19 Jun 1995 - Preliminary Information

SpHyDir Project Objectives

Produce the highest quality HTML documents automatically. Upgrade obsolete syntax to current "Recommended" practice. Add additional markup to get the best possible results on all known viewers. Provide a transition to new standard features.
Build larger documents from many small, structurally interrelated hypertext files. Easily generate links to other files, to target lables in certain files, and to remote documents (by extracting URL references while a Browser displays the remote file).
Present an entirely different approach to Web document construction. Microsoft and Word Perfect have interfaces from their Word Processors. Oracle promises an interface from Oracle Book. HTML editors are being written all the time. If SpHyDir isn't completely different (and IMHO better) then it isn't worth the effort.
Automatically generate navigational links, copyright notices, and other standard features at the beginning or end of every document.
Support all the features of HTML 3.0 and common Netscape extensions. Provide for user extensions both to document structure and library management.
Provide direct links to Netscape and Web Explorer to test document changes. SpHyDir is not WYSIWYG, but you can immediately format what you are structurally editing to see how it will look.
Simplify the construction of data entry forms (entry fields, check boxes, radio buttons, push buttons) and tables.

SpHyDir II supports all the tags and attributes of the current HTML 3.0 draft standard. SpHyDir should be able to process any Web document that uses these features correctly and in context. However, HTML is a formatting language and SpHyDir is a document structure tool. Incorrect syntax, or the use of a tag out of context to achieve a particular effect, can confuse the analysis. In particular, the use of <H6> to get "fine print" where no heading is actually intended will certainly produce bad results.

SpHyDir II is Object Oriented. It examines an input HTML document and produces a tree of Objects that corresponds to the apparent document structure. The simplest Object is a paragraph that contains text. Other objects include the Image (for inserted graphics), order and unordered Lists, Tables, Forms, Horizontal Rules, etc.

Each object has properties. There is a fairly close tie between the Properties of an Object (in SpHyDir) and the Attributes of a Tag (in HTML). When an object is selected in the tree, its properties are displayed in the Properties Table. This behavior is intentionally modelled on tools like Visual Basic and Delphi. However, since most HTML attributes have default values that can be ignored, the SpHyDir properties table only shows the items that have been assigned an explict value.

The casual user can concentrate on text, graphics, and basic document structure (sections, lists of points, hypertext links). If more advanced features become needed, SpHyDir can display all the legal properties that any object is permitted. For example, any Paragraph can have an ID (jump-to label), ALIGN (LEFT|CENTER|RIGHT|JUSTIFY), CLEAR (LEFT|RIGHT|ALL), and NOWRAP. SpHyDir will list the common standard values but allows the user to type in other values (such as entering "100 pixels" as the value of the CLEAR property).

With this approach, SpHyDir doesn't require the user to be familiar with HTML, but it also doesn't prevent the HTML expert from using the more obscure language options. The author can "ease into" advanced features.

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This document generated by SpHyDir, another fine product of PC Lube and Tune.