of an embodiment of how a parts
list and a figure can appear and operate when so interlinked. That
is, FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of an interactive parts list which
is a specialized form of an interactive item list where various
items associated with a particular device are displayed. In the
browser display of FIG. 10, frames are used so that the two
component files are referenced, stored, and displayed separately.
One of ordinary skill in the art would understand, however, that in
another embodiment, frames are not necessary. In the top window
(901), there is a diagram of the figure (701) as seen previously.
In this figure, the reference numbers are visible and the figure
now includes a title (903) which may correspond to the title
entered for the figure back in the hot-spotting page (FIG. 7) in
title box (711) (this was formatted as a figure title when the
conversion occurred). If a user has taken the object shown in FIG.
10 apart and determined that piece (911) indicated by internal
reference "27" is broken, he need only look at the picture and
click on the index number (913) in picture (701). In the bottom
window (905) there is then visible a parts list (955) which has now
jumped to item number "27" as indicated by row (951) of the parts
list (955). This listing provides the full parts listing of the
part associated with that reference number in a format designed for
ease of use after it was formatted in the conversion step above. As
a component of this parts list (955), in an embodiment there may
also be a method for ordering the part, as generally indicated by
requisition link (953), but that will be discussed later.
[0108] Further on FIG. 10 there is in side window (907) which is
yet an additional frame and in which there is provided an
abbreviated parts number list. This list demonstrates an internal
linking within the parts list and may be created from the
information in the parts list. In particular, the parts numbers can
be extracted from the list (as they are all in a column) into
another file and they can then be treated as reference text when
assigning the values in the extracted column and the tabular text
of the parts list. The parts numbers in the extracted column can
then be organized in a different order from the data in the parts
list (e.g. in a parts' number order) as shown. If a user were to
find a part and be unsure of what it is for, they could look up the
part number on this list, click on the part, and immediately be
taken to a screen showing the part list (955) in lower window
(905). They could then click on the index number associated with
that part in parts list (955) and be provided with the figure
showing the part's placement as in figure (701). In this way, the
various components have been effectively linked together and the
single parts list and figure references have been converted into a
useful interactive document.
[0109] The parts number list in the side window (907) shows another
embodiment of how the links can be created. As should be apparent
from FIG. 10, the side window (907) links to the parts list
spreadsheet (955), but the alternative is not the case. This is
because a user would be highly unlikely to need to access a parts
number index from the parts list (as the number list provides no
useful additional disclosure). Therefore these links are only made
one way for simplicity.
[0110] One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that FIG.
10 provides simply one embodiment of how a screen could appear to a
user trying to locate parts information and use an interactive
parts list. In another embodiment, the screen could be laid out
entirely differently. For instance, instead of using multiple
frames, the hyperlinks could simply lead through to entirely new
windows. In still another embodiment, different information could
be used to link. For instance, in an embodiment, instead of a parts
list in the side window, a parts description could be included so
that if a user knows they are looking for a gasket, they can look
up all the gaskets to try and determine which one they want. This
leads to the general recognition that virtually any piece of text
could be a piece of reference text to provide interlinking. While
certain text is more clearly intended to be reference text under
most circumstances, particularly when specific indexes or "tables
of contents" are created, any appropriate text could be used as
reference text in other embodiments. The only thing that is
necessary is for the general parameters of the pre-scan to
recognize that such a piece of text is intended to be a piece of
reference text in the document and to tag it appropriately.
[0111] One of ordinary skill in the art would understand from the
above discussion that interactive reference materials allow the
user to cross-reference different materials by using the references
they share, even if those references require an intermediate source
to understand. That is, so long as a logical chain can be drawn
between the various materials, the user can follow that chain to
find what they are looking for so long as that link had been
recognized when the interactive reference materials were made.
