Balisage Paper: Adventures in Mainframes, Text-based Messaging, and iXML

S1000D

The technical documentation specification — maintenance procedures, parts data, wiring, etc — is called S1000D [S1000D Specifications]. The first version in widespread use, Issue 1.7, was as a set of SGML DTDs alongside a hefty document describing exactly how to use those DTDs and how to organise the resulting publications.

S1000D has since added support for land and sea vehicles, and moved to XML, dropping DTDs in favour of XML Schemas. The current specification, Issue 5.0, is twice the size of Issue 1.7.

S2000M

The messaging specification, S2000M, defines the processes, procedures and provides the information for data exchange to be used for material management throughout the lifecycle of a Product. Unlike S1000D, the first released version, Issue 2.1 more than 30 years ago, chose not to use SGML and instead provided a text-based format. That format was kept very, very compact to save on that precious computing power, because while the spec is more than 30 years old today, the equipment it was meant to be used on could be closer to 30 years old back then.

Of course, S2000M in its latest incarnation, Issue 7.0, is XML, and it, too, is governed by a set of XML Schemas.

The Context

Before we dive head first into a 30-year old text format, a few words about the context in which all this happens may prove helpful and address some of the more obvious questions you may have (such as why, oh why? or but couldn't you just...?).

The products described and updated using the S-series of specifications have lifespans of several decades. For example, a jet engine manufactured by a client of the author first flew in the 60s and has been serviced, maintained, and updated ever since. The technical publications for it have had to live for as long — and need to be available for several years after the last of those engines has been retired.

Obviously, the lifespans alone make a good case for markup, but it's complicated. The Illustrated Parts Data (IPD) for that 60s engine started out in a proprietary text-based format in a mainframe computer, and while much of the documentation is now provided in SGML and XML formats, depending on the receiver, that mainframe is still in use and outputs that text-based format, even though the downstream processes have been updated multiple times.

The industry can be surprisingly conservative, partly because the documentation really does need to live for that long, and partly because if you want to keep the planes in the air, making sure the spare parts information remains available is paramount. In other words, an old text format producing IPD pages and another describing IPD messages can be very, very resilient.

In fact, some companies may go about their business day in and day out, producing new engine families, models, and variants, keeping the engines flying and in good shape while knowing that yes, they should replace that mainframe. They really should, but they don't.

Until one day, the decision is made to tear down the building in which the mainframe lives.

Segments

Segments names are called tags, a term that obviously means something else today.^[2]

A segment looks like this:

SEG+ABC:123+DEF:456'

This segment, SEG (a tag name, if you insist), has two data units, ABC and DEF. The segment tag and each data unit are separated using + characters. The segment is ended using an apostrophe (').

Data Units

Data units are key-value pairs separated with colons (:). The key, known as TEI, is before that colon while the value (data element) follows after.

Each segment tag and TEI is always identified using three upper-case letters. This is always the case; S2000M only ever uses 3 upper-case letters for segment and TEI identification.^[3]

A data element may be a composite value, where several component values are associated with a single TEI:

ABC:12345:AB12:345

The TEI ABC has three components with values 12345, AB12, and 345, respectively.

The specification lists a number of composite data elements, with each component having a very specific meaning. The spec spells out each component with a name, a lower-case TEI, never repeated in the message. For example, we might say that the data unit with the TEI ABC is a composite with components def and ghi, but the actual message would include the ABC data unit as ANC:123:456, with def having the value 123 and ghi having the value 456. In the format, the context is everything; we know that ABC contains two components, def and ghi; there is no ambiguity.

The definitions of those basic character (sets) are similarly narrow. For example, we only get upper-case letters, and beyond the numerical characters we only get a handful of characters, such as equal signs, spaces, question marks, and the like.

Data Typing

Each data element — the value — is typed and meant to be usable in systems conceived long before Bill Gates thought 512 k was all it took. The typing lists not only the character sets allowed^[4] but also the number of characters allowed. The specification is full of constructs like this:

an..14

This means between 0 and 14 alphanumeric characters. But the spec also lists things like n..2 (0–2 numerical characters) and a2 (exactly two alphabetic characters).^[5] Everything is well defined, but as narrowly as possible.

Message Structures

The specification, rather helpfully, includes diagrams outlining the eight message types. Figure 1, for example, outlines the segments in a CSNIPD message; the CSNIPD message is used for the initial IP project definition and provides information on all parts in scope.

