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[ Introduction | The Tutorials | The Sessions | The Exhibits | Evening Activities | The Bookstore | Yuri's Garage | Tutorial Descriptions | The Conference | User Groups | Registration Info | Hotel Info | Registration Form ]

"From Theory to New Practices.....

"SGML/XML Europe is the GCA's annual comprehensive event on the applications, trends, and technologies that support the Standard Generalized Markup Language (ISO 8879) and the Extensible Markup Language.

SGML is a vendor-independent language for describing the content of documents.

XML is a streamlined dialect of SGML, designed specifically for use on the Web.

If you are concerned about the creation, management, and delivery of structured information, SGML/XML Europe offers the only European venue to hear, see, and learn about the important standards and technologies available to corporate and commercial publishers.

This year's conference, SGML/XML Europe '98, celebrates the addition of the XML family of standards. It's time to move 'From theory to new practices'.

SGML/XML Europe '98 will have sessions for managers, users, and technical experts. Additionally, there will be a technology track for indepth presentations on new research, fledgling products, and exploratory technologies.

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For two days preceding the conference, there will be a wide range of one- and two-day tutorials. These tutorials are an excellent way to get up to speed on topics that will be presented throughout the conference or to delve more deeply into areas of special interest.

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The conference proper runs from Tuesday, 19 May through Thursday, 21 May. Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon, all delegates meet for the opening and closing keynote plenaries. There is also a brief plenary on Wednesday morning.

This year's opening keynote plenary features 2 large vendors of XML tools and 2 large users of SGML and XML technology. Each will talk about their vision of the future­what technology we will have or need and how our businesses will change because of that technology.

Throughout the remainder of the conference there are at least five concurrent sessions from which delegates may choose. These sessions have been designed to provide content pertinent to managers, users, and technical experts. This year there are tracks devoted to topics of special interest such as the current efforts to harmonize SGML and STEP (the ISO standard for the exchange of product data); electronic commerce; data modeling and the new specification efforts in this area; HyTime, linking and hyperlinking; and the specification of formatting styles. These tracks, some of them a day long, give delegates an opportunity to delve deeply into each subject area. Each of these tracks as well as the management track progress from the theory behind a subject through to its practical implementation. The Conference also addresses multi-lingual issues, the technical aspects of the production life cycle, and feature a number of case studies.

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An exhibit floor featuring over 40 vendor stands will complement the conference. Delegates can see demonstrations of the tools and technology beginning Monday evening when the exhibits open from 17.00 to 19.00 and on Tuesday and Wednesday from 12.30 to 19.00.

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Delegates are invited to an Opening Reception on Monday evening preceding the conference. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, there will be a reception in the exhibit hall. Optionally, interested parties are welcome to continue discussions started in afternoon sessions past the day's official adjournment time.

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The GCA bookstore will be open at scheduled times throughout the conference, offering books on SGML, XML, and related subjects at significant discounts.

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How accessible is the content you have on your web site? Sign up for an hour-long personal consultation with an accessibility mechanic and find out. You and your company will leave SGML Europe '98 with concrete, customized solutions that open up your site to the millions of individuals without the bandwidth or physical capabilities for conventional web surfing.

During the conference's exhibition hours, The Yuri Rubinsky Insight Foundation will be offering this service for a minimum donation of $150 (US) per hour. Working alongside one of their trained accessibility mechanics, you will:

· See firsthand how navigable and understandable your web site is when browsed with braille-rendering, speech-synthesizing, and command-line interfaces.

· Learn the techniques that open up your web site to a broader base of individuals, yet still make use of cutting-edge web-design technologies.

· Explore strategies for authoring that maximize the reusability and flexibility of your information.

Our '98 Yuri's Garage will also feature a series of 30-minute "train-the-trainers" sessions conducted throughout the day. Everyone who signs up for the Garage is invited.

Because of the overwhelming response to our last Garage sessions, we are asking that you sign up no later than one week before the conference. To encourage early signup, we're promoting the following incentives:

Signup and send donation by 1 May 1998, donation = $100.00 (US)

Signup and send donation by 11 May 1998, donation = $125.00 (US)

Signup and donation after 15 May 1998, donation = $150.00 (US)

Please contact YRIF Director, Mike Paciello at paciello@yuri.org to sign up now!

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OMUG - OmniMark User Group Meeting

OMUG - We're pleased to confirm that OMUG Europe 98 will be held in the Gustave Eiffel room atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on the afternoon of Saturday, May 16 1998.

Registrations are streaming in now, so use our online registration system soon to avoid any disappointment: http://www.omnimark.com/omug98

The annual meeting, which immediately precedes the Graphics Communications Association SGML/XML Europe '98 conference, is a FREE EVENT open to OmniMark customers and other interested parties. Not only can OmniMark users benefit from an informative meeting, but they
can also do so against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, seen from a premier attraction.

Attendance at OMUG meetings has increased every year. The reason is simple: the meeting is an ideal opportunity for attendees to expand their knowledge of OmniMark so they can plan new projects, and learn about new opportunities the technology offers.

Our program is still being developed, though you can certainly look forward to presentations covering the following:

- OmniMark 4.0 and the "Banff" Suite
- OmniMark_ as a powerful programming language for building enterprise web sites
- case studies of several recent projects showing how OmniMark and Microdocument ArchitectureTM (MDATM) can be used to build enterprise websites
- seminars

Seating is limited for this popular event, so register early. For details, see our online registration form at http://www.omnimark.com/omug98

If you have any questions or need more information, contact the OMUG

If you would like an invitation, please email: omug98@europe.omnimark.com

ISO 12083 Meeting

Sunday, May 17th - 09:00 to 15:00

During this meeting, the survey of current users of ISO 12083 will be reviewed. Based on survey input, updates to the standard will be drafted. An XML version of ISO 12083 will also be presented for discussion. All interested parties are invited to attend.

GCA Members Only Event

Introducing XML-data Schemas - Wednesday, 20 May, 17:30

XML-Data Schemas are a powerful new alternative to SGML/XML Document Type Definitions. Schemas provide a rich and powerful mechanism to express not only SGML/XML designs, but database schemas as well. The XML-Data specification is a proposal currently under review by W3C. In this GCA members-only event, Dianne Kennedy, staff consultant for GCA and chairperson of the SAE J2008 (automotive industry) DTD working group will provide a practical introduction to XML-Data Schemas. Members will learn what a Schema is, how it can be built, and how it can help us integrate data from multiple, disparate sources to build three-teir Web applications.

OASIS (formerly SGML Open)

OASIS, the consortium for providers and users of SGML products and services, is a co-sponsor of SGML/XML Europe '98. Members of the organization present a panel on Thursday morning discussing the business analysis of the use of SGML and XML. Technical and marketing committee meetings take place on Friday, 22 May, following the conference.

TIMUG - Texcel Information Manager User Group Meeting

Texcel International is pleased to announce their first annual European Texcel Information Manager User group Meeting will be held on the evening of Tuesday 19th May. This event is open to Texcel Information Manager customers and a dinner will follow at a venue yet to be announced.

