The Folio Flat File Language (FFFL), like most word processor representation languages, is so rich, flexible and forgiving that it is possible to create incoherent infobases. Folio provide the users with so much rope that they inevitably hang themselves or at least get tripped up.
The method chosen by Folio to address this problem is to impose discipline by running validation routines on the infobase. The Folio Flat File Validator is a useful tool and any file which we wish to process should already have been validated. However this process does not go far enough.
We need to go one step further. It would be particularly advantageous to be able to use the consistency checking inherent in an SGML parser.
Two issues need to be borne in mind during the design of such validators:
The script will then create new PS representing the PLF applied to Levels.
The script then runs through the Flat File:
The new FFF and DEF files should now still pass through the
Folio Flat File Validator without error.
We have the capacity, using the SDK, to write export filters. It should be possible to
write an export filter such that the output was in accordance with a particular DTD.
For these purposes I would recommend the Rainbow DTD from EBT.
Webserver Preparation Script
The script needs to perform the following functions:
The script requires that the FFF has already been processed by the Conflation script.
Rainbow DTD SGML Export Filter
A further step in quality assurance would be to take advantage of the
consistency checking inherent in an SGML parser.
Omnimark FFF to SGML Translator
A script has been written which translates Folio Flat file into
an SGML file which is in accordance with an infomation preserving DTD.
Omnimark SGML to FFF Translator
The reverse translation for the above needs to be written.
© Tim Pizey
Context Computing
29rd July 1996