🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi --

>twriter1@pencom.com writes:

> I am debating whether or not I should fork over almost $1000
> to learn about SGML (a reputable 2 or 3 day long course).  Is it
> worth it?  Is SGML the wave of the future as I have heard?
> What does it stand for?

Standard Generalized Markup Language, says my nice brochure
from Abortext, who sell SGML software (313-996-3566).
It's a way of marking up text to indicate the typography.  The
standard is public, so you're not locked into a particular
manufacturer; it's style-driven, you say that something's a
header, not that it's in 18-point italics (the book designer
does that separately), and it's also ASCII-based, so you can
email things easily and so on: SGML looks like this:

	<para0>Hello this would be a short paragraph.</para0>

SGML has some big players behind it; but it's big and
complicated.  Abortext have some nice-looking WYSIWYG editors
for it, taking some of the sting out of some of the problems
and to fight off things like Framemaker.  (I have nothing to do
with them; I haven't even seen the product run, unfortunately;
just read the brochures.  It looked good, for a place which
needs something like this.  Their brochures are very
explanatory if you don't know about SGML.)

Worth spending the money?  I've no idea.  I think I'd rather
buy software with it.  For a publishing house or department it
might be worth it.  Ring up Arbortext and say you're thinking
about using SGML and do they have something to tell you more
about it.  :-)

If your problem is writing the documents, rather than
formatting them, you might consider reading:

    LC Call Number: Z286.E43 U54 1987
             Author: University of Chicago. Press.
              Title: Chicago guide to preparing electronic manuscripts : for
                      authors and publishers.
   Publication Info: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1987.
  Phys. Description: xi, 143 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
        Series Name: Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing


This is a great little book covering a lot of the issues.  It
doesn't talk about SGML, but it makes you understand the
problems better.  It describes a method of tagging text which
looks a little bit like SGML.  In a way, SGML is Industrial
Duty Chicago-Tagging.  I've written technical documents in
Chicago tagging, which the layout department found really easy
to deal with.

Jokes for computer-literates: There is a school of thought
which says SGML is the X.400 of text formatting (in the way the
NROFF is the Fortran); though there are some people who think
it is the Ada.  Chicago-tagging is pseudo-code.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
J.