[0112] The interactive parts list of FIG. 10 in and of itself is
useful for providing links of the parts list to the individual
figures. However, using the logical chain principle from above,
other materials can be combined therewith. In particular, the prose
text of the reference material has not yet been utilized. The file
of tagged prose text created in step (115) may now be linked with
the figures (701) and/or the parts list (955) to provide for yet
another interactive reference. In the described embodiment, the
prose text is linked to the already existing interactive parts list
to form an interactive manual and parts list. The conversion
process is essentially the same as for creating the interactive
parts list of FIG. 10, except that now there are more tag/value
combinations. Essentially, in the creation of the interactive parts
list (955) the reference text was primarily part index numbers.
Inclusion of the prose text simply provides for more types of
reference text types and generally more formatting tags. An
embodiment of the interactive manual and parts list, including
prose text, after conversion into HTML is shown in FIG. 11. One of
skill in the art can see from FIG. 11 that the prose text has also
been formatted through the tags originally placed in the file as
part of the conversion into browser readable format in step (133),
so as to provide a nice screen appearance.
[0113] In FIG. 11, a user has a maintenance manual (prose text)
(1005) available in the lower window (905) which they can read and
scroll through as they are performing maintenance in the standard
manner. However, they can now interactively search this manual as a
table of contents (1007) has been created in the side window (902)
(in much the same way as the parts number list was created). This
table of contents can also be included within the lower window
(905) prose text as well in another embodiment. The table of
contents allows the user to quickly jump to a section of the manual
that they wish to read. Further, a figure (701) associated with the
particular portion of the manual they are reading is also available
on the screen. This figure can be made available because the user
clicked on a figure number reference, or because the table of
contents is associated to both the prose text and the related
figure (e.g. clicking on a particular table of contents entry loads
both a text and a picture file) or because a page of prose text
(1005) is linked to a particular figure (e.g. by page number) where
the figure originally appeared. In the latter embodiment above, the
interlinking may be made by breaking the prose text into discrete
chunks each of which are associated with a figure or through any
other method known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
[0114] The figure presented can always be the appropriate figure
for the prose text being read. If the user was to select a
particular index reference from the prose text, they can be taken
to the figure (either the one currently present or a particular one
depending on how the system is set up) showing the location of the
particular part with that index value. This is shown in FIG. 12, in
FIG. 12 the user is reading about how to remove an AC circuit
interrupter in prose text (1005). In reading the instructions they
may have need to locate the bracket "9" (1101) they are supposed to
remove based on instruction (1103). If they were to click on the
brackets reference "9" (1105) in the prose text of the manual, they
have highlighted the index number "9" (1107) indicating the correct
bracket (1101) in the figure (701). In yet another embodiment, the
figure (701) may be linked with a legend which is not visible. This
legend could be linked up with the figure so that hovering a
pointer or other device over the figure reference in figure (701)
provides for a pop-up window or similar structure showing the name
of that particular piece ("bracket" in this case).
[0115] While this interactive manual is useful on its own, the
interactive manual in this embodiment can also be interlinked to
the interactive parts list previously discussed in conjunction with
FIG. 10. Therefore if a user of FIG. 12 still required additional
information, or wished to determine the part number of bracket "9"
(1101) (for instance because it was broken and a new one needed to
be ordered) the user, in one embodiment, could go up to the figure
and click on the index number "9" (1107). This would then allow for
the manual (1005) in the lower window (905) to be replaced with
parts list information as shown in FIG. 10 using the interlinking
already described in conjunction with FIG. 10.
[0116] In another embodiment, links to the parts list may be
included in the prose text such as through link (1109). This link
can be created by recognizing that the name of the parts list may
be reference text. This latter embodiment may be preferable in the
cases of certain manuals because the pictures associated with the
prose text, may not be the same as those in the parts list. In the
latter embodiment, therefore, clicking on the parts list link
(1109) may result in not only the prose text (1005) being swapped
to the parts list (955), but for the figure (701) to also change
into a related figure which is better for use with the parts list
(955). This arrangement may be used in an embodiment to accept
changes due to standards usually used in reference manuals. For
instance, in some branches of service, different figures are used
in parts lists than in manuals so that the manual does not need to
be updated if the parts list is updated.
