Applying the Act-Function-Phase Model to Aviation Documentation
**** Hidden Message ***** Applying the Act-Function-Phase Model<BR>to Aviation Documentation<BR>David G. Novick<BR>EURISCO<BR>4 avenue Edouard Belin<BR>31400 Toulouse, France<BR>+33(0)562 173838<BR>novickQonecert.fr<BR>ABSTRACT<BR>The act-function-phase model systematically relates the acts of<BR>the dialogue at time-of-use to the acts of the dialogue between<BR>author and users at time-of-development. We show how this<BR>kind of model of communicative action can be applied to the<BR>interactions described and embodied in a flight crew operating<BR>manual for a commercial aircraft. We claim that the model’s<BR>abstraction provides basis for co-evolutionary design of<BR>procedures and their corresponding documentation.<BR>Keywords<BR>Dialogue acts, aircraft procedures<BR>1. INTRODUCTION<BR>This research, in its broadest terms, aims at improving the<BR>methodology of system development so that issues of<BR>documentation are not pushed to the end of the development<BR>cycle, where the documentation may end up having to address<BR>issues unresolved during earlier phases of development. We<BR>developed the act-function-phase (AFP) model of interaction to<BR>aid authors of documentation by providing (1) a way of<BR>reasoning formally about the effectiveness of procedures or<BR>instructions, and (2) an explicit representation of what the user<BR>is doing in a way that makes it possible to create heuristics or<BR>even formal rules that connect content and expression. The<BR>model is based on concepts from the fields of the human-<BR>Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for<BR>personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies<BR>are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage, and that<BR>copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy<BR>otherwise. to republish, to post on servers. or to redistribute to lists.<BR>requires prior .s&ic pem&.sion and/or a.fee<BR>01998 ACM 1-58113-00&W9WOOO9 $5.00<BR>Said Tazi<BR>Laboratory for Information Science<BR>University of Toulouse 1<BR>31042 Toulouse Cedex, France<BR>+33(0)561 633564<BR>tazi Q univ-tlsel .fr<BR>computer-interaction and computational dialogue. Our goal in<BR>this paper is to show how this new theory of documentation<BR>development could eventually be applied in practice to<BR>documentation, particularly for safety-critical systems.<BR>An emerging research community has been looking at building<BR>documentation more or less automatically, typically from<BR>formal specifications of the underlying system. A number of<BR>prototype systems have been created that automatically praluce<BR>documentation in English or other languages that reflect a<BR>formal, abstract representation of the system or its interface<BR>. In this paper, we<BR>show the model’s application to the domain of commercial<BR>aviation as part of an on-going project to study how to account<BR>for cockpit procedures during development of systems and their<BR>documentation for future Airbus aircraft. In particular, we are<BR>studying the flight crew operating manual (FCOM), the<BR>principal aircraft documentation furnished to the flightcrew by<BR>the aircraft builder and/or the airline. Use of the model is<BR>intended to improve the preparation and content of procedures<BR>in FCOMs for future aircraft.<BR>This paper will briefly introduce the model and present an<BR>example of its application to an FCOM procedure for using the<BR>navigation interface for an Airbus A340 aircraft. The example<BR>will demonstraE explicit representation of both domain and<BR>meta acts across contexts of use, thus providing a basis for<BR>linking the contexts at design time. We thus claim that the<BR>model’s abstraction provides basis for co-redesign of procedures<BR>and their corresponding documentation.<BR>2. THE MODEL<BR>In this aviation setting, the act-function-phase model of<BR>interaction represents and relates differences in (1) the<BR>dialogues among the crew and a&aft on the flight-deck to<BR>243<BR>(2) the dialogues between the author(s) of the flight crew<BR>operating manual (FCOM) and its users. The model has three<BR>components: acts, functions and phases.<BR>Our presentation of the model’s components will use some<BR>established terms from area of dialogue models and will define<BR>a couple of new terms for extending these models to<BR>documentation. Here are our definitions of a number of terms<BR>from the literature that should help to make the model clearer:<BR>An agent is something that has beliefs, processes<BR>information and can achieve goals by interacting with other<BR>agents. In the cockpit environment, agents include the<BR>members of the crew and the aircraft itself.<BR>An act is something performed by an agent, either the user<BR>or the system, that has meaning for the recipient of the act.