Sunday, 11 May 1997
[Mirrored from document at: http://www.gca.org/conf/europe97/index.htm, which should be regarded as the canonical and official information]
Sunday, 11 May 1997
07:30 - 09:00
Tutorial registration
09:00 - 17:00
Tutorials
Instructors: Sharon Adler and Anders Berglund, Inso Corporation (formerly Electronic Book Technologies), USA
DSSSL is a specification language for expressing formatting and other document processing specifications in a formal and rigorous manner so that these specifications may be processed by a broad range of formatters, either natively or using a translation mechanism. For those seeking a better understanding of the role of DSSSL in the future of SGML processing, this tutorial will provide a comprehensive introduction to the subject of standardized style sheets using examples and demonstrating the public domain DSSSL engine, JADE. The optional second day (which is a half-day session) will provide an opportunity for hands-on application development using JADE with supplied examples. Delegates may choose to attend either the morning or the afternoon session. (Each session is limited to 21 delegates). The first day is a prerequisite to register for the second day.
Instructor: Tim Bray, co-editor of XML, Principal, Textuality, Canada
This tutorial reviews the XML specification top to bottom. Attendees go away with a complete understanding of the XML specification at a level sufficient to construct a parser, as well as the motivation for all aspects of the design.
Instructors: Jeanne El Andaloussi, Berger-Levrault/AIS, France and Eve Maler, ArborText, Inc., USA
Just knowing how to read DTDs doesn't mean you have the right skill set for designing one. In this workshop, the instructors conduct a miniature DTD design and specification project, including project definition, needs analysis, and SGML markup model design. Emphasis is placed on philosophy, processes, steps, and conceptual tools that result in the specification of a robust DTD design - one that meets the project's needs and practically implements itself. The exercise is built on a recent real-life DTD development effort.
Instructor: W. Eliot Kimber, Senior SGML Consulting Engineer, Highland Consulting, USA
In this tutorial, Mr. Kimber introduces the key concepts in HyTime, including hyperlinking, addressing, architectures, groves, and property sets while also providing practical instruction on how to declare HyTime-conforming element types and create HyTime documents. The sessions include many working demonstrations using a variety of HyTime tools, all of which students may take with them at the end of the course.
Instructor: Marcy Thompson, Manager, Educational Services, Computer Resources International, USA
This two-day, hands-on session consists of three mini-case studies, addressing issues of document analysis, tools evaluation, and planning an implementation in the context of real-world-but-not-very-pleasant constraints. Students should have a basic understanding of SGML syntax and concepts.
Instructors: B. Tommie Usdin, President and Deborah A. Lapeyre, Vice President, Mulberry Technologies, Inc., USA
In this one-day tutorial, Debbie Lapeyre and Tommie Usdin will teach students how to read and understand the SGML syntax they are most likely to see in creating or working with SGML documents. This course is intended for people who have been creating SGML documents using context-sensitive SGML editors but are unfamiliar with raw SGML; for people who have been reading narrative descriptions of SGML elements and graphic representations of SGML structure but who don't know how to read a DTD. This is for people who want to understand the nuts and bolts of SGML files.
Monday, 12 May 1997
07:30 - 09:00
Tutorial registration
09:00 - 17:00
Tutorials
Instructors: Jacques Deseyne and Pascale Leblanc, Sema Group Belgium
This tutorial on the transformation process as standardized by the Document Style Semantics and Specification Language (DSSSL - ISO/IEC 10179:1996) provides a gentle introduction to the concepts, facilities and mechanics of the future way to convert SGML documents. The essential features are explained and demonstrated on real SGML documents. Delegates are encouraged to communicate their transformation requirements to the instructors. Rather than attempting to be an encyclopaedic presentation of all elements in the transformation process, the session shows how it can work in practice and what the advantages can be, compared to the current proprietary approaches to SGML transformation. The tutorial is intended for SGML users having a sufficient knowledge and experience of ISO 8879 and having been exposed to some programming.
Instructor: Tim Bray, Textuality, Canada
SGML is the format of choice for authoring and storing documents that are high in value, long in life, or deep in complexity. However, when it comes to delivering documents, it is far from clear that it is always the optimal choice. This tutorial takes a structured approach, spending considerable time on consideration of design goals for successful electronic document delivery. Based on these design goals, Mr. Bray leads delegates on a tour through the spectrum of available markup languages, taking a serious in-depth look at the trade-offs involved in delivering SGML, HTML, and PDF. Mobile-coded technologies such as Java, JavaScript, and ActiveX are examined to understand how they fit into the document delivery picture. Participants should leave with a better understanding of when to fight for SGML at all costs, how to select and use other media when SGML is not an option, and how to go about evaluating the utility of the new document delivery technologies that are certain to arrive soon.