[0117] From the interaction of FIGS. 10 through 12, the capability
of an interactive reference system can be seen. In the depicted
embodiment, the reference materials comprised related manuals, but
one of ordinary skill in the art would understand how the general
principles of creating interlinked documents above could be used to
provide for interlinking of any number of different reference
materials and parts of individual reference documents. In this way,
a user trying to carry out an instruction in any manual can load
the manual and then call up detailed pictures associated with any
particular reference even if they were originally in a different
manual or even for a different device. From a picture, they can
call up detailed information about a part. In another embodiment,
from a maintenance manual they could load a repair manual. The
possibilities are virtually limitless. A user could also go in
different direction for instance in another embodiment a user with
an unknown part they can determine what system the part is from,
and then load a manual showing how to install or repair the
part.
[0118] Through the use of the network architecture discussed in
FIGS. 4A and 4B, these manuals, in an embodiment, are available to
any user having access to a client and being allowed to access the
server on which the reference materials are resident. In the case
of the military, the reference materials may be placed on a secured
server, or on certain redundant servers and any person (e.g.
soldier) which may need the manuals can be provided with a client
to access the network and one or more of these servers. This user
therefore need only carry the client to have access to all the
paper manuals they originally carried.
[0119] The use of the client/server network architecture also
provides security benefits. One of ordinary skill in the art would
understand that since the interactive reference system is stored
electronically, the system could be placed on storage media and
given to the individual user in an alternative embodiment (who then
would not need access to the network or provided via a network).
Access to the reference materials could require passing of various
security measures which can help to prevent the materials from
falling into the wrong hands. Further, data destruction in the
event of possible capture can be performed easier as the user has
few or no documents to destroy and a server operator (who can be
thousands of miles away) may be able to eliminate the access before
the security can be broken even if the client is captured.
[0120] The above system utilizing HTML conversion and relating of
reference text comprises only a single embodiment of the general
system and method of FIG. 1 for creating interactive reference
materials. In another embodiment, the simple relationships can be
made far more powerful through the use of a set of global controls
which provide for an overview set of universal instructions for the
conversion of reference materials.
[0121] A second embodiment of conversion software is discussed in
conjunction with FIGS. 13-19 and is designed to learn so that the
more documents that are available in the interactive reference
system, the easier it is to convert new reference material into
interactive reference material. In particular, this system, instead
of assigning particular tags to a particular piece of reference
text which is then matched to a related piece of reference text,
utilizes a macro global control where commands can be nested within
a document based on a global control set. In this way, any number
of tagged reference documents can be simultaneously linked together
through the use of nested commands so long as they use the same
global control. It is preferable that this embodiment be encoded
using XML or Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) as such
nesting of commands within global controls is efficient in these
languages, but other languages may be used as understood by those
of ordinary skill in the art. This discussion will presume that XML
is being used to program the depicted embodiment.
[0122] FIG. 1 still provides the general steps of the operation,
but FIG. 13 shows how this second embodiment uses slightly
different steps from the embodiment of FIG. 3. FIG. 13 only
discusses the conversion of prose text reference materials. From
FIG. 3 and the associated discussion, tagging of other types of
disclosure text in this second embodiment are essentially the same
as in the first embodiment except tags use XML and global controls
as in the prose text case described here. In step (1301) the text
is obtained in a similar manner to step (101) of FIG. 3 in a
computer readable form. In FIG. 13, the text may however be
original XML source text including XML tags which are maintained in
the conversion. Many military reference materials being created
currently are created in XML using a predefined set of styles or
Document Type Definitions (DTDs) defined by the branch of the
military. Documents created in this form may bypass steps (1301),
(1303), (1305), (1307), and (1309) of this embodiment. In step
(1303) the text is tagged in XML during the pre-scan which locates
basic structure patterns such as formatting and reference text and
includes tags for formatting and apparent reference text in the
same manner as the first embodiment. The resulting file is then
reviewed for errors (1305), if desired, generally in an embodiment
by a human operator examining the file. In step (1307) text to XML
conversion software is run on the output of step (1305). This
places the formatting previously identified into XML form. The XML
text is again reviewed and possibly edited in step (1309). In this
review step, an editor is primarily looking for XML which does not
have sufficient detail. For example, a paragraph may have been
labeled as a simple paragraph (e.g. <para>) when it was
actually a particular type of paragraph, but that was not
identified by the XML conversion step. In step (1311), the XML file
is searched for combinations (or parent/child relationships) of
tags which are compared to the global control, which in this
embodiment is a database and/or DTD to locate and identify
patterns. This lookup is essentially a conversion of a certain
string of XML tags into a particular type of tag recognized by the
global control either for formatting, reference indication, or both
and is represented by step (1313). As discussed, the commands can
be nested or parent/child related, therefore the commands "bold,"
"underline," and "14pt font" applying to the same text can actually
be represented by the global control "title" if this title also is
identified as reference text those commands may be further nested.