<BR>A domain act involves doing something that involves the<BR>agent’s main goals, like flying an aircraft. So the word<BR>“domain” here means areas of real-world knowledge, goals<BR>and accomplishment.<BR>A meta act involves doing something that involves the<BR>interaction itself rather than the agent’s real-world, domain<BR>goals. Asking someone to speak more loudly is a typical<BR>meta act. The word “meta” here means about or relating to<BR>the interaction rather than to the underlying tasks.<BR>A function is something’s “job” (i.e., goal-directed<BR>activity). For example, a function of documentation is to<BR>help users operate the documented system.<BR>L. 1. Acts<BR>The first component consists of dialogue acts, which are an<BR>abstract way of characterizing interaction. Dialogue acts are an<BR>extension of the well-known speech-acmt odel of conversation<BR>, that combine both domain acts and meta acts .<BR>The speech-act model captures what people “do” or achieve<BR>when they say something. The model applies this notion of<BR>communicative action for humans and systems to general<BR>dialogue interaction, which is viewed as a multi-layered<BR>composition that contains both the domain acts that<BR>accomplish things in the world of the parties’ nominal goals<BR>and the meta acts that accomplish things in the sphere of the<BR>communication itself.<BR>2.2. Functions<BR>The second component consists of the task functions intended<BR>to he achieved through the system and its documentation in the<BR>FCOM. Broadly speaking, parts of the FCOM present<BR>information about the system; these can be viewed as<BR>constituting a function of description. Complementary parts of<BR>the FCOM present action-oriented material such as procedures<BR>and checklists; these can be viewed as constituting the<BR>manual’s function of prescription.<BR>2.3. Phases<BR>The tbird component consists of the contexts of use. Viewing<BR>the development and use of the FCOM as interactive processes<BR>suggests that there are actually two distinct phases, with two<BR>corresponding kinds of use:<BR>1. A dialogue between system and its users, specified by the<BR>aircraft designer. We calI this the operational phase.<BR>2. A dialogue between the documentation and the users,<BR>created by the documentation author. We call this the<BR>referential phase.<BR>In the operational dialogue, the acts are generally (but not<BR>exclusively) domain acts among agents in the flightdeck. The<BR>term agent is used in sense that elements of the aircraft<BR>(especially its interfaces) and all members of the crew have<BR>defined roles, responsibilities and capabilities. Thus the<BR>dialogues designed for the operational phase may also be<BR>among the users. As a typical example, an airline’s FCOM for<BR>the Airbus A320 specifies a procedure for Flight Plan<BR>Completion in which key elements are carried out solely by<BR>the crew rather than through an action in the interface to the<BR>aircraft; in this case, the crew compares (a) flight-plan<BR>information from the interface with (b) clearance information<BR>received from air-&& control.<BR>In the referential dialogue, the acts are generally (but not<BR>exclusively) meta acts from the documentation to the users.<BR>The design of the understanding dialogue for the FCOM is an<BR>especially difficult task because the set of intended users of the<BR>manual is not homogeneous. Foreseeable users include not<BR>only flightcrew but trainers, future designers and engineers,<BR>future authors, and regulators (i.e., for certification). Each of<BR>these users has a distinct background, set of goals and way of<BR>using the documentation.<BR>3. APPLICATION<BR>Having introduced the AFP model generally, we now turn to<BR>application of the model to a specific instance of<BR>documentation, demonstrating that relevant features of the<BR>documentation can be mapped onto the model’s key concepts.<BR>3.1. Example<BR>Figure 1 presents an excerpt of the procedure for navigating an<BR>Airbus A340 into a holding pattern during the descent phase of<BR>a flight. This procedure is part of the FCOM chapter of<BR>proceduresf or the Flight Management System (FMS). The<BR>interface to the FMS is called the Multipurpose Control and<BR>Display Unit (MCDU). To interpret Figure 1 it is important to<BR>understand that the flightcrew read information, enter data, snd<BR>push buttons to perform commands on the MCDU; some of<BR>these actions can modify the current flight plan.<BR>244<BR>(HOLDING PATTERN I<BR>Refer to “HOW TO USE” for details.