SGML support

At the DocBook TC meeting this month, I took an action to point out
that our current plans for DocBook V5.0 will probably have less
support for SGML than the current DocBook V4.x line.

Our plan of record is to work with a RELAX NG schema from which we
will generate a W3C XML Schema and an XML DTD. The DTD is not likely
to have much in the way of parameterization. It's going to be a
"compiled" product much more than a "source" product. This is a
consequence of the fact that we're taking advantage of some of the
expressive power of RELAX NG. The DTD will be significantly "looser"
than the schema.

The current 4.X line only supports SGML in a few small ways: it
supports some forms of tag minimization and a few inclusions and
exclusions. It's not clear to me that there's value in trying to
preserve this support in the V5.0 line.

The TC would very much like the community's feedback on these plans.

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

-- 
Norman Walsh <>      | Men are more like the times they
http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/ | live in than they are like their
Chair, DocBook Technical Committee | fathers.--Ali Ibn-abi-talib