RE: XML/SGML

["Harrison, Shawn" Shawn_Harrison@xxxxxxxx]

Leslie Bialler wrote:


> Simplicity itself, Rene. I have done just that. All you have to do is
> write an XPL macro that changes XyWrite modes, and those US style
> commands we were discussing, to the specs laid out in your DTD. I.e.,
>
> ci \≪US1>\
\ . . .
> ci \≪MDIT≫\\ . . . ci\≪MDNM>\\


Not so fast, not so simple. Is ≪MDNM≫ *always* ? Or does it turn
off whatever mode command is currently in effect? This is one of the
things I struggle with XyWrite over: It treats the document as a stream
rather than as a hierarchy. The two approaches are completely different.
There are contexts where a stream-approach is sufficient, but there are
contexts where a hierarchical/structural approach is indispensable.
XyWrite, being stream-oriented, does not naturally handle the
hierarchical markup of SGML/XML very well. Eric Van Tassel's post last
week described some of the difficulties around this.

> >I would encourage any of you who are interested in this to visit their
> >website. The Adept editor is apparently pricey ($1600 for a
single-user
>
> Gulp! Pricey would be an understatement. I would much rather see
> somebody tweak XYwrite so that it can save as SGML.

Well, as I said, the full version is targeted at corporations, for whom
$1,600 is not much (I'm in no hurry to spend that much on an editing tool
for personal or freelance use myself!).

As far as tweaking XyWrite goes, I'm skeptical. The formatting paradigm
has inherent limitations. XyWrite's approach of turning "on" a style or
format until turned "off" or switched to something else is logically very
different from a system in which "styles" are handled by s that have
end s, nested in a hierarchical arrangement.

Shawn

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shawn_harrison@xxxxxxxx
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