Structured Editors

New tools, called structured editors, are becoming available in response to the need to create SGML markup efficiently. Typically, a structured editor provides a context-sensitive menu. That is, the elements that appear in the menu dynamically change based on the location of the cursor in the document.

For example, if you are entering a list, then the menu contains only elements that are valid within the context of a list element. This built-in "intelligence" allows an author to create markup easily.

When an author chooses an element, such as section, head, or list, the editor generates the corresponding start, end, and any intermediate structural tags. For example, when an author selects a chapter element, the editor automatically inserts the intermediate tags required by this element. The author simply types the chapter title. Viewing the generated tags is optional; authors can suppress the tags.

Either markup approach-- shorthand or formal-- produces identical online information when compiled and displayed. Choosing which markup approach to use depends on the requirements for your help information and your available authoring tools.