<BR>PROCEDURE<BR>El<BR>F-PLN key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DEPRESS<BR>. LATERAL revision page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>1<BR>SELECT<BR>l HOLD prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>l HOLDING data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHECK / MODIFY<BR>l TMPY F-PLN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHECK / INSERT<BR>Figure I. Excerpt of FMGS Procedure for Holding Pattern<BR>Applying the AFP model to the initial actions of the holding- (7) choose-display&J,S , lateral-revision(fix0))<BR>pattern procedure and its documentation, it is important to note<BR>first that the procedure itself consists mainly of domain acts<BR>carrying out a prescriptive function in the operational phase. In<BR>particular, the actions presented in the procedure can be<BR>abstracted into acts as follows:<BR>Depressing the “F-PLN” key causes the flight-plan page<BR>to appear on the MCDU. Among other things, this page<BR>presents tbe list of navigation “fixes” that compose the flight<BR>plan. This action can be viewed as a set of combined<BR>operational-phasea cts:<BR>(1) comrnand(U, S, offer-choice(S. U, fixes@)))<BR>(2) choose-display(U, S, flight-plan)<BR>where U is the user, S is the system, and Fs a list of fixes. Act<BR>1 is a domain act and Act 2 is a meta act. Together, they lead<BR>to the domain and meta responses:<BR>(3) offer-choice(S, U, fixes(E))<BR>(4) present-display(S, U, flight-plan).<BR>Moreover, the documentation of the action can be seen as a<BR>referential-phase act that can be linked to Acts 1 and 2:<BR>(5) inform(S, U, proc-action@epress-F-PLN key))<BR>in the context of the holding pattern procedure.<BR>Selecting the lateral revision page is performed<BR>relative to one of the fmes shown on the F-PLN page. This<BR>causes the MCDU to present what is essentially a dialogue box<BR>for changing the current flight plan at the selected fix. This<BR>action, for a fix F, can be viewed as a set of combined<BR>operational-phasea cts:<BR>(6) select(U. S, fix(F))<BR>where Act 6 is a domain act and Act 7 is a meta act. Together,<BR>they lead to domain and meta responses involving a set of<BR>action types As.:<BR>(8) offer-choice(S, U, actions-types-for(fix(F),<BR>action-types(W))<BR>(9) presentJisplay(S, U, lateral-revision(fix(F))<BR>Selecting the hold prompt causes the system to<BR>understand that the kind of navigation function to be<BR>undertaken relative to the fix will be a hold. Note that this does<BR>not cause the hold to happen but simply says that when the<BR>modified flight plan is activated there will be a hold associated<BR>with this fix. This action can be viewed as an operationalphase<BR>domain act:<BR>(10) select(U, S, actionJype(hold-at))<BR>that results in the following system acts:<BR>(11) S shows data for hold at fix F<BR>(12) S offers choice of actions(revise, do or cancel)<BR>The succeeding actions in the procedure give rise to further,<BR>similarly expressed, acts.<BR>Note that this prooedure as presented in the FCOM also<BR>contains some clear referential-phase me&acts such as the<BR>titling convention for the procedure’s name, the use of the label<BR>‘procedure,” and the icon for the F-PLN key. When modeled<BR>formally in the analyses reported below, the meta-referential<BR>acts typically require notation that marks parts of the<BR>presentation of the procedure. For example, the holding-pattern<BR>procedute involves generating tokens to denote the limits of<BR>the procedure:<BR>245<BR>mark(S, tO07, procedure):<BR>Marked with title and formatting<BR><t007><BR>command&J, S, offer-choice(S, U, fixes@)))<BR>(rest of procedure omitted)<BR></t007><BR>Similar tokens mark other me&referential elements such as<BR>the denotation of “F-PLN” as a key by surrounding it with a<BR>box.<BR>Here, then, is a complete AFP representation of an airline’s<BR>FCOM for a procedure for completing entry of preflight<BR>information on winds through the interface to the FMGS. The<BR>specific meaning of the procedure is not particularly interesting<BR>or relevant here. The phases and functions are noted in the lefthand<BR>columns (for example, RM means referential-meta and<BR>OD means operational-domain), interface fields are denoted by a<BR>leading question-mark (e.g., ?site), and variables are denoted by<BR>lower-case italic characters (e.g., w), and a variable’s class is<BR>denoted by an expression following a colon.<BR>RM<BR>RD OD<BR>OM<BR>OD<BR>RM<BR>RD OD<BR>OD<BR>OM<BR>OD<BR>mark(S, tO06, procedure):<BR>Marked with formatting<BR><t006><BR>if(not(check(U, tropo, ?standard))<BR>then(modify(U, tropo, ?site))<BR>command(U, S, display(S, U,<BR>page(history-wind)))<BR>inform(U, S, wind(w:flt-lvl(f),<BR>windspeed(m<BR>mark(S, tOO6ae, xplanation)<BR>Marked with indented formatting<BR>ct006a><BR>enter&J, wind(w: { cruise wind from afpam)),<BR>scratchqad)<BR>enter&J, wind(w), field-for(fltJvl(f))<BR>inform(S, U, causes(enter(Uw, ind(w),<BR>field-for(fltJvl(f))), effects( (entitle(S,<BR>page0listory_wind), wind))))<BR>command(U, S, use(wind(w), page(wind)))<BR></t006a><BR></t006><BR>This example is representative of the procedures we analand<BR>shows how acts in both functions and both phases ate<BR>interleaved to produce the documentation. Some prooedures<BR>were much longer.