xml-dev - Re: hi!

[Peter@ursus.demon.co.uk (Peter Murray-Rust)]

Welcome,

In message <v01540b0aafc81699ccd6@[137.111.90.66]> ross@mpce.mq.edu.au (Ross Moore) writes:
[...]
> 
> Currently I'm putting the finishing touches on the latest version of LaTeX2HTML.

This is a noble effort.  
> 
> Later this year I hope to tackle   LaTeXML  for which I would like to be
> able to use
> existing DTDs as much as possible --- especially for portions of  MathML ---
> rather than having to write my own.

I have always admired the (La)TeX virtual community of volunteers and presumably
they will be keen to learn about XML and how it applies to LaTeX.  In which case
this represents a significant pool of potential XML-friendly hackers :-)

I'm thinking as I write, but it seems as if there should be 'a' LaTeX DTD 
(possibly modular), which interoperates with the MathML DTD.  I think it's 
important to keep them distinct because there are many people who don't use
LaTeX for maths, but as a general authoring tool.  Since MathML specifically
mentions TeX as a NOTATION, and as isomorphic to mathML in some parts, the
clear separation of all components (LaTeXML, MathML, TeX) is critical.

> 
> Having a reliable  HTML --> XML  ought to be an option too.
> 
> Indeed this would probably be the easiest way to go for a first working version,
> given the effort that has already gone into  LaTeX2HTML .

I'd agree.  LaTeX is an excellent tool, but it doesn't have the full structuring
power of XML unless it's specifically thought of at the start.  I speak from
experience as I wrote a complex book in LaTeX, with outputs as *.dvi, *.html,
and several implied conditional sections.  That was before I discovered the 
point of SGML - I spent many midnights writing programs to restructure the
book :-(
> 
> Ultimately a scheme will be needed whereby (partial) DTDs can be
> constructed automatically
> from any  \newenvironment  commands that the user devises for the LaTeX
> typeset version.

Yes - I think that a current LaTeX user can probably devise structuring
like this that makes the transformation much easier.  Among the things that are
difficult to convert are paragraph/line breaks (when not explicitly marked up)

> 
> 
> I'd love to hear from anyone else interested in:
> 
>   1.  converting existing LaTeX documents into  XML ;

I'd agree that LaTeX->HTML/XML is a useful start.  One discussion would
be whether one had to have a DTD that supported all constructs in the LaTeX
manual, or whether there was a more generic DIV-like container. Another would
be how to support user-defined macros.  Also, would you work on the authored
document, or some later normalised/expanded version (I've lost touch with
Latex2html, but I assume that it works on some normalised version which has
lost the author's macros).

For scientific technical documents this is a highly desirable goal :-)

> 
>   2.  using LaTeX syntax as a front-end to XML for documents on the Web .

Do you mean transforming XML documents into LaTeX (I tend to think of this
as a back-end) or as a way of authoring XML documents using LaTeX?  The latter
is rather similar to (1).  The second will require a transformation engine
which most people would approach through DSSSL styleheets, I imagine.

	P.

-- 
Peter Murray-Rust, domestic net connection
Virtual School of Molecular Sciences
http://www.vsms.nottingham.ac.uk/

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