Travis and Waldt: SGML Implementation Guide

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From: "Brian E. Travis" <btravis@sgml.com>
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Subject: New Book: The SGML Implementation Guide
Date: 9 May 1995 02:08:28 GMT
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The SGML Implementation Guide, by Brian E. Travis and Dale C. Waldt is  
available for evaluation at

   http://www.sgml.com/SGMLImplementationGuide

This site contains the complete text of Chapter 1 and Appendix 6,  
and the introductions from the rest of the chapters.

This is the book we needed when we started installing SGML systems for  
our employers and clients. When we decided to write the book, we  
gathered years worth of notes, slides, presentation materials, DTDs,  
programs, and everything else we could find that would remind us what  
it was like to learn about SGML. Like the title indicates, this is a  
book for the person who actually needs to implement SGML in their  
organization.

About half of the book covers the SGML language from a technical  
standpoint, and half covers other implementation issues like building a  
business case and converting your data to SGML. A chapter on Document  
Analysis and another on Building the DTD should be especially helpful  
to the first-time SGML user. My favorite is Chapter 10 -- Understanding  
SGML, where we describe each of the markup and declaration types with  
many real-life examples. I have already used this chapter on several  
occasions in my daily work. Very handy.

Chapter 12 -- Tipniques and Pratfalls has dozens of tips and techniques  
(Tipniques) and pitfalls and practicies (Pratfalls) that we and others  
have used while implementing SGML systems. Again, there are many  
examples of coding and use of the language.

This is not an academic treatise on the language. We spend much more  
time on certain areas that we think are important to the real-life  
implementor than we do on features that we don't think are very  
important. There is an example or illustration on virtually every page,  
and SGML coding examples have been parsed for accuracy using a  
self-parsing technique described in one of the case studies (Appendix  
4).

The book should be available from Springer-Verlag around the end of  
June, 1995. You can order the book now at +1 800-800-777-4643,  
extension 599.

Table of Contents

Part 1 -- The Business Issues
Chapter 1 -- Your Publishing System is Broken!
Chapter 2 -- Evolution of Publishing Systems
Chapter 3 -- Desktop Publishing and Professional Publishing Systems
Chapter 4 -- The SGML Environment

Part 2 -- The Project
Chapter 5 -- Document Analysis
Chapter 6 -- The SGML Application
Chapter 7 -- Implementation Planning
Chapter 8 -- Information Conversion
Chapter 9 -- SGML Data Management and Workflow

Part 3 -- The Language
Chapter 10 -- Understanding SGML
Chapter 11 -- Building the DTD
Chapter 12 -- Tipniques and Pratfalls

Part 4 -- Appendices
Appendix 1 -- Case Study: RIA TIGRE System
Appendix 2 -- Case Study: Kodak Technical Information Documentation
Appendix 3 -- Case Study: Douglas Aircraft Company
Appendix 4 -- Colophon: How this Book was Produced
Appendix 5 -- Brian and Dale's Excellent DTD
Appendix 6 -- Fully Commented SGML Declaration
Appendix 7 -- Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
Appendix 8 -- SGML Resources
Appendix 9 -- Addresses of SGML Companies


The SGML Implementation Guide, by Brian E. Travis and Dale C. Waldt,  
525pp, US$49, Springer-Verlag, ISBN: 0-387-57730-0

--  
Brian E. Travis                                 btravis@sgml.com
President, Information Architects, Inc.       Tele: 303 766-1336
Managing Editor, <TAG> The SGML Newsletter     Fax: 303 680-4906