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CALS report issue summaries 4
CALS REPORT ISSUE SUMMARIES
CALS Report, Vol 2, Nos 7-12, July-December, 1989
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CALS Report, Vol 2, No 7, July, 1989
DoD CALS Office Finalizes 1989 CALS Agenda
The DoD CALS Office has announced a final 1989 agenda which includes a
comprehensive master plan, a clearer focus on contractor responibilities,
increased testing and infrastructure development, and extensive revisions to
existing standards. The agenda was discussed by Dr. Michael F. McGrath,
Director of the DoD CALS Policy Office, in a meeting of the newly reorganized
CALS Information Management (formerly the Digital Information Interchange Task
Group, as will be discussed in more detail next month) in Gaithersburg, MD.
The agenda justifies the broadened scope of CALS development activities in
terms of the final target capabilities envisioned.
----
CALS SIG Forming in Europe
A CALS Special Interest Group (SIG) is forming hosted by the British Standards
Institution (BSI). The first meeting, "CALS IN EUROPE: An Action Meeting," is
scheduled for July 14, 1989, will review CALS and its potential impact on the
European and NATO defense industry. The participation of defense firms
throughout Europe is solicited. The SIG will be under the auspices of the SGML
Users' Group, but will cover all aspects of CALS as developed by the US DoD,
not just SGML. It will concentrate exclusively in the first instance on
equipping the European defense industry to respond to the US DoD requirements.
For more information on the CALS SIG, contact: Ms. Joan M. Smith,
17 Tanza Rd., Hampstead, London, NW3 3UA, UK, +44-1-435-9300.
----
NIST CBT Workshop on Process Plant 3-D Piping Application Protocols Successful
A NIST Center for Building Technology (CBT) Workshop on the 3-D Piping
Information Needs in the Process Plant Industry was convened to discuss the
effect of the proposed Application Protocol on their industry. Chaired by Mark
Palmer of NIST's Computer Integrated Construction Group, the workshop
successfully exchanged ideas from the process plant, shipbuilding,
construction, and CAD industries. The workshop is an effort to coordinate the
CALS 3-D Piping Application Protocol (AP) with an affected non-defense
industry.
--
Analysis: New MIL-STD-1388 2B Enhances Data Integration but More is Needed
The new Logistic Support Analysis Record (LSAR) standard MIL-STD-1388 2B is
certain to alter past approaches to logistic data transfer. The new LSAR data
record will be defined as a relational data base model (see CALS Report,
August, 1988), stated in a processable SQL format. SQL (Structured Query
Language) will allow software to create the LSAR data base on any compliant
Relational Data Base Management System (RDBMS) and later access (query) that
data. Data access by users and their applications will become so simple, that
it will intensify the debate over the need for and structure of an IGES-like
exchange format or indexing schemes for LSAR data. Because of the broader
scope and utility of indexing schemes, it serves a larger role than 1388 LSAR
data and fills a CALS need for context-independent data queries. The
controversy will be the subject of a special panel at the SCAE conference on
CALS/Concurrent Engineering, 19-21 September, 1989, at Crystal City, VA.
----
POSIX forms Security Task Group to Add Security Interface Standards to APP
POSIX has formed a security task group (IEEE P1003.6) to add Security
Interface Standards to Applications Portability Profile (APP). The task group
will develop specifications for standard interfaces to security services and
mechanisms for portable applications, to include system call interfaces and
commands. The security standard is one of the 9-part POSIX family of interface
standards for assuring application portability (see CALS Report, March, 1989).
POSIX standards are for software portability, GOSIP standards are for
interoperability. The current Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)
151 is based on draft 12 of IEEE 1003.1 and is being revised (151-1).
----
GE Establishes CALS Steering Committee
GE has established a corporate CALS steering committee to lend corporate
support to its divisions and individual departments regarding CALS. The
steering committee will address how best to use CALS tools, techniques, and
associated standards internally among numerous GE components, between
components and their subcontractors, and between components and their
Govenment customers. The GE steering committee has established and manned
working groups that somewhat parallel the working group structure of the CALS
Industry Steering Group. To date, working groups have been formed for
Technical Manuals/Publications, Technical Drawings and CAD/CAM, Logistic
Support Analysis, Reliability and Maintainability Integration, and Contracts.
----
The CALS Report Welcomes the CALS Review
by William G. Beazley, Editor, CALS Report
As some of our readers have noticed, there is a new CALS publication on the
scene, The CALS Review. We are pleased that this new quarterly has arrived to
serve as a "refereed journal" on CALS topics. Auerbach, the publisher of this
scholarly piece is known internationally for high quality, detailed books and
references for CAD, CIM and other areas.
--
Frame Technology Developing New Publishing Product for CALS Market
Frame Technology Corporation has announced it has license Software Exoterica
Corp.'s XGML Engine, a Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) parser and
software package. Frame, a San Jose, CA is a leading supplier of computer
publishing software. Software Exoterica Corp., a Canadian developer and user
of SGML technology since 1986, provides products and services to the SGML
community. Exoterica's XGML Engine parsing technology for SGML is used by an
increasing number of software developers, system integrators, and end users.
Frame will use the XGML Engine to develop new CALS-compliant computer
publishing software, based on its advanced FrameMaker technology.