Figure 1: CSNIPD Message Segments

The specification also details the message itself (see ), with the data units in the segments.

Figure 2: CSNIPD Message Structure

This is only half of the story; there is a second diagram detailing the CSNIPD message in the spec.

The segments are three-letter codes with all but IPH ending with S, while the contained data units use the full data unit names rather than the TEI three-letter abbreviations.

An Example

Here's a CSNIPD message fragment from the spec:

UNH+...'
IPH+IPP:F61170026+MTP:CSNIPD+ISS:D1+TOD:F6117+ADD:D1234+FID:
S+MOI:1X+DRS:004+DRD:201088+LGE:UK+IPS:LANDING GEAR ASSY'
VAS+CHG:N+SID:F6117:A11K400000'
OHS+OSN:1+OBS:**PAM PROPOSED FROM 150189 TO 200189'
CAS+CHG:N+CSN:32000001 000 +ISN:00A+IND:1+RFS:0+QNA:1+TQL:
1+PNR:A11K400000+MFC:F6117+NSN:1620'
CES+CHG:N+SRV:GYL+SMR:XBDDD'
CES+CHG:N+SRV:FRA+SMR:XBDDD'
CAS+CHG:N+CSN:32000001 001 +ISN:00A+IND:2+RFS:0+QNA:1+TQL:
1+PNR:A11B410100+MFC:F6117'
CBS+RTX:32100001 000 00A'
CES+CHG:N+SRV....'
.
.
.
CAS+CHG:N+CSN:32100001 000 +ISN:00A+IND:1+RFS:0+..... +PNR:
A11B410100+MFC:F6117'
.
.
.
CAS+CHG:N+CSN:32100002 025 +ISN:00A+IND:2+RES:1+QNA:2+....
PNR:31599BC060LE+MFC:F6117'
CBS+ASP:1'
CES+CHG:N+SRV:GYL+SMR:PAOZZ +RMQ:10+ROQ:5'
CES+CHG:N+SRV:FRA +SMR:PAOZZ +RMQ:20+ROQ:0'
.
.
.
CAS+CHG:N+CSN:32100002 036 +ISN:00A+IND:2+RFS:1+QNA:2+...
PNR:31599BC060LE+MFC:F6117+NSN:1480:'
PAS+CHG:N+PNR:A11K400000+MFC:F6117+DFP:LANDING GEAR ASSEMBLY'
.
.
PAS+CHG:N+PNR:A11B410100+MFC:.....'
.
PAS+CHG:N+PNR:31599BC060LE+MFC:F6117+DFP:WASHER+INC:13393'
PBS+UOI:EA+SPQ:100+TOP:06+CML:1+SPC:1+PLT:3+STR:0+SLC:
0+PLC:A+PCD:A'
PDS+UPR:300+CUR:FRF'
.
.
UNT+....'

The headers and trailers are without consequence; the data is mostly in CAS and PAS segments (and their child segments^[6]). The message syntax itself is a series of flat segments and there is nothing in the format itself to suggest more structure. The above is also far from complete; more CAS and PAS segments are involved.^[7]

Sticking with Issue 2.1

The mainframe S2000M implementation is lacking in several respects. There's not enough processing power and concurrent users are not really a thing; you have to book time on it, and an entire day is blocked every week for various batch processes that can't be done during night-time. Authoring and receiving messages is very much a manual process, involving a series of cryptically named, tiny text-based screens where you type in equally cryptic commands or read incoming messages by flipping through multiple screens. It's not what you might call an intuitive UI.

As the S2000M messaging was implemented on top of an upgrade of an earlier system, there are any number of legacy screens and internal logic that are not always fully documented or even understood.^[10] Also, as another consequence of the implementation on top of an upgrade, the S2000M segments and data units do not use S2000M naming; instead, they use existing database field names.

It probably goes without saying that we don't actually want to replicate the mainframe inputs and outputs exactly. For example, there's no need to copy the many screens to author or present a message, nor is it necessary to keep the downstream systems that translate between the mainframe S2000M flavour and the proper S2000M format. We should be able to handle S2000M as-is.

But S2000M Issue 2.1 is not widely implemented. If you need it, you need to implement it yourself.^[11] At the same time, the client now accepts that the old specifications do need to be upgraded, eventually. The intention is to start using the entire S-series of specifications and start authoring directly in XML in the new system that will eventually include a CSDB.^[12] It makes sense, then, to plan for upgrading S2000M as well. Just not now.

