************** WELCOME TO SGML NEWSWIRE *************** * * * To subscribe, send mail to sgmlinfo@avalanche.com. * * * * To receive a current table of contents, * * and instructions for ordering back issues. * * specify "send toc" in the message body. * * * * (Please pass along to interested colleagues) * * * ******************************************************* GILBANE REPORT DISCUSSES CGM, OR "SGML FOR GRAPHICS" ==================================================== SGML plays a "referential role" in a recent issue of the Gilbane Report. The feature article discusses CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) as "SGML for graphics." "One good reason to manage documents is the amount of labor that goes into creating them. Why throw that investment out when it could be reused? Often, however, the most labor intensive pieces of a document are the illustrations. While standards such as SGML have focused on capturing the skill and time put into structuring text well, doing the same for graphics has sometimes seemed an equally daunting task. Computer Graphics Metafile is arguably the best hope for a standard for interchanging illustrations and for making them more useful with an electronic document management system. CGM is smart, open and increasingly recognized as the standard to go with when the graphics are important and complex. For this issue we asked two of the best known CGM experts to explain CGM and show how it is already begin put to work." This issue also includes an abbreviated version of a whitepaper on HTML written by Eric Severson of Avalanche/Interleaf (see SGML Newswire 143.1995-01-09 for a complete copy). Gilbane Report, "CGM: SGML For Graphics?," November/December 1994. (Contact information for the Gilbane Report is attached below.) GILBANE REPORT EXAMINES THE "INTEROPERABILITY OF STANDARDS" =========================================================== Another recent issue of the Gilbane Report discusses several standards in relation to interoperability issues. In addition to the Standard Generalized Markup Language, the following standards are featured: * Shamrock Document Management Coalition * Open Document Management API * Document Enabled Networking * OpenDoc * Object Linking and Embedding * Common Object Request Broker Architecture "In the year since the Shamrock announcement at Documation '94, there has been a lot of activity in the area of standards that affect the interoperability of document information and document management applications... The most well-known information interoperability standard, SGML, was given incontestable mainstream credibility with the explosion of HTML and the World Wide Web, in addition to major new product announcements by Microsoft and Novell among others... We asked each of the consortia... representing these standards to provide us with a short article on their standard. We supplied each with an outline containing the same set of questions. We asked them to define the standard, and describe: how it fits into the document management process, how it contributes to interoperability, how it relates to other standards, how it is positioned in the market, and what the critical issues for the future are." This issue of the Gilbane Report also includes a complete update on SGML Open, the vendor consortium founded in part to promote interoperability. Gilbane Report, "Interoperability Standards -- What Are They & How Do They Relate?," January/February 1995. For more information about this report contact: Missy Mannai ptm@world.std.com 617-837-7200 ******************************************************* * SGML NEWSWIRE LIST MANAGER * * * * Linda Turner * * Avalanche/Interleaf * * 4999 Pearl East Circle * * Suite 100 * * Boulder, CO 80301 * * sgmlinfo@avalanche.com * * linda@avalanche.com * * Vox: (303) 449-5032 * * Fax: (303) 449-3246 * *******************************************************