---
Ford Aerospace Installs CALS-Compliant Datalogics Technical Publishing Systems
San Jose, CA -- Ford Aerospace, Western Development Laboratories (WDL)
Division, has installed three CALS-Compliant technical publishing systems from
Datalogics, Inc. Ford Aerospace, which designs and manufactures command,
control, communication, and intelligence (C3I) systems for the United States
government and other customers, produces and updates a large volume of highly-
illustrated technical documentation to support its work. This documentation
must be produced with a system that fully complies with current and projected
Department of Defense CALS standards. Datalogics is a leading supplier of
publishing systems worldwide for government, aerospace, automotive, financial
and legal applications.
----
GSC Associates Announces CALS-Compliant GraphPorter CGM-Based Product
GSC Associates has announced the availability of its GraphPorter product.
GraphPorter is a printer driver that works with most applications on the Apple
Macintosh family of computers. Instead of immediately printing the document,
a description of it is saved to disk in Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM)
exchange format. This provides a quick and reliable way to send graphics
generated on the Apple Macintosh to other computers (including the IBM PC).
A profile of CGM has been adopted as a CALS exchange standard and is one of
four profiles generated by the product.
----
Sherpa Configuration Management Software Features Application-Independence
The Sherpa Design Management System (DMS) is a comprehensive software system
available for Engineering data management (EDM). EDM is also referred to as
Configuration Management (CM) and is an increasing concern to the CALS
community, which must provide for Government access to data while maintaining
a secure system and protecting proprietary data. EDM systems control all of
the files created by each of an organization's disparate computer-aided design
and engineering (CAD/CAE) tools, manage the relationship among the design
files that these electronic tools generate, and control access to the design
files throughout the product life-cycle. Sherpa claims their software is
different from that offered by software application vendors, who offer more
limited capabilities which are usually incompatible with other application
files.
-----
Matra Datavision and Digital Collaborate to Manage Design Data
Matra Datavision has announced the successful integration of its well-known
EUCLID-IS CAE/CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Engineering, Design, and Manufacturing)
system with Digital's new EDSC-II software. Using Matra's EDMF (EUCLID-IS Data
Management Facilities) module, engineers can prepare designs for validation
and place EUCLID-IS models under EDSC II control to be shared with other
departments. EDSC II automatically notifies reviewers that designs are ready
for scrutiny, handles ECO's (engineering change orders) by passing EUCLID-IS
models and instructions back to the design environment, and accommodates
company-specific design approval and engineering release processes. Matra
Datavision is a leader in CAE/CAD/CAM solutions based in solid modeling.
=======
CALS Report, Vol 2, No 8, August, 1989
Prime Computer Decides not to Implement Output of MIL-D-28000 Subsets
In a surprise move, Prime Computer has announced that they do not intend to
implement a user option in their IGES pre-processor to generate MIL-D-28000
subset files. IGES pre-processors encode a vendor's proprietary data entities
into IGES entities: CALS standard MIL-D-28000 narrows this further to certain
subsets of IGES entities for specific applications. Prime suggests that their
customers use "any of the IGES-to-IGES filter utilities which are available to
create MIL-D-28000 conformant files." The decision does not affect Prime's
intention to enable their CAD systems to read "all MIL-D-28000 subsets that
they can represent." In addition, Prime asks the IGES user community not to
request MIL-D-28000 subset output of any other CAD vendor's IGES pre-
processor.
----
Don Hall Says Four Electronic Standards to Emerge in CALS
Don Hall announced that four ANSI electronic standards will be adopted by CALS
for use in exchanging electronic product data. The four standards:
EDIF - Electronic Design Interchange Format ANSI/EIA 548-1988
IPC - Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits,
IPC-D-350, 351, 352, 354
IGES - Interim Graphics Exchange Specification ANSI Y14.26
VHDL - VHSLIC hardware Description Language ANSI/IEEE 1076
have gained wide industry acceptance within specific application domains. The
four product data standards for electronics will be targeted toward specific
applications. The action follows the recommendations of an Electronic
Industries Association (EIA) study and Hall made his announcement at a meeting
of the VHDL Users' Group. The change will be implemented through changes to
MIL-STD-1840A, MIL-HDBK-59 (CALS), and other guidance.
-----
DoD Says VHDL Model Delivery Vital to Offsetting Diminished Manufacturing Sources
DoD has said that delivery of VHDL model is vital to offsetting Diminished
Manufacturing Sources (DMS). According to Dr. Susan Turnbach, OSD(A)/DTAO,
VHDL can help Dimishing Manufacturing Sources by:
o Serving as standard, unambiguous, simulatable descriptions of all parts of electronic designs, at all levels of abstraction through gate.
o Providing a technology independent way to use functional descriptions and automatically synthesize new devices with equivalent performance.
o Allowing verification through simulation, before costly hardware is built.
Dr. Turnbach made her comments at the recent VHDL Users Group meeting in
Washington, DC.
----
CALS ISG Reorganizes to Embrace CALS & Concurrent Engineering Missions
The CALS Industry Steering Group (ISG) has reorganized to reflect its combined
interest in CALS and Concurrent Engineering, and improve the management of
task group activities. While CALS is concerned with a broad family of enabling
technologies, most industry participants are committed to the long term
objective of advancing Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) techniques. These
advanced techniques are now falling under the general concept of concurrent
engineering.
