msa@clinet.FI (Markku Savela) (10/25/87)
<quote>
In article <21357@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> fair@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU (Erik E. Fair) writes:
[...]
2. Netnews presentation
[...]
The second issue is a bit more thorny. Taken to logical extreme,
we need to write articles in some formatting or page description
language, which the user interfaces interpret for whatever display
the user is using. SGML, anyone? Or perhaps {n,t,dit}roff? Maybe
PostScript?
</quote>
I would think the SGML is the best bet. It is should not be
a very hard problem to define a "USENET Tagging System"
which wouldn't require much change to the normal article
writing style. (This article is an example of tagged article,
kind of -- don't take this too literally.)
Empty line(s) (whether they contain spaces/tabs or not) are
defined as paragraph separators. I don't know enough of SGML
to say whether the standard quoting style (">"-marks) could
be defined for SGML (preserving the format tags of the
original quoted text). Also, the signature (usually a work of
art?) should begin with some specific tag (perhaps a "--"
alone on the line?).
SGML wouldn't much clutter up the normal article. It would be
quite readable even without the formatter. PostScript is not
suitable, because it's an output description language -- you
cannot reformat it. (nt)roff like codings are hard to read
without formatting them first and would require too much
trouble from the article writer.
With universal usenet tagging system (is it UUTS? :-) any
newsreader program could adjust to the requirements of the
current terminal (or any output device: photocomposer,
laserwriter, etc).
And what about archieving? With tagging the archiver program
would know which parts of the message are quote, body text,
signature and any other types we care to invent.
<btw> In which news group should we start discussing about
full text retrieval programs? I tried a while ago
to post a message into comp.sys.databases, but the
responce was a silence. I see the issues discussed
in this message and archiving very closely related.
--
Note: I cannot send direct mail from this host (clinet)
UUCP: msa@clinet.FI (Markku Savela)
Nokia Information Systems Tel.Int. +358 0 455 71
P.O.BOX 780 SF-00101 HELSINKI, FINLANDdaveb@geac.UUCP (10/28/87)
I like the idea (SGML generalizes easily), but I'd like to see a
means of making the use of such transparent (or relatively
transparent) to non sgml-conversant systems.
I'd like to see a minimum of tags and a maximum of inference from
context, because the news reader I'm using will probably fall out of
use long after SGML does (or does not) become popular.
--dave
--
David Collier-Brown. {mnetor|yetti|utgpu}!geac!daveb
Geac Computers International Inc., | Computer Science loses its
350 Steelcase Road,Markham, Ontario, | memory (if not its mind)
CANADA, L3R 1B3 (416) 475-0525 x3279 | every 6 months.dmcanzi@watdcsu.UUCP (10/28/87)
Let's not add knowledge of a text formatting system to the list of things a person needs to know in order to post articles. -- David Canzi