CERN SGML, also known as "Waterloo based SGML", "Waterloo SGML", and "SGMLguid", was an early

SGML The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML; International Organization for Standardization, ISO 8879:1986) is a standard for defining generalized markup languages for documents. ISO 8879 Annex A.1 states that generalized markup is "based on t ...

application developed and used at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

between 1986 and 1990. It served as a model of the earliest

HTML Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...

specifications.

History

In 1984, CERN started the CERNDOC project, a document filing and retrieval system that would standardize CERN's manifold and mutually incompatible documentation practices. The project adapted an earlier documentation system developed at the Rutherford Laboratory, a British particle physics research facility. Written in the

Rexx Rexx (restructured extended executor) is a high-level programming language developed at IBM by Mike Cowlishaw. Both proprietary and open-source software, open source Rexx interpreter (computing), interpreters exist for a wide range of comput ...

programming language, installed on an IBM 3090-200 mainframe computer, and running on the

VM/CMS VM (often: VM/CMS) is a family of IBM virtual machine operating systems used on IBM mainframes System/370, System/390, zSeries, System z and compatible systems, including the Hercules emulator for personal computers. Design The heart o ...

operating system, the system stored tens of thousands of documents in a hierarchical structure. It offered keyword searching and was able to display documents on a screen or send them to a printer. CERNDOC supported two markup systems: a GML application named CERNPAPER, developed locally in 1985, and a SGML application created in 1986 by Anders Berglund, who was at the time responsible for text processing in the CERN data handling division. Berglund mapped a Waterloo

SCRIPT Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

macro set onto SGML, basing his application on the document type defined in Annex E of ISO 8879 and on

AAP DTD In computing, AAP DTD (variously known as AAP Electronic Manuscript Standard, AAP standard, AAP/EPSIG standard, and ANSI/NISO Z39.59) is a set of three SGML Document Type Definitions (book, journal, and article) for scientific documents, defined by ...

, the American Association of Publishers' document type. Prior art also includes the IBM GML starter set. The application features an extensive tag set for preparing foils, memos, letters, scientific papers, and manuals, amongst other use cases. In 1990, when Eric van Herwijnen acted as head of text processing in the CERN Administrative Services Department, CERN replaced CERNDOC with the IBM Document Composition Facility (DCF), thereby obsoleting both CERNPAPER and CERN SGML. To replace these applications, Herwijnen and Michel Goossens mapped IBM's Bookmaster macro sets onto a number of DTDs. CERN announced plans to discontinue its use of mainframe computing in 1994, and the CERNVM service eventually ended on 30 June 1996.

Relevance for HTML

Tim Berners-Lee Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web, the HTML markup language, the URL system, and HTTP. He is a professorial research fellow a ...

, who was working as a CERN contractor when he created the Web, encountered CERNguid in October 1987, when CERN's Online Computing Group started to maintain its documentation in CERNDOC. Berners-Lee found its hierarchical structure highly limiting. For HTML, Berners-Lee adopted SGML syntax and a subset of the tags specified in CERN SGML.

References

External links

Waterloo SCRIPT GML User's Guide
(1988)
CERN SGML User's Guide
(1986)
The SGML/BookMaster System at CERN: User's Guide
(1990)

Markup languages {{markup-languages-stub CERN SGML