If you would like to register or receive more information please contact Angela Jones, Texcel (UK) Ltd +44 1628 422055, email ange@texcel.no. We look forward to seeing you in Paris.

International SGML Users' Group

The ISUG will hold its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 19 May from 17.30 to 18.30. Admission is open to all members and other interested parties.

AIS User Group Meeting

AIS Software will hold its first Balise User Forum meeting on Monday, 18 May at the Hotel Sofitel in Paris, in conjunction with GCA's SGML/XML Europe '98 Conference. The meeting will feature case studies of several Balise user applications and a presentation of the new features included in Balise 4. This also represents an excellent opportunity to discover Dual Prism, AIS Software's new Web content management and online publishing solution.

The all-day meeting is free-of-charge and open to all, but early registration is encouraged, as places are limited. For further information and registration, please contact Ms. Tamsin Collier, AIS Software (Tel: +33 (0)1 40 64 43 41, Fax: +33 (0)1 40 64 43 10, E-mail: info@balise.com), or visit www.balise.com.

Adobe FrameMaker+SGML Application Developers Workshop

Adobe will host the second annual Application Developers Workshop in conjunction with SGML/XML Europe '98. The workshop will take place on Thursday, 21 May from 16:00 to 19:00. There will be two tracks:

Introductory: This track is designed for application developers and technical users who are new to FrameMaker+SGML.

Advanced: This track is designed for application developers and technical users who have experience with FrameMaker+SGML.

There is no charge for this workshop, but participants are requested to register in advance. Please visit the Adobe web site at http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/ framemaker/prodinfosgml.html, and click on "Events" to obtain further details and registration information.

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The registration fees include all conference materials, luncheons, receptions and exhibition. The registration fees do not include hotel accommodations. All accommodation reservations are the responsibility of the delegates.

Click here for Registration Form for SGML/XML Europe '98.

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All hotel accommodations are the responsibility of the SGML/XML Europe '98 delegate. A number of rooms have been reserved at the negotiated conference rate of 950 FF single or double. All rates include local tax. Breakfast is not included.

Please make hotel reservations as soon as possible. May in Paris is an extremely busy time. The Hotel expects to be completely sold out.

The cut-off for accommodation reservations is 31 March 1998 (originally 16 March 1998). After that date the room rate increases to 1.045 FF.

Conference Headquarter Hotel:
Hotel Sofitel
Forum Rive Gauche
17 Boulevard Saint-Jacques
75014 Paris, France
www.sofitel.mgn.fr

For reservations call:

Telephone: +33 1 40 78 79 55 , Attn: Ann Marie Delalande or, Fax: +33 1 40 78 78 04
or, E-mail: sofitel.poste2@wanadoo.fr

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100 Daingerfield Road
Alexandria, VA 22314-2888

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Saturday, 16 May 1998

17:00 - 19:00 Tutorial and conference registration

Sunday, 17 May 1998

07.30 Tutorial registration

09.00 - 17.00 Concurrent tutorial sessions

(SM1) Practical formatting using DSSSL and XSL
(day one of two-day course)
G. Ken Holman, Chief Technology Officer, Crane Softwrights, Canada

This 2-day course introduces the concepts and formatting basics of the Document Style Semantics and Specification Language (DSSSL) and Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) using the publicly available James' Awesome DSSSL Engine (JADE) and XSLJ programs. The course combines the use of lectures and hands-on exercises to convey the material. Attendees are invited to bring a Windows'95- or Windows' NT-equipped personal computer for the practical exercises, and can choose to do these exercises in either DSSSL or XSL. The objectives of the course are to understand the role of these standards and the utility of these tools, to successfully write DSSSL and/or XSL programs, and to efficiently navigate the available documentation and resources. [Limited enrollment]

(S2) XML and related technologies for network publishing
Tim Bray, Principal, Textuality Inc, Canada

This tutorial, which assumes relatively little understanding of XML or SGML, introduces the XML standard and explores some related technologies. Topics include: the motivation for the development of XML, its official and unofficial design goals; brief but thorough introduction to the syntax of XML; tour of XML implementations and commercial products; tour of other language proposals based on XML; introduction to RDF, the general-purpose Web metadata framework based on XML; introduction to XLink and XPointers, the hyperlink facility that accompanies XML; issues in programming interfaces to XML documents, and presentation of the options (SAX and the DOM) currently under development for this purpose; general issues in stylesheeting XML; introduction to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), the current de facto standard for stylesheeting on the Web; introduction to Extensible Style Sheets (XSL), a proposal currently under consideration for advanced XML stylesheeting; and a report from the front lines: the current state of play in the areas of standards politics, marketplace trends, and implementation experience.

(S3) Characters, glyphs, and encodings
Dave Peterson, Principal, SGMLWorks!, USA

This course is a one-day excursion into the field, from which attendees will come away with an understanding of the proper terminology and distinctions between characters, character representations, character repertories, glyphs, and fonts. Attendees will learn what to expect from-or design into-new SGML and XML systems. They will be able to select character-based applications that meet their needs and specify their requirements correctly when defining new software requirements. Further, they will be able to design character-based applications that will function in large-character-set arenas.

(S4) Designing DTDs in the real world
Jeanne El Andaloussi, Director of Operations and Quality Assurance, AIS S.A., France

Just knowing how to read DTDs doesn't mean you've got the right skill set for designing one! In this tutorial we will conduct a miniature DTD design and specification project, including project definition, needs analysis, and SGML markup model design. The tutorial emphasizes the philosophy, processes, steps, and conceptual tools that will result in the specification of a robust DTD design-one that will meet the project's needs and will practically implement itself. The exercise will be built on a recent real-life DTD development effort. The DTD design decisions involved in moving a full-SGML DTD to XML compliance will also be discussed.

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(S5) Introduction to SGML Architectures
Jeff Bradburn, Director of Training, ISOGEN & W. Eliot Kimber, Senior Consulting SGML Engineer, ISOGEN and member of W3C XML Working Group, USA

This tutorial provides an informative introduction to the SGML architecture mechanism, how it is used with documents, and how processors can take advantage of architectures. Practical examples of SGML Architectures will be presented, including demonstrations of authoring systems. Delegates should have a general knowledge of SGML and XML.

(S6) A styles workshop
Sharon Adler, Senior Product Manager, Publishing Tools & Anders Berglund, Principal Software Engineer, Inso Corporation and Paul Grosso, Vice President, Research, ArborText Inc., USA

This workshop will be a day working with and talking about style specification generally, with some requirements gathering for XSL. It will include discussions of purely declarative specification vs. programmatic specification vs. combinations of both. Discussions will include the use and role of scripting languages as well as general programming interfaces. Concepts from DSSSL and XSL will be discussed, as well as pure formatting issues like font, point size, page layout, etc.