-----
ODA & CALS
by N. S. Srikanta, Member, NIST ODA Implementation Group, and
Fred H. Held, Member ISO/IEC JTC1/SC18/WG5 and ANSI X3 Tech Comm X3V1
There have been several articles written lately that relate to CALS MIL-STD-
1840A documents. One identifies a problem with using Standard Generalized
Markup Language (SGML - ISO 8879) for document interchange - Karen D. Schwartz
had an article in Government Computer News (reference 1) that identified a
formatting problem when a MIL-STD-1840A document is interchanged. Another is
a misunderstanding of using Office Document Architecture and Interchange
Format (ODA - ISO 8613) in the CALS environment - Joan M. Smith wrote an
article in this newsletter (reference 2) that was a misunderstanding of ODA's
use of SGML for CALS documents. ... This article tries to clarify some issues
related to ODA and SGML, and why ODA is a better choice for document
interchange in the CALS environment.
----
SGML and ODA Revisited
by Joan M. Smith, President, SGML Users Group
A comparison of SGML and ODA for use in CALS is something that I have
carefully avoided until now, preferring instead to concentrate on the
inclusion of documents structured in accordance with ODA in an SGML
environment. However, the article by N. S. Srikanta and F. H. Held on 'ODA
and CALS' in this number of the CALS Report raises interesting issues to which
I should like to respond. I do so not only because of the work I have done
with SGML but also as the former editor of Part 1, Introduction and General
Principles, and Part 4, Document Profile, of ISO 8613 ODA.
SGML and ODA should not be compared as they fulfill two different needs: one
for the re-use of information in an information base that may include any
content type, and the other for the interchange of office documents. Since
ODA documents may be included in an information base governed by SGML, there
is no problem if it is decided that CALS should adopt both ISO standards.
Certainly ODA cannot do everything that is possible with SGML. This not a
criticism of ODA, for it was never a design criterion that it should. We laid
the foundations for what most people wanted who worked in offices, to have a
document created on one word processor able to be imaged by the one in the
next office, or elsewhere in their company. It evolved over the years, and
now many facilities offered by desktop publishing systems are taken into
account. But that is not what Phase II of CALS is about.
----
CALCE Center at the University of Maryland Helps Electronic Design Industries
To meet the needs of the electronic design industry, the University of
Maryland has established the Computer Aided Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE)
Industry/University Cooperative Research Center under the sponsorship of the
National Science Foundation. The CALCE center is an Industry/University
Cooperative Research Center studying problems related to the efficient design
of reliable electronics. In recent years, electronic design industries have
spent a considerable amount of effort in the development of sophisticated
tools for schematic capture, electrical simulation and routing. However,
there are additional electrical, mechanical, reliability, maintainability,
and logistical engineering concerns which must be integrated into the design
process. Such system level design tools will increase the productivity and
efficiency of engineers, and facilitate teamwork, and are considered
essential to CALS Phase II.
----
Glasnost Comes to the CALS Report: A Special Offer to Subscribers
Many subscriber firms are forming Corporate CALS Committees. The CALS Report
maintains a list of about 7,000 active professionals in CALS-related areas.
Although many firms have close to a hundred people listed in my data base, I
have consistently refused to disclose co-workers, despite the many requests.
However, there has been such a rapid increase in this activity, that I find
myself in a unique position to contribute to their development. I have decided
to reverse the non-disclosure policy, subject to certain conditions, in order
to facilitate formation of CALS committees and to update and expand my mailing
list. This will also enable some group subscribers to expand their
subscriptions and share the savings.
-----
CALS Report Thanks Xerox Corporation
The CALS Report wishes to thank Xerox Corporation for their purchase of a
license for an electronic version of the CALS Report. The license will enable
Xerox to make the newsletter available on an unlimited basis throughout the
Xerox corporate electronic mail network. Although the price is proprietary,
the initial survey returns indicated that the electronic version will save
about $8,000 over single issue subscription cost and a considerable amount over
a group rate. The CALS Report welcomes these kinds of innovative ideas for
distributing the newsletter for mutual savings. We complement Xerox for their
vision.
=======
CALS Report, Vol 2, No 9, September, 1989
MIL-M-28001 A SGML Draft Released for Coordination
The long-awaited Draft of the revision to the CALS Standard for SGML markup of
technical publications, MIL-M-28001-A, has been released for coordination.
Formal Coordination of Revision A to MIL-M-28001,"Markup Requirements and
Generic Style Specification for Electronic Printed Output and Exchange of
Text," is a major step in its adoption as a Military Specification. It
involves reconcilliation by DoD of the needs of the military services, while
considering the comments of industry reviewers. The new revision formally
introduces the new Output Specification (OS) and Formatting Output
Specification Instances (FOSI's) needed to describe the format of the
document. Publication of MIL-M-28001A is scheduled for December, 1989.
-----
MIL-STD-1388-2B Now Available for Beta Testing Through MRSA
US Army AMC/MRSA has released a coordination Draft of "DoD Requirements for a
Logistic Support Analysis Record." MRSA (Materiel Readiness Support Activity)
is responsible for MIL-STD-1388-2B, which will become the new standard for
LSAR as relations in an RDBMS. The new standard will include a Government
developed Joint Service LSAR Relational ADP System. The JSLSAR ADP System is
being readied for beta testing that will create LSAR relations in a user-
supplied RDBMS. The JSLSAR system will include C Language code with embedded
Structured Query Language (SQL) calls that will set up the LSAR data base.
