🚀 go-pugleaf

Jonathan,

   I'm sure this question has been asked & answered many times on this
   newsgroup, but since I don't usually read this newsgroup, I'm going
   to ask it anyway...

It's heading for the FAQ...  :-)  (Actually, the proper name for the
FAQ should be OTAQ -- Once or Twice Asked Questions...)

   I'm looking for a good book to learn SGML.  I want to learn enough
   to be able to read/write SGML syntax.  I'm not looking for any
   particular use (application?) of SGML, I just want to learn the
   syntax.

The SGML Handbook by Charles F. Goldfarb is the major reference, but I
don't think it will do you much good, being much wider in scope than
you seem to need right now.  It also takes a lot of effort to read,
although it's both well-written and *much* simpler to read than the
standard (which it includes).  If you look for the syntax, only, you
will have a few problems finding the broader view among all the many
details.  I would like to add that this books is the best thing that
happened to SGML since its inception (IMHO), and I do think you will
find it worth while buying.  I know I did.  I've now completed my
second reading of it, and my estimate of it has only increased.

You should also note that "the syntax of SGML" is usually what is
referred to technically as the "reference concrete syntax".  An SGML
application could come with almost any concrete syntax it likes, as
long as it follows the rules about role delimiters and existence of
the keywords.

I think, however, that what you need is a reference concrete syntax
summary of SGML, and I've been working on it for a while.  Progress
has been a little slow, but I hope I'll be able to finish it next
week, having been spurred by your request.

--
[Erik Naggum]					     <enag@ifi.uio.no>
Naggum Software, Oslo, Norway			   <erik@naggum.uu.no>