SGML and exceptions
The standard generalized markup language (SGML) allows users to define document type definitions (DTDs) which are, essentially, extended context-free grammars (CFGs) in a notation similar to extended Backus-Naur form. The right-hand side of a DTD production is called a content model, and its semantics can be modified by exceptions. Since defining e.g. the placement of sidebars, figures, equations, footnotes and similar objects in a DTD on the basis of usual grammatical approach is laborious, exceptions provide a concise, alternative, and formal mechanism. The main goals of the present paper are the following: (1) to give rigorous definitions for the meaning of exceptions, (2) to provide algorithms for transforming grammars with exceptions into grammars without exceptions, and (3) to obtain correctness proofs of the proposed methods, entailing that exceptions do not increase the expressiveness of the SGML DTDs. The usefulness of these facts involve several interesting aspects: (a) These results contribute to the theory of extended CFGs and SGML DTDs. (b) They show how exceptions can be eliminated through structurally equivalent grammars and DTDs, while preserving their SGML unambiguity. (c) The authors demonstrate how to eliminate the exceptions and to produce a final DTD design without exceptions, before any document instances are created. (d) Exceptions represent a powerful notation, and eliminating them may cause an exponential growth in the size of a DTD. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0879.00058].
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