If all titles are reference text the formatting and reference tag
may be the same. Any unrecognized patterns can also be identified
and a human or machine intelligence can be used to classify them in
step (1315).
[0123] Once all information about the references is in the global
control, the materials can be interlinked and made interactive
using the global control and converted into browser readable format
(1317). As a by product an XML, an XSL style sheet can be created
directly from the global control in this step. Further, the
conversion in this case can be lessened as much of the conversion
can be passed to the client to be performed on receipt. As one of
ordinary skill in the art would understand, because the global
control is used by multiple references, the documents can be
interlinked "on the fly" when provided to the user in step (1319).
Also, the linking may again be checked (as in step (135)) in this
embodiment although that step is not shown.
[0124] FIGS. 14-19 show how a reference document can be converted
into an interactive document utilizing an XML-based DTD global
control. In FIG. 14 there is provided a screen of text (1401) which
has been placed in a computer readable form and has been formatted
in accordance with XML principles as described in steps (1301)
through (1309) of FIG. 13. This text (1401) is then loaded into a
mapping construction module (1500) such as that shown in FIG. 15.
The mapping construction module (1401) has loaded therein an
existing set of global controls. These are identified in
identification box (1501) showing the type of thing the text is
intended to be. This global control will generally have begun with
structures from a US military defined structure which is supposed
to be followed by the particular document. In an embodiment, the
global control may be based on a DTD which may be a military DTD or
any other DTD as known to those of ordinary skill in the art which
show a general intended format for documents of a particular type.
In the military context, DTDs which may be used in an embodiment of
the invention to create the initial global control specifically
include, but are not limited to, Army 2361A, Air Force 38784, and
Navy 3001. There is also shown a structure (in XML/HTML tag format)
associated with that particular tag in structure box (1503). When
the mapping construction module (1500) is run, the patterns in the
XML tags of FIG. 14 corresponding to these particular global
controls are identified and replaced. The tags used box (1505)
identifies which were used. The uncompleted box (1507) then
provides for a listing of all unrecognized patterns. This may be
because an incorrect pattern was used in setting up the XML, or
because a new pattern, not previously defined, exists in the
document. If there are undefined patterns, they may be added or
reviewed by a human operator using an editing program or
electronically identified. An embodiment of a human editing program
is shown in FIG. 16 where the text (1601) including the tags (such
as tag (1603)) is shown and a user can go to a particular
unassigned pattern, review available patterns, and assign
appropriate global control tags, or create new tags and use those,
as appropriate.
[0125] Once all patterns have been assigned to a tag from the
global control, the XML file is saved. Such a file (1701) is shown
in FIG. 17 where the global tags indicate various things (e.g. the
tag <warnpage> (1703) indicating a warning page). Once the
XML file has been created, the final browser version of the file
can be generated. FIG. 18 provides for a conversion module for such
a system whereby a particular type of document format may be
entered into a document format box (1801). There is also provided
the original file name in a file name box (1803), and an indication
of the global control file to be used (1805).
[0126] When the document is converted it may be converted into an
HTML shell, which utilizes XML and an associated XSL style sheet to
provide for the global parameters. Or it can alternatively be
turned into straight HTML creating a resulting file similar to that
created by the first embodiment. The frame situation is generally
preferred, as it maintains more flexibility in the resulting files
for later editing or inclusion of additional interactive reference
materials interlinked therewith and shifts much of the formatting
to the client. From a user's point of view, the two methods will
produce screens which are essentially identical. A technical manual
(this time without a linked figure showing) are shown in FIGS. 19A
and 19B, 19A is the document using HTML from the original XML
source while 19B is the HTML frame, XML, XSL document. As can be
seen, they are virtually identical.
