[August 07, 2000] Theological Markup Language (ThML) is "an XML markup language for theological texts. ThML was developed for use in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL), but it is hoped that the language will serve as a royalty-free format for theological texts in other applications. Key design goals are that the language should be (1) rich enough to represent information needed for digital libraries and for theological study involving multiple, related texts, including cross-reference, synchronization, indexing, and scripture references, (2) based on XML and usable with World Wide Web tools, (3) automatically convertible to other common formats, and (4) easy to learn and use. ThML is defined as an XML DTD that extends the Voyager DTD for HTML... ThML borrows some elements from TEI, and it is designed to have all of the capabilities of STEP (version 0.9). ThML is an XML application, so ThML documents can be used directly with next-generation web browsers. These are programmable, so stylesheets and scripting languages will be able to add functionality such as that described above as well as format for display or printing on various devices. It will also be possible to convert ThML documents to other formats such as HTML webs, plain text files, PDF, RTF, and others. ThML documents can be prepared with an XML editor, a plain text editor, or in Microsoft Word using a template and converting to ThML automatically." [Abstract from the design document, Version 1.01, March 7, 2000]
"Theological Markup Language is "a new markup language that is being used to mark up texts for the Christian Classics Ethereal Library and other projects. This XML application can be thought of as HTML with additions for electronic books and rich digital libraries, with special support for theological needs such as scripture references and Strongs numberings. When books have been prepared in ThML, many new features will become possible in the CCEL: subject and scripture reference indexes for books and for the whole library, intelligent searching, automatic conversion to other formats, "lining up" documents in various ways such as parallel columns, and more. Most of the work of preparing electronic texts for conversion to ThML can be done in a word processor. These simple guidelines are a good starting point. ThML documents can also be prepared with an XML editor or text editor. The tools used with ThML documents run under Unix or Windows. Tools currently exist for converting from Word/RTF to ThML and from ThML to HTML webs."
[August 1998] CCEL developers are in the process of "defining an XML-based markup language for representing information important for on-line bookreading and theological study." A proposed Theological Markup Language (ThML) has been specified for use in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. An online paper "describes the Theological Markup Language, or ThML, which is a markup language for theological texts designed for use in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL), an experimental theological library on the Internet. ThML is a superset of HTML and borrows some elements from TEI. It is also designed to handle all of the semantic information in STEP-format documents (version 0.9) as well. Electronic texts for the CCEL will be prepared in Microsoft Word, using paragraph styles and XML elements to represent markup. The resulting files will be converted automatically into XML as ThML markup. These XML files may be used directly by XML-aware applications or converted into formats needed for end use, such as HTML webs, plain text files, PDF, and other formats."
References:
"ThML: Theological Markup Language for the Christian Classics Ethereal Library." By Harry Plantinga. Version 1.01, March 7, 2000. [cache]
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Contact: Harry Plantinga
