These tools (with the noted exception of SGMLS - a superb product courtesy
of James Clark) have been produced by SGML Systems Engineering to aid in
the processes of importing SGML documents into Folio Views 3.0 (FV) and
exporting documents from existing infobases as valid SGML instances.

These tools are the first in a line of what will hopefully evolve into a
suite of tools to provide generalised SGML import/export facilities
to/from FV. They should not be regarded at present as offering such
generalised functionality, as this was not their design aim. They are
offered at present as public domain tools. There are no licence terms or
requirements for the tools produced by SGML Systems Engineering.
Basically, you may do with them what you want, but I accept no
responsibilty for anything!  The file LICENCE contains the licence
conditions for SGMLS.  There is no guarantee that future tools will also
be offered in the public domain, or, indeed, that they will ever actually
materialise.

FILELIST

When you unzip the file fv3sgml.zip you should find the following files :

flatfile.dtd   -    a dtd expressing the semantics of a FV 3.0 flatfile
views30.ent    -    entity declarations
readme         -    this file
concepts       -    explains a little of the concepts behind these tools
instal         -    installation instructions and example usage
licence        -    licence conditions for SGMLS
sgmls.exe      -    DOS executable of SGMLS 1.1 (public domain SGML parser)
sgmls.doc      -    documentation file for SGMLS 1.1
fff2sgml.exe   -    produces an SGML file conforming to the flatfile DTD
                    from a FV 3.0 flatfile
fff2sgml.doc   -    documentation file for fff2sgml
cleansgm.exe   -    cleans up SGML files produced by fff2sgml
cleansgm.doc   -    documentation file for cleansgm
sgml2fff.exe   -    produces a FV 3.0 flatfile from an SGML file
                    conforming to the flatfile DTD
sgml2fff.doc   -    documentation file for sgml2fff


CURRENT STATUS

These tools are very much, at present, in the testing stage. They have
been tested exhaustively on the infobases I have been able to obtain, and
perform correctly on these. However, because of the seeming variability
between the Folio documentation and what may actually be contained in a
flatfile, no guarantees are offered. It is recommended that all data files
are first backed-up and archived, and that the tools be run at present
only on a standalone PC. Because of the very basic error trapping at
present, and the extensive use of pointers, if anything unforseen is
encountered in a flatfile, the tools fff2sgml, cleansgm and sgml2fff may
do one of four things :

a) if the problem is correctable, simply report it in the error file and
continue

b) stop with a FATAL ERROR message

c) loop infinitely (it is recommended that the line counter is left on so
that this condition may be detected by seeing the line counter stop)

d) hang the machine or, in some really terminal cases, reboot the machine

The next release will contain more extensive error-handling capabilities
which should alleviate the worst of these problems. How extensive these
are will depend a lot upon the feedback obtained from people trying these
current tools.  So please, whatever your experiences with these, let me
know.

All bugs, queries or suggestions (all feedback appreciated) should be
directed to Bruce Hunter via either Internet (bruce@sgml.dircon.co.uk)
or Compuserve (100117,1357).