Michael:

   Regarding your comments concerning the impact of xml:

      I have seen much discussion about the expectation that xml will
provide greater
flexibility and control over document layout and presentation (through a
greater set
of tags AND through the implementation of various style sheet conventions).
I have
NOT seen much discussion about the extent to which xml will provide the kind of
split screen navigation tools that I, at least, associate as a matter of
course with
SGML.  One of the reasons that I have not been especially impressed by frames
within HTML is that while you can use a frame page to set up a series of
links, you
cannot apply the outline expansion/contraction features that seem to be a basic
part of SGML.  What can you tell me (us) about XML and navigation?

George Miles
Yale Collection of Western Americana


At 09:52 AM 9/10/97 -0500, you wrote:
>        Let me share the following information on style sheets and navigators
>in response to the numerous recent queries on the subject.  Assuming
>that most of you wish to use a helper application like Panorama
>(www.inso.com) or Multidoc Pro (www.citec.fi) with your web browser
>(Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer), I will focus on
>those products.  Other delivery methods- DynaText, Open Link, DynaWeb-
>have their own styles methods.  What I say hereafter about Panorama is
>based on personal experience; comments on Multidoc Pro are second hand
>and therefore trust that there will be additions or corrections from
>those more familiar with this product.
>
>        Panorama and Multidoc Pro seem to use the same underlying search engine
>or at least use the same type of style sheets and navigators.  These
>particular stylesheets and navigators (S&Ns) are themselves SGML-encoded
>documents, constructed according to two dtds created by Synex
>Information AB of  Sweden.  Their dtds maybe found in Panorama Pro in
>the catalog subdirectory as the files sheet.ent and nav.ent.  Panorama,
>at least, provides no direct technical documentation, such as a tag
>library, for these dtds.
>
>        As these stylesheets and navigators are simply ASCII SGML files, one
>could use a basic text editor such as the Windows Notepad to create or
>edit the S&N files.  More usefully, both Panorama Pro and Multidoc Pro
>provide an interactive editor for creating on modifying  S&Ns.  You will
>need to purchase Panorama Pro to create and edit them; the free,
>unsupported version (Panorama Free) does not include this functionality.
> (Note: this is not the same as the free demo version of Panorama Pro.
>There has been considerable confusion on this list over the fact that
>there are two "free" versions of Panorama- one an unsupported, view-only
>version and one a limited-time, but apparently fully functioning, demo
>version.)
>
>        The Panorama manual provides adequate detail for using the editor to
>produce stylesheets.  The directions for the navigator editor lack
>sufficient detail to be very helpful.   I have found the most useful
>approach to learning how to use these tools is one of reverse
>engineering.  Capture an existing stylesheet and then experiment, using
>the editor to see what happens as you make various changes.  The styles
>language and editor are actually fairly powerful.  I don't know if the
>editor in Multidoc Pro is better documented.
>
>        Where do I get sample stylesheets?  Easy.  Every time you download an
>sgml file form someplace such as the LC, Harvard, or Yale sites, you are
>downloading the stylesheet and navigator as well as the sgml instance,
>the EAD dtd and all the assorted entity files.  The files can be used
>interactively at that time and are saved on your hard drive so that you
>can come back and look at them later.  Your browser will save them the
>SGML file in a temporary directory, usually in c:\windows\temp.  Check
>the settings on your browser's configuration setup for the location.
>Panorama will save the other files, typically in its \tmp directory.
>Check the Panorama.ini file to confirm the location.  Files will have
>arbitrary names like 30.ssh, 15.dtd, and 25.ent.  Panorama Pro also
>includes several sample stylesheets and navigators in its entityrc
>subdirectory.
>
>        To test editing an existing style, just right click on an element in a
>document you have downloaded as it appears in the right frame of the
>Panorama Pro viewer.  Select Edit style and the style editor dialog box
>will appear.  Remember that the style for a particular element may have
>been set in three ways:  for that element itself in its full context
>(<archdesc><C01><C02><did><unittitle>); for the element in any context
>(<unittitle> wherever it appears); or by inheritance from the style of a
>parent or grandparent or great-grandparent element (the style
>for<C01><did><unittitle> is inherited from the style for <C01>).  You
>might try experimenting first with altering font styles, colors, and
>sizes.  Try inserting text before an element.  Go to Before|Text|Specify
>and insert \att(label)\t for <did><unittitle>.  It will insert the value
>of the attribute "label" and a tab (assuming that one has defined a
>value for this attribute in the document).
>
>        With the forthcoming xml specification we will be both free of the
>helper applications (your browser will be able to handle EAD files
>directly) and we will have a single styles language for xml.  What that
>will be has not been formally specified by the W3C group but is
>scheduled to occur this fall.   Microsoft has just announced that it has
>made a proposal but that, in accordance with W3C requirements, cannot
>comment on what it is.  There are at least three suggestions on the
>table, CCS (the styles language of html), DSSSL-O (which has its origins
>in the sgml community), and a proposal from Bitstream with which I am
>otherwise unfamiliar.   Until then we must move forward with the tools
>we have. Good luck.
>
>Michael Fox
>
>Michael Fox
>Head of Processing
>Division of Library and Archives
>Minnesota Historical Society
>Voice:  612-296-1014
>Fax:      612-296-9961
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