[0127] Regardless of which embodiment of the system and/or method
is used to create the interactive reference system. The interactive
reference system can comprise more than just interactive reference
materials. In particular, the reference system, particularly when
utilizing client/server network functionality, can provide
additional services of the type available on a computer network and
can comprise specialized services particularly related to tasks
which are likely to be useful for those that are utilizing the
reference materials.
[0128] One such service relates to the ordering of parts. As shown
in the above embodiments, many of the reference materials that will
be included in the interactive reference system are maintenance or
repair manuals and therefore the user will likely be attempting to
repair or maintain the device and these actions often require the
acquisition of new parts. In particular, the user may have used
FIG. 12 to remove the AC circuit and discovered in the process that
bracket "9" (1101) is broken and needs to be replaced. Therefore
the user needs to order a replacement bracket "9" (1101). As
discussed above, the user can already obtain the part number for
bracket "9" (1101) and information needed to order bracket "9"
(1101) from the interactive parts list. However, particularly in
the military, simply knowing which part to order does not
necessarily complete the process. There is generally a significant
amount of paperwork that needs to be completed and various tasks
have to be completed to successfully order the part. An embodiment
of a requisitioning service therefore includes interlinking to an
embodiment of a parts requisitioning system. This embodiment is
shown in FIGS. 20-22 and may be created for the exclusive use of
users of the interactive reference materials.
[0129] The requisitioning system is designed in accordance with the
basic tenets of an on-line storefront in an embodiment. However,
the requisitioning system may include specific functionality to
obtain information from interactive reference materials and may
include functionality to operate in conjunction with military
ordering requirements and legacy systems. In particular, when the
requisitioning button (953) is selected, that button is associated
with various disclosure and reference text. In particular, it is
still associated with the index number of the selected part and the
row (951). Using the interlinking of the other documents,
information that will be needed to requisition the part is
available from a logical chain from this reference text. Further,
even the documents needed to order the part can be determined from
information about the part.
[0130] An embodiment of the requisitioning procedure is discussed
in flowchart in FIG. 20 to show generally how the system works. In
step (2001), the user indicates that they wish to requisition an
item (such as, but not limited to, a part, a paper manual, or
anything else associated with the device they are working with). In
step (2003), the system determines based on links associated with
the particular item what information is known in the interactive
reference system that is required for ordering that item. This will
generally be a series of parameters that provide for both an
indication of a requisition function to use and the types of
information needed by the particular function. This information is
then populated into an appropriate virtual requisition in step
(2005). In step (2007) the user is provided the virtual requisition
and queried for any changes or any information that is not
available from the interactive reference system, and in step (2009)
the virtual requisition may be sent as a requisition (either
electronically or by hand) to the necessary supplier and/or
government office in the appropriate manner.
[0131] These steps are best described by showing a user carrying
out such steps in the screenshots of FIGS. 10 and 21-22. The user
begins the process by requesting the item (in this case, a part)
requisition in FIG. 10 by pressing the requisition link (953). Once
this button has been pressed a new order form window (2101) is
opened as is shown in FIG. 21A. This new window has been populated
with information about the part from the virtual library such as
the product ID in field (2103). This can also include information
such as the part's manufacturer (2105). If one scrolls down this
window, there is provided yet more information as shown in FIG.
21B. At the bottom of the virtual requisition, there is visible
some information which is needed from the user. This includes such
items as the billing information (2107) which is currently set to a
default choice. There is also a menu for selecting a method of
payment (2109) and providing verification of the number or
identifier associated with that method (2111). Once this
information has been entered, the part order can be submitted in
the manner of a standard electronic shopping cart by clicking one
of the three cart buttons (2113), (2115), or (2117) depending on
what information has been entered and the user desires to enter.
