designer and writer

Subject: designer and writer
From: Steve Owens <uso01 -at- EAGLE -dot- UNIDATA -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 16:21:48 +0700

Maria (maria -at- msd -dot- measurex -dot- com) says:
> I agree with Bonni. Presentation and content are not separate
> issues. I designed the layouts for my manuals to fit the content. I
> organize my content to fit the layouts that I designed to fit the
> content...

Tammy (Tammy_Williams -at- OCLC -dot- ORG) also says:
> There has been a good deal of discussion about whether writing and
> presentation (formatting) go hand-in-hand. I, like Bonni Graham,
> agree that they can go hand-in-hand. I'll even take it a step
> further--I think it's crucial that they go hand-in-hand.

I think we're working with some inaccurate assumptions here;
presentation and content *are* two distinct issues, but they are
issues that must (as with many other issues) be considered in relation
to each other in constructing a document.

The idea behind SGML is to separate the two issues as much as
possible, to work with each individually, develop them as far as you
can - THEN deliberately brings them together. Currently, both issues
are interwoven so densely that you can't conceptually separate them,
thus making the task of comprehending and crafting the document more
confusing. SGML is not an end, but a means.

Steven J. Owens
uso01 -at- unidata -dot- com


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