SGML/Store accepts arbitrary DTDs, without need for any specific schema definition or parametrisation step. The same SGML/Store database can accept heterogeneous document collections, which are instances of multiple DTDs. Based on information extracted from the DTD, the loading module performs the decomposition of valid SGML instances into database objects.
The SGML/Store technology can be used for building SGML object servers, DSSSL-based instance transformation engines, and/or virtual shared memory systems for SGML-based workgroup editors.
ActiveSearch offers both unstructured and structured retrieval support and provides a wide range of search options. It recognises that documents are not just strings of characters, but include structural components. This approach reduces the amount of data required to specify a search and accelerates the search process because the search can be limited to specific areas of a document. Access to both structured and un-structured information is simplified by using a point-and-click approach to navigate through the document.
Applications can be launched from ActiveSearch which allows viewing, editing, publishing, and conversion of SGML documents stored in ActiveServer. ActiveSearch supports inline display of TIFF, PCX, and BMP graphics. Other formats including tables and equations, are supported by launching third-party viewers. A separate language provides control over document layout and format. Hyperlinks, inline and external graphic files, and query screens can also be defined. ActiveSearch utilises `marked sections' to enable creation and searching of multiple versions from a single master document.
ActiveServer and ActiveSearch are new products (announced April 1994).
DynaBase stores SGML documents (any DTD) in fully-indexed form and tracks changes across different revisions of a document down to the element level. Dynabase can also incrementally assemble DynaText electronic books that highlight changes between versions to facilitate the peer review/publishing cycle.
The DynaBase API enables integration with a wide variety of authoring, conversion, and workflow management tools. It is implemented on top of ObjectStore (an OODBMS from Object Design, Inc.).
DynaBase is a new product (announced April 1994). No deliveries had been made by Sept 1994.
The SGML server allows users to search, extract, and update SGML document components as separate objects. The ability to narrow searches to specific SGML objects provides much faster access to key pieces of information and the ability to easily reuse information that already exists. It also provides a highly- efficient means of distributing document content and keeping it up to date.
SGML server implements the HyperDoc database model, a new record type that recognises the hierarchical relationships between document components. The ability to capture distinctions and associations between SGML objects allows users to navigate and search documents very quickly and to retrieve individual document components with a high degree of precision. The HyperDoc class hierarchy includes document, component (both text and non- text), attributes, virtual tables of content (vtoc), vtoc entries, and link objects.
It is most useful to view the capabilities of the system from the point of view of the users, who belong to one of five categories or 'levels':
Facilities for viewing and browsing take full advantage of the element structure allowing hypertext linking, direct display of particular elements, hidden elements that can be viewed by clicking on an icon. Various graphic formats are included for inline display, or for display in a separate window.
Graphics can be displayed inline or in separate windows. A GIF graphics viewer is included, but by invoking other graphics viewers, Olias can display a wide variety of graphics files. Animation or video viewers can be plugged in as well. One weekness at the moment is the style sheet setup, which is done with an ASCII editor without the benefit of a graphical user interface.
Olias mixes full-text indexing with hierarchical browsing. The full-text indexing is based on technology licensed from Fulcrum. In addition to locating documents through full-text searches, users can navigate libraries in the book-list window. Libraries, indicated by icons, contain bookshelves, which contain documents. Once inside a document, the user may add personal bookmarks and annotations.
The Olias browser was originally conceived as a tool for delivering and retrieving SGML-encoded documents. However, the package can be used to access the Internet and to view and retrieve WWW documents. The user can create links from his own repository to the Web, and linking the other way is possible if the information provided controls the Web document.
Documents are presented to DocMan in a variety of formats, are checked, if necessary converted, and the SGML documents are parsed, then partitioned into the smallest freely configurable components. Finally, these components are added to the database where they can be archived, retrieved, and accessed. User profiles control the dissemination of data.
SINDA (Structured Input Into Database) provides user defined analysis and division of SGML documents, storage of documents in a relational database, and access for document retrieval. SINDA analyses and decomposes SGML documents according to user-defined criteria and fields the units in a relational database. The units can be found in later searches through key information, that on the one hand identifies the unit themselves, and on the other hand allows access to other parts of the text.