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The Sgmlconv Utility

The Open SiteSearch Database Builder sgmlconv utility program allows you to convert Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) or other tagged data into ASN.1/BER encoded records that can be added to a SiteSearch database. This utility may be used specifically to help create a database tag definition (.dtd) file, a standard text file that serves as an interpreter between SGML files and sgmlconv. Refer to the syntax described below to run the utility from the UNIX command prompt within your database dbs directory. If you are creating a .dtd file from sgmlconv, make sure to include option -a when you run the utility.

Refer to Introduction to Using SGML Source Data to Build a Database for more information about SGML.

Syntax

Use the following syntax to execute the sgmlconv utility from the UNIX prompt.

sgmlconv [dbname] [-ddtdfile] [-iinputfile] [-ooutputfile] [-mmaxrecs]
[-sskiprecs] [-allowNewTags] [-previousTaggingStyle] [-rrecordtag]
[-fdebug] [-gmsgsoutputfile] [-h]

Parameters

Description

dbname

Contains the default filename prefix for the database (e.g., ERIC) that will be used to create filenames of any of the other filename parameters not specified. The default suffix for the input filename is .sgml (e.g., ERIC.sgml), .ber for the output filename (e.g., ERIC.ber), and .dtd for the dtd file name is (e.g., ERIC.dtd).

Note:

dbname must be provided if any of the other parameters are omitted.

-ddtdfile

Specifies the name of the file containing the database tag definitions (.dtd).

-iinputfile

Specifies the name of the file containing the SGML records to be converted to ASN.1/BER format (.sgml).

-ooutputfile

Specifies the name of the file to contain the ASN.1/BER encoded records (.ber).

-mmaxrecs

Specifies the maximum number of records in the inputfile to process.

-sskiprecs

Specifies the maximum number of records in the inputfile to skip before conversion begins.

-allowNewTags

Creates a simple default .dtd file based on your data. This .dtd file does not have any nested terms and is outputted to the name sgmlconv.dtd.

-previousTaggingStyle

Without this flag, sgmlconv organizes the BER data for each record so that the data in each subfield has an explicit tag of its own (/1) underneath the subfield's tag.

With this flag, sgmlconv operates as it did in previous SiteSearch versions. It does not create a separate tag level for the data in a subfield. In addition, a field can contain either data or subfields, but not both.

Note(s):

(1) Use this flag when you want convert SGML data to BER format so that you can batch load it into a local DC(2) database that you subsequently want to edit with the Record Builder application.

(2) You must use this flag when working with databases created prior to Open SiteSearch version 2.0.

-rrecordtag

Specifies the tag and recordtag that define the beginning of a database record. The defaults are <rec>, <reprec>, and <delrec>.

-fdebug

Allows you to debug a database's .dtd and .sgml files. Set the debug variable equal to the database name.

Note:

The .dtd and .sgml files must be located in the current directory and have the following values for the debugger to work: dbname.dtd and dbname.sgml, where dbname is the database name and the value of debug.

-gmsgsoutputfile

Contains the name of the optional output file for program messages.

-h

Displays the utility's usage statement for additional help.

Examples

The example below shows how to convert SGML records for a database called phone and store the ASN.1/BER output in the current directory.


sgmlconv phone

Notice that the name of the database is included in the example above, but the name of the SGML input file, the .dtd file, and the ASN.1/BER output file are excluded. By default, sgmlconv will use the database name in the value of the input file, .dtd file, and output file, unless otherwise defined. In the example above, the default input file name would be phone.sgml, the default .dtd file name would be phone.dtd, and the default output file name would be phone.ber. You could also issue the following command that would have the same result:


sgmlconv -dphone.dtd -iphone.sgml -ophone.ber

The following example converts SGML records in the directory /home/zeus and stores the resultant records in the current directory.


sgmlconv /home/zeus/phone -ophone.ber
Note:

When sgmlconv encounters SGML tags that are not described in the .dtd file, it treats them as textual data.

The ber2txt utility can be used to view the contents of an ASN.1/BER record in human-readable format.

See Also

OCLC SiteSearch Database Builder Utility Programs
Introduction to Using SGML Source Data to Build a Database
Creating a Database Tag Definition (.dtd) File
Creating a New SiteSearch Database
The Ber2txt Utility
ISO 8825, Specification of Basic Encoding Rules for Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)
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