Instructors: Paula Angerstein, Texcel and Paul Grosso, ArborText, Inc., USA
When choosing DTD constructs, you face many trade-offs: facilitate reuse or presentation? legacy or new information? authoring ease or interchange? DTD constraints or tool constraints? How granular do I need my data to be? Is my document management system affected by the DTD I use? Using concrete examples and exercises, this seminar explores the various ways in which SGML has been used to solve typical information management problems. Techniques for describing common constructs such as divisions, links, tables, and graphics are compared and contrasted through examination of a number of industry-standard DTDs including DocBook, HTML, and ISO 12083. This seminar can help you to make decisions about a DTD you are constructing, or it may help you decide that an industry-standard DTD is right for you.
Tuesday, 13 May 1997
07:30
Conference registration
09:00 - 10:30
Opening plenary
Chair: Pamela Gennusa, Managing
Director, Database Publishing Systems Ltd
Opening remarks
Crystal Ball Panel
A panel of industry experts from around the world make
their predictions about how SGML, and its related standards and
technologies, will be used in the next 3-5 years.
Inventor’s technical
keynote
Charles F. Goldfarb, Information Management
Consulting, USA
In his traditional SGML Europe talk, Charles Goldfarb
discusses significant industry trends affecting SGML and predicts
future directions.
11:00 - 12:30
Concurrent sessions
Case studies: pushing the
envelope
Chair: Pamela Gennusa
SGML and the Auto Industry: contrasting East-West management strategies
Connie Greaser, Manager, Service Communications, American Honda Motor Co.
The need for greater efficiency and cost savings, together with compliance requirements of state and national legislation, is causing the U.S. automotive industry to implement large scale SGML publishing and information systems. The challenges of moving to an SGML environment are magnified when the project requires close collaboration between very different management philosophies. This presentation will describe the way consensus is being achieved in one company between the Japanese headquarters (where data is created) and the United States (which is developing the SGML system), while both also ensure that the resulting international service information system meets the needs of Europe and the rest of the world for quick, accurate information to aid in the repair of automobiles.
SGML, still a cutting-edge technology?
Christian Guittet, Principal Administrator, European Commission (Eurostat), Luxembourg
Was SGML born too early? 12 years ago, very few people understood its potential. But, now-a-days, surfing on the Internet wave, a number of technologies have become trendy: buzzwords like virtual reality (VRML) or active content (Java, ActiveX) have become fashionable. How are they related to SGML? Were they not already contained in it? This presentation explores these issues.
Case studies: conversion
Chair: Dave Peterson, Consultant, SGML Works!, USA
Tornado F3 conversion project
Chris Wood, Group Leader, Publishing Systems Group, British Aerospace Defence Ltd., United Kingdom
Traditionally, the RAF have supported the operation of their in-service fleet using hard-copy publications or microfiche. This is changing. Future projects like the Attack Helicopter, EuroFighter 2000, and the Replacement Maritime Patrol Aircraft mandate electronic delivery of descriptive, maintenance, parts catalogue, and training publications data. This data is destined for delivery to LITS (the RAF’s Logistic IT system). LITS is being developed by the RAF and IBM to receive and distribute this (and other) electronic data in an SGML-based data module form as defined by AECMA 1000D and the UK Def Stan 00-60. In order to prove the capability of LITS and also to prove the contractor’s capability to deliver coherent modular data, the RAF is sponsoring a series of "proof of concept" initiatives. This presentation examines one such initiative.
From mainframe to Intranet
Thomas Reich, FIDES Informatik, Switzerland & Günter von Zadow, DOSCO Document Systems Consulting GmbH, Germany
The talk describes a conversion project at Credit Suisse, a large Swiss bank. A converter was developed for IBM BookMaster documents to HTML document webs and vice versa. The talk covers project goals, project phases, tools, user expectations and experiences.
SGML and Standard Exchange for
Product Data (STEP)
Chair: Peter Bergström, Consultant, EuroSTEP AB,
Sweden
STEP/SGML standards working together
Hugh Tucker, Director, Documenta ApS, Denmark and Betty Harvey, President, Electronic Commerce Connection, Inc., USA
ISO 10303, Standard Exchange for Product Data (STEP), is being developed by a broad range of industries to provide extensive support for modeling, automated storage schema generation, life-cycle support, plus many more data management facilities. ISO 8879 (SGML), and the SGML family of standards, including HyTime and DSSSL, are used for the documentation of products. These two standards, STEP and SGML, are used in the same industries and companies. This paper discusses the recognized advantages as well as current initiatives in industry and government organizations for incorporating SGML product information during the beginning of the product development cycle. Several different initiatives from various corporations are discussed. The benefits of each of the different methodologies are discussed and analyzed.