But do we actually want to implement a 30-year old text-based specification, especially if it's going to go away soon?

A Simple Example

This is not the place to walk you through iXML — the Invisible XML home on the web [ixml-webpage] links to several tutorials, so start there — but let me give you an example.^[13] Given this implicit structure:

SEG+ABC:123+DEF:456'

And this grammar:

SEG = -"SEG", sep, ABC, sep, DEF, segend .
-sep = -"+" .
-segend = -"'", (#9 | #a0 | #a | #d)* .
-comp-sep = -":" .
-num = [N] .
-n3 = num, num, num .
ABC = -"ABC", comp-sep, n3 .
DEF = -"DEF", comp-sep, n3 .

We get this XML:

                     
<SEG>
   <ABC>123</ABC>
   <DEF>456</DEF>
</SEG>

But don't take my word for it. John Lumley's implemented an iXML processor running under Saxon JS [lumley-ixml-processor] that allows you to test the above in the browser.

S2000M Grammar Considerations

It turns out that while expressing the S2000M message formats as iXML grammars is a lot of work, it's perfectly doable. Here's a made-up S2000M CSNIPD (used for the transmission of IP data which has been compiled in accordance with the CSN-orientated IP procedure) example:

UNH+123456+CD3456:EF1:FD3:C1:ABC123+1234567890ABCDEFGHIJ012345678912345+12:C'
IPH+IPP:F61170026+MTP:CSNIPD+ISS:D1+TOD:F6117+ADD:D1234+FID:S+MOI:1X+DRS:004+DRD:201088+LGE:UK+IPS:LANDING GEAR ASSY+DRR:AB123456'
VAS+CHG:N+SID:12345:X1234999999999999+SNS:1234:123456789'
OHS+OSN:1+OBS:TESTING THIS'
CAS+CHG:B+CSN:0123456789123+ISN:ABC+IND:9+RFS:0+QNA:123+TQL:ABCDE+PNR:01234567890+MFC:QWERT+NSN:1234:123456789'
CBS+ASP:1+NIL:Q+RTX:1234567890123456+SMF:X+MFM:THIS IS TEXT+DFL:THIS IS MORE TEXT'
CCS+UCE:ABCDEFGH+UCA:123456+ICY:AB'
CDS+CTL:1234567+ESC:9+MAP:12+CSR:321'
CES+CHG:A+SRV:ABC+SMR:654321+RMQ:12345+ROQ:98765'
CJS+CHG:C+MOV:BA'
CKS+CHG:D+EFY:ABCDEFGH'
CFS+CHG:A+RFD:1234567'
CIS+CHG:B+ILS:09876543211234567890'
PAS+CHG:F+PNR:123456789123456789123456789+MFC:EDCBA+DFP:THIS IS A DFP TEXT+INC:12345+NSN:1234:123456789+RNC:7+RNV:5+RNJ:3'
PBS+UOI:AB+SPQ:0123+TOP:QW+ITY:ER+SPC:0+PLT:12+STR:9+SLC:X+PLC:Y+PCD:W'
PCS+UOM:AB+QUI:1234'
PDS+UPR:123456789012+CUR:ABC+MSQ:54321+PBD:1:2:3000:4:5:11111111'
PES+CRT:123+SRA:21+MTI:123456:AB+TBI:123456:CD+TSI:654321:BD+ALI:987654:XY+TLF:123'
PFS+DMC:ABC123+HAZ:ED12+PIC:8+FTC:X+PSC:Q+ESD:0+CMK:9'
PGS+SUU:AB345678901234+SPU:CD345678901234+WUU:AB34567+WPU:CD34567'
UNT+123456+ABCD1234567812'

Much of this won't make sense to you, but we can spot the basic constructs, namely segments —the rows starting with a three-letter alphabetic code followed by + and ending with a segment end character ('). Within the segments, we can recognise data units, each separated with a plus (+) and starting with a TEI (Text Element Identifier) followed by one or more values, each separated with colons (':). The specification defines the allowed contents for each segment and their respective data units (see Figure 2 for an overview), and so the remaining work is about expressing those contents in a formal grammar.

Many segments are optional, as are many of the contained data units. When they are optional depends on the type of information being carried across by the messages, so some segments will only appear depending of the item being described or if other segments are used.

Figure 2 may help illustrate this. The CAS segment provides mandatory location-related information about the item, but the C segments CBS, CCS, CDS and CFS that follow are only provided depending on the nature of the item. Those segments are effectively child segments to CAS and do not appear without it. S2000M does not define such a concept, but it is helpful to think of them in that way.

