| Note: in SGML, because of the moronic field length bounds, this
| scheme still requires some kludgery. Java's current <APP> tag is,
| of course, totally illegal.)
Which field length bounds are you referring to? Not being familiar
with Java or the <app> element type, I am unsure how one
is affected by the other or the 'field length bounds'.
SGML systems and applications that process the SGML
Declaration entity can adjust name lengths,
character sets, tag levels, attribute capacity, literal length etc.
The actual calculation of these values is more complex than
can be described here (e.g., actual length plus the normal
separator (NORMSEP is not a VRML separator) and
the value of the LITLEN).
Short references are available to those who want to specify a
kind of tokenization, #CONREFS (HyTime conlocs) can be used
to specify "include by reference" features, and the HyTime
extensions for ilinks can be used to create semantics (similar
to connector relationships in SQL) that relate the various elements
and other notations that might constitute "teapotness"
for example.
Many of the perceived "moronic" features sometimes attributed
to SGML result from user's exposure to the simple
HTML applications of SGML promoted on the WWW.
Others result from use of the reference concrete syntax
which is the default for SGML applications and which
was defined in the days of "much less memory". These
can all be redefined by the system application.
Smart SGML-based applications using VRML
notations can use semantic linktypes derived from HyTime
ilinks and notation locations (notlocs). Library
xeno-functions can be derived as well that rely on the
notation locations and general entity definitions. In this application
scenario, the SGML system treats a VRML server as a cooperating
peer. Other SGML systems might require less interaction
and can use simpler notation/entity/attlist definitions.
This has implications for how these components
communicate through the driver manager to the underlying
ODBMS. Of vital importance are the communications
layer protocols (persistent and transient) that provide such
services as cataloging and query translation where apriori
knowledge of the notation instance data structures is
undesirable. Something like the standard functions of an
ODBC-like layer might be preferred. These can be derived
from HyTime link and location models, architectural forms,
and property definitions.
HTML is not an issue for networked SGML systems unless they
want to preserve the Mosaic presentation style. That
would make them non-competitive quickly and OBE.
Len Bullard