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Multidoc Pro® Product Brief

SGML browser on-the fly

Background

In order to avoid the costly and time-consuming conversion of SGML documents into a proprietary format, a new generation of Multidoc has been developed. The new Multidoc Pro application can directly view and print unprocessed SGML documents.

Introduction

Multidoc Pro is based on the Synex Viewport SGML/HyTime browser engine. The SGML/HyTime engine within Multidoc Pro has built-in support for a subset of HyTime (allowing cross-document links to any element or textual span) and for a subset of the efficient TEI extended pointer concept. In addition, there is support for linking into and out of graphic hot spots using markups based on architectural forms. The SGML/HyTime engine even supports attachment of user defined data—such as annotations, links, and bookmarks to any textual span or graphic hot spot, using HyTime and SGML addressing. Multidoc Pro parses and displays any SGML fragment on-the-fly without a precompilation step.

Once a document is displayed, Multidoc Pro processes user events, dispatching them to:


Scrollbar, navigator, and link navigation


Text and hot spot selection


Navigator expand/collapse events


Iconized subview, annotation, notation data, and zoom window launching

Multidoc Pro -- SGML Browser Concept

The SGML/HyTime browser engine within Multidoc Pro handles six types of data objects:


Document Type Definitions

SGML Documents

Style Sheets

Navigators

Webs (SGML/HyTime documents)

Media files (notation data)

A Document Type Definition-- or DTD -- is normally an integral part of an SGML document. However, the SGML/HyTime browser engine within Multidoc Pro is also capable of preloading DTDs, reusing them from one document to another in order to improve performance.

The SGML document is the core on which the SGML/HyTime browser engine is built. Since an SGML document in itself is only structured data, an SGML browser needs additional information in order to display and navigate the document.

A Style Sheet is a set of formatting rules, a mapping from SGML elements to formatting specifications. The style sheets not only support content formatting such as font specification, position, spacing, and justification, but also content hiding, autonumbering, engineering math (such as fractions, radicals and indices), leading, rulers, change bars and CALS tables. In fact, any element structure can be formatted as a table—with or without the table grid -- and any element can be hidden behind an icon, revealed when the user clicks on it.
The style sheet is independent of the document: Several documents can share a single style sheet, and one document can use several style sheets. Style sheets are stored as SGML documents.

A Navigator allows any document element to be extracted and assembled into an active table of contents view. The extracted elements maintain their original order and hierarchy in the SGML document; if a navigational element has navigational child elements, these will still remain child elements among the extracted elements.
Like style sheets, navigator definitions are stored as SGML documents.

A Web is a container of anchors and links. An anchor is either attached to a textual span of a document or to a region of a graphic (a hot spot). The anchor can contain an annotation and serve as a bookmark. A link connects two anchors. When a web is mounted, anchors are automatically attached to open documents and displayed as clickable icons. When the web is dismounted, all related icons disappear. Several webs can be mounted simultaneously.
The concept of storing anchors and links in webs instead of as markups in the main document opens a number of interesting possibilities. For instance, it allows you to:


Attach information to a document without updating the document itself


Superimpose alternative hypertext structures onto a single document set


Distribute only a set of comments to a document (or a document set) given that the same documents are available to the recipient(s) of the comments


Receive comments from several reviewers and display their comments simultaneously (each reviewer can use different icons for their comments)


The last two items open a vista of new possibilities in documentation review processing. Since the web uses HyTime addressing concepts, the underlying documents can even be edited without the anchor locations necessarily being affected adversely. Like style sheets and navigators, webs are stored as SGML documents.

Media files (notation data) are normally not in SGML format, but as externally stored data such as graphics, audio, or video. The SGML/HyTime browser engine within Multidoc Pro has built-in support for in-line display of notation data—for instance, it supports a large number of raster formats (such as BMP, GIF, JPG, TIFF, CCITT g4) and EPS, WMF and CGM vector graphics. Multidoc Pro also supports in-line display of video (supported by local drivers e.g. AVI, QTW and MPEG).

The SGML/HyTime browser engine within Multidoc Pro can also launch external applications to view the data.

The Data Processing Model

All SGML objects are fed to the SGML/HyTime browser engine within Multidoc Pro through the SGML parser. Style sheets, navigators, and webs are immediately converted into their internal representations. SGML documents are combined with style sheets into document views by the formatter. The formatter also uses navigators to create navigational views.
The browser combines the document and navigator views with the anchors of all mounted webs into page layouts. All references to notation data are resolved and brought in without parsing. The browser either handles the data itself, launches external applications, or passes it on to the main application.
The browser is controlled by input from the end user.


