Typical projects

This page outlines some of the projects Graham has been involved in.

Using OmniMark to style Word documents

Graham is developing an automated process for an international publisher that will significantly reduce the amount of preparation time spent by copy editors on new files.

His program takes an unstructured Word file and end with a fully-styled file that is ready for editing.

The program assesses each paragraph in an unstructured Word file. Based on factors such as its size and position, it determines the style each paragraph should have (for example heading, list, extract, standard body text and so on).

The program confirms that tables and figures referenced in the file are all present and that every table or figure is referenced in the text.

It also checks the file’s citations are listed in order and correctly referenced. Finally, each component part (title of publication, author name, publication place etc) of each citation is tagged to prepare it the file for future online publication.

The fully-styled Word document is then sent to the copy editors for them to start editing the file.

Once the file has been copy edited, it is converted to conform to the NLM DTD.

RTF to XML conversion

Omitec is a pioneering international supplier of diagnostic equipment and services to the automotive industry. Graham has worked with them to convert some of Land Rover's military illustrated parts catalogues from RTF to XML.

RTF to XML conversion

Graham worked on a project for the British Army's vehicle maintenance manuals. The work he undertook allows data modules to be automatically generated from Word files.

XML to XML conforming to AvP70 DTD

The RAF Handling Squadron's flight record cards and air crew manuals are available in XML. Graham has written software that automatically converts this raw XML data into XML data that conforms to the AvP70 DTD.

RTF to XML conforming to a bespoke DTD

Turbomeca provides manufacturing, maintenance, repair, overhaul (MRO) and engine test capabilities to clients including the MoD. Graham has worked with the company to convert engine maintenance manuals from RTF to XML. Once in XML format, the data can be output to an EPIC/FOSI composition system.

HTML to XML conversion

Graham has worked with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to produce isurv: an online portal providing property professionals with best practice information. The project involved 5000 HTML files in various formats, including Word HTML. The files were converted into well-formed XML and split into six information groups: building surveying, commercial property, construction, environmental, planning and valuation for use in the portal.

XML conversion in the defence industry

Graham has provided setup scripts and is now providing ongoing support for a UK MoD project. The project was set up to convert a range of MoD publications from a legacy format into XML. When files have been created by MoD staff, they will be exported for processing by Graham. This will involve transformation of the exported files into a single file per volume so that the file is valid SGML that conforms to the target MoD DTD. These tasks will be performed utilising OmniMark.

RTF to XML conversion in a legal context (1)

This project was undertaken for the Cayman Islands Legal and Judicial Information website, a site that enables the public to access information and services, some of which are offered in common between these two Administrations of the Cayman Islands Government.

Graham took the Laws in Force and the superseded revised editions in Word format. He converted them to RTF to and then to XHTML that uses CSS (cascading style sheets). The XHTML version of the Laws in Force (as well as superseded revised editions) will appear on the Cayman Islands Legal and Judicial Information website in due course.

The same RTF files were also stripped of their Cayman Islands insignia and then converted to PDF format. (Removing the insignia means the documents aren't legally binding, so a print-out can never be confused with the official version.) These PDFs will be also available on the Cayman Islands Legal Information Board website in due course.

RTF to XML conversion in a legal context (2)

This project was undertaken for the Guernsey Legal Information Board website, the official source of legal information in Guernsey.

Graham converted Word versions of the Laws in Force and the superseded revised editions to RTF to and then to XHTML that uses CSS. The XHTML version of the Laws in Force and the revised editions appear on the Guernsey Legal Information Board website. PDF versions of the RTF files are also available for download. These documents cannot be confused with the official version because the Guernsey insignia is removed before conversion to PDF.

RTF to XML conversion in a legal context (3)

This project was undertaken for Jersey Legal Information Board website, which is the official source of legal information in Jersey. This stage of the project went live in Spring 2006.

Graham took the Laws in Force and the superseded revised editions in Word format. He converted them to RTF to and then to XHTML that uses CSS. The XHTML version of the Laws in Force (as well as superseded revised editions) appear in the Revised Edition and Enacted Laws section of the JLIB website.

The RTF files were also stripped of their Jersey State insignia (so they are not legally binding) before being converted to PDF format for download from the site.

The project will be an ongoing one for Graham. Each time a law is introduced or revised, the Law Draftsman will place a Word file in a directory on her PC. This file will be picked up using an automated process before undergoing the processes outlined above. The resulting files will be placed on a staging server. These files will be checked by the Law Draftsman before being made available on the live site. In this way, the law can be updated on the JLIB website in a matter of minutes.

RTF to XML conversion

In an ongoing project, Graham works with a number of UK typesetters to convert RTF files to well-formed XML. As a result of the conversion to XML, the typesetting process itself has become more time-efficient.

For the same clients he has also written a series of DTDs which allow any document to be converted into XML and formatted in a uniform house style.

Large volume, multi-stage RTF to XML conversion

Graham was commissioned to convert 25,000 legacy files into XML that met the global platform requirements of a multi-national company. To do this, Graham used the client’s DTD to convert the legacy files from RTF to XML. The XML files were then converted to current style RTF. In the final stage, the identically styled files were converted to XML.

For the same client he wrote a conversion programme that allowed staff to convert any file into a full-fledged XML document.

RTF to XML conversion and clean-up

A client required RTF documents to be cleaned up to allow staff to work with them cost- and time-effectively. Graham wrote a program which converted the RTF documents into XML. Once in XML, the data underwent up to forty clean-up and enhancement routines. The resultant data was then converted to RTF.

Database to XML conversion

A client regularly required a database to be converted into XML so that it could be read in XyEnterprise XPP. The client supplied Graham with the database. He wrote a program that would extract the data alphabetically and lay it out in a two-page, three column table that could be composed in XPP.

A respected military publisher required regular extracts from databases in an XML form. The databases contained substantially more information than the extract required, therefore a substantial amount of data processing was needed during the conversion. Graham wrote a program that allowed this to happen. A number of indexes and tables of content were also generated automatically during the conversion process.

DTD development

One client required data to be converted to XML for use in XPP. Graham worked with the client to write a DTD and conversion script that allowed this to happen.

Miles 33 to XML conversion

In a recent project, Graham worked with a publisher with content created using Miles 33. The project helped the publisher streamline an annual update to two publications. Historically this had involved a typesetter manually updating each publication using a marked-up version of one of the publications.

Graham took the data from both publications and placed them in four separate databases. These databases are updated by running them against a Word file. Once updated, the databases are converted to XML for composition using XyEnterprise XPP. The data can be sorted according to a complex custom sort order. It is also used for the automatic compilation of 1,500 – 4,500-page books.

The work has provided considerable cost- and time-saving benefits. The set-up costs and the initial conversion costs for this project were less than a single year’s manual update by a typesetter.

To discuss your project’s requirements, please get in touch.