Monday, 18 May 1998

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07.30 Tutorial registration

09.00 - 17.00 Concurrent tutorial sessions

(SM1) Practical formatting using DSSSL and XSL
(day two of two-day course)

(M2) XML and XLL for the SGML-knowledgeable
Eve Maler, Principal Applications Specialist, ArborText Inc., & Steve DeRose, Chief Scientist, Inso Corporation, USA

This tutorial will give experienced SGMLers an excellent grounding in the Extensible Markup Language (XML) and the Extensible Linking Language (XLL). We will cover the differences between XML and SGML and the reasons behind the differences, as well as the changes made in the SGML standard to accommodate Web concerns. We will also provide a great deal of technical detail (and late-breaking news!) on XLL.

(M3) Groves explained
Dave Peterson, Principal, SGMLWorks!, USA

You've heard of groves: They're what a parser creates (at least in theory). You've gotten capsule 1/2 hour explanations of groves; they don't really explain themunless you already understand. Now you can understand. The goal of this course will be to enable each attendee to understand the concept of SGML "grove", and in particular to understand all of the important aspects of "the SGML grove". The emphasis will be on "just what is a grove, anyhow?", rather than on how groves are applied in HyTime and DSSSL. There will be just enough description of applications to cement the understanding of the concept. (Generally, the attendee should have a reasonable working knowledge of SGML syntax and be able to read a DTD as well as raw markup in an SGML document instance.)

(M4) Topic Maps
Michel Biezunski, Principal, HighText, France & Jeff Bradburn, Director of Training, ISOGEN, USA

This tutorial provides an overview of Topic Maps, their applicability, practical uses, and design approaches. Topics include: the Topic Map Architecture; user control of semantic information; Topic Map design; and building Topic Maps. Examples of Topic Map applications will be presented. Attendees must have an solid understanding of SGML and/or general knowledge of HyTime.

(M5) Les enjeux de SGML et XML - des éléments pour comprendre la Conférence SGML/XML Europe '98 (Goals of SGML and XML-necessary elements to understand the SGML/XML Europe '98 conference)

Panel:
Valérie Reiner, Directeur, AIS Formation, France
Paul Giraudon, Chef de Projet, AIS, France
Pierre Attar, Consultant Indépendant, Cabinet Tirème, France
Jean-Joseph Thibault, Directeur Informatique et Technique, Compo Juliot GT, France

Ce séminaire en Français propose une introduction aux bases de SGML, XML et les autres normes et standards associés. Au travers d'interventions d'experts sur des sujets liés à la mise en place des ces technologies, ce éminaire permettra ensuite de mieux situer les débats qui animeront la conférence SGML/XML Europe '98. Le séminaire se terminera par un débat de synthèse, entre les experts animateurs du séminaire et les participants. L'angle adopté sera peu technique et se focalisera sur le concepts essentiels puis sur des questions de mise en uvre. Ce séminaire concerne toute personne désireuse de comprendre quelles réponses SGML/XML apportent aux questions de gestion et publication de l'information. Il constitue l'introduction idéale à la Conférence.

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(M6) XLL quickstart
W. Eliot Kimber, Senior Consulting SGML Engineer, ISOGEN and member of W3C XML Working Group, USA

Discusses XML Link Language (XLL), an application of XML designed to provide high-function hyperlinking for Web-based XML documents. This course introduces the basic concepts of in-line (contextual) and stand-off (independent) links and the XML pointer addressing mechanism. It describes the syntax for XML links through tutorial examples; discusses typical implementation strategies and ways that XML links can be applied to typical technical documentation and information management challenges; and also discusses the relationship between XML Link and the HyTime architecture.

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Tuesday, 19 May 1998

07.30 Conference registration

09.00 - 12.30 Opening keynote plenary 'From theory'
Chair: Pamela Gennusa, Managing Director, Database Publishing Systems Ltd, England

Opening remarks
Norman Scharpf, President, Graphic Communications Association, USA
Pamela Gennusa
Charles F Goldfarb, Principal, Information Management Consulting, USA

XML: An architecture for moving data across the web
Adam Bosworth, General Manager, Microsoft Corporation, USA

Learn how XML for structured data, together with HTML for presentation and interactivity, will enable the next generation of web applications. Hear how Microsoft supports the XML standard today, and understand it's vision for XML in the future.

Architecture for a standards-based publishing system
George Cacioppo, Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Products Division, Adobe Systems Incorporated, USA

Businesses need processes and tools to manage the various phases of the corporate publishing cycle: content creation; document assembly and formatting; review and comment; and final distribution. Utilizing standards such as SGML, XML, PDF, and PostScript as an integral part of the publishing architecture can result in lower development and maintenance costs, better scalability, and maximum flexibility in using information. Mr. Cacioppo will discuss Adobe's vision for how these and other standards can be employed to solve business problems.

Free at last: portable data, portable code
Jon Bosak, Online Information Technology Architect, Sun Microsystems and Chairman, W3C XML Working Group, USA

Lost in the excitement over the technical vistas opened by XML is its revolutionary potential to free users from the tyranny of proprietary data formats. XML can do for data what Java has done for code: make it platform- and vendor-independent. And in conjunction with XSL, XML can replace the Babel of incompatible binary word processing formats with open, human-readable standards that may radically change both electronic and print publishing.

Enabling a dynamic public affairs and communications strategy: harnessing the benefits of SGML
Nick Arnold, Head, Production and Development Units, Directorate for Public Affairs and Communications, OECD, France

Organizations such as the OECD are increasingly in the forefront of helping national governments build support for complex and sometimes difficult policies. In this keynote, the speaker will address how the implementation of its communications strategy can be facilitated by SGML.

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12.30 - 14.30 Lunch; exhibits
14.30 - 17.30 Concurrent sessions

Track: STEP/SGML harminazation
Chair: Daniel Rivers-Moore, Director of New Technologies, RivCom, England

Panel: STEP/SGML harmonization - what is it and why is it important?
Panel: Daniel Rivers-Moore
Nigel Shaw, Managing Director, EuroSTEP, Wales
Peter Bergström, Senior Consultant, SGML, EuroSTEP, Sweden
W. Eliot Kimber, Senior Consulting SGML Engineer, Highland Consulting, USA

STEP and its family are ISO standards for the exchange of product model data, defining 'product' in an extremely generic manner. STEP can be seen as a set of standards for the exchange of information about anything we wish to describe using a computer system, starting from the viewpoint of the thing described. SGML and its family, on the other hand, are a set of standards for structured information about anything we wish to describe using a computer system, starting from the viewpoint of the description.

A significant initiative is currently under way to enable these important families of standards to work together harmoniously. A Preliminary Work Item under the title 'SGML and Industrial Data' has been launched by the ISO Subcommittee responsible for STEP standards. In this session, the panel will describe the current status of these initiatives, and will address the questions:

-WHAT is STEP/SGML harmonization?
-WHO are the players involved (both in setting the standards and in using them)?
-WHY should the standards be harmonized?
-HOW it is proposed that this be done?
-WHEN it is likely to happen?
-WHO CARES? (with reasons why the answer is that you should...)

