The STEP SGML authoring environment requires tools which are robust
enough to handle large, complex DTDs while hiding as much of the DTD
complexity as possible from the user. Also, because most STEP
document authors are novice SGML users, a friendly, easy-to-use user
interface which does not burden the user with excessive SGML tags is
preferable
. Finally, we want to give our users the freedom to use the software
tools of their choosing to produce STEP documents, as long as those
tools produce valid SGML with respect to the STEP DTDs.
Therefore, our approach is to give users complete freedom in choosing how they want to produce their documents while, at the same time, making STEP-customized options available to them. We encouraged selected vendors of dedicated SGML authoring tools to distribute versions of their products hard-wired to our DTDs to the STEP community at a low cost. One such vendor is willing to distribute a version of their SGML authoring tool for STEP with user interface customizations we will supply. Also, since many STEP authors already use word processors to edit their documents, we plan to provide mappings from the STEP DTDs onto style templates for popular word processors. This way, users can use word processor SGML add-ons without having to develop the required mappings themselves.