Silicon Graphics adopts SGML for online documentation

The Silicon Graphics IRIS InSight is the first system from a computer vendor for viewing online documentation that uses SGML, the Standard Generalized Markup Language (ISO 8879) [2]. Since late 1992 the IRIS InSight viewer and the core IRIS InSight Document Library, which contains several technical manuals, have been bundled free with every Silicon Graphics computer. (IRIS InSight is a family of support tools that provide online access to product, support and technical information, and various services.) Many of the most important features in IRIS InSight, including structure views, structure-based search, dynamic reformatting, and alternative presentation styles depend on its use of SGML. This paper describes how that system was designed, tested, implemented, and refined.