This LSAR revision will greatly facilitate its integration with CAD/CAM, Tech
Pubs, and other defense applications (see CALS Report, July, 1989). The new
standard was reviewed at a meeting at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, attended by
about 600 contractor professionals. The standard and JSLSAR system is
scheduled for release in early 1990.
----
SAE Initiates IGES Translator Verification Program
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST, formerly the National Bureau of Standards)
have announced the initiation of the IGES Translator Verification Program.
The SAE program will concentrate on verifying a vendor's claim to pre-process
(output) or post-process (input) individual IGES entities in their various
allowed forms. The SAE test report may play a role in DoD qualification of
defense contractors to process CALS IGES entity subsets. They are notifying
vendors of IGES products about the existence of the program and are seeking
volunteers for the beta test of program test suites and procedures. SAE is
under contract to NIST to do the Beta Testing, while production testing is
expected to be funded from test fees. The actual testing will be done at
university-based test laboratories.
-----
Controversy Continues over Prime's Stance on IGES Subsets
Discussion continues over the controversial position taken by Prime at the
last IGES/PDES meeting in Buffalo, NY (see CALS Report, August, 1989). The
position stated that Prime will concentrate on full expression of their
databases in un-restricted IGES, while users are advised to seek third party
software to meet CALS MIL-D-28000 subset requirements. These subsets restrict
the IGES entities that can be used, according to the application creating the
data. The CALS report has learned that CAD vendors approaches to CALS
compliance are quite varied. Most vendors, however, are comfortable with the
reflavoring approach to subset output and some may announce IGES-to-IGES
flavoring products, rather than direct output of CALS subsets. This may even
include Prime itself.
----
CALS Requirements
by Joan M. Smith, President, SGML User Group
It is not generally appreciated that the DoD CALS requirements as specified in
the MIL 28000 series of standards apply only at the interchange interface. In
particular, they do not state how a contractor shall create the work being
exchanged. This implies that a contractor could well continue to use its own
system - at least during Phase I - adding the necessary CALS information prior
to delivery on magnetic tape. For the smaller companies, this stage could
even be taken over by a bureau. Another implication is that neither
contractors nor the DoD is precluded from working in a far richer environment.
-----
NAVSEA Considering CTN Test Protocol for Contractor Qualification
The US Navy is currently evaluating the recently released CALS Test Network
(CTN) IGES Class II test protocol (see CALS Report, March, 1989) for use in
qualifying contractor CAD systems. The evaluation is being conducted by David
Sadler and Glen Wright of the Naval Sea Systems Combat Systems Engineering
Station at Norfolk, VA. Jill Farrell of CTN, and author of the test protocol,
is analyzing the test results. The work should lead to an unbiased method of
qualifying contractor CAD data transfer capabilities needed to delivery
contract data to the Navy. After the method is perfected at NAVSEA, it will be
offered for use by other commands.
----
DoD Interim Program Acquisition Guidance Links Concurrent Engineering to TQM Goal
A memorandum issued by Robert B. Costello, Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition, before leaving DoD, links concurrent engineering to DoD's Total
Quality Management (TQM) goal, and adopts as interim program acquisition
guidance, the recommendations of the DoD/Industry CE/TQM task force
established by DDR&E and ASD(P&L). Costello had asked the task force to
evaluate the potential of Concurrent Engineering (CE) to contribute to DoD's
TQM objectives of reduced cost, reduced time, and improved quality. The task
force concluded that the Concurrent Engineering process can in fact be a major
factor in achieving the desired results, while noting that many current DoD
acquisition practices act as inhibitors to rapid CE implementation. Some of
these are long-standing problems already being addressed while others are
specific to Concurrent Engineering. The Concurrent Engineering guidance is
consistent with the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition [USD(A)]
memorandum, "Implementation of Total Quality Management in DoD Acquisition" of
August 19, 1988.
----
Corporation for Open Systems Announces Interoperability Lab
Corporation for Open Systems (COS) has announced their COS Interoperability
Lab. The Lab has been formed as a development and test facility for COS-
developed OSI network standards. COS test suites are expected to facilitate
compliance with GOSIP (Government OSI Profile) because of their many
similarities.
The COS I-Lab was initiated to accomplish the following objectives:
o To provide a laboratory environment to research and test multivendor OSI
interoperability;
o To facilitate real world interoperability problem resolution among different
brands of computers;
o To provide feedback for further development of COS conformance test products
and services, and;
o To provide feedback to standards, national and international
implementor's agreements, and OSINET interoperability testing.
-----
Bechtel Announces WALKTHRU Animation Software Available for AutoCAD Models
Bechtel Software, Inc.has announced that WALKTHRU, its animation and
visualization software package, is now available for use with models designed
with AutoCAD Version 10.0. The AutoCAD port to WALKTHRU was completed through
an IGES interface, and runs on the Silicon Graphics workstations. Bechtel
Software, Inc. sells, markets, distributes and supports internally-developed
and acquired project management, CAD/E, and expert system software. Bechtel
Software has used IGES to exchange solid models created on a number of CAD
systems.
---
FORMTEK Receives Software License Agreement from Pratt & Whitney
FORMTEK has received a Software License Agreement for FORM:SKETCH+ from United
Technologies Corporation, Pratt & Whitney Group. FORMTEK is a leading
developer and supplier of software products for the electronic capture,
storage, revision and distribution of engineering drawings and related
documents. United Technologies Corporation, Pratt & Whitney Group is a leading
manufacturer of jet engines for both commercial and military markets and a
major developer of rocket engines for use by NASA and the military. FORMTEK's
plans for CALS compliance met one of the manditory requirements set by Pratt &
Whitney.
