Re:More syntax details in HTML 2.0?

Christophe ESPERT (espert@cln46ib.der.edf.fr)
Wed, 14 Jun 95 10:54:07 EDT

I do not think syntax details would be relevant here. If you say that HTML
is an application of SGML then you constrain yourself to the syntactical
and lexical constructs of SGML.
As for people who would like to write HTML parsers, I don't think you have
to do that. The reason is that there are now at least 4 SGML parsers in
the public domain that you can use. The reason for using an SGML parser is
that it will be a lot easier to adapt to any changes made to the HTML DTD
and you will not have to wonder what to do when encountering record ends
in documents for instance.
The SGML parsers in question are:
- SGMLS which is in fact a validator.
- YASP which is a validating SGML parser with a well documented API.
If you need the documentation I have it in PDF and RTF
(not in SGML for the moment sorry :-)
- ObjectSGML, which is a validating SGML parser (with an API)
- SP, which has been provided by James Clark (with an API)
All these parsers are available at ftp://ftp.ifi.uio.no/pub/SGML, which is
the FTP site maintained by Erik Naggum.
All the parsers with an API can be easily integrated in HTML converters,
browsers and editors.
It would really be a loss of time to rewrite all that is already in the
SGML standard regarding lexical and syntactical issues and also a loss of
time to write HTML parsers. It is easier to learn how to use an already
existing API to an SGML parser.
Best regards,
Christophe

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Christophe Espert - E-mail: espert@cln46fw.der.edf.fr
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