AS/NZS 4110:1993

Describes a set of functions which an SGML syntax-directed editing system may have in order to help users manipulate documents marked up according to the rules of SGML. This Standard is identical with and has been reproduced from ISO/IEC TR 10037:1991.

This Technical Report describes a set of functions which an SGML syntax-directed editing system may have in order to help users manipulate documents marked up according to the rules of SGML. These functions may be embodied in a special-purpose editing system, or they could be added to those functions already present in an existing text-entry or editing system. In either case the result would be a syntax-directed editing system that is optimized for the manipulation of SGML documents.The Technical Report contains two major clauses. The first and larger clause describes the functions ofan SGML syntax-directed editing system as applied to document processing (that is, the creation, viewing, and modification of an SGML source document instance). The second clause identifies those additional facilities felt to be appropriate for DTD processing. The editing of SGML declarations is not covered.This Technical Report does not specify a "standard editing system". Any references to specific functions relating to general editing (such as insertion, deletion, or the changing of data) are made only for clarity. They do not imply any particular procedure for performing such functions, but simply indicate that their existence is presumed. The methodology for the implementation of editing functions is left to the ingenuity of the implementor. Similarly, this Technical Report is primarily aimed at the creator of "text" documents. Although SGML can be used for describing a wide variety of data (including databases, spreadsheets, mathematics, and even music), these uses are not directly considered in this Technical Report.This Technical Report is intended to be useful to two categories of readers:a) People who are specifying or selecting an editing system for use with SGML documents.b) People who are implementing an SGML syntax-directed editing system.As such it describes a variety of facilities- some essential and some more esoteric - which may be found useful in an SGML syntax-directed editing system. By comparing the facilities available in an SGML editing system with those described here, the reader can gauge its capabilities. It is assumed that readers are familiar with the concepts and terminology of SGML; the definitions of many of the terms used in the Technical Report may be found in ISO 8879.Most of the requirements for an SGML syntax-directed editing system are sufficiently generic that they can be implemented using a wide variety of display and entry devices. These include both text and graphics displays (whether monochrome or colour), keyboards with or without special "function" keys, mice and other pointing devices, and potentially even voice recognition and sound generation machinery. It is expected that an SGML syntax-directed editing system will take full advantage of the facilities of the devices available in a way that is natural to the users of the system.Although the editing system may be primarily designed for the manipulation of SGML documents and DTDs, nothing in this Technical Report necessarily prevents its use with non-SGML documents (or, indeed, other data such as computer programs). However, it must be noted that the special SGML functions described in this Technical Report may not be appropriate for documents that do not use SGML syntax.

First published as Joint Standard AS/NZS 4110:1993.