----
Blum Forms New Firm to Commercialize CALS Phase II Products
Ivan J. Blum, a leading expert on CALS impact on commercial enterprises, has
formed a firm to develop products supporting CALS Phase II requirements. The
firm, Industrial Data Networks (IDNtm) is a California corporation. Blum is the
author of the first draft of the CALS core requirement; the first draft of the
CALS MIL-HDBK-59, the CALS Handbook; and the CALS benefits white paper,
"Overcoming Structural Impediments to Achievement of CALS Benefits." Blum
has written numerous articles on CALS and has held many public and private
seminars on CALS impact on corporate strategic planning.
=======
CALS Report, Vol 2, No 10, October, 1989
TECHDOC 1840A Tech Pubs Demonstration Successful Despite Glitches
In a historic CALS milestone, the CALS Test Network (CTN) held a public
demonstration of CALS Compliant data exchange between nine electronic
publishing system vendors. The demonstration of CALS standards was judged a
success, despite several glitches which arose in interpreting raster files.
The demonstration included the transfer of a technical publication by an MIL-
STD-1840A tape, of text tagged In Accordance With (IAW) MIL-M-28001 and raster
illustrations compressed and formatted IAW MIL-R-28002. Nine vendors, using a
variety of hardware, read, modified and outputted the 1840A-compliant tape.
The TECHDOC conference and show has become a major forum for CALS technical
publication standards issues. The success of the test is expected to lead to a
more comprehensive demonstration at CALS EXPO '89 in December, 1989.
----
Army CALS Study Awarded to Four Firms
The long-awaited Army CALS (ACALS) Phase I contracts have been awarded to four
teams of contractors. The Phase I contracts are for system architectural
designs and other technology to integrate Army technical data. The four teams
were led by Computer Sciences Corp., Xerox, BDM, and TRW. Up to four Phase I
(Concept) contracts were possible and the full award could be interpreted as a
show of commitment by the Army to CALS technology. Up to two teams could be
selected for Phase II demonstration) contracts. A single team will be
selected for Phase III (development), and Phase IV (deployment). The target
weapon system of ACALS is the new LXH helicopter.
-----
MIDS Demonstrated for Joint Tactical Fusion Project
The Army Material Command's (AMC) Multi-purpose Integrating Information Data
Service (MIDS) has been adapted to the Joint Tactical Fusion (JTF) Program.
MIDS is an Army developed capability that emphasizes database gateway/ linking
technology. MIDS was developed by the Materiel and Parts Availability Control
(MPAC) at AMC. It has also been known as the MPAC Information Data Service and
Material Information Data Service. The Joint Tactical Fusion program is
concerned with fusing different types of intelligence information for tactical
purposes. The MIDS technology provided decision-making capabilities to help
manage the program. The on-line MIDS for the JTF Program can also be easily
adapted to other programs/projects. The JTF Program-MIDS has been demonstrated
and recently installed. MIDS installation at other sites is being considered.
----
Pageless Tech Manual Spec and Content Data Model Drafts Completed
The Pageless Tech Manual (PTM) subcommittee has completed the draft Pageless
Tech Manual Specification and forwarded it and the Air Force-developed draft
Content Data Model (CTM) to the CALS Industry Steering Group (ISG). The PTM
spec, "MIL-M-28001 Suppliment: Markup Requirements and Generic Style
specifications for Data Base Interchange (DBI) for Electronic Output of
Technical Data," dated 7 July 1989, details the conceptual basis for PTM. It
also references two information models, the CDM and a NIAM (see CALS Report,
July, 1988) information model not yet completed.
---
CALS Small Business Task Group Sets Charter, Working Groups
The CALS Small Business Task Group has set its charter and formed three task
groups under the newly reorganized CALS Industry Steering Group (ISG). The
Small Business Task Group was established on January 30, 1989. The group was
formed to assist the Department of Defense and the CALS Industry Steering
Group in their efforts to ensure that the special needs of small business are
addressed. The group initially adopted the definition of small business as
contained in FAR Subpart 19.1: less than 1,000 employees and less than $10
million net profit per year; however, it was agreed that the charter was meant
to be inclusive for companies who share the same basic problems as small
businesses. The Task Group presently consists of approximately 30 members
from industry and a representative from the Department of Commerce, one from
the Department of Defense, one from the Defense Logistics Agency, and one from
the Office of the Secretary of Defense Small and Disadvantaged Business
Utilization Office.
----
Terrell of DoE Says Federal Agencies Must Tailor & Enhance CALS to Their Needs
Robert L. Terrell, Division Director, Technology & Telecommunications, US
Department of Energy (DoE), Office of Scientific and Technical Information,
said that federal agencies must tailor and enhance CALS to meet their
individual needs. CALS is currently oriented to technical weapons systems
support documentation. Federal agencies, however, have broad needs for
Scientific and Technical Information (STI). STI is used for a variety of
support, administrative, scientific and other purposes and providing
information of different types. Terrell says that CALS' profiles of standards
provide a good start on specifying STI delivery in forms suitable for these
uses.
