Re: OSI Open Document Architecture

[Susan Stewart <susan -at- AVALANCHE -dot- COM>]

Kate Jarsulic wrote:

 > Has anyone out there heard of OSI Open Document Architecture?
 >
 > Or for that matter, has anyone ever heard of an international
 > interchange standard for documentation?
 >
 > We have a job that we are bidding, and the customer is requesting
 > that our documentation conforms to a type of standard. Before
 > I commit to compliance, i would like to know what it is.

Kate,

I don't know anything about OSI Open Document Architecture. You
might, however, look into Standard Generalized Markup Language
(SGML).  SGML is ISO 8879, an international standard geared
toward "making possible the exchange of information at any
level of complexity between software, hardware, storage
and presentation systems." (This is from the forward to
THE SGML HANDBOOK.)

A group of SGML users called the Davenport group is in the
process of defining a standard DTD for technical documentation.
The DocBook DTD defines structural SGML markup for computer
documentation and technical books.

There's also a group for SGML vendors interested in the development
of the technology. They're called SGML open.

All of this has probably left you with more questions than you
started out with. If you'd like to know who to contact for
more information about the standard or the working groups,
send me a direct message and I'll give you some names,
phone numbers, or email addresses.

Susan Stewart
susan -at- avalanche -dot- com