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Subject:Re: Information needed From:Chet Ensign <Chet_Ensign%LDS -at- NOTES -dot- WORLDCOM -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 22 Dec 1994 14:52:10 EDT
Corinne Sandy asks:
<--
Also, would someone be so kind as to inform me what SGML is? This was also
brought up, and she stated that you can go to a certification program or
something to learn the standards.(?????) Please advise.
-->
Corinne,
Sounds like you are interviewing with an employer using, or interested in
using, SGML to produce electronic documentation.
SGML is Standard Generalized Markup Language. It is an ISO standard (ISO 8879)
that technically defines a method for creating markup languages. It is based on
the idea that you define a language that "formats" a document using tags that
identify *what* each piece of text is instead of describing what it is supposed
to look like. By abstracting the structure of the document's data from its
presentation, you make it possible to generate different presentations with
computer programs instead of human beings.
The two most widely known markup languages that have been defined using SGML
are CALS, the Dept. of Defense standard, and HTML (HyperText Markup Language),
the markup language used for the WWW (the World Wide Web).
Various organizations teach courses on SGML, but there is no certification
program as such. Books to get you started are "Practical SGML" by Eric Van
Herwinjen and "SGML: An Author's Guide to the Standard Generalized Markup
Language" by Martin Bryan. You'll probably have to special order them because
this is a fairly esoteric subject.
