Interoperability (was " Nested DTDs")

[DuCharme, Robert]

>>Probably because people believed that SGML tools would be fairly
>>important in XML work, at least in the beginning.  Except for nsgmls
>>as a validity checker, I don't believe that turned out to be the case.

>Hmm, except maybe the editor vendors - I noticed hastily-lettered
>"XML" flags lashed to the masts of SoftQuad, ArborText, Stilo, 
>etc etc etc 

(and FrameMaker+SGML...) Once we add Omnimark to this list of SGML
tools, I think it shows that it *did* turn out to be the case. xml-dev
has focused on brand new tools developed for XML development, especially
around Java and Python, but while these were being assembled from the
ground up, many tools already used in large production systems were
ready to hit the ground running with XML, and did. It wasn't always
simple--some tools didn't understand James Clark's XML SGML declaration
as they should have, requiring some tweaking--but it worked, and people
got work done. Because they were essentially processing one more flavor
of SGML, it was hard to put the kind of  "groundbreaking app!" spin on
them that got them the publicity of more high profile XML applications,
but they're out there. 

It also made the transition from SGML to XML much, much smoother to
implement for shops who saw an advantage in making the migration. Again,
while there was no reason for such operations to make the trade press,
there are plenty of them out there, and it has speeded XML's growth.

Bob DuCharme          www.snee.com/bob           <bob@  
snee.com>  "The elements be kind to thee, and make thy
spirits all of comfort!" Anthony and Cleopatra, III ii

Bob DuCharme          www.snee.com/bob           <bob@  
snee.com>  "The elements be kind to thee, and make thy
spirits all of comfort!" Anthony and Cleopatra, III ii


xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, mailto:xml-dev at ic.ac.uk
Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/ and on CD-ROM/ISBN 981-02-3594-1
To (un)subscribe, mailto:majordomo at ic.ac.uk the following message;
(un)subscribe xml-dev
To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo at ic.ac.uk the following message;
subscribe xml-dev-digest
List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa at ic.ac.uk)