Re: I need some help with my first steps using Debian Doc / SGML

["andrei raevsky" <raevsky.andrei@gmail.com>]

On 5/7/06, Jens Seidel <jensseidel@users.sf.net> wrote:

> > 2) do I need to install debiandoc-sgml-doc and if yes, what for?
>
> That's really a funny question, since it's obvious to me that the
> debiandoc-sgml-doc package contains the documentation of
> debiandoc-sgml (/usr/share/doc/debiandoc-sgml-doc/) which you
> requested in 1) :-))
> Just install it beside debiandoc-sgml!

this is because I am confused about what debiandoc-sgml exaclty is and
whether debiandoc-sgml-doc contains the documentation for the package
or the DDP or a list of legal tags... sorry if I did not make that
clear.  this is all made worse by the fact that I am not in front of
my Debian Sarge computer so I cannot simply look up the info in
apt-cache

> > 3) how can I best check my tags before submitting them?
>
> It is really a good idea to *always* test your file(s) using the tools in
> debiandoc-sgml package:
> debiandoc2latexpdf -l en yourFile.sgml
> This should produce a PDF output file (you need tetex-bin and
> tetex-extra package for this).
>
> Similar tools: debiandoc2text, debiandoc2html, debiandoc2latexps
>
> See the manual page for details (man debiandoc2html).
>
> Feel free to look into examples (all DDP documents).
> You will probably need only a few tags, such as for
>  * headlines
>  * item lists
>  * references
>
> You should also use a few special tags such as <file> when referring to
> file or directory names, <package> for Debian packages, <prgn> for
> programs, ...

I am still confused.  Please keep in mind that most of the packages
and tools you are referring to are totally unknown to me (what is
tetext? what does it have to do with SGML?).  is there a step-by-step
'tutorial for dummies' out there I could read which would tell me a)
what I need to install b) how I get started c) what tags I can use d)
how I check my tags and why a PDF of my file allows me to check
anything?  how do I know what to look for on a PDF?  I have never used
a PDF to check for code - only to created print-like documents...

> > 4) is there a Debian Doc editor or an editor best suited to edit
> > Debian Doc SGML documents?
>
> Since the number of editors is finite there surely exists a best one in
> this set. Which one? I don't know. I use vim, other emacs, ... it's
> really your decision.

I did not mean regular editors (I, personally, always use vi).  I
thought that maybe there was one which would allow an immediate
preview of the SGML file just like QuantaPlus does for HTML ?

Can't I simply get a list of legal tags online, use my good old vi to
enter text and tags and then use not several, but one application to
check my stuff?  Is there an extension for Firefox or Konqueror which
allows you to parse SGML pages and check it?

I would much rather use a few tools I have on all my machines then
install tons of applications which are new to me.  but if that is not
an option - I will do it the hard way.

Thanks for your patience and please let me know what my options are.

Cheers,

Andrei