Re: Conversion of Word documents to structured frame documents

[Hedley_S_Finger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Gents:

Theology has never been my pastime of choice.

> [Dan]
>> My understanding is that if a structured document was created with
FM+SGML,
>> and you want to export it to XML, you must use the Create and Apply
Formats
>> utility, which creates new paragraph tags for each EDD-specified
variation
>> in the base paragraph format. Then, you must map each such paragraph tag
in
>> the same manner that's required for converting an unstructured doc to
HTML.
>> If I'm incorrect about this, I'd appreciate knowing about it. But if I'm
>> correct, then it's a tepid solution.
>
> [Marcus]
>I don't know enough about this to be authoratative either, but I don't
believe that
>it's as complicated as you've outlined, especially for SGML documents -
can someone
>else jump in?
>

If you have created a structured document in FM+SGML, then you can export a
DTD that maps the EDD. You can use an XML-aware editor to create a
conforming instance document that FM+SGML can import and map the EDD
element definitions and format rules to.  I do not see why you need to
create a para/char tag for each element in the EDD -- or are we still
pursuing the chimera of converting SGML<-->Word in a round trip?

Arguing about whether Microsoft will take over the world because FM+SGML
and Word can't cleanly round trip is like arguing how many camels can be
taught to ride bicycles -- fascinating but pointless.  Does Dan seriously
contend that Ericssons (100 000 employees), HP (96 000 employees), Boeing
and other civilian and military manufacturers everywhere, the Australian
Defence Forces and other militias everywhere, the Australian Federal
Parliament and national legislatures everywhere, Melbourne University (35
000 undergraduates) and other universities everywhere (are you getting my
drift by now), are going to dump FM+SGML for Word?

Consider that in all these cases, FM+SGML is only one component plugged
into a much larger SGML based system.  In the case of Melbourne University,
they have a database of subject descriptions from which they generate SGML
output that is imported into FM+SGML to produce a fully indexed,
cross-referenced, and hyperlinked course handbook in print, a PDF file, and
a set of Web pages. The original description of a new course may be
prepared in Word, emacs, Island Graphics Write, or whatever, but once in
the system, updates are done by the publishing section.  Word isn't even a
consideration because it could never be a direct plug-in replacement for
FM+SGML

That is, all these FM+SGML users might consider Word if it could do SGML
and XML, and interface to their **other existing** SGML processes as well
as FM+SGML does.  How do these organizations solve their round-trip
problem?  Very easy, they just don't bother.  The hypothetical engineer who
insisted on marking up the review himself could (a) do it in FM+SGML, (b)
mark up a printout, (c) add Post-It notes to a PDF file, or (d) ship out.
No problem.

Regards,
Hedley



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