DOCBOOK-APPS: doclifter 1.0.0 released - converts man pages to DocBook

[Michael Smith <smith@xml-doc.org>]

Eric S. Raymond recently released v1.0.0 of doclifter, a Python 2.2
utility that converts man pages and other troff/nroff/groff documents to
DocBook XML and SGML. I wrote up a short news item about it:

  http://xmlhack.com/read.php?item=1749

Here's a summary of the main features:

  * converts man, mandoc, ms, me, and TkMan page sources

  * parses command/function synopses and converts them into DocBook
    markup (using Cmdsynopsis, Arg, Replaceable etc. elements)

  * recognizes 'stereotyped' patterns of markup and content (such as the
    use of italics in a FILES section to mark filenames) and 'lifts'
    them into DocBook markup

  * recognizes things such as URLs, email addresses, man page
    references, and C program listings, and lifts them into DocBook

  * maintains a record of semantic 'hints' it picks up from
    analyzing source docs (especially from command/function synopses),
    and provides a means to edit, add to, and save that record