Product documentation creation and management using STEP—DOCSTEP (Telematics Project LE3-4225)
Kimmo Elovainio, Research Scientist, VTT (The Technical Research Centre of Finland) Information Technology, Finland and Jürgen Kunz, RPK, Germany
Good quality documentation is identified by manufacturing industries as an important asset to push their products on the market. More and more companies sell their products all over the world and are requested to provide localised product documentation. In this context, controlling - through creation, translation and maintenance - the consistency of huge documentation produced in different places, on different tools by people with different skills is a real challenge. The goal of the DOCSTEP project, which is presented here, is the usage and integration of beneficial technologies and standards for product modeling, natural language processing, and document management in order to improve the process of product documentation creation and management.
12:30 - 14:30
Luncheon; exhibits
14:30 - 16:45
Concurrent sessions
Business issues of SGML
Chair: George Rankin, Croner Publications Limited, The
Netherlands
Cost justifying SGML
Norma Haakonstad, National Accounts Manager, ArborText, Inc., USA
When making a business case for SGML, one of the key arguments is justifying the cost for the transition to SGML. This presentation is designed to help you justify the cost of implementing SGML whether your objective is to support multiple outputs or to re-engineer your information production processes. This presentation covers the measurable benefits in detail, discusses the unmeasureable benefits of SGML, and provides suggestions for preparing your argument.
Business benefits of an SGML and STEP integration
Peter Bergström, EuroSTEP AB, Sweden
The necessity of using standards when trying to preserve the value of information in a changing business environment is quite well-known today, but the use of several standards and the integration of them has not been discussed too much, even within the CALS initiative. This presentation will put emphasis on the benefits of integrating standards rather than choosing one of them, which in several cases is essential for success. The differences between the product model standard STEP (ISO 10303) and SGML, and thereby the strengths of each, will be illustrated by business scenarios; a business scenario that focuses on the reasons why an integration of standards is essential for success.
Authoring and translation for the international market
Simon Nicholson, Chrystal Software Inc, United Kingdom
Only a few markets around the globe can mandate the universal use of a single language for documentation. Further, it was once the case that the author had some sight of the user of the information. With global markets, this luxury has all but vanished. Organisations must be able to supply timely information in the language, style, and medium to meet the market requirements. The costs to achieve this can rapidly exceed the original start-up costs for production of the source language version, and ways in which costs and timeframes can be reduced are sought, whilst maintaining and improving quality. The presentation discusses initiatives seeking to achieve these aims. The use and management of SGML-encoded data is presented as a foundation on which technologies and concepts such as component-level management, translation memory, controlled terminology, information re-use and concurrent translation processing can be built.
Case studies: military
Chair: Joan Smith, SGML Technologies Ltd., United
Kingdom
Introducing SGML into the RAF flight manuals world or throttle to bottle in two extraordinary years
Godfrey Moffatt, Royal Air Force Handling Squadron, United Kingdom
RAFHS produce the Aircraft Manuals and Flight Reference Cards required by the aircrew of all three United Kingdom services—Army, Navy, and Airforce. Members of the RAFHS team are specialists in the aircraft types flown by the Forces. They are not computer professionals and therefore the system acquired had to be intuitive, modern, and have an excellent user interface. The RAFHS system provides an integrated solution including SGML author/editing, document management, revision tracking to provide future-proofed data, an airworthiness audit trail, and finally output formatting and pagination by a composition engine.
Configuration and version management in an SGML-based document management system
Laurent Germe, Project Manager, Rafale Documentation Project, Sogitec, France
This case study describes the issues involved in managing a large body of SGML-based aircraft maintenance documentation. Principal topics covered are managing appropriate granularity; sharing document components; managing multiple configurations; managing revision cycles; and impact on publications. The presentation explains the reasons motivating the technical decisions, describes the tools used to manage multiple configurations and versions, and evaluates the resulting system.
Supporting SGML in document management system architectures
G. Ken Holman, Chief Technology Officer, Microstar Software Ltd., Canada
In the context of a case study of purchasing a DMS (Document Management System) for a defence industry publishing system, the impacts of the lexical, syntactic, and content components of SGML documents are compared in three alternative DMS architectures. Included in the presentation are considerations for deciding the granularity of information storage appropriate to future SGML data repositories based on how that data is expected to be used and shared. Also reviewed are those features that will be required in SGML-aware document management systems as these products evolve.
