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Ability to Include External PDF Appendices in a Web Manuals Document Export

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Karl Rattassep

Use case

Among other company manuals, we use Web Manuals to create and manage our Aircraft Maintenance Programmes (AMPs). The main body of the AMP is prepared directly in Web Manuals, but some appendices are generated by external systems as PDF documents.

A typical example is a CAMP task list printout, which forms an integral part of the approved AMP but is not created inside Web Manuals.

Current process

  1. Export the AMP from Web Manuals as a PDF.
  2. Export the appendix from the external system as a PDF.
  3. Merge both PDFs using Adobe Acrobat or another third-party tool.
  4. Distribute the combined document to authorities and other stakeholders.

Suggested enhancement

It would be very useful if Web Manuals could support one of the following:

  • Attaching external PDF files as appendices to a document.
  • Displaying attached PDFs as part of the document structure.
  • Including attached PDFs automatically when exporting the document to PDF.
  • Creating a single export package consisting of the Web Manuals content and selected PDF appendices.

Benefits

  • Eliminates manual PDF merging.
  • Reduces the risk of distributing incorrect or outdated appendices.
  • Provides a single source of controlled documentation.
  • Simplifies submission of AMP revisions and other documents to aviation authorities.
  • Particularly useful for documents that rely on reports, task lists, engineering data, or other content generated outside Web Manuals.

We would be interested to hear whether other operators have similar requirements and how they currently manage externally generated appendices.

1

Comments

4 comments
Date Votes
  • Avatar
    Joseph Martin

    I love this idea! We have the same issue with AMPs in Web Manuals and tasks in CAMP. Ideally, the AMP could be published as a web document in Web Manuals with an appendix that is a linked PDF. This would significantly simplify the AMP process.

    0
  • Avatar
    Nikol Zaharieva
    Web Manuals Team
    Master (Platinum)
    Product Team

    Hi Karl Rattassep and Joseph Martin, 

    I need some more information on this one; I hope that's okay! 😭

    1. Does the appendix need to behave like part of the document (chapter numbering, TOC, continuous page numbers, headers and footers, change bars) or is it enough that it travels with the export as a separate section?
    2. How often does the CAMP task list actually change, and does a change to the appendix trigger a revision of the whole AMP in your process?
    3. Who owns the appendix file today? The same person who edits the manual, or someone in CAMO who may not work in Web Manuals at all?
    4. Is the appendix ever read inside Web Manuals by your crew or engineers, or is this purely export, submit to the authority, and done?

     

    You don't need to answer all of them, but the more information I have, the easier it is for our team to properly evaluate this feature request. Thank you so much in advance!!! 🧙🏻‍♀️

    0
  • Avatar
    Karl Rattassep

    Hi Nikol! Here are my answers:

    1. For our use case, it would be sufficient for the appendix to be included as a separate section within the export. There is no need for integrated chapter numbering, table of contents entries, or other formatting links. In fact, preserving the original PDF without any conversion or AI-driven processing would be preferable, as it minimizes the risk of formatting changes or content discrepancies and eliminates the need for extensive verification after each export.
    2. The CAMP task list is updated whenever maintenance requirements change (approximately 1-3 times a year). Any revision to the attached task list would result in a corresponding revision of the AMP.
    3. The appendix is maintained by the same person who edits and manages the AMP within Web Manuals. That person would normally be the Continuing Airworthiness Manager in our case.
    4. In our experience, the appendix is generally not reviewed within Web Manuals itself. The primary purpose is to include it in the exported AMP package that is submitted to the competent authority.
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  • Avatar
    Joseph Martin

    Hi Nikol, my answers are a little different from Karl's:

    1. Yes, I would like the appendix to behave like part of the document (chapter numbering, TOC, continuous page numbers, headers and footers, change bars).

    2. Same as Karl: The CAMP task list is updated whenever maintenance requirements change (approximately 1-3 times a year). Any revision to the task list would result in a corresponding revision of the AMP.

    3. The owner of the appendix content is not a Web Manuals editor for us. They provide the content. An editor inserts the content.

    4. Our appendix is read in Web Manuals. Currently we transfer the information into the AMP in Web Manuals.

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