Delivering the correct multimedia in a standards dominated environment

Abstract

There is an increasing demand for hypermedia delivery of technical documentation for safety critical systems. The world in which such systems exist is dominated by standards bodies, whose standards rapidly become mandatory. In the world of hypermedia technical documentation, most of the work being done is directed towards data formats for storage and delivery, rather than on quality of content. Previous work by the author has discussed methods for ensuring the correct behaviour, against certain safety properties, of hypermedia databases for safety critical applications. Unfortunately, the standards bodies which dictate the standards in these areas have adopted standards that are incompatible with the proposed approach, in its initial form. This paper discusses the types of standard that might have been adopted, the ways in which they need to be enhanced to guarantee the safety properties required and proposes modifications to the previous work which will provide the same type of validation, while using databases of the type proposed in the emergent standards.