<BR>Use of AFP along these lines should aid authors of<BR>documentation in a number of ways. First, the predicate<BR>representation of acts makes possible formal reasoning about<BR>the effectiveness of the procedures. If suitable initial and final<BR>conditions were formulated, it should be possible to show that<BR>a documented procedure does (or does not) connect them.<BR>Second, the explicit representation of acts in terms of both<BR>functions and phases makes possible connecting them through<BR>heuristics or perhaps more formal rules that lead from content<BR>to expression.<BR>4. ANALYSIS<BR>Using the AFP view, a detailed analysis was conducted, of<BR>several FMGS procedures. In addition to determining the<BR>practicality of applying the AFP view, the analysis sought to<BR>determine typical acts, both domain and meta, and to provide a<BR>basis for a rough estimate of the number of acts, relations ard<BR>entities contained in the FMGS sections of the FCOM. The<BR>analysis found acts and relations that were either dependenot r<BR>independent of the domain, plus a large number of domain<BR>entities.<BR>In addition, an analysis was conducted of a sample of<BR>differences observed between FCOMs of various airlines. This<BR>analysis sought to characterize these differences in terms of the<BR>AFP view, particularly with respect to act (domain or meta)<BR>and phase (referential or operational) categories. The analysis<BR>found consistent patterns of kinds of changes, as well as<BR>patterns of act categories associated with each other in common<BR>for single differences.<BR>4.1. Analysis of extended section of FCOM<BR>An extended AFP analysis was conducted for a ten-page sample<BR>of the FMGS proceduresp resentedi n an airline’s FCOM for<BR>the Airbus A320 aircraft. The sections analyzed, which present<BR>FMGS procedures for flight-plan entry, were translated into<BR>predicate expressions representing acts, entities, and domain<BR>and abstract relations. As noted earlier, an act is something<BR>performed by an agent, either the user or the system, that has<BR>communicative value to the recipient of the act; acts are the<BR>“verbs” of the representation. Entities are the “nouns” of the<BR>representations. Relations am the “adjectives” of the<BR>representation; they qualify or describe entities or relate acts<BR>and entities to each other. A domain relation has meaning in<BR>terms of the domain of the aircraft; it’s a relation that has<BR>meaning that comes from the real world. An abstract relation<BR>has meaning outside the domain; it’s a relation like “and’ or<BR>“with” that could apply to any domain.<BR>We found that both referential- and operational-phase acts were<BR>expressed. Note that the acts, relations and entities were not<BR>defined with formal semantics; they were treated as defined by<BR>the commonsense meanings that arise out of their actual use in<BR>the FCOM. In the case of some complex representations of<BR>246<BR>domain entities that were not central to the process of encoding<BR>the acts, the analysis substituted bracketed comments in place<BR>of predicates.<BR>The analysis identified 20 acts in these sections of the airline’s<BR>FCOM. Some of these acts are relatively generic, such as<BR>command, do, inform, offer-choice, request, select and use.<BR>Others are more domain-specific, such as arm, check, clear,<BR>display, modify, and power-cycle. Some of the acts, such as<BR>entitle and mark, are clearly meta in the referential phase.<BR>Overall, the set of acts appears to be relatively stable, in that<BR>progressively fewer and fewer new acts were added as the<BR>analysis progressed to additional procedures, and most of this<BR>growth involved domain-specific acts. This suggests that, at<BR>the generic level, the interactions in the FCOM are capable of<BR>being abstracted into a finite set of dialogue acts.<BR>The analysis identified 53 domain entities. That is, these are<BR>unary predicates that represent static domain concepts, such as<BR>destination,jlightplan and procedure. As in the case of domaindependent<BR>relations, it appears that the set of domain entities<BR>will continue to grow as additional procedures are analyzed.<BR>Again, to a large extent, this simply reflects the fact that<BR>additional procedures relate to new kinds of system functions or<BR>flight phases, thus introducing new domain entities such as<BR>navaid or departure.<BR>The analysis identified ten relations that appear to be relatively<BR>domain-independent. That is, these are predicates of one or<BR>more arguments that classify or relate other predicates in terms<BR>that do not seem to be specifically tied to the FCOM domain.<BR>Examples of domain-independent relations include rmd and<BR>denotes. As was the case for the domain-independent acts, the<BR>rate of growth of the number of domain-independent relations<BR>fell as additional procedures were analyzed. This suggests that<BR>the set of generic, abstract relations necessary for the AFP<BR>view is likely to be stable.