\centerline{\bf \MarkUp}
\medskip
\noindent
\MarkUp\ was again organised by the Graphic Communication
Association. It is an international conference which
gives those who are involved in the development of the
Standard Generalized Markup Language (\SGML) and those who
are interested in its application an opportunity 
to share the current progress
and to discuss the future.

The venue for this year's conference was Torremolinos,
Spain. I can almost hear your reaction now! However, it
proved very worthwhile for those of us who braved the
merry quips of our colleagues about the conference being a
cover for a few days' holiday. Who would have suspected that
such excellent conference facilities were lurking in these
surroundings?

As you may be aware the Spanish are well known for their
siesta time and following the local custom the itinery
showed quite clearly a morning session, a siesta and
a late afternoon\slash evening session (how civilised). I think
it reflects the dedication of all who took part in the conference
that in fact full use was made of the ``siesta time'' 
for meetings\slash practical demonstrations\slash informal discussions, thereby
packing as much as possible into the days available.

In October last year a milestone in the life of \SGML\
was reached --- it received approval from the
International Standards Office and is now formally
known as {\sc iso 8879} \SGML. The first presentation
given at the conference was by Charles Goldfarb who,
together with his team, has spent ten years developing
this language. The title of his paper was
{\sl The \SGML\ Finalization Process and Application
Responsibility}. He outlined the final stages which saw the
completion of the developmental work on \SGML\ and then proceeded to identify areas in the
applications field which will need particular attention to
ensure the language is used effectively.

Craig Smith and Dr Manfred Kr\"uger made their presentations
next. They both emphasized the importance of accurate
analysis as part of the design and creation of the document type
definitions which form the basis of any project using
\SGML. Manfred also chaired the first two days of the conference
which ensured that they ran very smoothly.

The next session of the conference dealt with the development
of \SGML\ Applications. Joan Smith gave us the benefit
of her experience on the British Library \SGML\ document
type and also gave details of {\sc docmanusc}, a {\sc CEC} sponsored project
to promote the use of \SGML\ throughout Europe.

Further \SGML\ applications were
described during the second day of the conference.
Christian Guittet explained how the
Project {\sc fame} (Formex Applied to Multilinguism in Europe)
used \SGML\ based coding to handle the publication of documents for the Office for
Official Publications of the European Communities.
This enables the documentation to be published in all the languages
required using the same source coding.

John R. McFadden described the applications that the
company {\it Software Exoterica Corporation} have developed for use
by the Canadian Government. Pamela Gennusa explained
how \SGML\ has been used within the Department of Defense in the United
States to enable the technical documentation to be created
and updated in a way which meets the very tough criteria under
which DoD operates.

An \SGML\ based project has been successfully created in England
which operates under very strict time constraints.
Tony Rowley described how {\it Pindar Infotek}, 
under the guidance of Peter Howgate can handle the data
relating to the registration of patents which
is controlled by the Patents Office in Munich.

The last day of the conference looked at the current
situation from a different viewpoint. Michael Buckingham chaired
this day of the conference and started the proceedings with
his thoughts of the potential of \SGML\ as seen by the
British. Franco Mastroddi explained the European Community
approach to electronic publishing and imagebanks, and Steven Brown
explained the principles of integrated database publishing.

During the two days before the conference itself,
several of the delegates had attended a practical
tutorial on \SGML. They were given invaluable guidance
on the approach to using \SGML. Those of us who did
not attend the tutorial were able to see demonstrations
of two pieces of commercially available
software which allow the ``lay user'' to make use of
\SGML\ in the capture of their documentation. The demonstrators
also gave presentations during the conference to explain the technical
advantages of their products. One, Writerstation, operates on
an {\sc ibm} pc (or clone), and the other, fondly known
as {\sc fred}, runs on the Apple Mac. No doubt software packages based on \SGML\
will become more readily available now that it has been accepted by {\sc iso}.

Next year's conference will be held in Ottowa, Canada,
on 23rd--25th May 1988, and I am sure by then there will be several
more products being demonstrated.

\rightline{\sl Geeti Granger, John Wiley \& Sons Ltd}