XML - Blurred snapshot of a moving target
Co-Chairs: Tim Bray, Principal, Textuality and co-editor of XML, Canada and Jon Bosak, Online Information Technology Architect, SunSoft, USA
XML was created in response to two crying needs: to lower the entrance barriers to SGML, and to enable advanced publishing over the internet. This session first describes the developments on the XML front in recent months, both in the development of the standard and market reactions to it. The balance of the session is a technical introduction to XML, presenting two views of the language: first, as it appears to someone who knows SGML, and second, as it appears to someone new to the idea of descriptive markup. Ample time is available for questions and answers.
16:45 - 19:00
Exhibits; reception
17:00 - 18:30
International SGML Users’ Group Annual General Meeting
Wednesday, 14 May 1997
09:00 - 12:30
Concurrent sessions
Authoring in an SGML
environment
Chair: Marcy Thompson, Manager
Educational Services, Computer Resources International, USA
Wishful thinking or thinking ahead—envisioning the next generation of SGML editors
Arofan Gregory, SGML Consultant, Passage Systems, Inc., USA
While an SGML editor cannot do everything for the user, the real world demands that this class of application be significantly improved, both in terms of usability and functionality. This paper focuses on where these improvements can realistically be made, and what approaches have become possible given advances in the implementation of SGML and related technologies. In a more traditional vein, an analysis of successful authoring paradigms shows how SGML applications could be improved without requiring new technologies. The impact of XML on the development of editing tools is examined and some approaches recommended for dealing with the impending wave of "para-SGML" documents this new standard threatens to generate.
Publishers wanted, authors needed!: the new information age is waiting for your works
Thomas Stadler, Vice President, STEP Stürtz Electronic Publishing GmbH, Germany
A new paradigm (information objects) has recently emerged that replaces an old one (documents), one that supports connecting information in many new ways. This presentation focuses on the techniques and applications that are available already to produce information webs, but publishers and their authors are writing books as they have been doing for the last 500 years. Now it is the publishers' and the authors' turn to redefine their methods, their products, and their markets. What are the new opportunities, what abilities and skills are needed, and what are the problems in the shift to this new way of working?
Intuitive SGML: database integration in SGML authoring
Tracy Smith, Software Engineer, Novell Corporate Publishing Services, USA
Authoring SGML documents is difficult and time consuming. Although many of the SGML authoring tools available provide superior SGML functionality, many are not intuitive. Creating SGML documents is costly. This paper will discuss Novell's approach to creating structured hypertext documents intuitively and efficiently by integrating and customizing current database and SGML authoring technology.
Human factors engineering: creating a productive environment for authoring SGML documents
Lani Hajagos, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Adobe, USA
Two key measurements of the success of any SGML system are cost reduction and user satisfaction. This paper examines implementation details that can affect ease of training, ease of use, and overall productivity; and suggests various techniques for enhancing both productivity and user satisfaction. It also looks at how to take advantage of emerging technologies to provide additional capabilities for leveraging and reusing information.
Data modeling and SGML
Chair: Steve Brown, Principal, InfoObjects, USA
Potential of SGML as a descriptive data schema language
Michel Vulpe, Founder and CEO, Infrastructures for Information Inc., Canada
The role of SGML as a markup language for text presentation is well understood. As such, it is one of the pillars of the WWW phenomenon. To limit SGML to this, however, is a disservice to the power of SGML which is, at its core, a data schema language. Textual presentation schemas, while important, are but one domain. SGML can be used to specify schemas for many other classes of behavior and for other classes of content. It is the intent of this paper to review the potential of SGML in this context by exploring its potential in the areas of graphics, semantic networks, process management, and knowledge capture.
Document structure independent data modeling
Frank Pieper, Research and Development Manager, MediaWare B.V., The Netherlands
This presentation provides an overview of four techniques that combine the principles of data storage and generalized markup into database publishing systems. These four techniques are ordered by increasing document structure flexibility. Their effects are illustrated by a simple yet realistic example. The conclusion argues in favor of document structure independent data modeling.
Bottoms-up, a paradigm shift
Bruce Brown, Vice President, Research & Development, Datalogics, USA
A new data modeling approach to producing SGML documents has been developed. Documents are assembled from content models, or information objects, which are created and edited using common tools. These information objects are collections of SGML elements, but less than whole documents. Only when an assembly of these objects is made, will the DTD and FOSI be created. If the information objects conform to a given DTD (say the ATM2100), then the assembled document will also conform. This should address two of the most pressing problems in today’s SGML world, serious re-use and common tools for creation. The usability of this approach is reported.
Information modeling for document management: the key to successful system selection and deployment
Sebastian Holst, Marketing Officer, Texcel International, United Kingdom
Components play in document management systems of today. The key to successful selection and deployment of a component management system is a thorough analysis of your information model. How you model, or break up, your information, determines user requirements as well as helps you to specify the underlying data repository architecture. Questions addressed in this presentation include how granular information needs to be to guarantee re-use and support multiple outputs; the implications of a DBMS model that differs from the document’s model; and how to shield the end-user from the underlying complexity that naturally follows moving from a single local file to a distributed information repository.
