#IEEE SFQL Standards Mtg
8 messages in this thread
SFQL is a CD-ROM database interchangeability solution based on SQL which has
been adopted by the Air Transport Association for aircraft maintenance manuals
on CD-ROM. IEEE is currently working on a formal SFQL standard.
I will be uploading some more notes and minutes about this to the industry new
library. The ATA SFQL 2.3 specification is already available in the CD-ROM
Production library Section (or search on Keyword SFQL). Also, zipped together
with the SFQL specification is an article explaining the ATA standards approach
to CD-ROM interchangeability in the context of CALS.
The next working group announcement follows.
——————————-
IEEE SCODMP SFQL Working Group July Meeting
Vancouver, B.C.
July 20-21, 1993
1. Where
The meeting will take place at:
Granville Island Hotel and Marina
1253 Johnston Street
Granville Island
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada V6H 3R9
Tel: 604-683-7373, toll-free 1-800-663-1840 (Maybe Canada only)
FAX: 604-683-3061
When you make the reservation, give the meeting name: I told them “IEEE SCODMP
SFQL Working Group'', but cautioned them to accept permuted subsets of this.
I have been warned that there are some rooms that are bit close to the
nightclub and can get loud, so it might pay to ask for a quiet room when you
register.
2. Getting Here
In the following discussion, it will be helpful to remember that the Canadian
Dollar is worth about US$0.79 these days; turning it around, your greenback is
worth C$1.27.
Fly into Vancouver; there are lots of flights from all over. If it's
dramatically easier or cheaper, you can come into Seattle, but then you're
looking at a 4-hour drive with bad rush hours around Seattle and the border.
Take a taxi from the airport; shouldn't be much more than C$25.00. There's a
downtown shuttle bus, but I don't believe it works very well for this hotel.
I wouldn't recommend renting a car, unless you want to do some vacationing
before or after – the hotel is very central and convenient.
3. Special Travel Note
For those of you who haven't been to Canada before, it's a really easy country
to get into and do business in, but the following is helpful to know:
1. Bring some good ID, ideally a passport or birth certificate. If you
only have a driver's license, they'll grumble and delay but eventually let you
in anyhow.
2. When the guy asks you the purpose of your visit, say “committee
meetings''. If you accidentally give him the impression that you are here to
do some paid work on a job, Canadian-employment rules can swing into
action (we Canucks have the same problem crossing the U.S. border).
Obviously, this meeting is not affected by those rules, so don't confuse the
poor guy.
3. Do not, whatever you do, bring a handgun or other firearm. There
is no
Neil,
Thanks for this valuable information. I'm going to pass it along to our people
in Vancouver and Calgary and hope at least one of them can attend. Will
proceedings be published afterwards?
Kathy Cochrane
[GO ONEOFF]
Kathy:
I am glad to here you are interested. The meetings are open to both IEEE
members and nonmembers.
The minutes of each meeting are published, if that's what you mean by
"proceedings". (I would normally associate proceedings with a conference–this
is a working group meeting, to develop an IEEE SFQL Draft Standard based on the
ATA document which you can find in the "Production" library.
I will be uploading some of the working papers here as well.
Regards–Neil
Wonderful! You could probably answer a question that arose when I mentioned
this meeting to our western Canadian offices — is this standard what is being
used to develop the CDROM documentation for the Aerobus A320?
BTW, I'm a member of IEEE/CS, but don't know if any of our other shops have
IEEE members among them.
Thanks!
Kathy
The current Airbus disc is made by Jouve, and it is not ATA (SFQL) compliant.
Jouve, has won the Boeing contract and is indeed producing an SFQL server for
them, and for the US/Japanese/European patent office. Version 2.0 of their
engine will thus be SFQL, and Airbus will also be SFQL based if they choose to
upgrade (I don't know about their contract–but I presume they will want to be
ATA compliant.)
Neil
By the way, Aerospatiale, part of the French aerospace family along with Airbus
(they make some of Airbus's planes and helicopters) was one of the early
supporters of SFQL–they built one of the first proof-of-concept prototypes to
demonstration that vendors retrieval engines could be interchangeable via SFQL.
Neil,
Thanks for the info about the Airbus system, and the additional update on SFQL.
I'll pass it along. I'm going to have to dig out some more info about the
language. I'm reasonably fluent in SQL, but haven't done anything with SFQL
yet. Do some of the IEEE transactions (perhaps Database Transactions?) or
other publications have much on it?
Thanks,
Kathy
I'm afraid not, as it is not an "accepted" data/textbase language yet. We (in
ATA/AIA) have published most of our articles in the trade magazines in the
CD-ROM and publishing arenas–EPSIG news, DISC magazine, CALS Journal, and
CD-ROM Librarian. An IEEE journal article sounds been a good idea, however.
As the IEEE SFQL effort progresses, I am sure you will see some.
And I will upload some of the aforementioned ones to this forum in the next few
days.
Regards–Neil
Neil,
Thanks for saving me a rummage through back issues <smile>. I'll try the
sources you named and try to get educated, and await your uploads. Thanks!
Ciao,
Kathy