Appendix A: Introduction to SGML
Appendix A: Introduction to SGML This appendix gives a very brief introduction to SGML. This should be enough to carry a reader through the first part of this book. If you are not already familiar with SGML, you will benefit from some additional reading. The bibliography lists several books on SGML; van Herwijnen 1994 is a popular and accessible introduction. What is SGML, really? SGML is short for Standard Generalized Markup Language, and it is defined by ISO Standard 8879 (1986). It provides a flexible and portable way of representing documents on computers, where you can choose what kinds of components occur in each particular type of document, and then clearly label those parts as they occur. The foundation of SGML, and to my thinking the primary reason it has gained such wide acceptance, is very simple: It lets you describe document structures directly, rather than describing something temporary like formatting, that depends on the structure. Simply put, SGML lets you tell the truth about your documents. This is reflected in five key characteristics that form the basis of its wide acceptance: • Descriptive markup: An SGML document consists of objects of various classes (chapters, titles, references, repair procedures, graphic objects, poems, etc.), not sequences of formatting instructions. These objects are called elements, and each one has a generic element type. SGML marks Ehe boundaries of elements using start- and end- tags . For example, a quotation could be stored as: I<QUOTATION>Full speed ahead</QUOTATION> I 19 6 DeRose By labeling elements themselves rather than saying what to do with them, SGML avoids locking information into one program or e,)en one purpose.
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