{
	This is an iXML grammar for S2000M CSNIPD messages.
	S2000M spec 2.1: https://www.s2000m.org/S2000M/S2000M%20Issue%202.1%20CP1-4.pdf
	iXML information: https://invisiblexml.org/

	Grammar tested with https://johnlumley.github.io/jwiXML.xhtml
}



CSNIPD = UNH, IPH, VAS+, OHS*, CAS+, PAS*, UNT .

@segend = -"'", (#9 | #a0 | #a | #d)* .
-sep = -"+" .
-comp-sep = -":" .

-alpha = [L] .
-num = [N] .
-other-level-a = [" !.,(;&<>%*=)"; #22] .
-an = (alpha | num | other-level-a) .

-num4 = num, num, num, num .
-num9 = num, num, num, num, num, num, num, num, num .
-num0-2 = (num? | num, num) .
-num0-3 = (...) .
-num0-4 = (...) .
-num0-5 = (...) .
-num0-6 = (...) .
-num0-12 = (...) .
-an2 = an, an .
-an3 = an, an, an .
-an4 = (...) .
-an5 = (...) .
-an6 = (...) .
-an7 = (...) .
-an8 = (...) .
-an9 = (...) .
-an13 = (...) .
-an14 = (...) .
-an0-2 = (an? | an, an) .
-an0-3 = (...) .
-an0-4 = (...) .
-an0-5 = (...) .
-an0-6 = (...) .
-an0-7 = (...) .
-an0-8 = (...) .
-an0-14 = (...) .
-an0-16 = (...) .
-an0-19 = (...) .
-an0-20 = (...) .
-an0-32 = (...) .
-an0-35 = (...) .

no-segments-0074 = num0-6 .
msg-no-0062 = an0-14 .
msg-type-0065 = an0-6 .
msg-version-nbr-0052 = an0-3 .
msg-rel-nbr-0054 = an0-3 .
ctrl-agency-0051 = an0-2 .
assoc-assign-code-0057 = an0-6 .

message-identifier-S009 = msg-type-0065, comp-sep, msg-version-nbr-0052, comp-sep, msg-rel-nbr-0054, comp-sep, ctrl-agency-0051, comp-sep, assoc-assign-code-0057? .
common-access-ref-0068 = an0-35 .
sequence-transfers-0070 = num0-2 .

first-last-transfer-0073 = alpha . {C or F - should it be checked here?}
transfer-status-S010 = sequence-transfers-0070, comp-sep, first-last-transfer-0073 .

UNH = -"UNH", sep, msg-no-0062, sep, message-identifier-S009, sep, common-access-ref-0068, sep, transfer-status-S010, segend .
UNT = -"UNT", sep, no-segments-0074, sep, msg-no-0062, segend .

IPP = -"IPP", comp-sep, an9 .
MTP = -"MTP", comp-sep, an0-6 .
ISS = -"ISS", comp-sep, an, an .
TOD = -"TOD", comp-sep, an5 .
ADD = -"ADD", comp-sep, an5 .
FID = -"FID", comp-sep, alpha .
MOI = -"MOI", comp-sep, an, an .
DRS = -"DRS", comp-sep, num, num, num .
DRD = -"DRD", comp-sep, num, num, num, num, num, num .
LGE = -"LGE", comp-sep, alpha, alpha .
IPS = -"IPS", comp-sep, an0-19 .
DRR = "DRR", comp-sep, an8 .

IPH = -"IPH", sep, IPP, sep, MTP, (sep, ISS)?, sep, TOD, sep, ADD, sep, FID, sep, MOI, sep, DRS, sep, DRD, sep, LGE, sep, IPS, (sep, DRR)?, segend .

CHG = -"CHG", comp-sep, alpha .

mfc = an5 .
pnr = an0-32 .
SID = -"SID", comp-sep, mfc, comp-sep, pnr .

nsc = num4 .
nin = num9 .
SNS = -"SNS", (comp-sep, nsc)?, (comp-sep, nin)? .

VAS = -"VAS", sep, CHG, sep, SID, (sep, SNS)?, segend .

OSN = -"OSN", comp-sep, num .
OBS = -"OBS", comp-sep, an* . {This is 0-130 chars}

OHS = -"OHS", sep, OSN, sep, OBS, segend .

