Re: [Psgml-devel] Re: Key sequence C-c C-f C-e uses invalid prefix characters

[Peter Flynn]

Stefan Monnier wrote:
> > > Last I heard (and that was before Dave's patches were incorporated),
> > > PSGML did not deal well at all with the situation where the DTD is
> > > unknown, which happens to be the standard case for me.  This is
> > > why I spent some time improving sgml-mode.
> > > I believe that Dave's patches do bring PSGML to the point where it
> > > is about as good as sgml-mode when editing text without DTD, so maybe
> > > it is now good enough to replace sgml-mode.
> >
> > I must agree with Peter Flynn and question whether Emacs' default
> > *sgml*-mode be one that functions /a priori/ without a DTD.  It's almost
> > a contradiction in terms.
>
>
> Maybe it's a contradiction in terms for you, but as I said, it's the standard
> case for me.  The DTD exists, but I simply don't have it.

Forgive my curiosity but I'm interested to know why.

> And I really mean SGML, not just XML.
> The fact that sgml-mode doesn't even try to use a DTD is not a feature.
> But the fact that it tries to be useful even in the absence of a DTD is.
> Based on Dave's comments, I gather that psgml-mode now has a more
> "graceful degradation" when the DTD is missing, so this might all
> be a non-issue.

It's pretty much a non-issue now: if the DTD is unknown or absent, then
you're not editing SGML, you're editing plain text.

But I agree, a mode which allows some syntactic response to pointy
brackets is enormously useful in dealing with the typical end-user's
imaginary markup systems, which traditionally require huge amounts
of character editing of the markup to make them validate.

///Peter