Merging Object Oriented Design and SGML Architectures

[Rick Jelliffe]

Check out  www.sil.org/sgml  website: there are thousands of references and
links.


Rick Jelliffe
    -----Original Message-----
    From: owner-xml-dev at ic.ac.uk [mailto:owner-xml-dev at ic.ac.uk]On Behalf Of
Amit Rekhi
    Sent: Monday, 13 July 1998 14:55
    To: XML Mail List
    Cc: Rick Jelliffe
    Subject: Re: Merging Object Oriented Design and SGML Architectures


    Rick,
                Thanx for the info.

    > Instead have put in chapter 3 "Software Engineering"  a summary of
various
    > methodologies used in practise for developing DTDs.

    If you could kindly guide me to any URLs regarding Software Engineering
Methodologies used for DTDs.

    Thanx in advance,



AMIT







        -----Original Message-----
        From: Rick Jelliffe <ricko at allette.com.au>
        To: XML Mail List <xml-dev at ic.ac.uk>
        Date: Sunday, July 12, 1998 5:28 PM
        Subject: RE: Merging Object Oriented Design and SGML Architectures


        The big fat Cue book (I think it is called "Using SGML") has a
chapter relating Smalltalk to SGML.

        Steve Newcomb has pointed out (reference lost-sorry) that SGML/XML
and OO to a large extent have dissimilar goals, in that SGML/XML (i.e.
generic markup) are attempts to (allow you to) have your data INDEPENDENT of
particular methods while OO is an attempt to bundle methods with data.
However, since the introduction of the PI target in XML, it is better to say
that SGML/XML are attempts to (allow you to) have your data in a form which
allows multiple methods to be attached.

        The big fat Holzer book  (I think it is called "XML Complete") is
full of code and analysis relating Java to XML. (But the reviews on
amazon.com suggest that it may relate to a superceded version of MSXML too
much.)

        In a sense, a lot of the questions about OO and XML may already be
answered, in that XML/SGML embody a particular document system design
methodology (i.e. generalized markup) and because common parsers will be
using three APIs:
            * SAX, which XML-DEV contributed to
            * DOM, see www.w3.org/TR
            * GROVES: this is the big daddy of them all, and is not so much
an API as an analysis of the properties needed for a complete and general
SGML/XML/HyTime "parse tree". (In fact any data format whcih can be parsed
into a tree with inter-node directed-graph arcs can be represented by GROVE,
e.g. CGM the graphics format. Using the same GROVE concept allows navigation
languages like Xptr to be defined that can locate particular nodes in the
tree, regardless of what notation the tree was parsed from.) The GROVES
information is at
http://www.ornl.gov/sgml/wg8/docs/n1920/html/clause-7.1.html#clause-7.1.4
might be useful place to start.

        My big fat book, The XML and SGML Cookbook, does not have much OO in
it (intentionally: there is no progamming code in it). Instead have put in
chapter 3 "Software Engineering"  a summary of various methodologies used in
practise for developing DTDs. This is because once you have the generalized
model OK, you can add methods (explicitly by using #FIXED attributes in the
DTD, or by invoking a CSS-like stylesheet where there is an element type to
contain mthod code or location, or by using PIs.)   So the emphasis is that
the more richly and appropriately your data is marked up, the less
programming work (including OO analysis and design) there is to do.

        There is a widespread feeling in the SGML world that you should mark
up data independent of any particular use of it. However, I certainly
believe that a good DTD design will be informed by the known and potential
uses of the data. In a way it comes down to whether you view XML as a
"serialization format" format, where it is just dumping data from a known
schema and known application, or whether it is "markup language" where you
want to expose interesting and useful information to make life simpler for
future software development.

        Rick Jelliffe
            -----Original Message-----
            From: owner-xml-dev at ic.ac.uk [mailto:owner-xml-dev at ic.ac.uk]On
Behalf Of Amit Rekhi
            Sent: Friday, 10 July 1998 23:12
            To: XML Mail List
            Subject: Merging Object Oriented Design and SGML Architectures


            Hello,
                        Could anyone please guide to articles/technical
notes regarding OOD and SGML Architectures.
                        Any help will be greatly appreciated
                        Thanx,


AMIT

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