open-source engineering documents
Engineering calculation documents generally include descriptions, formulas and tabulated data from standard sources that are presented in equations, figures and text applicable to a particular design. They are often presented as formal letters or reports for review and approval. Recent developments in open-source software tools dramatically improve the ease with which these documents can be composed and shared, reducing duplication of effort and improving quality.
Engineering professions have an opportunity to produce reusable calculation libraries that can grow and improve through open-source contributions over time. This model of shared, incremental improvement is effective in software programming where chunks of code are repurposed and recombined. Although software code is purely text, the application of this approach to general engineering documents needs to be explored for its potential positive impact on productivity and design solutions.
Many engineering technologies in the 21st century are evolving slowly. Design procedures are often fixed for decades in standard codes, with little or no change. Productive engineering work now lies, not so much in technological innovation, but in understanding and combining a range of established technologies. Engineering calculations and drawings are the mechanism for working out how to make these combinations successful. Enabling cut and paste of common ideas and calculations from previous projects enables an engineer to explore more options to improve performance, reduce cost and respond to industry changes.
Many effective engineering calculation programs are available, but they include barriers to widespread sharing. A few of the most well-known programs are listed in the table below along with a comparison of features that prevent sharing. The first is high initial and subsequent software costs that continue because of constantly changing file formats requiring program upgrades. In addition, because files and interfaces are incompatible between the different programs, multiple software purchases and learning curves are required when sharing. Other limitations include software that does not easily produce formatted reports, provide version control or easily integrate with external programs.
Taken together these limitations prevent widespread sharing of editable calculation documents and result in nearly identical calculations being frequently written in slightly different forms. rivt, rivt-text, and open-source software stack rivt-doc, were developed to eliminate these barriers and promote calculation document reuse.
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If customers can’t find it, it doesn’t exist. Clearly list and describe the services you offer. Also, be sure to showcase a premium service.
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