CSN = -"CSN", comp-sep, an13 .
ISN = -"ISN", comp-sep, an3 .
IND = -"IND", comp-sep, num .
RFS = -"RFS", comp-sep, num .
QNA = -"QNA", comp-sep, an0-4 .
TQL = -"TQL", comp-sep, an0-5 .
PNR = -"PNR", comp-sep, -pnr .
MFC = -"MFC", comp-sep, -mfc .
NSN = -"NSN", comp-sep, nsc, (comp-sep, nin)? .

CAS = -"CAS", sep, CHG, sep, CSN, sep, ISN, (sep, IND)?, (sep, RFS)?, (sep, QNA)?, (sep, TQL)?, (sep, PNR)?, (sep, MFC)?, (sep, NSN)?, segend, (CBS?, CCS?, CDS?, CES, CFS?, CIS?)? .

ASP = -"ASP", comp-sep, num .
NIL = -"NIL", comp-sep, an .
RTX = -"RTX", comp-sep, an0-16 .
SMF = -"SMF", comp-sep, alpha .
MFM = -"MFM", comp-sep, an* {0-40 alphanumeric chars} .
DFL = -"DFL", comp-sep, an* {0-130 alphanumeric chars} .

CBS = -"CBS", (sep, ASP)?, (sep, NIL)?, (sep, RTX)?, (sep, SMF)?, (sep, MFM)?, (sep, DFL)?, segend .

UCE = -"UCE", comp-sep, an8 .
UCA = -"UCA", comp-sep, an6 .
ICY = -"ICY", comp-sep, an, an .

CCS = -"CCS", (sep, UCE)?, (sep, UCA)?, (sep, ICY)?, segend .

CTL = -"CTL", comp-sep, an7 .
ESC = -"ESC", comp-sep, num .
MAP = -"MAP", comp-sep, num0-2 .
CSR = -"CSR", comp-sep, num0-3 .

CDS = -"CDS", (sep, CTL)?, (sep, ESC)?, (sep, MAP)?, (sep, CSR)?, segend .

SRV = -"SRV", comp-sep, an0-3 .
SMR = -"SMR", comp-sep, an0-6 .
RMQ = -"RMQ", comp-sep, num0-5 .
ROQ = -"ROQ", comp-sep, num0-5 .

CES = -"CES", sep, CHG, sep, SRV, (sep, SMR)?, (sep, RMQ)?, (sep, ROQ)?, segend, CJS* .

RFD = -"RFD", comp-sep, an0-7 .

CFS = -"CFS", sep, CHG, sep, RFD, segend .

ILS = -"ILS", comp-sep, an0-20 .

CIS = -"CIS", sep, CHG, sep, ILS, segend .

MOV = -"MOV", comp-sep, an0-2 .

CJS = -"CJS", sep, CHG, sep, MOV, segend, CKS* .

EFY = -"EFY", comp-sep, an0-8 .

CKS = -"CKS", sep, CHG, sep, EFY, segend .


DFP = -"DFP", comp-sep, an* {0-130 alphanumeric} .
INC = -"INC", comp-sep, an5 .
RNC = -"RNC", comp-sep, an .
RNV = -"RNV", comp-sep, num .
RNJ = -"RNJ", comp-sep, num .

PAS = -"PAS", sep, CHG, sep, PNR, sep, MFC, (sep, DFP)?, (sep, INC)?, (sep, NSN)?, (sep, RNC)?, (sep, RNV)?, (sep, RNJ)?, segend, (PBS?, PCS?, PDS?, PES?, PFS?, PGS?)? .

UOI = -"UOI", comp-sep, alpha, alpha .
SPQ = -"SPQ", comp-sep, num0-4 .
TOP = -"TOP", comp-sep, an2 .
ITY = -"ITY", comp-sep, an2 .
SPC = -"SPC", comp-sep, num .
PLT = -"PLT", comp-sep, num0-2 .
STR = -"STR", comp-sep, num .
SLC = -"SLC", comp-sep, an .
PLC = -"PLC", comp-sep, an .
PCD = -"PCD", comp-sep, an0-2 .

PBS = -"PBS", (sep, UOI)?, (sep, SPQ)?, (sep, TOP)?, (sep, ITY)?, (sep, SPC)?, (sep, PLT)?, (sep, STR)?, (sep, SLC)?, (sep, PLC)?, (sep, PCD)?, segend .

UOM = -"UOM", comp-sep, an2 .
QUI = -"QUI", comp-sep, num0-4 .

