Generalized Markup Language (GML) is a set of
macros that implement intent-based (procedural) markup
tags for the
IBM text formatter,
SCRIPT. SCRIPT/VS is the main component of IBM's Document Composition Facility (DCF). A ''starter set'' of tags in GML is provided with the DCF product.
Characteristics
GML was developed in 1969 and the early 1970s by
Charles Goldfarb
Charles F. Goldfarb is known as the father of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and grandfather of HTML and the World Wide Web. He co-invented the concept of markup languages.
In 1969 Charles Goldfarb, leading a small team at IBM, dev ...
,
Edward Mosher and
Raymond Lorie (whose surname initials were used by Goldfarb to make up the term GML).
Using GML, a document is
marked up with tags that define what the
text
Text may refer to:
Written word
* Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including:
**Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred
**Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...
is, in terms of
paragraph
A paragraph () is a self-contained unit of discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. Though not required by the orthographic conventions of any language with a writing system, paragraphs are a conventional means of organizing e ...
s,
headers,
list
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
s,
table
Table may refer to:
* Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs
* Table (landform), a flat area of land
* Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns
* Table (database), how the table data ...
s, and so forth. The document can then be automatically formatted for various
devices simply by specifying a profile for the device. For example, it is possible to format a document for a
laser printer
Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces high-quality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively-charged cylinder called a "drum" to ...
or a line (
dot matrix
A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional patterned array, used to represent characters, symbols and images. Most types of modern technology use dot matrices for display of information, including mobile phones, televisions, and printers. The system is al ...
) printer or for a screen simply by specifying a profile for the device without changing the document itself.
The
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), an
ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
-standard technology for defining generalized
markup languages for documents, is descended from GML.
The
Extensible Markup Language
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. T ...
(XML) was initially a streamlined and simplified development of SGML, but has outgrown its parent in terms of worldwide acceptance and support.
A GML script example
:h1 id='intr'.Chapter 1: Introduction
:p.GML supported hierarchical containers, such as
:ol.
:li.Ordered lists (like this one),
:li.Unordered lists, and
:li.Definition lists
:eol.
as well as simple structures.
:p.Markup minimization (later generalized and formalized in SGML),
allowed the end-tags to be omitted for the "h1" and "p" elements.
Related programs
In the early 1980s, IBM developed a dedicated publishing tool called Information Structure Identification Language (ISIL) based on GML. ISIL was used to generate much of IBM documentation for the IBM PC and other products at this time. In the late 1980s, a commercial product called BookMaster was developed, based mostly on ISIL.
During the early 1980s, Don Williams at IBM developed DWScript to use the SCRIPT/VS on the IBM PC.
[DWScript - Document Composition Facility for the IBM Personal Computer Version 4.6 Updates, DW-04167, Nov 8th, 1985] In 1986, he developed a PC version of ISIL called DWISIL. These products were used only internally at IBM.
See also
*
HyperText Markup Language
The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaScript ...
*
Standard Generalized Markup Language
*
XML
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable ...
*
SCRIPT (markup)
*
Information Presentation Facility - a descendant of GML, used by
IBM to write
OS/2
OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 r ...
's electronic books and online help.
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Markup languages
Generalized Markup Language