An introduction to SGML and other markup languages such as XML and HTML can be found in the HTML and XML section on page 205. While XML and HTML has been used mainly to create online documents, such as online help or web pages, SGML has traditionally been used for large volume documentation projects.

SGML has been a standard format in the automotive and aerospace industries for years, for example, and is now gaining popularity among software publishers who recognize the merits of SGML. Many software publishers, however, prefer to work with XML, which is a less complicated subset of SGML.

One of biggest advantages of SGML is single-source publishing. Documentation written in SGML typically consists of a structured information repository which can be output to a variety of formats, such as H'TML for on-screen display, PDF for online distribution,

or PostScript for printing. This is possible because formatting information is stríctly separated from content. SGML databases only contain information and the structure in which the information is written. All information is stored separately from any encoding

that will be used to determined its final printed or displayed form.

In SGML projects, translatable text is stored in SGML files, formatting and layout information in DSSSL files, Document Style Semantics and Specification Language. Document Type Definition (DTD) files describe the structure of the SGML documents

and define the tags used in the SGML, code.

To translate an SGML project, follow these guidelines:

• Text should be exported from the SGML authoring tool, such as Arbortext Epic Editor or Adobe FrameMaker+SGML. This tool is often integrated in a content or document management system.

• Text should be imported into a translation memory (TM) tool, where the DTD will indicate to the TM tool which markup tags contain translatable text.

• After translation, the translated text should be re-imported into the SGML authoring environment.

• Localized graphics should be stored in the document management system.

• The DSSSL file may require some adjustments for non-Roman languages.

• The translated text is output to the required format.

Once the text is output, some additional desktop publishing or layout work may be necessary, depending on the output format and language.

Since there is no real standard authoring environment for SGML, and it is unlikely that translators will ever work directly in an SGML environment because of its complexity, no tools are discussed in this section. For more information on how text in markup

languages are translated.

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