This figure summarizes Multidoc Pro - SGML browser's data processing:



Figure 1. System Design of the Multidoc Pro - Browser

Multiple documents and multiple document views

Multidoc Pro can display multiple documents in the same main window and automatically arrange the windows vertically or horizontally so no overlapping will occur.
Multidoc Pro can also display one document through different views e.g. in the example below, where the document at the top is displayed according to a style that shows all the elements containing a "lang" attribute value, which of is "eng". The same document is displayed at the bottom according to a style that shows only the element which has the attribute value "esp".



Figure 2. A document displayed through two different views

Preferences

Multidoc Pro includes a general preferences panel that consists of tab widgets such as appearance, images, document sets and helpers. All the settings in this panel affect how Multidoc Pro will look when it starts. A user can return to this panel at any time and further personalize the Multidoc Pro application. Some settings included are:


The start-up document, stylesheet, navigator and web that will appear when starting Multidoc Pro


Show main toolbar, search toolbar and browse toolbar


Graphics displayed inline or as icons


Autoshrink graphics


Display hot spots


Setup of external viewers

Search Tool

The syntax for string searches depends on the type of search to perform. Multidoc Pro includes a tab widget from where the user can choose the different search types.



Figure 3. Tab Widget for Full Text Search


The check box button for "Search in Document Set" is disabled if the user has opened one SGML-file. If the user has opened a document set and clicked in this check box, the search will be done through all files within the document set.



Figure 4. Tab Widget for Context Search


The context search makes it possible to search within the document structure. When the "Make Navigator" check box is clicked, the browser will generate a navigator "on the fly" from where the user can navigate to all hits in the document or document set. This can also be used for creating navigators "on-the-fly" according to element names, e.g. for graphics, tables, notes, warnings, etc.

Style Sheet Editor

Multidoc Pro comes with an integrated style sheet editor that is used to create styles for any DTD. The style editor includes tab widgets to help the user manipulate different types of formatting instructions.


Figure 5. The style editor


The style editor is a floating tool window and can be visible even when navigating a document. The style sheets cover formatting instructions such as font settings, paragraph settings, auto-numbering, text generation before and after an element, miscellaneous settings such as background color, background bitmaps, tables including CALS table model etc.. A qualified style expression language is provided in order to make it possible to override the base style settings.

Document Sets

A document set is used to structure and group an electronic publication into different logical levels by means of content, systems, users, tasks and so on. To simplify the idea behind document sets, you can think of traditional binders where you have put different information under different tabs. If the information is very large you have to put it into several binders that also have been divided into logical sections of specific information. The document sets actually act as binders with tables of contents or indexes to all referenced information.

Document sets consist of an SGML/HyTime document, where all documents included into the document set are defined. All the documents that are included in the document set can be searched as unified information. The documents within the document set can be structured according to different DTDs.

Document Set Navigator

In order to make a document set, the user has to select the New Document Set command in the File menu.



Figure 6. The document set navigator with context menu


The user will build up the document set instance by selecting the folders, and by clicking at the right mouse button he/she can edit titles, add instances, add levels and sublevels. The document set will act as a reference list containing titles and references to other SGML instances.
When the user clicks at the " Add Instance " command, a dialogue will appear from where the user can browse and select the actual SGML instance.

Document Set Instance

When a user clicks at the Save Document Set command, an ordinary HyTime/SGML file is automatically generated. The HyTime/SGML file consists of HyTime links to all the documents that are included in the document set.

Summary of key features

Parses and displays any SGML fragments on-the-fly

Renders tables (also CALS table model) and equations

Prints document and document sets, or portions of document and document sets using any style sheet with headers and footers

Scrollbars, navigators, and link navigation

Text and hot spot selection

Navigator expand/collapse feature with dynamic table of contents, and navigator displaying document set and SGML tree

Show tag option to display markup

Preferences panels

Icon based subview

User specific annotations and bookmarks

Graphics in-line and zoom window launching

Pixel graphic formats such as JPG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, CCITT g4 etc.

Vector graphic formats such as WMF, CGM and EPS

In-line video (formats supported by local drivers e.g. AVI, QTW and MPEG)

Supports external viewer launching

HTML and URL support

Support of HyTime linking

Search widgets for full text and context search

Style editor tool for creating your own style sheets for any DTD

Navigator editor and web editor

Document sets (used for electronic publishing)

Multiple documents and multiple document views

Supported Platforms

Windows 95


Windows NT


Windows 3.1


Unix will be available on request



Figure 7. In-Line video example

About Citec Information Technology

The Information Technology (IT) group consists of 35 professionals who have developed both a high level of competence and a broad range of experience in customer adapted technical information systems. Good teamwork with our customers, and with our worldwide team of experts, gives us the opportunity to develop powerful software products and information management solutions that will meet the future needs.