*************************************************************** ****************** WELCOME TO SGML NEWSWIRE ******************* *************************************************************** * * * To subscribe, send mail to sgmlinfo@avalanche.com * * * * (Please pass along to interested colleagues) * * * *************************************************************** PARADIGM SHIFT CASE STUDIES =========================== Today's SGML feature story: Patricia Seybold's 5 May 1993 issue of _Paradigm Shift_ newsletter, titled, "Building Document-Based Applications: Is there a role for SGML in the mainstream?," is completely devoted to SGML and related issues. In an audio tape "accompanying this issue, you'll hear the two user case studies [Plunkett & Cooney and Allied Signal Aerospace], plus a discussion about SGML with Avalanche's Haviland Wright and Chris Locke. We talk about why SGML is strategically important, what it is, how it's used, and we assess the current state of the tools and utilities for SGML." Here's an excerpt of part of the discussion by Chris Locke: "This is the ascendant form of information. Collaboration is not something you do because it's cool; it's something you do because you need innovation and insight into business in order to be able to compete in the international competitive pressure we're feeling right now. If you don't do those things, your ass is grass, in the vernacular... If you see the value of this information, get into SGML real fast because that lets you play this game... of dealing with narrative information resources that are now driving not only your business but everybody else's business on this planet." The first excerpt below is taken from Patricia Seybold's introduction; the second two come from the case studies. Why Isn't SGML Widely Adopted? First, most people who even know about this standard think of it as a mark-up language that was created for technical documentation and other publishing applications. Therefore, SGML is not taken seriously outside the publishing world. Second, the tools and utilities that currently exist for creating SGML applications are quite esoteric. And third, many of the suppliers of popular software don't support the SGML standard (e.g., Microsoft, Lotus et al.). However, this picture is just beginning to change. WordPerfect has announced an SGML companion product. Folio has also introduced an SGML-aware version of FolioViews, and, as we'll hear in this issue, Information Dimension's Basis-Plus is also moving toward SGML support and the FastTag product from Avalanche makes it more straightforward than ever before to begin converting word processing documents into the SGML standard..." The first case study, "Capturing and Leveraging Corporate Knowledge: Law firm uses combined relational and text DBMS as an applications foundation," includes an interview with Barbara Ciaramitaro of Plunkett & Cooney: Wanted: Virtual Documents What Ciaramitaro wants to be able to do next is "...to be able to create custom documents" with complete version control. "With SGML, you'd no longer be cutting and pasting from multiple versions of different documents that were designed for different purposes. You'd be able to create a custom document based on a query." The second case study interview, "Implementing an SGML-Based Strategy: Allied Signal gains formatting flexibility and leverages corporate knowledge," features Wayne Bush from Allied Signal Aerospace: Charter: Process Automation for Engineering Support [Wayne Bush's] specialty is streamlining document production. When he started his automation project, Bush's mission was twofold: accelerate the proposal writing/document production process and build an online historical archive of the group's work... "Probably the most important standard that we found was SGML -- the Standard Generalized Mark-up Language -- for the text... Text is the heart. It's the foundation of the documents that we prepare...so we knew that text was going to be one of the most difficult things handle. We decided that the best way to be able to control text, route text, to all these different platforms, to be able to manage that text, was to go to a text standard that was completely independent of format." Contact information: Patricia Seybold Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Paradigm Shift 148 State Street 7th Floor Boston, MA 02109 Telephone/Reprint information: (617) 742-5200 Barbara Ciaramitaro Manager, Information Systems Training and Development Plunkett & Cooney 900 Marquette Building Detroit, MI 48226-32600 Telephone: (313) 965-4892 Fax: (313) 983-4350 Wayne Bush Systems Analyst Allied Signal Aerospace Company 111 S. 34th Street P.O. Box 52181 Phoenix, AZ 85072-2181 Telephone: (602) 231-5769 Fax: (602) 231-7722 Haviland Wright, President Chris Locke, Vice President, Business Development Avalanche Development Company 947 Walnut Street Boulder, CO 80302 Telephone: (303) 449-5032 Fax: (303) 449-3246 Email: sgmlinfo@avalanche.com ************************************************************** * SGML NEWSWIRE LIST MANAGER * * * * Linda Turner * * Corporate Communications * * Avalanche * * 947 Walnut Street * * Boulder, CO 80302 * * sgmlinfo@avalanche.com * * linda@avalanche.com * * Vox: (303) 449-5032 * * Fax: (303) 449-3246 * **************************************************************