US-20260127363-A1 - PROVIDING ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY IN AN INTERACTIVE ELECTRONIC TECHNICAL MANUAL

US20260127363A1US 20260127363 A1US20260127363 A1US 20260127363A1US-20260127363-A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, apparatus, systems, computing devices, and/or computing entities for displaying content found in technical documentation via an IETM viewer. In accordance with one embodiment, a method is provided comprising: receiving textual changes with respect to a first version of the textual content of the topic; determining an activity level of a user indicative of the user's presence in the topic; based at least in part on the determined activity level of the user: assigning a change format to each of textual changes based at least in part on a change type of each textual change, displaying a change notification comprising an acknowledgement mechanism, and responsive to user interaction with the acknowledgement mechanism, providing a second version of the textual content of the topic, wherein the second version of textual content conveys the textual changes using the change formats assigned to each textual change.

Inventors

Ran Meriaz
Yoram Meriaz
Alexander Tkachman

Assignees

MBTE Holdings Sweden AB

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20260105

Claims (9)

1 . A method for displaying applicability for an interactive electronic technical manual system (IETM) configured to provide electronic and credentialed access via an IETM viewer to technical documentation for an item, the method comprising: receiving input of a selection a particular topic found in the technical documentation for the item to view textual information for the particular topic made by a user signed into the IETM, wherein the selection of the particular topic is performed by the user via the IETM viewer executing on a user computing entity; and responsive to receiving the input of the selection of the particular topic: determining whether the user is signed into the IETM for a specific object for the item; responsive to determining the user is signed into the IETM for the specific object: determining whether each applicability element found in the textual information for the particular topic is related to the specific object; and generating a window to display the textual information in which each of the applicability elements in the textual information related to the specific object is configured as viewable and selectable by the user and each of the applicability elements in the textual information not related to the specific object is configured as not viewable; responsive to determining the user is not signed into the IETM for the specific object, generating the window to display the textual information in which each of the applicability elements in the textual information is configured as viewable and selectable by the user; and providing the window for display via the IETM viewer.
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving input of a selection of a particular applicability element displayed on the window, wherein the selection of the particular applicability element is performed by the user via the IETM viewer; and responsive to receiving the input of the selection of the particular applicability element: generating a preview window comprising a meaning of applicability for the particular applicability element; and providing the preview window for display via the IETM viewer, wherein the preview window is superimposed over at least a portion of the window.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the meaning of applicability comprises at least one of a condition applicable to the textual information on a product applicable to the textual information.
4 . An apparatus for displaying applicability for an interactive electronic technical manual system (IETM) configured to provide electronic and credentialed access via an IETM viewer to technical documentation for an item, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive input of a selection a particular topic found in the technical documentation for the item to view textual information for the particular topic made by a user signed into the IETM, wherein the selection of the particular topic is performed by the user via the IETM viewer executing on a user computing entity; and responsive to receiving the input of the selection of the particular topic: determine whether the user is signed into the IETM for a specific object for the item; responsive to determining the user is signed into the IETM for the specific object: determine whether each applicability element found in the textual information for the particular topic is related to the specific object; and generate a window to display the textual information in which each of the applicability elements in the textual information related to the specific object is configured as viewable and selectable by the user and each of the applicability elements in the textual information not related to the specific object is configured as not viewable; responsive to determining the user is not signed into the IETM for the specific object, generate the window to display the textual information in which each of the applicability elements in the textual information is configured as viewable and selectable by the user; and provide the window for display via the IETM viewer.
5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive input of a selection of a particular applicability element displayed on the window, wherein the selection of the particular applicability element is performed by the user via the IETM viewer; and responsive to receiving the input of the selection of the particular applicability element: generate a preview window comprising a meaning of applicability for the particular applicability element; and provide the preview window for display via the IETM viewer, wherein the preview window is superimposed over at least a portion of the window.
6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the meaning of applicability comprises at least one of a condition applicable to the textual information or a product applicable to the textual information.