Panel: Current reality and future perspective

How STEP/SGML and XML/EDI initiativeswill impact future development of IETMs
Betty Harvey, President, Electronic Commerce Connection, Inc., USA

The STEP/SGML initiative will enable information objects used within technical manuals to be created early in the manufacturing process and then used within paper manuals, Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETMs), Computer Based Training, etc. This paper will describe how the ISO Preliminary Work Item on SGML and Industrial Data, and recent initiatives towards using XML for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) could ultimately impact and improve IETM authoring and creation.

Integrating product model & the documentation: a practical approach
Pekka Siltanen, Research Scientist, & Kaisa Kostiainen, Research Scientist, VTT Information Technology, Finland

This paper will describe a document-management system based on linking a STEP-compliant product structure and SGML documents to manage technical documentation for complex machinery. The approach adopted here is to integrate the capabilities of existing PDM (product data management) and SGML tools to control product and document versions and information reuse. This allows users to edit, translate and create document assemblies in an integrated environment.

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Track: Data modeling and schemas
Chair: Benoit de La Selle, Vice President European Operations, OmniMark Technologies Europe, France

SGML & schemas: from SGML DTDs to XML-DATA
François Chahuneau, General Manager, AIS, France

This presentation explains why XML offers an opportunity to extend the notion of a document schema. This notion was implicit in SGML DTDs which also played the role of markup grammars, now longer necessary with XML.

W3C's Resource Description Framework Schemas - DTDs for the 21st Century
David Singer, Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM Internet Division, USA, & Naohiko Uramoto, Research Staff Member, IBM Tokyo Research Lab, Japan

RDF's schemas describe metadata in the same way as DTDs describe documents. This presentation describes why RDF needs schemas and what's in the W3C's RDF Version 1 Schema specification.

The Web Document API
Lauren Wood, Technical Project Manager, SoftQuad Inc.,Canada

The W3C Working Group on the Document Object Model is defining a platform- and language-neutral interface that will allow scripts and applications to navigate and manipulate the content, structure and style of Web documents (HTML, XML, CSS). This talk will present the current DOM specification and future work.

Using the DOM as an XML/HTML repository API
Jonathan Robie, Research Consultant, Texcel Research, Inc., USA

Originally conceived as a standardized programming interface for dynamic documents in web browsers, the W3C Document Object Model (DOM) is a useful programming interface standard for any system that needs fine-grained management of a document's structure. This presentation discusses the use of the DOM to access and manipulate documents in an XML/HTML database repository, and presents the insights gleaned from a prototype implementation of a Java-based DOM programming interface for a repository.

Track: Style is not a 4-letter word
Chair: Sharon Adler, Senior Product Manager, Publishing Tools, Inso Corporation, USA

Panel:
Anders Berglund, Principal Software Engineer, Inso Corporation, USA
Geoff Nolan, Senior Systems Engineer, Turn-Key Systems, Australia
Paul Grosso, Vice President, Research, ArborText Inc., USA
Chris Lilley, W3C, USA
Nicolas Paris, Lead Engineer, AIS Software, France
Jean Paoli, Product Unit Manager, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corporation, USA

This multi-part session includes presentations and panel discussions on the many issues, requirements, ideas, conflicts, and confusions you encounter when talking about and working with style specifications that are associated with your SGML and XML documents. Initially, there will be a roadmap providing an overview of approaches already defined and those to be defined. This will include all types of style specification techniques such as DSSSL, XSL, FOSI, and aspects of other proprietary style sheets. Another part will have more detail on specific topics such as "the Roles of Programming and Scripting Languages in Style Specifications", "Using a Style Specification Language to do SGML/XML Transformations", Requirements on Your Style Specification Language" and other topics. The concluding part will be a spirited panel discussion.

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Track: Management issues
Chair: Nick Arnold, Head, Production and Development Units, Directorate for Public Affairs and Communications, OECD, France

Panel: Intellectual property rights and legal issues:

Intellectual property in a fragmented world
Eamonn Neylon, Publishing Consultant, RCP Consultants, Ltd., England

An analysis of the risks of fragmenting documents both from legal and practical perspectives is presented, together with strategies to protect against intellectual property infringement.

Legal issues of electronic commerce: activity policies, intelligent agents & ethical transactions
Chris W. Higgins, Attorney at Law, Lane Powell Spears Lubersky LLP, USA

As governments continue to consider how to best enforce their interests in electronic transactions, private entities are dealing with the conceptual, operational and intellectual property issues raised by electronic commerce. HyTime's Activity Policy Facilities represent an international, content-neutral, owner-based system for self-regulating intelligent transactions, but first, a basic set of legal requirements must be considered.

Panel: Case studies

Regulations worldwide online at the Siemens unit "Public Communications Networks"
Franz Hack, Business Manager & Jürgen Krüger, Business Consultant, Siemens Business Services and Christian Maertin, Industrial Engineer Manager, Siemens, AG, Germany

Since the beginning of 1997, the 40,000 employees of the Siemens business unit "Public Communications Networks" have been finding the major part of the so called "official announcements" (regulations, working instructions, circular letters) in their intranet. This presentation provides an overview of the solution that resulted in more than just savings in cost and time due to the provision of on-line documentation instead of the production and shipment of printed documents.

Introducing the SGML technology at the publishing houses of Wolters Kluwer Hungary
Henk Ursinus, IT Manager, Wolters Kluwer, Hungary

Part of Wolters Kluwer Hungary and part of the Wolters Kluwer International Group comprise a Hungarian Scientific Publishing House and a Textbook Publishing House, a book wholesaler and a service company giving IT support. Since 1 December 1997, the company has been using an SGML document management system to manage and prepare the production of a literature encyclopedia and three large bilingual dictionaries, creating both electronic and paper products. This presentation provides a snapshot of the progress to date.

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Track: Multi-lingual applications
Chair: Per-Åke Ling, Ericsson Utvecklings AB, Germany

Automating language translation requires document management, workflow, and application tools
Jean-Charles d'Harcourt, European Sales Director, Xyvision France, France

Effective language translation requires more than just document management. Workflow and application-level software are needed to perform a variety of functions such as: establishing links between source and target language versions; permitting the exclusion of some components in specific target languages; permitting target languages to contain components not found in the source language information; etc. Jean-Charles d'Harcourt provides an introduction to the issues in multi-lingual applications.

The addition of a multilingual component to an existing document processing system
Tom Catteau, Software Engineer, SGML Technologies Group, Belgium

This paper discusses the addition of a multilingual component to an already existing document processing system, where trade-offs must be made between innovation in terms of new functionality for multilingual processing and the stability of the system.

Analysing SGML documents linguistically
Paul Bussé, Software Division Manager, Lant N.V., Belgium

The paper describes the advantages and problems when handling SGML documents in a linguistic environment. Why can SGML documents provide better results compared to other file formats? The problems and the advantages of using SGML documents in conjunction with linguistic tools are examined.

Building an SGML-based publishing environment
Eoin Campbell, Technical Consultant & Barbara Schmidt, Information Systems Officer, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living & Working Conditions, Ireland

Two case studies of multi-lingual projects to create integrated electronic publishing environments for publications involving delivery on paper and in online form are reviewed.

