Making SGML work

Nowadays more and more companies are evolving into world wide operating enterprises embedded in interdependent networks of communication, information exchange and product manufacturing. An up-to-date enterprise is spread over several sites with distributed subsidiaries for administration, product launches and manufacturing. At the same time internationalization is combined with a strong need for efficient information exchange in an open system environment. Information mangagment and dissemination is becoming a key issue to success in every phase of the product life cycle. Any solution must take all these developments into account. With SGML-based documents and tools a flexible approach can be made towards open system independent document mangagement with re-usable portions of information. In this paper different aspects are described: the steps required to set up an SGML-based application are introduced, ideas and the benefits af Literate Programming to SGML applications are explained, database functionality in distributed environments is presented, and document exchange and hypermedia documents are considered.