🚀 go-pugleaf

I have in my hands the long-awaited book by "the father of SGML", Charles 
Goldfarb (IBM Almaden Research Center), edited and with a forward by
Yuri Rubinsky (SoftQuad Inc.).  Here's the reference:

	Goldfarb, Charles F.
	The SGML Handbook.
	(N.Y.:  Oxford University Press, 1990)
	ISBN 0-19-853737-9
	664pp. 

This book contains *all* of the ISO 8879 standard (with the 1988
amendments merged in) -- from the original machine-readable source --
rearranged, heavily annotated, cross-referenced and indexed, and with
much additional tutorial and reference material.  It seems to me that
this book will simply *replace* the ISO document for most of us who
work intensively with SGML.

I have no idea what the price will be, but I am sure that you can place
your orders now!

Here's the Table of Contents:

	Forward ...................................................ix
	Preface ...................................................xii
	How to Use This Book ......................................xvii

	Part One: Tutorials .......................................1
	Annex A: Introduction to Generalized Markup ...............5
	Annex B: Basic Concepts ...................................18
	Annex C: Additional Concepts ..............................66
	Tutorial D: Link in a Nutshell ............................92

	Part Two: A Structured Overview of SGML ...................109
	Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................121
	Chapter 2: Text Processing Application ....................123
	Chapter 3: SGML Application ...............................125
	Chapter 4: SGML Document ..................................132
	Chapter 5: Processing Model ...............................171
	Chapter 6: Storage Model ..................................178
	Chapter 7: Character Sets .................................192
	Chapter 8: Markup Declarations ............................204
	Chapter 9: Conformance ....................................214

	Part Three: ISO 8879 Annotated ............................217
	Clause 0: Introduction ....................................238
	Clause 1: Scope ...........................................246
	Clause 2: Field of Application ............................248
	Clause 3: References ......................................249
	Clause 4: Definitions .....................................251
	Clause 5: Notation ........................................290
	Clause 6: Entity Structure ................................293
	Clause 7: Element Structure ...............................302
	Clause 8: Processing Instruction ..........................339
	Clause 9: Common Constructs ...............................342
	Clause 10: Markup Declarations: General ...................370
	Clause 11: Markup Declarations: Document Type Definition ..402
	Clause 12: Markup Declarations: Link Process Definition ...433
	Clause 13: SGML Declaration ...............................450
	Clause 14: Reference and Core Concrete Syntaxes ...........476
	Clause 15: Conformance ....................................478

	Part Four: ISO 8879 Annexes ...............................495
	Annex D: Public Text ......................................498
	Annex E: Application Examples .............................530
	Annex F: Implementation Considerations ....................543
	Annex G: Conformance Classification and Certification .....551
	Annex H: Theoretical Basis for the SGML Content Model .....556
	Annex I: Nonconforming Variations .........................561

	Appendices ................................................565
	Appendix A: A Brief History of the Development of SGML ....567
	Appendix B: ISO/IEC JTC1/SC18/WG8/N1035:
	   Recommendation for a Possible Revision of ISO 8879 .....571
	Appendix C: About the ISO 8879 Text .......................594
	Appendix D: Sources of SGML Information ...................605

	Index .....................................................609


Needless to say, SGML itself contributed to the production of the book. 
Also, an enormous amount of thought and effort -- by many people -- went
into its typographic design and production.  This was *not* an easy book
to typeset, but *I* think the result is both pleasing and effective.

The last page, p.664, is a traditional "colophon" page describing the
production of the book.  As this will be of particular interest to readers
of this newsgroup, I will quote it in full (I'm sure Oxford won't mind):

	COLOPHON

	The SGML Handbook was created from two sets of files:  parts
	(including the original text of ISO 8879) keyed in using IBM GML
	and converted to SGML using the GML2SGML converter developed by
	Wayne Wohler of IBM; and new material, dictated by the author,
	transcribed and keyboarded using SoftQuad Author/Editor, an
	SGML-sensitive text editor.

	The merged files were parsed to ensure their conformance using
	the validating SGML parser originally programmed by Charles
	Goldfarb to test ISO 8879 during its development, and by the
	parser used in Author/Editor.

	Interim proofs of portions of the book were produced by IBM's
	Document Composition Facility.  Conversion for final formatting
	was performed by SoftQuad's SQML program; the book was typeset
	using SoftQuad Publishing Software v.2.9.  Mechanicals of the
	composed pages were imaged by Philippe Robitaille at Agfa Canada Inc.
	using the Agfa 9600PS Imagesetter and the Agfa CAPS corporate
	publishing system.

	The excerpts from ISO 8879 are set in Helvetica, the preferred
	typeface for ISO documents.  The remainder of the text, including
	the annotations, is set in Adobe's Palatino font (based on
	Hermann Zapf's original typeface).


Oh yes! One nice touch is that the book has two (!) ribbons for marking
places in the text. (I guess we'll need 'em!)


----------------------------------------------------------------
David Slocombe				(416) 963-8337
Vice-President, Research & Development  (800) 387-2777 (from U.S. only)
SoftQuad Inc.				uucp: {uunet,utzoo}!sq!dns
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2T9	Fax: (416) 963-9575