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In many cases, XML and SGML
will be used within the same architecture. Many companies in
the publishing arena have existing investments in SGML systems. There
is no reason to stop using and expanding these systems. There are also
many compelling reasons for having publishing systems use SGML in the
authoring process since there are still many things that XML was not
designed for. A common scenario in next-generation publishing systems
is the use of SGML to create and author documents, and then XML to publish
them via the Internet. XML goes beyond traditional markup XML allows the creation of software tools that can process XML objects
quickly while keeping the working set of software within reasonable
limits. This makes XML an ideal candidate for a message interchange
format between distributed applications and components. This idea, already
popular within the SGML community, gets new attention in light of XML's
capabilities. XML can be used as a transparent and efficient message format, and
yet remain readable to humans. XML messages are passed between applications
based on other established protocols such as HTTP. Working-groups inside the World Wide Web Consortium are currently investigating
the use of metadata for applications on the Internet. The Resource
Description Framework (RDF) is a work-in-progress with the goal
of defining a standard for expressing and exchanging metadata information.
RDF uses XML as the encoding syntax for its metadata. Hyperlinking can go much further. As part of the XML family, XLL is
going to provide a set of very sophisticated association mechanisms.
XLL will build on the association techniques and ideas of proven technologies,
such as HyTime and TEI-Pointers. XLL will push the idea of hyperlinking and hyper-navigation to new
levels. Next generation publishing systems will be able to draw heavily
from the new possibilities. Some of these new capabilities are: Ideally, rendering is based on some kind of stylesheet mechanism.
A stylesheet, in its most primitive form, can dictate that the header
of a chapter is to be rendered in "bold 14pt Times New Roman."
In HTML, there is no explicit style information. Browsers have hardwired
or user-configurable style information that renders a Heading One (<h1>)
for instance, in large, bold characters. The font and size are dependent
on the browser and user preferences. Three important stylesheet mechanisms
are CSS, DSSSL, and XSL. Cascading Stylesheets (CSS) Although originally designed for HTML, CSS can be applied to XML as
well. CSS is good enough for many simple publishing requirements. For
more complex publishing needs, however, more powerful features are needed. Document Style and Semantic Specification Language (DSSSL) In 1995 DSSSL was introduced. DSSSL is probably the most powerful stylesheet
mechanism ever conceived. DSSSL includes features for rendering as well
as tree-transformation. DSSSL also embeds a subset of Scheme enabling
authors to include complex programs within a stylesheet. The DSSSL formatting
model is explicitly designed to target the needs of the high-end publishing
community. As powerful as DSSSL is, it seems to face to same problem as SGML.
Due to its complexity and volume, it is not very suitable for the Internet
where processing speed and wide-spread adoption are important. eXtensible Stylesheet Language - XSL XSL uses XML as its syntax and ECMA-Script as an embedded programming
language. XSL is likely to become the stylesheet language of choice
in situations where traditional CSS stylesheets and insufficient, such
as in professional or high-end publishing on the Internet. Meta-content routing The next generation of Internet Publishing also introduces one new
and very important concept: meta-content routing. Meta-content routing
enables a publisher to make sure that the right information gets to
the right person at the right time. A meta-content router is a software module that uses, maintains and
controls a variety of different information repositories, all of which,
though conceptually different, can be kept in the same database. In
the ideal case, a Meta-content Router, such as DataChannel’s ChannelManager,
works with the following data. Channel Profiles User Profiles Group Profiles Desktop Profiles Metadata That is why systems like ChannelManager route only Meta-content. ChannelManager
notifies all 500 clients that the 20MB file is available, including
a link to it. The consumers need only to know about an information object.
It is then up to these consumers to decide how to proceed after analyzing
the Meta-content. DataChannel is the leading company in the arena of next-generation
publishing systems based on meta-content routing. DataChannel was one
of the first adopters of XML technology and is going to play a leading
role in its future. DataChannel is represented in the W3C-XML-Working Group, the W3C-RDF-Schema-Working
Group and the W3C-DOM-Interest Group. DataChannel’s representatives
have been speakers at a variety of key industry events and conferences.
DataChannel is the host of DXDE – the DataChannel XML Development
Environment – a set of components for XML application developers.
Furthermore, DataChannel maintains ChannelWorld - a unique assembly
of resources relevant to next generation standards. New formats, standards, technologies, and concepts are changing
the way publishing is done on the Internet. The transition does not
have to be abrupt. SGML will continue to play a part in document formatting.
The kinds of things that can be done with an SGML document will be greatly
expanded. The emerging stylesheet standards and XML fill gaps in Internet
publishing that have long been a thorn in the side of publishers. Possibly the biggest change in the near future is the emergence of
meta-content routing. Finally, publishers will be able to make sure
that the right information gets to the right person at the right time.
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A common scenario in next-generation publishing
systems will be to use SGML to create and author documents, and
then XML to publish them via the Internet.
The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a work-in-progress with the goal of defining a standard for expressing and exchanging metadata information. RDF uses XML as the encoding syntax for its metadata. A meta-content router is a software module that uses, maintains and controls a variety of different information repositories, all of which, though conceptually different, can be kept in the same database. The Company DataChannel Inc., based in Bellevue, Washington, is the leader in XML-enabled active content technology. DataChannel's flagship product, DataChannel RIO, simplifies the process of delivering critical information to the right people at the right time through instant distribution of organized content, the ability of anyone to save content directly to the Web, and the provision of an open API (application program interface). To find out more, visit the company's web site at www.datachannel.com. The Author Norbert H. Mikula is Senior Online Information Architect at DataChannel and author of NXP (Norbert's XML Parser), the world's first fully featured XML parser written in Java.
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