PCS = -"PCS", (sep, UOM)?, (sep, QUI)?, segend .

UPR = -"UPR", comp-sep, num0-12 .
CUR = -"CUR", comp-sep, alpha, alpha, alpha .
MSQ = -"MSQ", comp-sep, num0-5 .

qty = num0-5 .
upr = num0-12 .

PBD = -"PBD", comp-sep, qty, comp-sep, qty, comp-sep, upr, (comp-sep, qty, comp-sep, qty, comp-sep, upr)* {0-2 repetitions} .

PDS = -"PDS", (sep, UPR)?, (sep, CUR)?, (sep, MSQ)?, (sep, PBD)?, segend .

CRT = -"CRT", comp-sep, num0-3 .
SRA = -"SRA", comp-sep, num0-2 .
-alpha0-2 = (alpha? | alpha, alpha) .
tbf = num0-6 .
tcm = alpha0-2 .
MTI = -"MTI", (comp-sep, tbf)?, (comp-sep, tcm)? .
tbo = num0-6 .
tco = alpha0-2 .
TBI = -"TBI", (comp-sep, tbo)?, (comp-sep, tco)? .
tsv = num0-6 .
tcs = alpha0-2 .
TSI = -"TSI", (comp-sep, tsv)?, (comp-sep, tcs)? .
aul = num0-6 .
tca = alpha0-2 .
ALI = -"ALI", (comp-sep, aul)?, (comp-sep, tca)? .
TLF = -"TLF", comp-sep, num0-3 .

PES = -"PES", (sep, CRT)?, (sep, SRA)?, (sep, MTI)?, (sep, TBI)?, (sep, TSI)?, (sep, ALI)?, (sep, TLF)?, segend .

DMC = -"DMC", comp-sep, an0-6 .

HAZ = -"HAZ", comp-sep, an4 .
PIC = -"PIC", comp-sep, num .
FTC = -"FTC", comp-sep, an .
PSC = -"PSC", comp-sep, an .
ESD = -"ESD", comp-sep, num .
CMK = -"CMK", comp-sep, num .

PFS = -"PFS", (sep, DMC)?, (sep, HAZ)?, (sep, PIC)?, (sep, FTC)?, (sep, PSC)?, (sep, ESD)?, (sep, CMK)?, segend .

SUU = -"SUU", comp-sep, an14 .
SPU = -"SPU", comp-sep, an14 .
WUU = -"WUU", comp-sep, an7 .
WPU = -"WPU", comp-sep, an7 .

PGS = -"PGS", (sep, SUU)?, (sep, SPU)?, (sep, WUU)?, (sep, WPU)?, segend .

The XML serialisation is as follows:

