An object-oriented framework for virtual intelligent product manuals

In this article, an object-oriented framework for generation of electronic virtual technical manuals is presented. First, the generic problems of documentation generation are discussed. Then, the problems related to virtual documentation systems are presented. The lack of infrastructure and its effects on the documentation development cycle is analysed together with the complexity and the level of abstraction of virtual document generation techniques. The need for an object-oriented framework and virtual document generation techniques that increase the productivity and the flexibility of technical documentation, and ensure a better decision support is explained. Furthermore, the technologies enabling the development of systems for generating documentation are outlined, and the proposed system architecture is described together with a case study to illustrating it. Finally, the expected benefits of employing such object-oriented approach in developing product manuals are discussed.