[DOC-SIG] Documentation formats

[Paul Prescod]

Jim Fulton wrote:
> Both Frame and Word let you create documents based on structural
> elements.

That's true, but those structural elements cannot nest and their
occurrences cannot be restricted (e.g. emph in emph).

> So you can define and preserve structure while working in a WYSIWYG
> environment.

I didn't dispute that. I pointed out that you must still think about
structure. In fact, you must think about it not just as much as you
would in an SGML editor, but more, because the editor gives you no help
in proper usage. This seems like the worst of all possible worlds to me.
More work, more thinking, no more freedom (which is what we usually
expect of a WYSIWYG editor).

The best of all possible worlds (for structured documentation) is a high
quality SGML-specific word processor. Frame+SGML comes close.

 Paul Prescod


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