Case studies:
manufacturing/corporate publishing
Chair: Tibor Tscheke, STEP Stürtz
Electronic Publishing GmbH, Germany
The SGML implementation at Norsk Hydro
Björn Peltonen, VP Sales & Marketing, CITEC Information Technology, Norway
A significant economical objective at Norsk Hydro is to reduce the time and cost of maintaining equipment used in oil production In this case study, the presenter explains the implementation of an interactive system to improve the accessibility of technical supplier documentation by utilizing the SGML standard. The concept of the system is based on a combination of SGML documents and traditional database information. The project also consists of a user-friendly SGML/Database authoring environment specially customised for the sub-suppliers of Norsk Hydro.
Digital documentation trends for aircraft maintenance
Walter Schmitt-Rennekamp, Senior Consultant, Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Documentation, Lufthansa Systems, Germany
The aviation industry has a long tradition for information interchange standardization. The first generation of on-line documentation was a paper document duplicate based on SGML. In the future, documentation has to move from the document paradigm to an information paradigm. Then the user will get an ‘Information Web’ and exactly the information he is looking for. This presentation looks at the challenges and trends in aircraft maintenance documentation.
Caterpillar Inc's new authoring system
Mike Lance, Caterpillar & PG Bartlett, Vice President, Marketing, ArborText, USA
Caterpillar, Inc. has developed a new document information system that emphasizes the reusability of Information Elements (shared objects) in multiple documents, the automatic compilation of objects into a document, and the reusability of documents on multiple media. Based on ISO and military standards, the new information system will improve accuracy, consistency, efficiency, timeliness, and costs. This paper describes the issues that led to the system's design, pitfalls in its implementation and operation, and details the anticipated benefits.
SGML and development documentation
Jörg Schiller, Project Manager, debis Systemhaus GEI, Germany
Increasing requirements in development documentation for automotive manufacturers such as the number of world-wide development sites (leading to the support of different languages); the speed of the development cycle; and the number of variants of products (re-use of base documentation), has led to the definition of exchange formats for information. This paper examines how SGML technology can be a good solution for problems in this area.
Case studies: commercial
publishers
Chair: Michael Maziarka, Xyvision,
Inc., USA
Extranet SGML editorial system for encyclopædias
Marcel Coderch Collell, Director,Technology, Grupo ANAYA, Spain
The technical architecture of an SGML-based editorial system for encyclopaedias being used in Grupo Anaya is presented. This system is built around Internet technologies that are used in the editorial creation process and also for the exploitation of the resulting encyclopaedia products. The system combines SGML, HyTime, and Java technologies around an innovative knowledge database approach.
Croner & SGML—the first 3 years: opening the envelope!
George Rankin, Production Director, Croner Publications Limited, United Kingdom
Croner Publications Ltd's experiences with SGML over the last 3 years have been both exciting and traumatic! In this presentation, Mr. Rankin describes how and why Croner considered SGML to be the answer to many of their problems and details the difficulties encountered along the way. The presentation emphasizes the need to have the courage to press ahead and "open the envelope". Finally, he plots the future strategy his company will adopt and the role SGML is set to play over the next decade.
SGML and the online legislature
Ken Matheson, Technical Project Manager, Highland Consulting, USA
The Alabama State Legislature has begun an extensive re-engineering effort to improve the process and technologies used to craft and enact legislation and to improve the means through which the public can be directly involved in the legislative process. When this project is completed, the State will have an information system that provides repository-based authoring and publishing and client/server legislative operation systems with a "real-time" Internet interface SGML is an important component of this complex application. In this session an overview of the application is presented and Mr. Matheson discusses in more detail how object-oriented information engineering analysis and document analysis were used to develop a robust information model. Most important, valuable lessons learned are shared about designing and building repository-based SGML systems.
Introducing a data repository to a legal publishing house
Matthias Kraft, Project Manager, C.H. Beck, Germany
This presentation describes how the information repository of a publishing house was integrated into the environment of the company. The attempt was made to combine the entity relationship approach of an SQL database and the document-driven approaches of SGML. This led to more than one SQL database with an identical microdocument architecture to store the information elements. This presentation closes with a view to the future plans of integrated composing of products with the microdocuments of the database.