7 . A non-transitory computer storage medium comprising instructions for displaying applicability for an interactive electronic technical manual system (IETM) configured to provide electronic and credentialed access via an IETM viewer to technical documentation for an item, the instructions being configured to cause one or more processors to at least perform operations configured to: receive input of a selection a particular topic found in the technical documentation for the item to view textual information for the particular topic made by a user signed into the IETM, wherein the selection of the particular topic is performed by the user via the IETM viewer executing on a user computing entity; and responsive to receiving the input of the selection of the particular topic: determine whether the user is signed into the IETM for a specific object for the item; responsive to determining the user is signed into the IETM for the specific object: determine whether each applicability element found in the textual information for the particular topic is related to the specific object; and generate a window to display the textual information in which each of the applicability elements in the textual information related to the specific object is configured as viewable and selectable by the user and each of the applicability elements in the textual information not related to the specific object is configured as not viewable; responsive to determining the user is not signed into the IETM for the specific object, generate the window to display the textual information in which each of the applicability elements in the textual information is configured as viewable and selectable by the user; and provide the window for display via the IETM viewer.
8 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to at least perform operations configured to: receive input of a selection of a particular applicability element displayed on the window, wherein the selection of the particular applicability element is performed by the user via the IETM viewer; and responsive to receiving the input of the selection of the particular applicability element: generate a preview window comprising a meaning of applicability for the particular applicability element; and provide the preview window for display via the IETM viewer, wherein the preview window is superimposed over at least a portion of the window.
9 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the meaning of applicability comprises at least one of a condition applicable to the textual information or a product applicable to the textual information.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/407,540, filed Jan. 9, 2024, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/303,046, filed May 19, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety into the present application. TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to providing enhanced functionality in an interactive electronic technical manual (IETM). The inventors have developed solutions that increase the efficiency, functionality, speed, capabilities, and user friendliness over conventional IETMs. BACKGROUND IETMs and other technical data generally hold large amounts of information that can include multiple volumes and hundreds or thousands of data modules when in electronic format. When users of IETMs, or other technical data that are provided electronically, need to look for a specific subject, they need to go over a lengthy electronic table of contents, similar to a paper book, but using links, which can include nested subsystems (and sub-subsystems) within systems. This requires the users to know not only the exact nomenclature of the item they seek (many times this is unknown), but how to navigate through the seemingly endless array of nested data. This results in a lot of time spent by users, trying to look in many different places (and sometimes, out of exasperation, just look from A to Z) to find the information, which results in inefficiency, loss of time, and waste of expensive resources. Furthermore, although many conventional IETMs provide some type of interactive functionality with respect to the technical data that allow users to interactively view the data, such functionality is typically limited to capabilities and do not address many of the technical issues encountered when providing an electronic interface for a large amount of information, as well as technical improvements that provide features beyond just simply allowing the user to view such information. For example, the technical data may involve information that is highly confidential such as information on military equipment. Many conventional IETMs fail to provide functionality to control secure access to the technical data, as well as control user functionality within the IETMs in viewing and using the technical data in a secure manner. Thus, a need exists in the industry to address technical problems related to efficiently providing technical data to users in a user-friendly manner. Further, a need exists in the industry to provide technical improvements to allow for enhanced functionality with respect to the technical data. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure herein is presented. BRIEF SUMMARY In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like for displaying content found in technical documentation for an item via an interactive electronic technical manual system (IETM) configured to provide electronic and credentialed access to the technical documentation for the item via an IETM viewer. In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, these aspects include displaying content found in technical documentation for an item via an interactive electronic technical manual system (IETM) configured to provide electronic and credentialed access to the technical documentation for the item via an IETM viewer is provided. In various embodiments, the method includes receiving input of a selection a particular topic found in the technical documentation for the item to view textual information for the particular topic made by a user signed into the IETM, wherein the selection of the particular topic is performed by the user via the IETM viewer executing on a user computing entity; and responsive to receiving the input of the selection of the particular topic: determining whether the user is signed into the IETM for a specific object for the item; responsive to determining the user is signed into the IETM for the specific object: determining whether each applicability element found in the textual information for the particular topic is related to the specific object; and generating a window to display the textual information in which each of the applicability elements in the textual information related to the specific object is configured as viewable and selectable by the user and each of the applicability elements in the textual information not related to the specific object is configured as not viewable; responsive to determining the user is not signed into the IETM for the specific object, generating the window to display the textual information in which each of the applicability elements in the textual information is configured as viewable and selectable by the user; and providing the window for display via the IETM viewer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVE