🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <76286@apple.apple.COM>, billc@Apple.COM (Bill Cockayne) writes:
|>I know that many engineer's were forced to keep log books (or lab books)
|>during some period of there college career. And it seems that many of us have
|>picked up this horrible habit and continue to do it in industry. But I have
|>noticed one thing that I have noticed is lacking and that is the creation of
|>a really useful online version of our lab books.
|>
|>Is this simply because the marketing bozos don't think there is a market? Are
|>we too timimd to ask for them, and too busy to write one ourselves? Do we 
|>even want such a thing? Are there legal reprecussion having all your notes on
|>the computer instead of on poaper (ie, patents)?
|>
|>Any thoughts, ideas, etc?
|>
|>bill cockayne
|>Apple Computer, Inc.
|>billc@apple.com
|>
|>DISCLAIMER: I speak only for myself. 
|>
|>ps - If someone were to try to write and engineers' tool, what would it    
|>include as its pieces? Would each discipline need its own module? ....
                     
As part of the DARPA Initiative in Concurrent Engineering,
the Research and Development Center of General Electric
developed 2 different Electronic Design Notebook (EDN)
implementations.

Both EDNs were based on commercial tools and frameworks in 
the UNIX environment.
One was based on Framemaker and the other was based on Aster*x.
Aster*x is an office automation product by Applix and contains a
word processing module, a graphics module, a spreadsheet module,
and a mail module.
There is currently a MS Windows version in development, based
on MS Word and MS Excel.
An Apple McIntosh version based on WingZ was started but stopped
due to the lack of an interested customer.

Note that a large part of the EDN is its link into a framework of
engineering design tools. I don't have enough time or space here
to describe these frameworks or all of the tools that we built
into the frameworks.

A number of general principles have been identified and white
papers have been generated. There is an in depth case study of
a pilot site where some of the tools were used. Case study
and marketing videos have also been produced.

Any company that performs work for the Defense Dept. can get
access to most of this stuff, most including source code. 
Some from The Center for Concurrent Engineering (CERC) in 
West Virginia, and some for the GE Research and Development 
Center in upstate NY.

Information can also be provided to other major industrial
companies depending on competition and level of interest factors.

Email me if you want to know how to get additional information.

H. William Fogg
Senior Consultant
Keane Associates
(at GE Corporate Research and Development)


P.S.
Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, NJ is currently
developing an EDN. They are starting from "scratch" instead
of using commercial tools and frameworks.

I have seen magazine columns describing at least two
commercial software systems designed as lab notebooks,
in addition to those based on Mathematica or similar
algebraic systems.  One (or both) of the commercial
products was designed for wide-area collaborations.
Cost was at least $500 per person.

I would hate to present one of these systems in court.
I doubt that they produce non-editable audit trails.

					-- Ken

--

Dr. Kenneth I. Laws; (415) 493-7390; laws@ai.sri.com.
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