---
Auto-Trol Announces CALS Graphic Interface Package
Auto-trol Technology Corporation has announced a new CALS Graphic Interface
Package for the bidirectional exchange of graphics data. The interfaces
include Initial Graphics Exchange Standard (IGES), Computer Graphics Metafile
(CGM) and CCITT Group IV formats.
--
Yard Announces New SGML Authoring Tool, Parser Enhancements
Yard Software Systems, a British subsidiary of the $400 million systems house,
SEMA Group, has announced a Structured Document Editor to complement their
existing SGML tools. The Structured Editor operates in a similar way to a word
processor, but uses the Document Type Definition (DTD) to control structure
and content. YARD also announced that MARK-IT version 2.1 is currently being
beta-tested on customer sites for its developers, SEMA Group, Belgium. MARK-
IT, launched in September 1987 as the first SGML parser, enables the transfer
of text information between any computer or word processor. Information is
then stored so that it can be accessed efficiently or upgraded without loss if
either the requirements or the hardware changes.
----
Xyvision Introduces Advanced CALS Compliance Package
Xyvision, Inc. has announced its Advanced Cals Compliance Package, a complete
technical publishing solution for aerospace and defense contractors. The
package allows contractors to create, edit and deliver digitized technical
documentation to the Department of Defense (DoD). The package is based, in
part, on the results of Xyvision's recently completed CALS compliance tests
with McDonnell Douglas and the CALS test Network (CTN). The Xyvision package,
comprising software tools, training and consultative support, is intended for
contractors that must comply with the requirements of DoD's CALS MIL-STD-1840
standard. Xyvision, Inc. designs and manufactures professional publishing
systems for commercial and corporate applications.
---
Xerox Kurzweil Announces New Scanning System for CALS Format Conversions
Xerox Imaging Systems announced and demonstrated its Kurzweil CALS (Computer-
Aided Acquisition and Logistics Support) system at the TechDoc `89 Conference
San Jose, CA. The Kurzweil CALS system, which combines a high-volume Kurzweil
5100 scanner with artificial intelligence-based ICR (Intelligent Character
Recognition) software, is used to produce proprietary text files that comply
with Department of Defense (DoD) CALS Phase 1 text interchange standards (MIL-
M-28001). The text of this announcement was scanned directly from a printed
news release for input and editing for the CALS Report. Text Files produced by
the Kurzweil CALS system are compliant with the CALS SGML requirement.
----
EDIA Establishes International EDI Congress
The Board of Directors of TDCC: The Electronic Data Interchange Association
(EDIA) formally agreed Tuesday to move forward with the organization and
establishment of the International Congress of EDI Users as an ongoing body.
The Transportation Data Coordinating Committee (TDCC) was one of the early
contributors to the EDI standard. The internationalization of EDIA highlights
the increasing competition between EDI (X.12), a primarily North-American
Standard, and the United Nations-backed EDIFACT (EDI For Administration,
Commerce and Transportion), an emerging European standard. DLA has already
stated their intention to use EDI as a standard for future commercial
transactions (see CALS Report, June, 1988).
=======
CALS Report, Vol 2, No 11, November, 1989
Lockheed Delivers 18 CALS Compliant Technical Publications to Air Force
In the first production delivery of CALS compliant data, Lockheed Aeronautical
Systems Company has completed delivery of 18 technical publications to the
Air Force. The publications were prepared in support of modifications to the
C-130 airplane documentation, directed by Warner-Robbins Air Force Base. The
documents were delivered on 20 tapes, representing over 4,500 pages, expressed
as SGML-tagged text, MIL-R-28002 raster images, and MIL-D-28000 Class I
illustrations. The tapes will be evaluated by Warner-Robbins, with support
from Georgia Institute of Technology, and reported through the CALS Test
Network (CTN).
----
IGES Implementors Debate MIL-D-28000 Focus, Details
Reacting to growing user demand for support of CALS IGES subsets, major IGES
implementors and users have begun debate on the focus and details of MIL-D-
28000. Major users have complained that vendors have been too slow to embrace
the CALS IGES subsets, while vendors complain that the CALS specification MIL-
D-28000 is ill-conceived, incomplete, or incorrect. The market forces are
clearly in place to force compliance and, as a result, vendors and users are
plodding through the details in ernest. The issues were raised at a workshop
sponsored by the National Computer Graphics Association in Tysons Corner, VA
and reviewed in detail at the IGES/PDEs meeting in Albuquerque, NM.
----
CALS ISG Concurrent Engineering Task Group Forms Working Committees
The new CALS Concurrent Engineering Task Group of the Industry Steering Group
has formed several working committees to address Tasks assigned. Contact
individual chairmen concerning the objective of each committee, the desired
products, its chairman, and important milestones.
If you would like to participate on one or more of these committees, please
contact:
Frameworks Mike Watts (213) 332-7981
Electronic Systems Larry Linton (301) 454-9232
Mechanical Systems Ed Haug (319) 335-5726
R&M Don Meena (818) 847-8321
Tech Data (Acting) Joe Meredith (703) 418-4470
Tech/Admin Interface Carol Tierney (313) 362-8010
-----
The United Kingdom Wakes up to CALS
by Norman Harris, CALS Report European Editor
Over 200 people attended the launch of the Special Interest Group (SIG) in
CALS held on 14 June 1989 at the British Standards Institution in London,
England. In correction to our previous report (see CALS Report, July 1989),
the CALS SIG is completely independent of the British Standards Institution
(BSI) which hosted its first meeting. This meeting disclosed a number of UK
moves to coordinate with and in reaction to CALS.