SGML-based review management of bilingual documents
Gary Palmer, Director, Research & Development, ActiveSystems Inc., Canada

A case study on the implementation of an SGML-based document and workflow management system for the semi-annual review and publishing of bi-lingual construction project specifications.

Track: New technology
Chair: Mark Walter, Editor, Consultant, Seybold Publications, USA

The New Technology track is dedicated to vendors and independent developers describing and demonstrating new developments and technology. The track participants will be published in the conference programme.

17.30 - 19.00 Exhibits; reception
17.30 - 18.30 International SGML Users' Group Annual General Meeting

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Wednesday, 20 May 1998

09.00 - 10.00 Plenary - 'to new practices'
Chair: Pamela Gennusa, Managing Director, Database Publishing Systems Ltd, England

XML, everywhere
Jean Paoli, Product Unit Manager, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Corporation, USA

XML is being quickly added to all applications enabling data interchange over the Web, from databases, to application development and productivity tools, to web-enabled enterprise middleware. Come hear how XML is impacting all these fields, understand Microsoft's plans for adding XML support across it's product lines, and learn how XML will become the format of choice for describing, exchanging and delivering structured data between both client and server-based applications.

XML - Practice finally makes perfect!
Mike Paciello, Executive Director, Yuri Rubinsky Insight Foundation, USA

Prior to the birth of XML, markup languages provided a means, albeit meticulous, for creating and building accessible information. This presentation will discuss the requirements for designing accessible information and how XML will simplify the design and production process.

10.00 - 10.30 Break
10.30 - 12.30 Concurrent Sessions

Track: STEP/SGML harmonization (cont'd)

Panel: STEP/SGML harmonization - Practical steps towards a vision for the future
Chair: Daniel Rivers-Moore, Director of New Technologies, RivCom, England

This session will look in greater depth than was possible in yesterday's panel session at the practical steps that are being taken towards realizing the vision of a world in which STEP and SGML work seamlessly together. It will include three presentations and a Question and Answer session.

XML for data exchange between STEP databases
Henry Thompson, Reader, Dept. of Artificial Intelligence, Language Technology, Human Communication Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

One of the action items for the STEP/SGML harmonization effort is to make a feasibility study and business case for the use of XML as a data exchange format between STEP-compliant product databases. This presentation will explain the practical and theoretical issues involved in this study, and will report on the current status of the project.

Context-sensitive documentation in ndustrial process plants
Barrie Reynolds, Application Consultant, Honeywell Control Systems Ltd, England

The documentation required by a technician in an industrial processing plant is dependent not only on the physical configuration of the plant, but also on the current state of the process, including real-time data on temperatures, pressures, ratesof flow etc. Combining real-time data, structured text, and operator choices to determine what information is displayed to the technician and how, will enable processing plants to operate more efficiently, reliably and safely. The speaker describes a vision of a dynamic interaction between processing plant, human operator and documentation that is achievable in principle with today's technology.

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STEP/SGML harmonization - data architecture or product documentation?
Nigel Shaw, Managing Director, EuroSTEP, Wales

The need for STEP/SGML harmonization in the area of product documentation is clear and compelling. Less obvious but more far-reaching is the possible impact of a much deeper level of relationship between STEP and SGML. In recognition of this, the ISO Preliminary Work Item on SGML and Industrial Data has been placed under the responsibility of the Working Group responsible for STEP Data Architecture. This presentation will explore the reasons for this and give a perspective on the practical consequences of a deep level of STEP/SGML harmonization for users, developers and vendors of STEP and SGML tools.

Question and answer session

Yesterday's and today's speakers will join in a panel to answer questions and discuss issues arising from this track.

Track: Data modeling and schemas (cont'd)
Chair: Lauren Wood, Technical Project Manager, SoftQuad Inc., Canada

Beyond DTDs: Constraining data content
Jose Carlos Ramalho, Teacher, & Pedro Henriques, Senior Teacher, University of Minho, Portugal

This paper will discuss the steps to content constraining and all the problems that appear in this context: the need for typed information, the constraining language itself and putting all this to work with the existent SGML model.

Enabling everyday applications to work with structured information by using the Associative Model
David Jones, Senior Technology Consultant, Infrastructures for Information Inc., Canada

With a new class of development tools and new development techniques, it is now possible to enable existing applications (such as MSWord, Adobe Acrobat and MS Visual Basic) to work with SGML/XML.

Strategies for implementing SGML/XML as a glue layer in engineering processes
Bernhard Weichel, Section Manager, Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany

The scope of engineering processes tends to strengthen the argument for requiring a single source approach throughout the entire process. SGML/XML can be used as an integration platform by providing a unique data exchange and archive format. This presentation shows a multiple layer architecture for document and data management and the essential role of SGML/XML. It will also explain possible strategies for implementing the data model in SGML/XML. It covers topics such as semantic addressing of objects, subclassing, and conceptual vs. logical vs. physical data schemas. It also includes a discussion of desired enhancements of the standards for better support of data modeling.

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Track: Style is not a 4-letter word (cont'd)
Chair: Sharon Adler, Inso Corporation, USA

See this Track on Tuesday afternoon for a description of this morning's session.

Track: Management issues - theory (cont'd)
Chair: Nick Arnold, Head, Production and Development Units, Directorate for Public Affairs and Communications, OECD, France

Information management - who gets the benefit?
Eddie Moore, Sales Manager, Chrystal Software, England

The objective for this presentation is to highlight how document component management contributes to reducing costs, improving quality and timeliness, and supporting new capability to maximise competitive advantage. The content includes a review of industry-specific business goals, document management techniques, and the differentiating factors for the use of document component management in meeting those goals.

High-level architectures for document-object publishing systems
Gregory Vaughan, Senior Technical Consultant, Database Publishing Systems Ltd, England

A natural application of both XML and SGML is in systems that combine re-usable document objects into electronic and printed publications. However, procuring such systems and estimating their cost is difficult without a moderate understanding of their architecture. This session investigates the high-level components of a typical document-object publishing system (e.g., document object management, workflow management, electronic delivery, etc.) and discusses a typical selection of relevant products, services, and customizations. The resulting architecture can be used as the basis for an initial cost estimate, a detailed system design, or for RFIs and RFPs.

Implementing the proper standard
Chris Ziener, SGML Programmer/Analyst and National Accounts Manager, Information Architects, Inc., USA

The emergence of XML has increased the awareness of the benefits of a structured information system. The issue now: 'Which is the proper standard for my company to implement?'

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Track: Future Directions in SGML and XML
Chair: Joan Smith, Chairman, SGML Technologies Group, England

Panel: Charles F Goldfarb,Principal, Information Management Consulting, USA
Dave Peterson, Principal, SGMLWorks!, USA
Lynne Price, President, Text Structure Consulting, Inc., USA
Jon Bosak, Online Information Technology Architect,
Sun Microsystems and Chairman, W3C XML Working Group, USA

Note: This session is organized by the International SGML Users' Group (ISUG) and the International Standards Organization Document Description Languages Working Group (ISO/IEC JTC1/WG4). It is open to all conference delegates.