12:30 - 14:30 Luncheon; exhibits
14:30 - 16:45 Concurrent sessions
XML, HTML, & the Web:
getting there
Chair: Susanne Richter-Wills, Xerox
Business Services, United Kingdom
Publishing to the Web is more than converting data into HTML
Michael Maziarka, Director, PDM Product Management, Xyvision, Inc., USA
Publishing to the Web introduces a new set of challenges, especially when added to the requirement to produce traditional documents using the same data, at little extra cost or manpower. To the casual observer, the problem seems one of converting data from its presentation format into HTML. However, the problem is much more complex. Although converting your data into HTML is one part of the solution, issues such as modularization of your data, establishing links for traversing through the information, search aids, and adding additional data that might not be found in your traditional (paper) publications (such as navigation aids) must all be considered. This presentation explains how, through the use of SGML and document management technology, publishers can create highly automated processes for using the same data to produce paper documents, a Web Product, and possibly other electronic deliveries.
XML and legacy data conversion
Diane Sandstrum, Dave Berger and Ludo Van Vooren, Jeppesen Sanderson, USA
This presentation reviews the advantages of using the Extensible Markup Language (XML) in the context of legacy data conversion. This exciting application of SGML solves numerous conversion problems. By reviewing the advantages of XML in converting legacy data, this presentation shows a never before possible migration strategy towards valid SGML information.
Getting to XML from HTML
Lauren Wood, Technical Product Manager, SoftQuad, Inc., Canada
Many of those who use HTML are realising that they need the added flexibility of XML for their applications. This talk discusses how to get your data and systems from HTML to XML, including conversion and authoring.
International medicine for SGML
Co-chairs: Liora Alschuler, Writer and
Consultant, The Word Electric and John Spinosa, MD, PhD, Staff
Pathologist and Medical Director, Scripps Memorial Hospital, USA
The need for an electronic medical record has risen
steadily since the first use of computers in the clinical care
environment. Now, with the emergence of SGML as an international
standard, a flexible, extensible, cross-platform electronic
medical record (EMR) is a real possibility. This session
introduces the efforts to implement standard, SGML-based medical
records in the U.S., UK, E.U., and Japan. A workshop following
the presentation demonstrates SGML medical records and provides
an opportunity to discuss the various proposals for standardizing
the medical record and the need for standardizing medical records
at the ISO level.
Pros & cons of
industry-standard DTDs
Chair: Lynne A. Price, Text Structure Consulting, USA
Panelists: Neil Bradley, SGML Consultant, Pindar plc, United
Kingdom, Marcy Thompson, Manager, Educational Services, Computer
Resources International, USA [other panelists to be announced]
A panel of experienced users discusses the pros and cons of
using industry DTDs. Avoiding the over simplification of two
polar positions (drastic or no modification of an existing DTD),
the panel members discuss the numerous decisions facing
implementers in between these poles. Questions posed to the
members include: When a DTD is so large that an organization only
uses part of it, what does interchange mean? Do different
organizations interpret elements (or attributes) differently?
Does any organization implement the entire DTD? How accepted is
it to use a different DTD for editing and the industry-standard
one for "interchange"?
Managing hyperlinks
Chair: Simon Nicholson, Business Development
Manager, Chrystal Software, United Kingdom
Why you do (or don't) need HyTime in your document management system
Paula Angerstein, Senior Analyst, Texcel Research Inc., USA
This presentation examines whether (or not) HyTime is an essential feature of a document management system. Scenarios for the appropriateness (or inappropriateness) of indirect linking are reviewed. Ways in which a document management system can help (or hinder) management of links are examined. Should (or shouldn't) a document management system treat HyTime markup as more than ordinary SGML? With the addition to HyTime of several annexes in the Technical Corrigendum, HyTime becomes a broader framework for describing generalized SGML-based architectures. The potential impact of these far-reaching topics on document management systems is discussed.
Hypermedia database
Patricia François, Aerospatiale, and Philippe Futtersack, Électricité de France, France
Conventional SGML databases offer good support for storing and manipulating collections of independent SGML documents. They have to evolve for managing a network of SGML and non-SGML documents, i.e., hypermedia documents. SGML allows users to define inter-document links by using id/idref attributes and chunks of information sharing by using entities. HyTime goes beyond the SGML limits for hyperlinking by offering the semantics to model complex links, such as a link from a document to a very precise location inside another one. In order to offer all the functionality necessary for managing hypermedia documents, SGML databases must take into account all the above constructs. This paper presents the principles to extend a SGML database to an HyTime database and the functionality of a web interface to access the documents stored in the database.
