🚀 go-pugleaf

Freek Wiedijk <freek@fwi.uva.nl> writes:
|
|   I'm reading the "Ericbook", and I like it.  I'm not sure I like
|   SGML though.

These statements are, in my opinion, related.  Eric van Herwijnen
doesn't do SGML full credit in this book, which I found to be more
along the lines of "look at all the trouble I had with SGML on some
equipment, particularly from IBM".  A lot of things have happened
since this book was published, and it's in my opinion dated.  In
addition, it contains a number of annoying errors and confusions.

The good introductory book to SGML for non-language-enthusiasts is
still to be written.  I don't think the market is huge, so it'd have
to be written by an idealist.  Goldfarb's book is not for users, but
it's the best we have on the language.  If you are really interested
in SGML, Goldfarb's <cit>The SGML Handbook</> <ISBN>0-19-853737-9</>
is for you.

|   My question: is there some "standard" DTD for "literature", i.e. a DTD
|   that is specifically intended for structuring novels (or collections of
|   short stories).  If so: can I ftp it [from] somewhere?

(I assume you meant "ftp from" since "ftp somewhere" implies that you
already have them, in which case _I'd_ be most interested in them!)

See note from Robin Cover below.  Other than this, I don't know of any.

|   Can I ftp any other "standard" DTD (like the CALS DTDs, the AAP DTD,
|   the British library starter document type, etc.) [from] somewhere?

Brenda O'Busek and Robin Cover gave us pertinent information on CALS
and TEI DTD's some time ago:  (Brackets ([]) and ellipses (...)
indicate edited material.  Headers are trimmed.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message-ID: <6803@oasys.dt.navy.mil>
Date: 4 Apr 91 11:23:07 GMT
Organization: David Taylor Research Center, Bethesda, MD
From: Brenda Obusek <obusek@dtoa3.dt.navy.mil>
Subject: Re: Looking for on-line DTD's and/or SGML document files

[Erik Naggum] writes:
>The CALS specifications (and DTDs) are available from some FTP server
>somewhere.  ...

They are available from the CALS bulletin board operated by NIST,
internet address:

CALSBBS.CME.NIST.GOV or 129.6.32.173

Brenda O'Busek
obusek@dtrc.dt.navy.mil
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message-ID: <451@txsil.lonestar.org>
Date: 4 Apr 91 18:22:17 GMT
Organization: Summer Inst. of Linguistics, Dallas TX
From: Robin Cover <robin@txsil.lonestar.org>
Subject: Online SGML DTDs

On the availability of DTDs online:

(1) A number of DTDs developed by the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)
are available on the BITNET listserver at uicvm.bitnet.  For a full
title list, send mail or interactive message to listserv@uicvm.bitnet
(or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu) with the first line INDEX TEI-L.  (You may
have to first subscribe to the TEI-L discussion list with the command
SUB TEI-L YOUR_NAME).  Order the DTDs with the command GET FILENAME
FILETYPE.

(2) Some CALS-related DTDs are available on Internet durer.cme.nist.gov
(129.6.32.4), along with a lot of other CALS standards documents,
hypertext browsing software for reading the MIL standards, etc.

...

Robin Cover
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope this helps.

(BTW, I keep an archive of all comp.text.sgml messages, complete from
April 1991.  I'm in the process of writing an "Answers to Frequently
Asked Questions", and so far this is the only question which could
rate as "frequently asked".  If you have other suggestions, please
mail me.)

</Erik>
--
Erik Naggum             Professional Programmer            +47-2-836-863
Naggum Software             Electronic Text             <ERIK@NAGGUM.NO>
0118 OSLO, NORWAY       Computer Communications        <enag@ifi.uio.no>