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13.9.2 SGML

Preparation:

     # apt-get install debiandoc-sgml debiandoc-sgml-doc

References for debiandoc-sgml:

• /usr/share/doc/debiandoc-sgml-doc

• debiandoc-sgml(1)

• DocBook: The Definitive Guide, by Walsh and Muellner, (O'Reilly) (package docbook-defguide)

SGML enables management of multiple formats of a document. One easy SGML system is Debiandoc, which is used here. This requires minor conversion from original text files for the following characters:

• "<" --> &lt;

• ">" --> &gt;

• " " --> &nbsp; (nonbreakable space)

• "&" --> &amp;

• "%" --> &percnt;

• "©" --> &copy;

• "–" --> &ndash;

• "—" --> &mdash;

To mark a section as a nonprintable comment, enter:

     <!-- State issue here ... -->

To mark a section with a switchable comment, enter:

     <![ %FIXME; [ State issue here ... ]]>

In SGML, the first definition of an entity wins. For example:

     <!entity % qref "INCLUDE">
     <![ %qref; [ <!entity param "Data 1"> ]]>
     <!entity param "Data 2">
     &param;

This ends up as "Data 1". If the first line has "IGNORE" instead of "INCLUDE", this ends up as "Data 2" (the second line is a conditional statement). Also, repeating phrases can be defined in advance separately from the context.

     <!entity whoisthis "my">
     Hello &whoisthis; friend.
     This is &whoisthis; book.

This results in the following:

     Hello my friend.
     This is my book.

See the short SGML example sample.sgml in the examples.

When SGML documents become bigger, sometimes TeX which is used as the backend text processor may cause errors. See TeX/LaTeX, Section 13.9.3.

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Debian GNU/Linux Reference Guide
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