One way to achieve this goal is to use a template in XMetal that includes the DOCTYPE declaration and the XML declaration (along with any other boiler plate encoding you wish to incorporate). Otherwise, I recall that XMetaL will create a declaration sans the EAD public identifier and with the file ead.dtd specified as a path statement pointing to the copy in the Rules folder of your XMetal installation which will also cause a problem when you move your EAD instance to another system.
It is my understanding that XMetaL's .rlx files are simply binary instances of the comparable DTD file, created presumably for faster processing, a feature that goes back at least to its former SGML incarnation as Author/Editor. From a use standpoint, there seems to be little to chose one over the other except to observe that XMetal will automatically generate an rlx file the first time you invoke an instance that uses a DTD.
Michael Fox
-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Mark Carlson
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 5:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: rudimentary XMetal question
Dana, make sure that your EAD document has the proper DOCTYPE
declaration at the top. You will need to change to "plain text" view to
see it in XMetaL. It is usually placed a couple of lines from the top
of the document:
<!DOCTYPE ead PUBLIC "+//ISBN 1-931666-00-8//DTD ead.dtd (Encoded
Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002)//EN" "ead.dtd">
Note that the last part of the declaration contains only the filename
ead.dtd rather than a specific path. This is the default preference for
XMetaL; XMetaL automatically searches in the Rules folder when a
specific path is not specified. I would recommend not specifying a path
in your DOCTYPE declaration because this can cause problems if you move
your XML files between difference folders.
Dana M. Miller wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm having some minor difficulty with what I think should be a rather
> simple function of the XMetal software- setting the DTD to default to
> EAD. When I first open the program and open an existing xml document, it
> says that the file cannot be opened because a DTD could not be found, so
> I have to browse for my dtd each time. I have both an ead.dtd file and
> an ead.rlx file saved in the Rules folder in XMetal, and I've been
> choosing ead.dtd instead of rlx since I don't really understand the
> difference.
>
> I'm using the current Trial version while waiting for an upgrade to 4.6,
> but nowhere in the Help does it seem to say anything about setting a
> default DTD to use everytime I open the program. Is this actually
> something that can be done?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Dana Miller
> Technical Services Archivist
> Special Collections
> UNLV Libraries
> University of Nevada Las Vegas
> 4505 S Maryland Pkwy
> Box 457010
> Las Vegas NV 89154-7010
>
> Ph: 702-895-2234
> Fax: 702-895-2253
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
--
Mark Carlson
Computer Support Analyst
Special Collections Division
University of Washington Libraries
BOX 352900
Seattle, WA, 98195
(206) 543-1929
http://staff.washington.edu/carlsonm/
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