Providing enhanced functionality in an interactive electronic technical manual

An apparatus for providing a table of contents related to an information topic for an item in an interactive electronic technical manual system (IETM) configured to provide electronic and credentialed access to technical documentation for the item via an IETM viewer, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

• provide a table of contents window for the IETM for display via the IETM viewer executing on a user computing entity being used by a user signed into the IETM, wherein (a) the table of contents window comprises an information topic field, a first view pane, and a second view pane, and (b) the first view pane and the second view pane are displayed on non-overlapping portions of the table of contents window;
• receive the information topic for the item, wherein the user inputs the information topic for the item in the information topic field via the IETM viewer;
• and
• responsive to receiving the information topic:
• identify a plurality of topics found in the technical documentation for the item, in which each of the plurality of topics comprises metadata comprising an information code matching the information topic,
• identify a topic name for each of the plurality of topics,
• generate the table of contents using the topic name for each of the plurality of topics, and
• provide the table of contents for display via the first view pane of the table of contents window.

A non-transitory computer storage medium comprising instructions for providing a table of contents related to an information topic for an item in an interactive electronic technical manual system (IETM) configured to provide electronic and credentialed access to technical documentation for the item via an IETM viewer, the instructions being configured to cause one or more processors to at least perform operations configured to:

• provide a table of contents window for the IETM for display via the IETM viewer executing on a user computing entity being used by a user signed into the IETM, wherein (a) the table of contents window comprises an information topic field, a first view pane, and a second view pane, and (b) the first view pane and the second view pane are displayed on non-overlapping portions of the table of contents window;
• receive the information topic for the item, wherein the user inputs the information topic for the item in the information topic field via the IETM viewer;
• and
• responsive to receiving the information topic:
• identify a plurality of topics found in the technical documentation for the item, in which each of the plurality of topics comprises metadata comprising an information code matching the information topic,
• identify a topic name for each of the plurality of topics,
• generate the table of contents using the topic name for each of the plurality of topics, and
• provide the table of contents for display via the first view pane of the table of contents window.