This session will bring you up to date on both ISO standards and W3C recommendations. Panelists will present the most recent changes in ISO 8879, the International Standard for SGML-and the directions in which the revision of the standard is heading. Panel members will also present the current state of work on XML, XLL, and XSL.

The presentations will be followed by time for questions and answers.

Track: New technology (cont'd)
Chair: Guy Fermon, Director, Documation Technoforum, France

12.30 - 14.30 Lunch; exhibits
14.30 - 17.30 Concurrent sessions

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Track: Linking & hyperlinking
Chair: Peter Bergström, Senior Consultant, SGML, EuroSTEP, Sweden

Why your document management system should care about hyperlinks|
Paula Angerstein, Senior Analyst, Texcel Research Inc., USA

Hyperlinks aren't just for viewing anymore; emerging uses of hyperlinks such as locating distributed objects, specifying dependencies, and associating metadata with data call for more robust tools for creating and managing hyperlinks. SGML document management systems, and the authoring and distribution systems they integrate with, will fill the role with new kinds of link services.

Hypertext linking with HTML, SGML and XML - technologies and techniques
Neil Bradley, Senior Consultant, Thomson Technology Consulting Group, England

A number of hypertext linking technologies are incorporated into HTML, SGML and XML, and adjunct standards such as HyTime and XML Link. The facilities offered are described and compared, and practical techniques for their use are discussed.

Implementing a link editor
Eduardo Gutentag, Staff Engineer, Sun Microsystems Inc. (SunSoft), USA

The implementation of a link editor as a customized layer on top of the authoring tool was recognized very early by SunSoft as having the highest priority. The link editor allows writers to point and click in order to create internal and external links without having to know the first thing about ID/IDREFs or about FPIs. Many writers and implementors will recognize the need for this tool in their environment. This talk is relevant not only for people in current SGML environments, it may also be of interest for people who have to start planning authoring environments with the very rich link possibilities provided by XLL.

Using metadata in XML & SGML documents to automate document production & maintenance
Joe Gelb, Vice President of Electronic Document Projects, LiveLink Systems, Israel

XML, SGML and even HTML contain implicit and explicit meta information that can be used to improve document presentation, and dramatically reduce document maintenance costs. This presentation describes how metadata is used by technical documentation groups to automate and maintain hyperlinks for technical document libraries.

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Track: Content management
Chair: Dianne Kennedy, Principal, SGML Resource Center, USA

SGML databases & content management - friends or enemies?
Christophe Lecluse, General Manager, AIS Software, France

Relationships, differences and complementarity between SGML databases and the new breed of Content Management" systems are explored in this presentation.

Development of SGML/XML middleware component
Kunio Ohno, Chief Scientist, INS Engineering Corporation and Morten Beyer, System Engineer, Approach Incorporated, Japan

This presentation proposes a new SGML/XML document management concept and architecture of three groups of APIs based on the middleware components of three-tier client/server systems. This architecture will contribute to the building of effective intranet systems and to the integration of both document management and database management systems for large organizations.

Achieving individualized, timely web delivery
Eric Skinner, Product Marketing Manager, Omnimark Technologies, Canada

The web provides the means for delivering timely, individualized information. To take advantage of it, you need to manage your content so that it can be delivered quickly and adapted instantly to the needs of individuals. Here's what your organization needs to be thinking about.

Visual metaphors for navigating smart content
Earl Rennison, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Perspecta Inc., USA

SGML and XML documents, aptly characterized as "smart content," are self-describing, since they contain a wealth of attributes or meta-content. Because smart content can be analyzed or "understood" by software applications, new visual paradigms for accessing and navigating documents have emerged that are transforming the user's experience of knowledge discovery.

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Track: Graphics
Chair: Dieter Weidenbrück, Chief Executive Officer, IsoDraw, Germany

Integrated illustrations - introducing the graphic DTD
Jan Christian Herlitz, Technical Director, Excosoft AB, Sweden

Graphics management is a headache in most SGML environments. Proprietary image formats and graphics standards such as CCITT-G4, CGM and IGES do not completely satisfy user needs. Integration, archiving and delivery are significantly improved when graphical objects are stored as SGML markup.

Preparing intelligent graphics for interactive catalogs
Sigrid Weidenbrück, International Sales, ITEDO Software GmbH, Germany

This presentation will explain the possible variations of CGM and discuss the limitations. It will further point out the pitfalls for companies which need to define a standard format for their illustration archives by comparing version 1 and version 4 CGM files. The benefits of creating intelligent graphics with an object-oriented approach using the CGM version 4 format will be reviewed. Additionally, the ways to display CGM 4 files including Hot Spots in viewers and the integration of graphics viewers into different environments will be addressed (SGML browsers, World Wide Web, etc.).

Pragmatic SGML-solutions in a telecommunications organization
Frank Peetoom, Interim Manager, GEA Interim Management BV & Cees van der Does, Manager, Training, Documentation and User Interface Design, Philips Business Communication Systems, The Netherlands

A pragmatic SGML solution is presented which is implemented by Philips Business Communications for the production of technical documentation. The focus is on how versioning of translations and integration of several graphic formats is implemented.

Application solution for the graphic arts industry
Jennifer Yang, Project Director, Digital Graffiti, Canada

Production problems were encountered by a graphic arts company when attempting to manage and track digital and non-digital items. The SGML importable and exportable solution will be described.

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Track: Management issues - practice (cont'd)
Chair: Nick Carr, General Manager, Allette Systems, Australia

The WISDOM of working on the web
Jurry Swart, Principal Programmer, Shell Expro, Aberdeen, Scotland & Colin Mackenzie, Manager, Projects Business Unit, Database Publishing Systems Ltd, England

This presentation will describe the WISDOM project undertaken by Shell U.K. Exploration and Production to provide a web-based, collaborative, technical documentation delivery environment. The presentation will show how to combine controlled technical documentation with end-user experience, and live performance tracking to enable business improvement.

Software agents using XML for telecom service modeling: a practical experience
Bart Bauwens, Research Engineer & Christophe Vermeulen, Senior Research Engineer, Alcatel Corporate Research Center, Belgium

This paper presents a usage of the XML language for telecom service modeling in the context of a multi-agent system. It further advocates the need for standardized interaction mechanisms as well as information and service description languages as a prerequisite for successful deployment of inter-operable agents on the Internet and other telecommunication networks.

Plato, SGML and revolution
Rafal Ksiezyk, SGML Consultant, Polish Scientific Publishers, Poland

The experiences of the largest encyclopedic publisher in Poland and eastern Europe in a revolutionary implementation of an SGML-based editorial system is presented. The idea of the so-called 'Mother Encyclopedia' that stores reference data for all current and future publications is described. This approach uses microdocument techniques, but goes further in application to reference publishing.

SGML-based office document exchange & management
Shy-Ming Ju, Chairman of the Department of Information Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science & Technology, Taiwan

A major thrust in the government of the Republic of China (ROC) is to computerize the exchange and management of office documents. The Research Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC) promulgates a specification describing how office document exchange and management should be done. Shy-Ming Ju describes the development of the specification and a conforming SGML-based facility that will be used by an estimated 7,000 government offices.