<BR>The analysis also identified 42 relations that appear to be<BR>domain dependent. That is, these are predicates of one or more<BR>arguments that classify or relate other predicates in terms of<BR>domain-related concepts. Examples of domain-dependent<BR>relations include authorized, mode and speed. In contrast to the<BR>domain-independent relations, it appears that the set of dornaindependent<BR>relations will continue to grow as additional<BR>procedures are analyzed. To a large extent, this simply reflects<BR>the fact that additional procedures relate to new kinds of system<BR>functions or flight phases.<BR>As the notions of entity and relation were defined syntactically,<BR>based on whether or not the predicate had arguments, the<BR>distinction between the two should be regarded with caution.<BR>This is not a serious issue for the purposes of the analysis,<BR>however, as both domain-dependent relations and domain<BR>entities produced basically identical results.<BR>Overall, this suggests that, at least for the FMS sections of an<BR>FCOM, there are likely to be roughly a dozen domainindependent<BR>acts, thirty domain-dependent acts, a dozen domainindependent<BR>relations, and several hundred domain-dependent<BR>relations and domain entities.<BR>4.2. Analysis of FCOM changes<BR>In addition to the extended analysis of part of an individual<BR>FCOM, as reported above, the project also examined 88<BR>consecutive differences between A340 FCOMs of two airlines<BR>and of Airbus Industrie in terms of the AFP view. The analysis<BR>looked as two sections involving standard operating procedures,<BR>totaling approximately 60 pages of material. Each observed<BR>difference was analyzed using the AFP view, and classified in<BR>terms of act (domain or meta) and phase (operational or<BR>referential). The results are summarized in Table 1. The choice<BR>of sections coded ensured that the analysis would<BR>elements across functions (descriptive or prescriptive).<BR>cover<BR>Table 1. Distribution of acts and phases<BR>The data reported in Table 1 suggest, not surprisingly, that<BR>most of the changes in FCOMs involve domain acts in the<BR>referential phase and meta acts in the operational phase. So, for<BR>example, the deletion of a statement such as<BR>The pilot’s view from the cockpit of the A340 during<BR>approach and landing is particularly good. The cockpit<BR>cut off angle is 20 degrees.<BR>would be a domain-referential act because it refers explicitly to<BR>domain knowledge, and a me&operational act because it does<BR>not involve a change in the way that crews are supposed to<BR>operate the aircraft. Less frequent are acts that are meta-acts in<BR>the referential phase. These would be acts such as changing the<BR>presentation style or organization of the FCOM. Even less<BR>frequent are acts that are domain acts in the operational phase.<BR>This seems logical, as changes to domain-operational acts<BR>would be changes to the A34O’s actual procedures. For<BR>example, Air France specifies exact wording to be us&l in<BR>requests and announces for different cockpit-instrument<BR>displays.<BR>In fact, the four classes of acts am not independent Just as in<BR>the analysis of the individual FMGS procedure discus& above<BR>where a single action can constitute more than one kind of a&<BR>so too can a single change affect more than one kind of act.<BR>Accordingly, the project analyzed the relationships among the<BR>classes of acts for the 88 FCOM changes previously classified.<BR>The results of this analysis are presented in Table 2.<BR>247<BR>Tally 1 Act/Phase Classes<BR>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . .1a9.. .........ii. . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D . . . R. . . .- . M. . . . .O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 . . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M . . . . R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. . . . R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. . . . O. . . . -. .M . . . . R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii ..................D..o.. .................................<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D . . . O. . . . -. .M . . . . O. . . . -. .D . . . R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. . . .O . . . .- . D. . . . R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. . . . R. . . .- . M. . . . .R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. . . . O. . . . -. . D. . . .R . . . -. .M . . . . R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<BR>1 ; MO<BR>Table 2. Distribution of act/phase dunes<BR>As could be expected from the data in Table 1, by far the most<BR>frequent pairing of act and phase classes was a domainreferential<BR>act and a meta-operational act. In fact, this pairing<BR>appears to occur more consistently than would be predicted<BR>simply by random association of these two frequent categories,<BR>indicating that the relationship is systematic. Aside from one<BR>instance of a change that was classified MO-DR-MR, there<BR>were no instances of act/phase class pairings along the other<BR>diagonal of Table 1, even though the relative frequency of acts<BR>in these classes might be expected to produce some pairs. In<BR>point of fact, the absence of these pairings is entirely logical: a<BR>substantive change in domain operations (DO) will have little<BR>necessary association with a change in the presentation style<BR>(MR) of the FCOM.