This Buyers Guide lists SGML and XML authoring and formatting tools available in the United States, plus a small sample of HTML authoring and conversion tools. XML has not yet really arrived in government, although it is likely to be in use within the next year as, for instance, a way to automatically connect Web sites to SGML documents and databases. SGML's highly structured nature makes it suitable for creating searchable CD-ROMs. Government, especially DOD, uses SGML for document storage and publishing. SGML publishing works well within the CALS framework, where large documents with relatively simple standard formats are the rule.
Several limits crop up in document formatting, however.
Some SGML formatting engines have trouble generating acceptable multicolumn layouts, wrapping text around illustrations and correctly formatting CALS tables and equations. Even editing tables and equations can be problematic. Compared with table and equation edit functions in desktop publishing programs, those in SGML authoring programs often seem primitive. Given the large number of tags and attributes generated by the editors and the number of SGML table formatting standards, however, one can easily understand the problems developers have faced and overcome. This can present a problem.