Hyperlink semantics for standoff markup of read-only documents
Henry S. Thompson, Reader, Dept. of Artificial Intelligence and David McKelvie, Research Fellow, Language Technology Group, Human Communication Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
There are at least three reasons why separating markup from the material marked up ("standoff annotation") may be an attractive proposition: 1) The base material may be read-only and/or very large, so copying it to introduce markup may be unacceptable; 2) The markup may involve multiple overlapping hierarchies; 3) Distribution of the base document may be controlled, but the markup is intended to be freely available. In this paper, two kinds of semantics for hyperlinks are addressed to facilitate this type of annotation, and describe the LT NSL toolset that supports these semantics. The two kinds of hyperlink semantics that are described are (a) inclusion, where one includes a sequence of SGML elements from the base file; and (b) replacement, where one provides a replacement for material in the base file, incorporating everything else. The speakers address the issue of different kinds of (HyTime and TEI) addressing schemes by means of SGML identifiers, URLs, and character offsets into non-SGML data. Also addressed are the issues of indexing large files to improve the speed of accessing SGML elements in the base files.
Tekkie to tekkie
Chair: Paul Grosso, Vice President and Co-founder,
ArborText Inc., USA
PCIS DSSSL-O Stylesheet (PDoS)
Norbert H. Mikula, University of Klagenfurt, Austria
PCIS—The Pinnacles Component Information Standard is an ISO 8879 application designed to meet the markup needs of the semiconductors industry. DSSSL-O is a subset of ISO/IEC 10179 (DSSSL), designed to address formatting requirements in the area of online-display (rendering) of SGML data using DSSSL. PDoS is a first attempt to create a DSSSL stylesheet for the PCIS DTD. This paper discusses a variety of aspects encountered/addressed during the development of this prototype stylesheet. The Philips Semiconductors/Electronic Databook (PSC/EDB) is an exemplary application layer to the DSSSL engine Jade and the SGML parser Cappuccino. Exemplary rendering of PCIS data using PDoS is presented using this system, which has been coded entirely in Java. Alternatively, to show the advantage of DSSSL stylesheets, rendering via Jade is shown.
Large and different character sets: making sense of the SGML character model in the real world
Dave Peterson, Consultant, SGMLWorks!, USA
SGML was designed in an environment where other-than-8-bit character representations were only vaguely known and not understood. The designers did not differentiate between (abstract) characters and the bit-patterns by which they are represented in machines. A new character model has been adopted for use in the upcoming revision of ISO 8879, and modifications made in 1996 to the specification of the "concrete syntax" make it feasible to use SGML on the WWW and with large-character-repertoire languages.
Towards an SGML diff using elementary change descriptions
Henning Möller, Siemens AG, Germany
A method to develop an SGML diff is presented. The extendible approach is based on a change-oriented model for structured documents containing objects of type "data", "element", "attribute", or "link". The difference between two documents, A and B, is computed and expressed as a sequence of changes that must be incrementally performed on the objects in A in order to obtain the state B.
16:45 - 19:00 Exhibits; reception
17:00 - 18:00 GCA IT Member Meeting
Thursday, 15 May 1997
09:00 - 12:30
Concurrent sessions
Case studies: Intranets
Chair: Pamela Gennusa
Ajaib—A case study of an SGML/Intranet development
Jurry Swart, Project Manager Ajaib, Paula Leenheer, EP Advisor on EDM, Shell International Exploration and Production B.V., The Netherlands, Colin Mackenzie, Consultant, Database Publishing Systems Ltd, United Kingdom
Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) has developed a system to support the production operators in their day-to-day activities on the Platform. This system (named "Ajaib" which is Malay/Arabic for Miracle) breaks away from the traditional Operations Manual and instead delivers all information required by the Operator in support of his day-to-day activities from a single, commodity desktop Web browser. The information is managed in its native format (e.g. SGML, AutoCad) and is presented in a variety of formats including animation and graphics; this session aims to provide insight into the development and acceptance of a corporate Intranet solution.
Keep It Simple—Interactive electronic applications with SGML
Riku Makela, Manager, Information Standards-based Multimedia System Projects, Remtec Systems, Ltd, Espoo, Finland
This presentation describes a keep-it-simple model for using SGML, HyTime, DSSSL, and multimedia files for creating interactive multimedia applications. In the model, the information, functionality, and user interface are separated from each other by using client-server technology, also in a stand-alone application, with HTML and Java applets as tools for creating platform-independent user interfaces.
AQUARELLE—sharing cultural heritage through multimedia telematics
Mr. Olivier Toche, French Ministry of Culture & Bertrand Melese, GRIF SA, France
The AQUARELLE project is developing a model for an international network of state and private institutions that will allow professionals from many fields to search their myriad computer databases, along with ‘folders’ of other material, including digital images. This will allow for the creation of ‘virtual reality exhibitions’, for example. To succeed, this network should be able to transverse the world and jointly disseminate cultural information, with the objective of being able to access multimedia and patrimonial world culture. To obtain this goal, this project called on the most sophisticated technologies, including HTML, SGML, and the Internet, which would exploit the most diversified computer environments.
