RE: BNF grammar for TEI DTD

[C. Perry Willett]

                  I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                        Date:     09-Nov-1990 03:38pm GMT
                                        From:     C. Perry Willett
                                                  PWILLETT
                                        Dept:     Library
                                        Tel No:   777-4386

TO:  Remote RSCS/NJE Network User         ( _JNET%TEI-L@UICVM )


Subject: RE: BNF grammar for TEI DTD

          Okay, I'll bite--what's a BNF? And while we're at it, what's
a DTD? I lent out my TEI guidelines, and am a SGML/TEI novice, so
I would appreciate some enlightenment into these arcane acronyms.
If this is too elementary for the list, would someone respond to
me privately?

Perry Willett
SUNY-Binghamton
PWILLETT@BINGVAXC

[Mary Califf]

BNF stands for Backus-Naur Form, which is a common notation for specifying
context free grammars.  It uses the form
        A := BC|D|CD
where A is a unit that can be broken down in B and C, or just D, or C and D.
This format is used widely to describe the syntax of programming languages.

As for DTD, I'm as in the dark as you are.

Mary Elaine Califf
CALIFFMA@BAYLOR