Re: printer tags for html 3.x

At 01:10 PM 11/23/96 -0500, Pete Brower wrote:
>Another issues is that obviously my manual is split into a bunch of
>seperate documents.  But I have a master TOC and Index.  I have no idea
>what the ultimate answer is.  That is why I am keeping these in RTF
>and generating HTML from it.

HTML will probably never be sufficiently expressive to directly generate
print-ready PostScript. The issues involved in quality printing are very
intricate and solving them in HTML files would massively bloat the size of
those files and the complexity of the browsers. HTML wasn't intended to be
the "be-all" and "end-all" of publishing. There is sometimes good reason why
PostScript, PDF and RTF files are often massive. There is a *lot* of
information in a ready-for-print document.

But don't despair. There are many people who publish online and to print
from the same source file. If your needs are simple, you can use an
off-the-shelf package like Microsoft's Word 97 or Adobe's Framemaker. Both
claim to do print and online from the same source. If those aren't powerful
enough to do what you need, then I strongly suggest you look into the
DavenPort group's [DocBook], which is a set of standards designed expressly
for multiple media publishing of computer documentation.

"The purpose of the Davenport Group [is] to promote the interchange and
delivery of computer documentation using the Standard Generalized Markup
Language (SGML, ISO 8879:1986) and other relevant standards."

Members of the Davenport Group include Microsoft, Novell, HP, Sun, SCO,
O'Reilly and Associates etc.

 Paul Prescod

---
Boycott Shell Oil worldwide!  http://www.web.apc.org/embargo/shell.htm    

"Shell is here on trial and it is as well that it is represented by counsel
said to be holding a watching brief."..."The ecological war that the Company
has waged in the Delta will be called to question sooner than later." -Ken
Saro-Wiwa to the tribunal that later executed him.
http://www.gem.co.za/ELA/ken.html

Received on Saturday, 23 November 1996 13:04:04 UTC