ericc@a.cs.okstate.edu (Eric Cloninger) (11/12/89)
This is a summary of the responses I received following my posting
several weeks ago concerning the existence of an SGML Lex/Yacc
spec. Several persons e-mailed me for my results so here they are.
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From: "John E. Koontz" <koontz@alpha.bldr.nist.gov>
To: ericc@a.cs.okstate.edu
Subject: Parsing SGML
Keywords: SGML,parsing
For what it is worth, ArborText has a WYSIWYG word processor/publisher on
Sun equipment that can import TeX and SGML. Somehow they must parse SGML.
Their address is ArborText, Inc., 535 West William St., Suite 300, Ann
Arbor, MI 48103. My only connection with this product is having read some
of the advertising copy.
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Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 13:35:00 MET
From: Jos Warmer <jos@cs.vu.nl>
To: ericc@a.cs.okstate.edu
Cc: jos@cs.vu.nl, sylvia@cs.vu.nl
Subject: Re: SGML Lex/Yacc Specs Wanted
In answer to your question about LEX/YACC specifications for SGML.
It is impossible to spefify SGML in LEX and YACC.
SGML contains many aspects than you can not specify in lex an dacc.
We have implemented an SGML Parser, so we should know.
At the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, we have developed an SGML parser.
This parser is perfectly suitable for converting SGML documents
to some other format.
This parser is available to universities and educational institutions,
for non- commercial use, for $500.
For commercial companies, it is available at a much higher price.
The Amsterdam SGML Parser comes with complete source code and technical
documentation.
It is developed under SUN Unix, and has been ported to VAX/VMS for
use within Elsevier Science Publishers.
It is written in K&R C and easily portable to other unix-flavors
or any system with decent C compiler and linked.
A paper describing SGML and the parser will appear in the december issue of
EP-ODD (Electronic Publishing).
If you are interested, we will send you a copy of this paper and the
contract for obtaining the parser.
Jos Warmer
jos@cs.vu.nl
...uunet!mcvax!cs.vu.nl!jos
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Date: Fri, 3 Nov 89 21:15:44 EST
From: levisonm@qucis.queensu.ca
To: ericc@a.cs.okstate.edu
Subject: SGML
I have written a program that parses SGML
and converts the document into the format we
need for our database. The compnay which supplied
us with the parsing routines is called Exoterica
Software Exoterica Corporation
383 Parkdale Avenue, Suite 406
Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4R4
Canada
Phone (613) 722-7100
Fax (613) 722-5706
I have been using this product for 20 months
and I am quite satisfied with the results. I
didn't purchase myself so I have no idea about
cost. My manual has confidential stamped all
over it so I think that is all I can safely say.
My only connection with Exoterica is that I have
used and enjoyed their product.
Good Luck
Mark Levison
levisonm@qucis.queensu.ca
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And finally...
After posting my original message, I received a phone
call from a gentleman representing SoftQuad, a company
in Toronto, I believe (Excuse me for not remembering,
I'm at home now). Apparently they represnt a company
that has created one of a handful of SGML parsers. They
also create a Macintosh SGML editor that I remember being
reviewed with good remarks in MacWorld or MacUser.
They monitor UseNet and any posting to this newsgroup
concerning them would probably result in an informative phone
call within 48 hours. I have no association with SoftQuad
other than that I was extremely pleased with the response I
received from them and the information they were willing to
impart.
Thanks again to one and all who answered my queries.
Eric Cloninger
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