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On Thu, 14 Jun 2001, Marcus Carr wrote: > > Derek Denny-Brown wrote: > > > It is provable that _every_ non-deterministic content model can be > > converted to a deterministic content model. The trick is basically to > > manually 'unroll' the content model. > > Sam Willmott from OmniMark released a white paper on content model algebra > in the early nineties. He concluded that there was only one content model > that cannot be disambiguated and I have yet to see proof to the contrary. > The model is: > > (x, (y, x)*, y?) > > Feel free to bang some grey matter against it... Some useful references might be found in: "SGML/XML Notion of Ambiguity (non-deterministic content models)" http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/topics.html#ambiguity Best wishes, Robin Cover PS I'm uncertain whether OmniMark's paper (by Sam Wilmott) is still available online. If not, the papers of Anne Brueggemann-Klein will probably suffice. If not, also register a note of irony: SGML/XML as an "enabling technology" does NOT enhance information longevity if documents encoded in SGML/XML are treated with indifference by system administrators and marketing goons who perceive no value in technical information (Wilmott's paper was a monument). For Anne's research, see pointers in: http://xml.coverpages.org/bib-ab.html#brugCompiler and environs. If anyone from OmniMark is subscribed to XML-DEV, perhaps s/he might offer clarification on the status of the Wilmott paper on "Content Model Algebra." -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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