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Track: SGML/XML in healthcare information exchange standards
Chair: Liora Alschuler, consultant, The Word Electric, USA

Panel:
Rachael Sokolowski, CoChair, HL7 SGML/XML SIG, USA
Angelo Rossi Mori, Head of the Unit of Medical Informatics, Institute for Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council, Co-chair of CEN/TC251/WG2, Italy
Dr. Joachim Dudeck, Professor, Institut fuer Medizinische Informatik,
Justus-Liebig-Universitaet Giessen, Germany

This panel presents recent work using SGML and XML as the basis for medical information exchange standards. Alschuler and Sokolowski will present the Kona Architecture, a project of the Health Level 7 SGML/XML SIG, which uses architectural forms to express the relationship between exchange DTDs of varying levels of granularity and specificity and between DTDs modeled for different clinical specialties including encounter notes and DICOM-conformant image reporting. Rossi Mori will report on use of SGML to meet stringent requirements for flexibility, non-ambiguity, and coherence in healthcare terminologies within a standards context. He uses a systematic compositional approach to medical phrases, based on predefined semantic structures (ontologies). Dudeck will report on the application of SGML/XML to transactional messaging including the resolution of ambiguities in current messaging standards.

Track: Microdocuments
Chair: G. Ken Holman, Chief Technology Officer, Crane Softwrights Ltd, Canada

Designing Microdocument Architecturetm; Systems
Mark Baker, Manager, Corporate Communications, Omnimark Technologies, Canada

Microdocument Architecture enables dynamic content management by combining the power of SGML/XML and relational databases to manage large and complex information sets. MDA system design involves breaking large SGML document structures down into more manageable information components that support both well-managed authoring and dynamic delivery.

Microdocs, birthrights, and pottage messes
Dave Peterson, Principal, SGMLWorks!, USA

"Don't sell your birthright for a mess of pottage." Storing information in an SGML microdocument management system with a proprietary format *could* cause you to lose the vendor-independence that you expected to gain from SGML.

Track: New technology (cont'd)
Chair: Tibor Tscheke, Managing Director, STEP Stürtz Electronic Publishing GmbH, Germany

17.30 - 19.00 Exhibits; reception
17.30 - 18.30 GCA InfoTech Member Event

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Thursday, 21 May 1998

09.00 - 13.00 Concurrent Sessions

Track: HyTime at work
Chair: Carla Corkern, President, Isogen, USA

Hytime is solving real problems for real people today. This track explores some of those solutions including XLL, Graphic/Text addressing, Topic Maps and IETMs.

SGML Extended Facilities and HyTime Two
Charles F. Goldfarb, Principal, Information Management Consulting, USA

Charles Goldfarb provides an overview of the SGML extended facilities which have been published as an annex to the HyTime standard and explains why these facilities are generally applicable to SGML and XML. He then presents a tour of the 1997 revision of HyTime.

Imposing intelligence on graphics: using HyTime hyperlinks with non-SGML data
W. Eliot Kimber, Senior Consulting SGML Engineer, Highland Consulting, USA & Dieter Weidenbrück, Chief Executive Officer, The IsoDraw Company, Germany

This presentation discusses the use of HyTime hyperlinks and generalized location addressing to create hyperlinks from objects in CGM vector graphics to other graphics objects and also to data within SGML documents, demonstrating the power of HyTime independent links to link together any data for which grove views can be provided.

An implementation of XLL as a subset of HyTime
Masatomo Goto, Researcher, Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd, Japan

This paper describes an approach to the implementation of the Extensible Linking Language (XLL) as a subset of HyTime. It will also present an application design using the XLL engine.

Topic Maps
Michel Biezunski, Principal, High Text, France

Topic Navigation Maps is an international standard project (ISO 13250). It answers the need for improved retrieval of online information. Topic Maps enable users to define their own navigation strategies in a set of electronic documents, and can be used for maintaining living document repositories, including Web sites and Intranet applications. This presentation gives the major design principles and will include a concrete example of a Topic Map-based set of documents.

Combining architectures to lower the lifecycle cost of interactive documents with substantive behaviors
Steven R. Newcomb, President, TechnoTeacher, Inc., USA

It is expensive to maintain long-lived documents that include behaviors that are part of their substance. By representing such documents using inherited architectures for program logic, etc., validation can be facilitated, reliability improved, and costs minimized.

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Track: EDI & E Commerce

Panel: The role of documentation in electronic commerce
Chair: Linda Burman, Principal, L. A. Burman Associates, Canada

Electronic information commerce
Russ Young, Director of Information Commerce Development, Folio Division of Open Market, USA

Hard goods like books and CD-ROMs are not the only things being sold over the internet anymore. There is now a secure way to sell information over the internet, and this "Information Marketplace" is changing the face of commercial publishing. Russ Young explores both the publisher and user issues involved in electronic information commerce and shows examples of working information commerce sites. He also discusses how information commerce will drive more published content to be created, stored and managed in SGML and XML.

XML & electronic commerce - but what about documents?
Lani Hajagos, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Adobe Systems Incorporated, USA

Lani Hajogos presents a survey of the use of XML for various applications on the World Wide Web, including document management, electronic commerce, and document delivery. The presentation will also examine how these disparate applications might be combined to enable better information exchange.

Panel: The role of SGML and XML in the interchange of commercial data
Chair: Linda Burman

XML/EDI - business information for the 21st century
Martin Bryan, Principal, The SGML Centre, England

The electronic businesses of the 21st century will rely heavily on electronic information flow control. XML provides a method of moving from server-based control mechanisms of the type used with current HTML/CGI applications to the type of client-based control that will be needed to provide end-users with control of their business processes. XML/EDI will allow developers to share knowledge of business flow control processes between applications.

An Implementation of EDIAUDIT on a data certification server
Amin Elsaleh, Managing Director, VANEDI Ltd, UK

The implementation of the EDIAUDIT tool on a data certification server is based on the bridging concept between EDI and SGML. This enables the control of interdependency rules which might exist between data and provides additional features for securing business transactions.

Cost-effective EDI using XML?
Philippe Vijghen, SGML Technologies Group, Belgium

This presentation proposes the use of a pivot format when developing EDI applications, based on the experience of three operational projects. The role of SGML/XML, as pivot, is presented in a broader context, with regards to other relevant candidates for structuring data.

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Track: Technical documentation case studies
Chair: Neil Parker, Project Manager, CSC Computer Sciences Ltd, England

Realizing the potential of object technology through new working practices - experience and innovation at Ford of Europe
John Chelsom, Managing Director, CSW Informatics Ltd and Philip Ward, Publishing Services and Compliance Supervisor, Technical Support Operations, Ford of Europe, England

For several years, Ford of Europe have been producing and delivering technical service information using SGML. Ford are now developing innovative solutions to managing SGML components over global networks by combining SGML/XML with cutting edge technologies such as JAVA, CORBA and Business Objects. SGML and object technology have been used to seek solutions to problems such as information reuse, standardization of terminology, distributed authoring and translation management. The challenge for Ford is in introducing ground-breaking technology and new working practices within the framework of an on-going SGML production environment.

