Almost every piece of software comes with a file called ReadMe.1st The concept is that the user should do what the file name is asking, in order to install and use the software effectively. There is a corresponding concept for programmers: That is, every document must be parsed before it can be processed. You're parsing this one as you read it, breaking up the sentences into their constituent parts.

In many ways, parsing is the Achilles heel of document processing software. Every application seems to have its own document representation, each marked up with a different syntax, so programmers need to create a separate parser for each one. And those notations rarely capture the information content of the document in the most useful and effective way. They are geared to the specific needs of their applications-such as page layout-and can't be used for other purposes.

Sean McGrath has found a better way to do it, and in this book he shows you how. Using SGML-the International Standard markup language that is the basis for the World Wide Web's HTML-Sean introduces an approach to document processing software development that is friendly to both users and programmers.

Like a database, SGML lets users identify the information elements they care about in their documents. The users get to choose and name those elements. But because the syntax is standardized and unambiguous, the programmers get the rigor and precision that they need to create robust and powerful programs. Now you can replace a multitude of ad hoc and proprietary notations and parsing code with a single International Standard and a world-class parser-James Clark's SP, which is included on the CD-ROM and documented in this book. And Sean is definitely the right expert to show you. He is Chief Technical Officer of Digitome Electronic Publishing and the founder of the Irish SGML Users' Group. He has developed SGML systems for electronic publishing, credit card processing, financial trading, and on-line banking, for companies such as Coopers & Lybrand, Price Waterhouse, and Deloitte & Touche. With Sean's expertise, captured in this book, you can finally do what your document is asking you to do: ParseMe.1st!

- Charles F. Goldfarb