🚀 go-pugleaf

References: <9208161631.AA04071@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>

Rick Matzen asked about a GML-to-SGML or BookMaster-to-SGML converter
and, in the referenced note, Eliot Kimber responded.  I need to clarify
a few things that Eliot said and give a few hints which may make the job
implied by Rick's note a bit easier.

First of all, the GML2SGML converter does exist but is a quickly done IBM
internal tool to generate testcases for the SGML Translator product that
Eliot mentioned.  It is NOT shipped as part of that product.  Eliot did
mention the correct way to see about getting support for this and other
applications of SGML; "contact your local IBM representative".  Feel
free to reference either or both of us when discussing this with them.

I would like to expand upon the point Eliot made about the need to have
a very careful definition of what it is you are translating to.
Without knowing what your needs are it is difficult to know if
BookMaster (or an SGML derivative of it) will meet your needs, especially when
the needs we are discussing are the needs you will encounter in the
future, not just the requirements you have today.  Anyway, this is a
topic which deserves much more consideration and thought.  It will also
probably entail more than a simple delimiter transformation, which is
what GML2SGML does.

When thinking about what your SGML application will look like, Eliot
gives a good overview of the problems of converting the GDOC DTD to better
represent BookMaster, BUT it really isn't necessary to do much of this
work.  The DTD (Ericbook) in the back of Practical SGML by Eric van
Herwijnen is a DTD that is in use by CERN in production today.  I
believe that Eric has had some success in getting this DTD used in other
high energy physics labs around the world (though I haven't seen
anything in it that limits its use to that field!).
That would be where I would start if I were you in terms of finding an
SGML expression for today's BookMaster product.  NOTICE that this is
certainly NOT an official IBM position but an observation I had while
reading Eliot's note.

Wayne L. Wohler
International Business Machines Corporation
Publishing Solutions
Boulder, Colorado

The opinions expressed are my own and do not represent the opinions of
IBM.