The evolution of Sun's AnswerBooks—a case study: report from the trenches
Eduardo Gutentag, Staff Engineer, Sun's Online Information and Tools Development Group, and Jeff Suttor, Staff Engineer, Sun's Information Engineering, SunSoft, USA
Sun is 3 years into a large project that radically revamps its online document creation, management, and delivery system, from a proprietary product to an open SGML system. Many implementers will recognize the common goals, and will appreciate what we hope are interesting solutions, ranging from production processes driven by meta-data to FPI-based name resolution on the Internet.
As SGML Transitions...
Chair: Robin Tomlin, Executive Director, SGML Open,
USA
Panelists: Dave Seaman, Vice President Professional Services,
OpenText Corporation, Canada and Hasse Haitto, President, Synex
Information AB, Sweden
SGML Open members will discuss new and different ways SGML
is being used and also the research and development projects
currently underway in the SGML community. The session gives
attendees a look toward the future product development and
technologies that will embrace SGML.
What's new in SGML? (follows
"As SGML Transitions..." panel)
Chair: Charles F. Goldfarb
Panelists: Dave Peterson, Lynne A. Price
The international standards committee responsible for the
SGML standard, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC18/WG8, has been reviewing ISO
8879, which defines SGML. This effort has been more intense
recently. This panel presents a cross-section of the decisions
that have been reached to date, including an overview of the 1996
modification for large-character-set languages. The presentations
are followed by a question and answer session.
SGML objects in & out of
databases
Chair: Paula Angerstein, Texcel, USA
Defining reusable, distributable information objects using SGML or, How SGML can do for databases what Java has done for user interfaces.
John Chelsom, Managing Director, CSW Informatics Ltd, United Kingdom
Just as Java has brought an open, distributable way to enable users to interact with data by transferring applications in real time from server to client, so SGML can enable them to interact with persistent database objects by transferring, real time, the database schema for those objects. This talk explores the potential of SGML as a universal database definition language for reusable, distributable information objects and shows how existing technology is already turning that potential into reality.
SGML template-driven database extraction: a new approach to report generation
François Chahuneau, General Manager, AIS S.A, France
Generation of SGML-coded documents as a result of database query processes is a commonly used practice. In most cases, however, the contents of such documents are entirely built from scratch as an SGML-formatted image of the query results. We present an extension to this practice, in cases when documents are made of a combination of human-generated parts and database-originated parts. When such documents are updated, human-generated parts should remain untouched, while database originated parts (text, tables and graphics) should be regenerated or updated. The method used here is that of SGML templates, which embed links targeted to a database. Such a technique can be used in many application fields, ranging from Web applications to industrial catalog publishing, where complex, human-generated document structures co-exist with database extracts.
Using microdocuments (follows
"SGML objects in & out..." panel)
Chair: Paula Angerstein
Making SGML easier with microdocument databases
Eric Skinner, Senior Program Manager, OmniMark Technologies Corporation, Canada
The abilities to deliver vast amounts of corporate information on-line in real time, with sophisticated hypertext navigation aids, and the accelerating system complexity of products and corporate processes have converged to drive a new paradigm: component-based documentation development. The microdocument architecture is a vendor-independent hybrid of SGML and RDBMS methodologies that enables the delivery of personalized virtual documents. Illustrations of successful virtual document implementations and an overview of business and project leader implementation issues are provided.
Improving the accessibility of SGML documents - A content-analytical approach
Oskari Heinonen, University of Helsinki, Department of Computer Science, Finland
Microdocuments, self-contained units that are comprehensible also when taken out of their immediate context, make up both suitable retrievable units and appropriate units for document assembly. By statistical term frequency analysis we can determine the locations of possible topic changes in the text. On the other hand, existing markup, for example classifying attributes, can be used in boundary detection.
12:30 - 14:00
Luncheon
14:00 - 15:00
Closing plenary
Chair: Pamela Gennusa
Closing keynote: SGML for the
21st Century
W. Eliot Kimber, Highland Consulting, USA
With developments like the World Wide Web, intranets, and
increased focus on standardization by major software vendors,
SGML and its related standards are being revised and enhanced to
reflect new technologies and new requirements. This presentation
looks at recent events--including the publication of the DSSSL
standard, the HyTime Technical Corrigendum, and the XML
specification--and projects the trends they represent into the
future of SGML. The major trends are more functionality at a
lower cost of entry, providing greater overall value.
Closing remarks
Friday, 16 May 1997
SGML Open marketing and technical committee meetings
For information on SGML Open, email: info@sgmlopen.org
Questions? Contact Julie Morrison at jmorrison@gca.org or phone: 703/519-8174
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