---
British SBAC Forms CALS Liaison Group
The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) has formed a "CALS
Liaison Group". This Group, it is anticipated, will shortly become the focus
for other CALS-interested UK defense manufacturers. SBAC took the step to
create a body which will both represent the UK defense manufacturers and be
the contact point for the Department of Defense and the CALS Industry Steering
Group. SBAC represents over 300 aerospace manufacturers who, collectively,
are probably the Department of Defense's biggest national group of European
suppliers. These manufacturers, through SBAC, have recognized the importance
of the CALS initiative and have expressed a wish to become involved in its
development.
-----
ANALYSIS: PDES Serves as a Prototype for CALS Phase 2 Standards
CALS Phase 2 interest in access and delivery of source product data means that
users will create and maintain data models of the design, rather than drawings
and other documents which display it. They must develop procedures which
maintain and check the product data so it uses only entities required by the
standards. They must develop software methods to output the proprietary data
in authoring software into the formats required. The experience with the CAD
standards, IGES (Initial Graphics Exchange Specification) and PDES (Product
Data Exchange Specification), and subsequent work on other standards, seems to
indicate that PDES will be the prototype for future CALS standards.
----
Brad Smith to Focus on ISO/STEP Responsibilities In NIST Reorganization
Brad Smith has resigned IGES/PDES chairman to devote his full attention to
heading the ISO TC184/SC4 (External Representation of Product Definition
Data; STEP). This move is part of a larger NIST thrust to provide additional
resources for product data standards, such as PDES and STEP development. Smith
has served as IGES/PDES chairman since 1980 and is widely viewed as
instrumental in its development. He has served as STEP chairman since 1984.
------
NCGA Named IGES/PDES Organization Administrator
The IGES/PDES steering group has named the National Computer Graphics
Association (NCGA) as the IGES/PDES Organization Administrator. As part of
their responsibilities, NCGA will plan and conduct the quarterly meetings of
the IGES/PDES Organization and direct efforts to publicize IGES and PDES
development and applications. NCGA is a non-profit association concerned
with advancing the Computer-Graphics and CAD/CAM industry. The IGES/PDES
Organization has been seeking improved ways to educate the public about the
standards as well as integrate them more effectively into the development
process.
-----
European IMPPACT Project to Rival PDES, Inc.
The European ESPRIT II project, IMPPACT (Integrated Modeling of Products and
Processes using Advanced Computer Technology) will rival PDES, Inc., in its
use of information modeling to integrate design with manufacturing. Both
IMPPACT and PDES, Inc. are cooperative ventures of firms to further
development of PDES models as enhancements to design/manufacturing
integration. ESPRIT (European Strategic Program of Research in Information
Technology) is funding selected initiatives to improve the competitiveness of
European industry in world markets. IMPPACT differs from PDES, Inc., by its
increased attention to feedback of downstream results.
----
PDES, INC. Completes First Year of Operation
During the first year, PDES, Inc. has made solid progress in its effort
to accelerate the development, validation, and implementation of PDES. Bob
Kiggans, PDES, INC. General Manager reports that since program start-up in
August of 1988, membership in PDES, Inc. has almost tripled -- eleven Class I
members, seven Class II members and one Class III member. Class I membership
requires $100,000 and two staff-years of technical effort each year. Class II
members pay $50,000 and provide one staff-year of technical effort each year
and Class III requires $25,000 in dues each year.
-----
CAD/LIB European Project to Standardize CAD Part Libraries May Help STEP
A European project to standardize CAD libraries may be dovetailed into the ISO
STEP initiative. The integration of libraries of standard parts is often
considered to be one of the key factors for increasing productivity of
Computer Aided Design. The chief factor in library integration is their
portability from one CAD system to another, In 1987, after several national
efforts, the European Committee on Standardization (CEN/CENELEC) launched
the CAD/LIB project to elaborate a set of European standards which would
allow one library to be used over the different CAD systems. The concept has
been discussed during the last ISO-meeting of the STEP working Group (ISO TC
184/SC4/WG1) in Frankfurt and a CAD-Library sub group has been formed to
coordinate these efforts.
-----
IGES Data Analysis PARSER/VERIFIER Adds CALS Conformance Option
The PARSER/VERIFIER, developed by IGES Data Analysis, Inc. for IGES file
analysis has announced a CALS Conformance Option for their software.
Parser/Verifier software allows users to detect errors and conformance
deficiencies in an IGES file. The new option will permit users to verify CALS
conformance before delivery or upon receipt of IGES data files.
-----
Intergraph Awarded Space Station TMIS Computer-Integrated Engineering Contract
Intergraph Corporation has announced that it had been selected to negotiate
with Boeing Computer Services for the Computer-Integrated Engineering (CIE)
system for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space
Station Freedom program. Intergraph will supply the CIE component of the
program's Technical and Management Information System (TIMS). The indefinite
quantity contract has an estimated base value of $84 million. Although TMIS
itself is not yet fully CALS compliant, it uses certain CALS standards as
interface formats (see CALS Report, February, 1989).
=======
CALS Report, Vol 2, No 12, December, 1989
CALS EXPO '89 Features IGES Class IV (N/C) to PDES Conversion, Tech Pubs Demos
This year's CALS EXPO '89 program and exhibition will feature demonstrations
of converting a MIL-D-28000 IGES Class IV, Numerical Control (N/C) to a PDES
file, along with technical publishing demonstration. The conference theme is
"CALS Impact: A Changing Culture" and will focus upon CALS implementation.
