Publisher's Description

The credo of this book is simply, `SGML doesn't need to be complicated'. SGML has the potential for complexity at certain points. But much of the complexity comes from optional parts and can be avoided. SGML methodology and its primary benefits suffer no loss even if you skip many features, which speaks well for the quality of SGML's overall design. Many of the questions discussed involve those optional parts, and therefore can be avoided by judicious designers and authors.

The two key goals of the book are: (1) to answer questions that you may actually encounter as an SGML user, and to help you get `unstuck' and be as productive as possible in using the language, and (2) to show proactive ways you can simplify your use of SGML, and get its very substantial benefits with minimal complexity.

[ -- From the book, supplied by Martijn Boet of KAP. See the Kluwer WWW server.]

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SGML, the ISO standard on which HTML is based, is also used in a wide variety of applications ranging from poetry collections to aircraft manuals. It has proven very powerful and flexible as a way of representing the enormous variety of documents now delivered on computers as well as on paper and other media. However, SGML is a large standard, with many optional portions. Not all authors understand them, and yet some of the optional features aan affect their day-to-day work.

Drawing on many years of work with SGML systems, DTDs , and users, Steve DeRose has assembled The SGML FAQ Book, which addresses the questions SGML users of all kinds run into in their daily work (from the Web author to the high-tech documentation specialist). In a clear, accessible style this book provides the answers to those questions, as well as recommendations on how to use SGML most effectively.

The questions are organized by kinds of SGML users, ranging from authors using systems that (usually) hide most SGML details, to authors who deal directly with SGML, to DTD designers and others who get into all the gory details. If you use SGML in any form, and especially if you use HTML and want to be sure it's portable, you need this book.

[-- from the Publisher's description]

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DeRose, Steven J. The SGML FAQ Book: Understanding the Foundation of HTML and XML. Electronic Publishing Series, Number 7. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997. Extent: xxiv + 250 pages, appendices. ISBN: 0-7923-9943-9. See the bibliographic entry for other details.