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Writing a Readable DTD

Conclusions: Recontextualising the Deconstructed Paradigm

Now that we've dissected the DTD and taken apart all that goes into making it the shape it should be, it's time to put it back together again.

Interproduction of Epimorphistic Conformability Considered Desirable

The heading refers to the fundamental tenet of SGML. Epimorphistic is to do with shapes, so that by epimorphistic conformability I mean the possibility of DTDs from disparate sources having the same or compatible outer forms. By encouraging this, we can hope that the DTD becomes gradually more and more accessible. Today, if you receive a new DTD, you have to learn its layout conventions in order to understand it, and this can be both time-consuming and error-prone. DTDs that are laid out for manageability and readability do exist, but they are unusual, a minority in a morass of mediocrity.

A slightly more serious way of summing up would be to say that the author hopes to have helped DTD writers and analysts to lay their DTDs out in a way that is easier to work with and that will help other users. The author would welcome comments on this or any other aspect of this paper.

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