The IGES Class IV to PDES conversion is particularly interesting, since the
long term CALS focus is on PDES and short term IGES capabilities might be
orphaned by accelerating PDES development. The tech pubs demos will be
extensions of the capabilities shown at TECHDOC (See CALS Report, October,
1989). John A. Betti, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, will deliver
the Keynote Address.
----
CALS Connectivity Center Formally Announced
The new CALS Connectivity Center (C3) has been formally established,
indicating that the required number of founding members have committed to the
project. The center is located in the INFOMART in Dallas, Texas and will deal
with industry and government implementation of the DoD CALS program. The
center is being supported by the Texas Research and Technology Foundation
(TRTF), a non-profit high-technology organization in San Antonio, Texas, and
Informart. C3 is an industry initiative which started last January to
facilitate the move to CALS by the DoD mandated date of 1990. The center will
begin operations next month (January, 1990).
----
Group to Form Foundation for Electronic Publishing
by Jon Cunnyngham, Director of Research, AITRC, Columbus, Ohio
A Foundation for Electronic Publishing is being organized to promote the
testing and implementation of standards for electronic publishing of technical
and scientific information. An initial organizational meeting will be held at
CALS EXPO '89 in Orlando FL, December, 1989. The foundation will be located in
Columbus, OH.
----
SCRA Establishes PDES Development Laboratory
South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) has established a Product Data
Exchange Specification (PDES) development lab at their Trident Research Center
in Charleston, SC. The primary objective of the lab is to facilitate the
development of PDES software tools, demonstrate proof of concepts, and
accelerate vendor prototyping of future PDES based software applications. SCRA
is the host contractor for PDES, Inc. which has an objective to accelerate the
development, implementation, and acceptance of the Product Data Exchange
Specification (PDES) as an industry standard. PDES, Inc. currently consists
of twenty major technology companies.
-----
Expanding MIDS Prototypes Many CALS Integration Issues
The MIDS program (See CALS Report October, 1989) continues to expand in
scope, integrating many of the systems targeted by the Army CALS Architecture.
MIDS is no longer part of the Materials and Parts Availability Control (MPAC)
Program. As of April 89, the MIDS Project has physically moved from the U.S.
Army Laboratory Command (LABCOM) to HQ AMC. It presently resides under the DCS
For Production, Production Assessment Division (AMCPD-SA). MIDS is integrating
decision support access of design, logistics, and support databases. Army CALS
is an architecture intended to an architecture spanning similar data, for
broadly defined purposes.
-----
Teleprint Corporation to Show New Technologies at CALS Expo '89
Teleprint, a leader in CALS standards research, will be demonstrating two new
CALS-related technologies, a CALS-compliant Paperless Tech Manual and a
Hypermedia Logistics Tool, at CALS Expo '89. These will be shown in addition
to the broadest range of CALS Technical Services and CALS Productivity Tools
available in the industry.
-----
Twelve Questions to ask Your CALS Compliant Tech Pubs System Vendor
Teleprint has produced a list of twelve questions to ask a CALS Tech Pubs
System vendors, to see if their product or service is up to snuff.
---
Software Optimizes Manufacturing Processes by Finding Best Parameter Settings
A new software product aides managers of manufacturing and chemical process
industries in optimizing ongoing processes. The many variables which affect
any process made finding the right matrix of inputs and results. In the past,
managers would build a process model by changing one variable while holding
all the others constant (if you could). Optimization through this method
often tool a very long time, especially if there were a good number of
variables. In most cases where you changed one variable, one or several of
the others also changed, because of the interrelationships between all of the
variables. The new software program, Ultramax, charts these interrelationships
and achieves a high level of process optimization without requiring a computer
model. It has been successfully used in a wide variety of manufacturing and
chemical process applications to increase operational reliability and
productivity, while reducing costs. Ultramax was developed by the Ultrmax
Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio.
----
Datalogics Exhibits New CALS Technologies at CALS EXPO '89
Datalogics will demonstrate existing and developmental products that support
CALS publishing standards at CALS EXPO '89. Datalogics will show
results of certain research projects into future CALS directions, "Using the
Standards as Your Base," the theme of their booth. Datalogics is a leading
world-wide supplier of publishing solutions for the government, aerospace,
automotive, financial and legal communities.
-----
Letter Received
(Editor's note. - I asked Bob Fisher, President of Computervision, to settle
the issue of Prime's CALS intentions once and for all, in writing. For
background, see CALS Reports August and September, 1989. We received the
following in reply.)
October 16, 1989
To the Department of Defense Community:
We wish to take this opportunity to alleviate concern in the defense community
with regard to Prime's position on the support of MIL-D-28000 subsets.
Prime/Computervision has and always will offer a turnkey solution to its
defense customers. Prime fully intends to support and comply with MIL-D-
28000 specifications.
Any customer requiring CALS-compliant output, including MIL-D-28000 subsets,
can be confident that we will support them through our current and planned
products. Prime is committed to CALS compliance, as evidenced by our support
of USAF GMAP, NIST AMRF, SCRA RAMP, SCRA PDES, Inc., and other CALS-related
initiatives.
Massood Zarrabian,
Vice President
PRIME/Computervision