XML & the ATA interchange model
Dave Cruikshank, Senior Principal Scientist, The Boeing Company, USA

The ATA has been developing interchange DTDs since 1989 and several maintenance, training and operations documents are currently delivered in SGML. With the introduction of XML as a draft standard for web applications of SGML, the ATA must review their interchange DTDs to determine the impact of supporting web delivery of XML documents in the future.

AECMA 1000D & IETP: diverse approach to define an IETP from data-modules; SGML, HTML or XML? You don't have to choose!
Michel Domeon, Chairman of AECMA/Electronic Publication Working Group, Dassault-Aviation, France and Tom Malloy, Co-Chairman of AECMA/Electronic Publication Working Group, MOD/ATP3, UK

The first part of this presentation describes the AECMA 1000D modular approach with the concept of data-modules and Common Source Database (CSDB). Secondly, it discusses several approaches for generating Electronic Technical Publications (ETP) derived from source data. Publication constructs based on SGML, HyTime, or Web/HTML delivery will be discussed and a final focus on XML delivery advantages will be addressed.

From data module to publication: automating the creation of SGML-based interactive electronic technical publications
Karen Lease, Project Leader, R&D, Sogitec Industries, France

This presentation describes an approach for automating the creation of interactive electronic technical publications (IETP) based on SGML document components managed by a production database. Issues addressed are: configuration management, multiple source formats,inter-publication links, style sheets, andsemantic-based indexing.

From stone age to electronic age for aircraft technical documentation
Bruno Pouilleau, Business Manager, Jouve S.I., France

How is it possible to change a paper/microfilm organization for aircraft maintenance to an organization based on digital technical documentation? What are the impacts on productivity, safety, and quality? Bruno Pouilleau presents this case study of the issues faced by an aerospace company moving into the digital age, including the requirements of multiple output format, insertion of hypertext links, interim updates, and generation of the database of validated manuals.

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Track: Management issues
Chair: Robin Tomlin, Executive Director, OASIS, USA

Panel: Management assessment: The impact of XML

Meeting the ever-changing demands of today's information consumer
PG Bartlett, Vice President Marketing, ArborText, USA

The technology explosion of the past five years has changed the nature of today's information consumer. Learn how using SGML/XML will enable you to create and maintain a single source of information that meets all your consumer requirements.

XML is not just another name for SGML . . . XML is the vehicle to deploy structured data systems throughout an organization
Michael Maziarka, Product Marketing Director, Xyvision Inc.,USA

SGML has been tremendously successful when used for mission critical applications, where an upfront investment in technology and training has large paybacks. However, the benefits provided by SGML-neutral data encoding, data sharing enabled by having structured information, and data repurposing-are needed throughout organizations. XML provides the vehicle for extending the benefits of SGML into all information creation and dissemination functions within an organization. A mix of valid and well-formed XML tools will coexist for users to create, share, and disseminate structured information.

Most Frequently asked business questions about XML from current or prospective SGML users
Jeanne El Andaloussi, Director of Operations and Quality Assurance, Berger-Levrault/AIS, France

With the sudden advent of XML in 1997 (because many did not take it seriously in 1996) and the relative lack of information about it except technical, a number of current or prospective users have found their plans thrown into doubt. They now have serious questions to ask to the "big names" in the SGML community, software providers and the integrators who promised stability, longevity, flexibility and above all peace of mind. Questions collected from several user/integrators/vendor encounters will be given pragmatic answers during the talk.

Panel: Analyst assessment: the future of XML and SGML
Chair: Robin Tomlin

Panel: Mary Laplante, Director, CapV, USA
Mark Walter, Editor, Consultant, Seybold Publications, USA
Yves Stern, Director, TechnoForum, France

Recent changes in the information market are creating new opportunities for web technologists, consumers and providers. Some predictions indicate that all areas of information processing will soon be affected by the new XML standard. The publicity and interest in XML is growing daily and analysts from around the world are following the standard and reporting weekly on its progress. A panel of those analysts will report on where they see SGML, HTML and XML in the market, the positioning of each with respect to tools and user requirements, and the overall direction for these standards moving forward in the next 6-12 months.

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Track: Technical solutions throughout the document production life cycle
Chair: Steve Pepper, Senior Information Architect, STEP Infotek A.S, Norway

Authoring: intelligent templates for authoring of SGML documents
Frank-Marcus Steinmann, Developer, debis Systemhaus GEI, Germany

This paper shows the evaluation of a new template mechanism, to define any part of SGML / XML documents as a template and to insert it afterwards into other documents. The template can be inserted, even when there is no direct possibility to insert it, e.g. because some elements of the template already exist in the document. Furthermore, this mechanism also allows the insertion of several subtrees simultaneously, even when they contain references to each other.

Conversion: document structure identification, a new paradigm
David Slocombe, Consultant & Jyoti Ambekar, Project Manager, Tata Infotech Ltd, India

Human readers have little trouble extracting structural markup from the typographic cues which are invariably present in formatted documents. The presenters describe an experiment which applies two-dimensional visual feature extraction and a knowledge-base of typographic practices to the automatic markup recognition of machine-readable ("softcopy") documents.

Aspects, effectivities and variants: tailoring documents with SGML
Hans Holger Rath, Senior Consultant/Project Manager, STEP Stürtz Electronic Publishing GmbH, Germany

Tailored/customized documents are becoming more and more important in technical documentation and commercial publications. This talk presents the basic ideas behind variants, aspects, and effectivities; gives several SGML-based approaches; and discusses their advantages and disadvantages.

Workflow: global computer supported cooperative work with SGML
Ola Strandberg, Core Technologies, PharmaSoft AB, Sweden

By marking up workflow-related information in documents and separating "process-logic" from "information logic", global, platform-independent workflows can be achieved. This presentation investigates how SGML can act as the intermediary format between workflow engines.

Packaging methods: what's the problem?
Per-Åke Ling, Ericsson Utvecklings AB, Germany

This paper presents the problems associated with transferring SGML documents in a single package. Focus will primarily be on the technical problems and how to solve them by presenting existing methods (e.g., SDIF, Mime, SGML, sbento). The strengths, but particularly the shortcomings, of existing methods will be presented. In conclusion, Ericsson's experience using SDIF packaging over the last five years will be described, thus showing a large-scale implementation that has worked successfully.

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13.00 - 14.30 Lunch
14.30 - 15.30 Closing keynote plenary
Chair: Pamela Gennusa, Managing Director, Database Publishing Systems Ltd, England

What isn't a document?
Tim Bray, Principal, Textuality Inc, Canada

Reflecting on the events of the conference and on our discipline in recent times, Tim Bray brings SGML/XML Europe to a lively conclusion. This closing keynote focuses on what a document is, or might be, starting in 1998. SGML work has focused mostly on documents in the traditional sense; how will the large-scale adoption of XML affect our understanding of documents? Further, with the rise of the web browser and the "document interface to everything", what are the distinguishing characteristics of documents, when do they matter, and what should we be worrying about?