<BR>A relatively frequent kind of FCOM difference was the single<BR>meta-act in the referential phase (MR). This classification<BR>corresponds to a change in the presentation or organization of<BR>the FCOM without an associated change in content.<BR>5. DISCUSSION<BR>The sections of FCOM we analyzed primarily presented<BR>procedures rather than description of systems. For parts of<BR>FCOMs that focus on descriptions, we expect that the mix of<BR>kinds of acts would differ. In particular, there number of<BR>operational-phasea cts should decline radically, and the number<BR>of domain-referential acts should increase correspondingly. This<BR>suggests that the trend seen in Table 1 should be even sharper,<BR>as the potential for changes in domain-operational acts would<BR>be further reduced.<BR>The analysis has other limitations. In particular, we<BR>concenti more on representation of the semantics of<BR>procedures and less on the forms of expression. This focus can<BR>be seen in our use of informal rather than predicate expressions<BR>in our descriptions of formatting in our examples.<BR>Domain and meta acts have different characteristics when used<BR>to produce the operational and referential functions of dialogue.<BR>Domain acts have a clear and systematic consistency across<BR>both functions. That is, an operational domain act will<BR>normally have a recognizable counterpart in the set of<BR>referential domain acts. In contrast, meta acts of operational<BR>dialogue and of referential dialogue are basically different. Meta<BR>acts in operationald ialogue can be characterizeds imply on the<BR>basis of the interface through which the crew and aimraft<BR>communicate. Meta acts in referential dialogue, however,<BR>depend on the tools used by authors and on the type of the<BR>reader they are addressing. Thus one of our principal aims is to<BR>analyze the relationships of information transmitted in the two<BR>phases to develop a method that maps domain and, especially,<BR>meta acts across the two functions.<BR>The coincidence of changes across function and phase classes,<BR>as reported in Table 2, is suggestive evidence for the existence<BR>of the link we claim exists between the functions. That is, the<BR>high incidence of FCOM revisions that involve DR-MO<BR>changes means that ways of referring to things are associated<BR>with instructions on how to do things. Also, the existence of<BR>pairs such as MO-MR and DO-DR suggests links between<BR>content and mode of expression. What these links are, in any<BR>particular case, may simply reflect the authors’ style practices<BR>but may also reflect more fundamental knowledge about<BR>systems and documentation that could be captured in heuristic<BR>form. To the extent that this is possible, whether for a specific<BR>stylebook or more generally, the links between the phases hold<BR>out the hope of aiding technical authors in building<BR>documentation.<BR>Our current work on the AFF’ model involves empirical<BR>validation. This includes “concretizing” the model for a useful<BR>section of the A34O’s FCOM, using the model to understand<BR>reasons why airlines revised the FCOM in particular ways, and<BR>obtaining feedback from pilots on whether the model expresses<BR>concepts that are of use to them.<BR>6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<BR>This work was supported by a research contract from<BR>Aerospatiale Aeronautique. Airbus Industrie. Air France and<BR>Lufthansa provided important assistance.<BR>7. REFERENCES<BR>1. Austin, I. (1962). How to do things with words.<BR>Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.<BR>2. Carbonell, J. G. (1982). Me&language utterances in<BR>purposive discourse, Technical report CMU-CS-82-185,<BR>Department of Computer Science, Carnegie-Mellon<BR>University.<BR>3. Novick, D. (1988). Control of mixed-initiative discourse<BR>through meta-locutionary acts: A computational model.<BR>Doctoral dissertation, available as Technical Report CIS-<BR>248<BR>TR-88-18, Department of Computer and Information<BR>Science, University of Oregon<BR>4. Novick, D., and Tazi, S. (1998). Plight crew operating<BR>manuals as dialogue: The act-function-phase model.<BR>Proceedings of HCLAero’98, Montreal, May, 1998, 179-<BR>184.<BR>5. Paris, C., and Hartley, A. (1996). Multilingual document<BR>production from support for translating to support for<BR>authoring. Information Technology Research Institute<BR>Technical Report No. ITRI-96- 17.<BR>6. Power, R., Scott, D., and Evans, R. 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