Considerations for the preparation of SGML document type definitions

The Standard Generalized Markup Language, SGML, is being adopted by various international organizations as the medium for exchange of electronically encoded documents. An exchange is accomplished by way of a Document Type Definition, DTD, that describes the content of documents targeted for an exchange. In this paper we suggest considerations for the designers of SGML DTDs. The considerations emphasize uniformity and simplicity without sacrificing expressive power. The considerations are not comprehensive: they address minimization features, attributes, inclusion and exclusion exceptions, and the CONCUR feature of SGML.