<CSNIPD>
   <UNH segend="&#10;">
      <msg-no-0062>123456</msg-no-0062>
      <message-identifier-S009>
         <msg-type-0065>CD3456</msg-type-0065>
         <msg-version-nbr-0052>EF1</msg-version-nbr-0052>
         <msg-rel-nbr-0054>FD3</msg-rel-nbr-0054>
         <ctrl-agency-0051>C1</ctrl-agency-0051>
         <assoc-assign-code-0057>ABC123</assoc-assign-code-0057>
      </message-identifier-S009>
      <common-access-ref-0068>1234567890ABCDEFGHIJ012345678912345</common-access-ref-0068>
      <transfer-status-S010>
         <sequence-transfers-0070>12</sequence-transfers-0070>
         <first-last-transfer-0073>C</first-last-transfer-0073>
      </transfer-status-S010>
   </UNH>
   <IPH segend="&#10;">
      <IPP>F61170026</IPP>
      <MTP>CSNIPD</MTP>
      <ISS>D1</ISS>
      <TOD>F6117</TOD>
      <ADD>D1234</ADD>
      <FID>S</FID>
      <MOI>1X</MOI>
      <DRS>004</DRS>
      <DRD>201088</DRD>
      <LGE>UK</LGE>
      <IPS>LANDING GEAR ASSY</IPS>
      <DRR>DRRAB123456</DRR>
   </IPH>
   <VAS segend="&#10;">
      <CHG>N</CHG>
      <SID>
         <mfc>12345</mfc>
         <pnr>X1234999999999999</pnr>
      </SID>
      <SNS>
         <nsc>1234</nsc>
         <nin>123456789</nin>
      </SNS>
   </VAS>
   <OHS segend="&#10;">
      <OSN>1</OSN>
      <OBS>TESTING THIS</OBS>
   </OHS>
   <CAS segend="&#10;">
      <CHG>B</CHG>
      <CSN>0123456789123</CSN>
      <ISN>ABC</ISN>
      <IND>9</IND>
      <RFS>0</RFS>
      <QNA>123</QNA>
      <TQL>ABCDE</TQL>
      <PNR>01234567890</PNR>
      <MFC>QWERT</MFC>
      <NSN>
         <nsc>1234</nsc>
         <nin>123456789</nin>
      </NSN>
      <CBS segend="&#10;">
         <ASP>1</ASP>
         <NIL>Q</NIL>
         <RTX>1234567890123456</RTX>
         <SMF>X</SMF>
         <MFM>THIS IS TEXT</MFM>
         <DFL>THIS IS MORE TEXT</DFL>
      </CBS>
      <CCS segend="&#10;">
         <UCE>ABCDEFGH</UCE>
         <UCA>123456</UCA>
         <ICY>AB</ICY>
      </CCS>
      <CDS segend="&#10;">
         <CTL>1234567</CTL>
         <ESC>9</ESC>
         <MAP>12</MAP>
         <CSR>321</CSR>
      </CDS>
      <CES segend="&#10;">
         <CHG>A</CHG>
         <SRV>ABC</SRV>
         <SMR>654321</SMR>
         <RMQ>12345</RMQ>
         <ROQ>98765</ROQ>
         <CJS segend="&#10;">
            <CHG>C</CHG>
            <MOV>BA</MOV>
            <CKS segend="&#10;">
               <CHG>D</CHG>
               <EFY>ABCDEFGH</EFY>
            </CKS>
         </CJS>
      </CES>
      <CFS segend="&#10;">
         <CHG>A</CHG>
         <RFD>1234567</RFD>
      </CFS>
      <CIS segend="&#10;">
         <CHG>B</CHG>
         <ILS>09876543211234567890</ILS>
      </CIS>
   </CAS>
   <PAS segend="&#10;">
      <CHG>F</CHG>
      <PNR>123456789123456789123456789</PNR>
      <MFC>EDCBA</MFC>
      <DFP>THIS IS A DFP TEXT</DFP>
      <INC>12345</INC>
      <NSN>
         <nsc>1234</nsc>
         <nin>123456789</nin>
      </NSN>
      <RNC>7</RNC>
      <RNV>5</RNV>
      <RNJ>3</RNJ>
      <PBS segend="&#10;">
         <UOI>AB</UOI>
         <SPQ>0123</SPQ>
         <TOP>QW</TOP>
         <ITY>ER</ITY>
         <SPC>0</SPC>
         <PLT>12</PLT>
         <STR>9</STR>
         <SLC>X</SLC>
         <PLC>Y</PLC>
         <PCD>W</PCD>
      </PBS>
      <PCS segend="&#10;">
         <UOM>AB</UOM>
         <QUI>1234</QUI>
      </PCS>
      <PDS segend="&#10;">
         <UPR>123456789012</UPR>
         <CUR>ABC</CUR>
         <MSQ>54321</MSQ>
         <PBD>
            <qty>1</qty>
            <qty>2</qty>
            <upr>3000</upr>
            <qty>4</qty>
            <qty>5</qty>
            <upr>11111111</upr>
         </PBD>
      </PDS>
      <PES segend="&#10;">
         <CRT>123</CRT>
         <SRA>21</SRA>
         <MTI>
            <tbf>123456</tbf>
            <tcm>AB</tcm>
         </MTI>
         <TBI>
            <tbo>123456</tbo>
            <tco>CD</tco>
         </TBI>
         <TSI>
            <tsv>654321</tsv>
            <tcs>BD</tcs>
         </TSI>
         <ALI>
            <aul>987654</aul>
            <tca>XY</tca>
         </ALI>
         <TLF>123</TLF>
      </PES>
      <PFS segend="&#10;">
         <DMC>ABC123</DMC>
         <HAZ>ED12</HAZ>
         <PIC>8</PIC>
         <FTC>X</FTC>
         <PSC>Q</PSC>
         <ESD>0</ESD>
         <CMK>9</CMK>
      </PFS>
      <PGS segend="&#10;">
         <SUU>AB345678901234</SUU>
         <SPU>CD345678901234</SPU>
         <WUU>AB34567</WUU>
         <WPU>CD34567</WPU>
      </PGS>
   </PAS>
   <UNT segend="">
      <no-segments-0074>123456</no-segments-0074>
      <msg-no-0062>ABCD1234567812</msg-no-0062>
   </UNT>
</CSNIPD>

Notable in the XML are a few handy tweaks. For example, every segment — remember the constructs starting with a segment name (tag) and ending with an apostrophe? — has a @segend attribute, making it easy to differentiate between segments and data units.^[14] A composite data unit's components are named and, just as declared in the specification, use lower-case letters.

