As the new brdoc Schema gets explored and implemented, I receive questions on the intention of one or another construct in it.

I have written an article in frames of the Mekon‘s Bitesize on Business Rules series to share the reasons behind the structures and element names in the Schema for the primary business rules constructs: Business Rules Decision Points and the Business Rules Decisions. There is a seeming discrepancy in the way we (at the Business Rules Working Group, BRWG) have structured it: one having a dedicated element and the other not. But the deliberate and conscious decisions on the part of those who developed and reviewed the Schema stand boldly for the reasons behind this and I wanted to share them with all who might be interested.

Click here to find out more: Bitesize Business Rules: Exploring brdoc Schema – Why there is a dedicated element for a business rule decision and none for a business rule decision point.

At the end of this article, you will also find an invitation to a webinar (planned for June 28) with the title “S1000D is More than a PDF file, default BREX, and XML Schemas.”

Click here to find out more: “S1000D is More than a PDF file, default BREX, and XML Schemas.”

(Credits: Photograph ©librestock.com under the keyword “decision”)

P.S. Check out the two new books on Business Rules and S1000D Issue 4.1 & Issue 4.2.

I used to think of S1000D business rules and S1000D implementation separately. I did think business rules definition to be a part of the whole S1000D implementation process. But other than that I couldn’t think of a connection between them. Implementation was always something big, and quite the unknown. The business rules, on the other hand, were more concrete and therefore easier to grasp.

Little did I know that someday I would find an entirely different connection between them, without intending this. Only after publishing my book “Take Control of Your Business”, where I give a simple introduction to business rules, I discovered that I had attributed the rules of implementation processes to be a part of a complete set of business rules.

In the eighth article to Mekon‘s Bitesize on Business Rules, I have shared the whole story, told how I discovered the business rules definition and implementation processes to be entangled more than I have expected, and also about the recognition why they never should be considered separately.

Click here to find out more: Bitesize Business Rules: What is more important, or what comes first – business rules or implementation?

At the end of this article, you will also find an invitation to a webinar (planned for May 24 and June 28) with the title “S1000D is More than a PDF file, default BREX, and XML Schemas”.

Click here to find out more: “S1000D is More than a PDF file, default BREX, and XML Schemas”.

(Credits: Photograph ©librestock.com under the keyword “business”)

P.S. Check out the two new books on Business Rules and S1000D Issue 4.1 & Issue 4.2.

Last year I published my first book on S1000D called “S1000D Issue 4.1 Untangled”. The feedback was very positive, and I was very glad to receive requests to create further resources in this respect.

With the new Issue of S1000D, Issue 4.2, and the wishes of the community to develop the information for Issue 4.1 further, the decision of creating a new resource came naturally.

And since both Issues are forward and backward compatible I decided to create a resource covering both Issues and show how the BRDP have changed from one Issue to another.
This new resource bears the title “S1000D® Issue 4.1 and Issue 4.2 Navigation Map” and subtitle “552+87 and 429+90 Business Rules Decision Points Arranged into two Linear Topic Maps to Facilitate Learning, Understanding, and Implementation of S1000D®”.

The price of this new resource is higher than for the first book. But this is also because of several new and valuable features:

• The new book gives information on two Issue of S1000D, Issue 4.1 and Issue 4.2.
• It provides Chap and Para references for each BRDP, whereas the first resource has sent you to Chap 2.5.3 of Issue 4.1 to find out this information.
• The information for each BRDP in both topic maps (BRDP chains) has been extended to identify how the certain BRDP information has changed when moving from Issue 4.1 to Issue 4.2: Whether it remained the same, was deleted, edited, or whether it is entirely new.
• Guidance information has been extended, in particular, various scenarios for its use.
• The book provides a mapping of the BRDP numbers to the topics defined in the book.
• The Issue 4.1 information was updated: two additional topics are identified, some of the BRDP changed places, OW’s words updated in a few places.

Many retailers allow a free look into the book, and I invite you to do so. The free sample shows a considerable amount of the information:

• All introductory chapters,
• List of all topics for Issue 4.1 both in alphabetical and sequential order,
• Detailed information on the first ten topics of the Issue 4.1 BRDP Chain. (at least for the free sample displayed on Amazon.com)

Thus this free sample will give you a good idea about the information provided by the book.

Price: $ 39.99 e-book, $ 79.99 paperback (the price in other currencies depends on the current exchange rate).

Please Note (!!!): if you buy the paperback version of the book, then you get the e-book for FREE.

You can find more details, including the links where you can buy the paperback and/or e-book, here: “S1000D® Issue 4.1 and Issue 4.2 Navigation Map”.

Many S1000D users complain understandably about a quite high frequency of S1000D releases. A new version of any standard every five years would be hard to implement, but the S1000D is a highlight here. The community managed to publish two Issues within one-half of a year. These were the S1000D Issue 2.3 (released on February 28, 2007) and the S1000D Issue 3.0 (released on July 31, 2007).

The reasons for such frequent updates and releases are also understandable since they are driven by the requirements of the community using and developing it.

But even for a very short period between updates, each release means a huge step forward in its development in comparison with its predecessor: both in respect to technical novelties, quality of its guidance, and the readability of the specification itself.

The same case is with the S1000D Issue 4.2. Two concepts that progressed prominently in this issue are the business rules and handling of illustrations/multimedia objects.
Both received a new Schema to make their generation, management and exchange smoother and more reliable.

Illustrations and multimedia got an XML Schema/object to capture their metadata. Business rules have now a structure/Schema allowing to markup any type of the business rules documentation.

In my seventh article to Mekon‘s Bitesize on Business Rules, I discuss what you can use the new brdoc Schema for.

Click here to find out more: Bitesize Business Rules: What is the new brdoc Schema in the S1000D® Issue 4.2 is good for?

(Credits: Photograph ©librestock.com under the keywords “document”)

When a new Issue of the S1000D® comes out, the first thing which is reported all over the community using it are the new features. Then, when one or another feature — for example, a new Schema — is of interest, the implementers open the chapters describing that feature and try to understand how it works.

And then, they often feel lost.

They start asking questions about basics of the given construct, meaning for some introduction to it. They are searching for the Read-Me information. Eventually, they find various interpretations of what this Read-Me information could be.

But interestingly enough, this Read-Me information is available in the Specification itself.
I remember how I once was asked to compile a list of benefits of implementing S1000D® and was surprised to find a comprehensive but concise information on these in Chap 1.1 “Purpose” and Chap 1.2 “Scope.”

The same is about business rules. There are several chapters under Chap 2 “Documentation Process,” which provide all the necessary introductory and Read-Me information for approaching the business rules development process.

In my sixth article to Mekon‘s Bitesize on Business Rules, I have outlined the Read-Me Chapters and also given an overview of the new Chap 2.5.2 inside Issue 4.2, which in my opinion provides a core of this Read-Me information for business rules. This information will surely be updated with time. But it is utterly valuable already now, even in such a very new shape. Already now, it can help you save nerves, time, and money when you implement the new business rules constructs and concepts.

Click here to find out more: Bitesize Business Rules: read-me chapters for Business Rules concept in S1000D® issue 4.2.

(Credits: Photograph ©librestock.com under the keywords “read me”)