Process Asset Library (PAL) Help

Glossary Acronyms

Are you new to your job and need to know what's involved? Are you a manager who is trying to plan a new development effort? Or maybe you're preparing for CDR and need to know what should be covered. Then the PAL is your pal! The information to help you is at your fingertips. Heres how to find it.

Information Available via the "PAL Contents" Menu
(Menu is in the middle of the PAL main page, on the left.)

[NOTE: In the PAL, the term "process asset" is used as a general term that includes standards, procedures, checklists, templates, forms, policies, and process descriptions. All the assets listed in the PAL are documents. Training courses and tools can be found using the horizontal menu bar at the top of each page.]

1) All Approved
Click on this menu selection if you

a) Know what you need to do - say, create a WBS - and want to find a CCB-approved asset that describes how to do it.
b) Want to see all the process assets that have been approved by a particular Division or Branch.
c) Want a list of every approved asset of a particular type (e.g., checklist or procedure).
d) Need to find an approved asset when you know its PAL number or Document number

2) Index of Assets
Click on this menu selection if you want to

a) View the entire list of all process assets that have been planned for inclusion in the PAL, whether approved or not.
b) Sort the entire list of assets by asset number, title, owner branch/division, asset type, or status.
c) Find a particular asset by searching for a word (or character string) in its title.
d) Find a particular asset by its PAL number.

3) Asset Categories: "Product Development," "Project Management," "Organizational Support," "Acquisition"

Click on one of these four menu selections if you want to

a) View the definition for that category.
b) View or sort the list (Index page) of all assets in that process category.
c) Search the entire list of assets in that category for a particular asset.

When you mouse over one of the four selections, you'll see a sub-menu showing the high-level processes in that category, e.g. "Project Planning," "Design," or "Coding and Integration." Click on one of these sub-menu selections to

d) View the definition for that process.
e) View a context diagram that shows how that process relates to other processes in that category.
f) View a diagram that shows the approved assets for that process and how these assets relate to one another. (To view or download an asset in the diagram, just click on its title.)
g) View a "tailored" diagram for that process that shows the approved assets for use in a particular Branch or software domain, e.g., the Flight Software Branch. (Click on the asset title to view or download any asset in the diagram.)
h) View a diagram that shows how that process relates to other processes. (Click on any of the processes in the diagram to view or download the corresponding process asset.)
i) View a list of other assets for this process that are planned or in progress.

4) Assets by Role
Click on this menu selection if you

a) Want to view a list of roles in every role category, including role abbreviations and descriptions.

When you mouse over Assets by Role, you'll see a sub-menu showing the role categories. Click on one of these role categories to

b) Display a list of roles in the selected role category, and a menu for selecting these roles.

Select one of the roles from the menu to

c) Find out what assets would help you perform this role. (NOTE: The mapping of assets to roles is still in progress!)
d) Navigate to tools and training for this role.

5) Assets by Tailoring
Click on this menu selection if you

a) Want to view a list of assets that have been tailored for the Flight Software Domain.
(NOTE: This selection will be expanded in the future to cover other domains and individual projects.)

6) Assets by Type
When you mouse over this selection, you’ll see a sub-menu listing each asset type in the PAL, e.g., process, checklist, template, guideline. Click on one of these asset types if you

a) Know the type of asset you are looking for, but not its title or PAL #.
b) Want to view all assets of a particular type (e.g., all checklists, all templates).