All this becomes useful later, when publishing the XML in S2000M format (see section “Input and Output”).

n0-3 = (n? | n, n | n, n, n ) .

n10 = n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n .

-an0-2 = (an? | an, an) .

CHG = -"CHG", comp-sep, alpha .

-alpha = [L] .
-num = [N] .
-other-level-a = [" !.,(;&<>%*=)"; #22] .
-an = (alpha | num | other-level-a) .

So, Now That I've Got the XML...

...what do I do with it?

Well, XML, unlike S2000M Issue 2.1, has a full ecosystem with editors, transformation languages, etc. To start with, can we author messages using the XML format?

UNH = -"UNH", sep, msg-no-0062, sep, message-identifier-S009, sep, segend .
UNT = -"UNT", sep, no-segments-0074, sep, msg-no-0062, segend .

<UNH segend="&#10;">
    <msg-no-0062>123456</msg-no-0062>
    ...
</UNH>

<UNT segend="">
    ...
    <msg-no-0062>ABCD1234567812</msg-no-0062>
</UNT>

CAS+CHG:B+...+NSN:1234:123456789'
CBS+ASP:1+...+DFL:THIS IS MORE TEXT'
CCS+UCE:ABCDEFGH+UCA:123456+ICY:AB'

CAS
├── CBS
└── CCS

<!ELEMENT CAS (%cas.content;, CBS?, CCS?)

CAS = -"CAS", ... , segend, (CBS?, CCS?) .

<!ELEMENT CBS (ASP?,NIL?,RTX?,SMF?,MFM?,DFL?)>
<!ATTLIST CBS
  level CDATA #FIXED "2"
  segend CDATA #REQUIRED>

Context

The messages do not happen in a vacuum but rather as part of other engineering tasks. The product itself is commonly handled as a hierarchical tree known as a build of materials or BOM. In that tree, the root is the product, and the nodes are the parts and kits (groups of parts) that together form the product. So when you, say, add a part, the part is a node in that tree, and the various properties of that part — part number, quantity, etc — are attached to the node as attributes^[19], metadata about the part.

The node has an address, a location in the product. In the aerospace industry, there are standardised approaches for those locations. The ATA 2200 specification, for example, places the various physical components of an aeroplane in numbered chapters where the numbers exactly match specific components. For example, 71 is power plant and 72 is engine. The chapters are then divided into sections and the sections into subjects, and addressing an assembly task might look like the example in Figure 3:

Figure 3: ATA Number for a Task

S1000D has a similar approach, as parts of that specification was derived from ATA. It, like S2000M, uses SNS (Standard Numbering System) to identify a component's system, subsystem, sub-subsystem, down to an assembly or unit.

This is the context in which the S2000M messaging happens, the idea being that the messages are directly about an assembly or unit, a node in the BOM.^[20] Thus, much of the information is either in the BOM itself or it should be attached to a node in the BOM as metadata.

This paper is not the place to discuss the larger picture, however.

Future State

The current project is very much about replacing a mainframe that is scheduled to be decommissioned later this year. It does not attempt to replace or redesign any downstream system that can continue to function if we replicate the necessary data flows to and from the mainframe. What we are doing should be seen as a drop-in replacement for the mainframe.

But that's an extremely inefficient way to move away from 60s technology, so there is also a future state, one where the various old downstream systems and text formats are replaced with IPD authoring directly in the system, using state-of-the-art software and up-to-date S-series specifications. And so, yes, the S2000M messaging iXML solution described in this paper will be replaced by Issue 7.x and up-to-date XML Schemas.

The cool thing about this is that while moving to the latest issue is a big project, replacing the iXML-based authoring with 7.x is not. The basic functionality coupling the messages with the BOM will likely be reusable, even though some metadata will certainly change. If we replace an XML-based authoring approach with another, we are not starting from scratch. It's all authored, viewed, and published using XML technologies, so much of that functionality and logic can stay. It will have to be updated, yes, but we don't need to throw everything away this time.

The XML is here to stay.