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Standard Generalized Markup Language: Mathematical and philosophical issues

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Computer Science Today

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1000))

Abstract

The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), an ISO standard, has become the accepted method of defining markup conventions for text files. SGML is a metalanguage for defining grammars for textual markup in much the same way that Backus-Naur Form is a metalanguage for defining programming-language grammars. Indeed, HTML, the method of marking up a hypertext documents for the World Wide Web, is an SGML grammar. The underlying assumptions of the SGML initiative are that a logical structure of a document can be identified and that it can be indicated by the insertion of labeled matching brackets (start and end tags). Moreover, it is assumed that the nesting relationships of these tags can be described with an extended context-free grammar (the right-hand sides of productions are regular expressions). In this survey of some of the issues raised by the SGML initiative, I reexamine the underlying assumptions and address some of the theoretical questions that SGML raises. In particular, I respond to two kinds of questions. The first kind are technical: Can we decide whether tag minimization is possible? Can we decide whether a proposed content model is legal? Can we remove exceptions in a structure preserving manner? Can we decide whether two SGML grammars are equivalent?

The second kind are philosophical and foundational: What is a logical structure? What logical structures may a document have? Can logical structures always be captured by context-free nesting?

This work was supported under Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Derick Wood

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  1. Derick Wood
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Jan van Leeuwen

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© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Wood, D. (1995). Standard Generalized Markup Language: Mathematical and philosophical issues. In: van Leeuwen, J. (eds) Computer Science Today. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1000. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0015253

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0015253

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-60105-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49435-5

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