Field Guide
S1000D Viewers: What an IETP Viewer Has to Do
What It Is
From Data Modules to the Flight Line
S1000D content lives as data modules in a common source database, assembled into publications by publication modules. A viewer is the software that presents them, and the specification's name for the result is an interactive electronic technical publication, or IETP. The U.S. military-standard world calls the same thing an IETM; our explainer on IETMs and IETPs covers both.
Choosing a viewer is choosing which parts of the specification your users will actually experience. Data that carries rich applicability or interactive procedures is only as useful as the viewer that honors them.
The Job
Five Things a Viewer Has to Do
- Filter by applicability
- S1000D describes the applicability cross-reference table as the central reference "when applicability filtering is required for either customized deliveries or filtering by a viewer," with conditions in the conditions cross-reference table and product instances in the products cross-reference table. A viewer has to evaluate those rules against the product in front of the maintainer and hide what does not apply. Applicability, with an example.
- Run process data modules
- The specification calls the process data module "a procedural flow script," with decision points, looping, and selective filtering, and dialogs that let "the logic engine interact with the user." A page cannot branch; this is the clearest job only an interactive viewer can do. The process data module.
- Assemble publications
- A viewer presents publications the way their publication modules define them: which data modules, in what order, under which titles. The structure belongs to the data, not to the viewer. The publication module.
- Resolve links and graphics
- Data modules point to each other by data module code and to illustrations by information control number. A viewer has to follow both, show hotspots on graphics, and, where the data uses them, support flow graphics that allow "interactive flow tracing and simulation by a capable IETP." Information control numbers.
- Show applicability honestly
- When content is displayed or printed for more than one configuration, the specification provides display classes for viewers to annotate what applies to which product, so a maintainer never mistakes one configuration's step for another's. The data module code.
Some viewers go further: the specification also provides for an IETP to draw configuration information from a configuration management system, so the product's actual build state drives what is shown.
Evaluating
Questions to Ask Before You Choose
- Which S1000D issues it supports, and whether that includes the issue your business rules require.
- How deep its applicability goes: simple applicability statements only, or the full cross-reference tables with product instances.
- Whether it runs process data modules, including dialogs and branching, not just displays them.
- Which illustration formats and hotspot behaviors it supports for your graphics.
- Whether it works offline and on the hardware maintainers actually carry.
- How updates arrive and how superseded content is marked, so nobody works from a withdrawn revision.
- How it handles distribution statements and access control for restricted data.
Then test it with your own data modules, under your own business rules, not the sample set a demonstration is built on. Applicability and process data modules are where viewers differ most, and they are exactly what a polished demo tends to leave out. Our guide to choosing S1000D tools covers the rest of the toolchain.
Free Options
What Is Genuinely Free
IADS. The U.S. Army's IADS states that it “has always and will always be provided for free,” and lists S1000D among the formats IADS4 supports, next to MIL-STD-40051 and MIL-STD-38784. It installs on Windows, and training, support, and data conversion are paid services.
s1kd-tools. The open-source, GPL-licensed s1kd-tools package is actively maintained but is not a viewer. It works upstream: producing applicability-filtered instances of data modules at publish time, and generating IETP-neutral metadata.
Beyond those, an open-source “IETP viewer” project exists on GitHub but has not been updated since 2020 and declares no license, which rules it out for production. Commercial viewers are the remaining choice, and the evaluation questions above apply to every one of them.
FAQ
Questions We Hear
What is an S1000D viewer?
Software that presents S1000D data modules to the people who use them: assembling publications from publication modules, filtering content by applicability for a specific product, following links, showing graphics, and running interactive process data modules. S1000D calls the result an interactive electronic technical publication, or IETP.
Is there a free S1000D viewer?
The U.S. Army's IADS is free, and its FAQ lists S1000D among the formats IADS4 supports, alongside MIL-STD-40051 and MIL-STD-38784; it installs on Windows, with training, support, and data conversion offered for a fee. The open-source s1kd-tools package is free but has no viewer; it filters and prepares data at publish time.
What is the difference between an IETP and an IETM?
Mostly the vocabulary. IETP, interactive electronic technical publication, is S1000D's term; IETM, interactive electronic technical manual, is the U.S. military-standard term used with MIL-STD-40051. Both describe the same kind of interactive deliverable.
Do process data modules need a viewer?
In practice, yes. The specification describes them as procedural flow scripts with decision points, loops, and dialogs that let a logic engine interact with the user. A printed page can show the steps but cannot branch on the answers, so the interactive behavior depends on a capable viewer.
Can an S1000D viewer filter by serial number?
It can if the data supports it. The products cross-reference table records product instances and their attribute values, and applicability rules evaluate against them, so a viewer that implements the full applicability model can show a maintainer only what applies to the airframe or vehicle in front of them.
Get In Touch
Choosing an S1000D Viewer?
We are vendor-neutral about viewers. Bring us your data modules and business rules, and we will help you test candidates against what your program actually needs.