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possibility to easily create derived products (VFR guide, airport guide, etc.)
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technological leap forward (XML is likely to become the "AIS language" in future)
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reduced risk and cost as compared to isolated development of a proprietary elec-tronic AIP format
Q: Is the eAIP free?
A: Yes, the eAIP Specification is free and anybody may use it. Also provided are some free supporting tools, just to let you "play around" with the eAIP Specification and see what can be done with a truly electronic AIP.
Q: My AIP is in PDF: is it an electronic AIP?
A: Short answer: it is an electronic AIP but it is not compliant to the EUROCONTROL eAIP Specification and it does not fulfil all user expectations with regard to an electronic AIP. If interested, please read the Electronic Aeronautical Information Publications: User Requirements and Usability Guidelines [usability_study.pdf] document.
Longer answer: Yes, one could say that an AIP in PDF format is an electronic AIP, since PDF is indeed an electronic document format. However, PDF (Portable Document Format) is only designed for paper document presentation on screen and does not have the flexibility and all the capabilities of the EUROCONTROL eAIP Specification, which is based on XML. In fact, we could also consider that the AIPs written in HTML, PostScript, in a database or even a scanned image of the paper AIP pages are electronic AIPs as well. These document formats are all meant for one single purpose (HTML for on-screen display by human beings, PostScript for printer, and so on). This is not the case of the eAIP.
See also the following questions: What is the eAIP? What is XML?
Q: Is eAIP a new software?
A: No. The EUROCONTROL eAIP is a specification, not any kind of software. To state it differently, the eAIP is a data format. EUROCONTROL does provide some tools together with the eAIP in order for adventurous and enthusiast users (and especially: computer-literate people) to be able to check out the eAIP and see how it can be used. But these tools are not part of the eAIP specification (only the general concepts are). EUROCONTROL expects the industry to provide more user-friendly software that are compliant with the eAIP specification.
Q: How does the eAIP fit with the ICAO Annex 15? Is it SARPS-compliant?
A: The eAIP is 100% compliant with the ICAO Annex 15. It closely follows the SARPS standard, including ICAO Document 8126 (AIP Template), with some differences in the formatting (such as the route tables) and some optional additions in content to take advantage of the electronic format (such as with the use of hyperlinks or interactivity as far as the on-screen version is concerned).
Q: What will happen to the paper AIP?
A: Paper will still be used for many years... but we now have an additional option. The EUROCONTROL eAIP does not ignore paper: eAIP editors and users are still able to produce a paper version of the AIP. With a big difference: the same electronic source, the eAIP, will be used to produce both paper and screen-based (e.g. HTML) formats. And that same electronic source (in XML) will be directly used by users who need to present the AIP data differently (on board, for instance).
Q: What about Amendments, Supplements, Circulars (AICs) and NOTAMs?
A: The EUROCONTROL eAIP project proposes a complete solution, encompassing all the above mentioned elements of the IAIP (Integrated Aeronautical Information Pack-age). So we could have named it "eIAIP", but eAIP is already difficult enough to pro-nounce, isn't it?
Q: How are charts/graphics dealt with in the eAIP?
A: Charts can be provided with an eAIP in various format. One particularly interesting format is SVG, as it is an XML representation of vectorial graphics.
See also the following questions: What is SVG?
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