The selections available to a user for any part may have been
selected by the manufacturer (2105) of the part from FIG. 21A. In
particular, that part's manufacturer may be able to receive orders
at a predetermined price directly from the user needing the part.
In this case, the transaction can occur from here on out using
systems known to those of ordinary skill in the art for performing
e-commerce. Alternatively, the particular manufacturer (or another
party, such as, but not limited to the government) may require
additional procedures for the part to be ordered. For instance, the
part may be stored by the military in a particular location and is
not ordered from the manufacturer directly when needed, or the
manufacturer may need to quote a price at the time of ordering.
Further, the system may also be able to distinguish between a peace
time or wartime requisition and may provide different types of
ordering depending on which system is currently in effect. The
requisitioning system can therefore include functionality to
provide for more efficient requisitioning.
[0132] In the virtual requisition form or elsewhere in the
requisition service there may be a button to link to a Government
requisition form. This button allows the user to load into a window
a representation of the particular government requisitioning form
for the part (or parts) to be requested. Clicking this button will
take the user to a screen such as that in FIG. 22 which now
displays an electronic (and interactive in an embodiment)
representation of the appropriate requisition form (2201) to obtain
this part. This form has already been populated with known
information and the user can fill out the remaining information and
print out the form for submission if such a manner of ordering is
desired. Alternatively, because the requisition form can be based
on, or can be, an existing government requisition form, the form
may be sent electronically as a requisition. This type of
requisition, in an embodiment, is compatible with Army management
systems and other pre-existing legacy systems currently used for
requisition. In this case, the interactive reference system
provides capability where the soldier can order a part using the
appropriate system for ordering that part (or indeed have different
alternatives for ordering) even if they do not know which system is
appropriate to use. The interactive reference system can determine,
based on information contained therein, which system to use for
which part.
[0133] Alternatively quotes, requests for proposals (RFPs), or
other types of interactive ordering systems or methods used by the
military could be used to obtain particular parts if required based
on the particular situation. The selection of what is to be used
could be performed based on many factors known to the network, the
client, or any other component and updated for the instant
transaction. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that
the electronic requisitioning system shown in FIGS. 21 through 22
is merely one embodiment of how a requisitioning system could be
performed, and the shopping cart and ordering forms shown herein
could be modified to incorporate components of known electronic
commerce sites to allow for sales to be accomplished in accordance
therewith.
[0134] In conjunction with the above, the system provides for easy
updating of parts lists and other reference materials. Because the
reference materials are preferably stored on a limited number of
servers, when it is necessary to update them, the new materials can
be run through a conversion process as discussed above, and then
the new updated file can replace the old file, be re-interlinked,
and be made quickly available to any user needing that document
without the need for distributing paper updates. Even if the system
is stored on storage media, an electronic updating service can be
used via a network, or new storage media can be distributed.
[0135] Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize
that a parts requisitioning system is merely one of many systems
which could be associated with the interactive reference materials
and in fact many useful online services could be so associated. In
particular, streaming video or real-time services could be linked
to the interactive library, as could help lines or customer service
connections. In still another embodiment, the interactive library
could include mapping or other location functions to help with
product delivery or location.
[0136] In still another embodiment, the interactive materials could
be linked with a diagnostic system either used by the user or
on-board the device. The diagnostic system could evaluate the
device for a malfunction and transfer its result to the server
and/or client. The client can then obtain the reference material
for fixing the detected problem and, in an embodiment,
automatically requisition needed parts. In a still further
embodiment, the communication with the device could be
bidirectional. That is, the reference system, once loaded, can
interact with the diagnostic. For instance, a user could indicate
in the manual that they have completed a particular step, at which
time the diagnostic runs a new series of tests to determine if the
problem is fixed, or, if not, what actions should be taken next
updating the interactive reference materials provided to the user
so they can perform the next task.
[0137] While the invention has been disclosed in connection with
certain preferred embodiments, this should not be taken as a
limitation to all of the provided details. Modifications and
variations of the described embodiments may be made without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and other
embodiments should be understood to be encompassed in the present
disclosure as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the
art.
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