SGML

[Doubledoor]

I have downloaded a file from the IRS in SGML format.
I would like to know what I need to read and/or print it?

Thanks

[Peter N. M. Hansteen]

Post by Doubledoor
I have downloaded a file from the IRS in SGML format.
I would like to know what I need to read and/or print it?

Hopefully instructions on how to use the file, including pointers to
any other files you need, are either included in comments in the file
(inside <!-- --> delimiters) or from somewhere near you found the file
itself. SGML files are basically tagged text, and should be at least
viewable with a text editor.

[Peter Flynn]

Post by Doubledoor
I have downloaded a file from the IRS in SGML format.
I would like to know what I need to read and/or print it?

You can open it in any plain text editor if all you want to do is read the
text (and you don't mind seeing all the markup as well). Even a word
processor will open the file, but it may garble it.

To do any serious work on it, you need an SGML editor. See my recent post
under "Newbie with quick (hopefully) query". You will also need the DTD
(as specified in the first line of the SGML file) plus any ancillary files
(the IRS should have told you what these are and given them to you).

To format it for printing, you need to transform it to typeset form, using
a program such as Omnimark, and then feed it to a typesetter along with a
stylesheet which says how it should look. Or transform it to HTML and open
it in a browser.

There are more tools nowadays for XML than SGML, and it's possible to
transform SGML files to XML if all you want to do is convert them for
formatting.

///Peter