2. Integration of semi-structured documents

2.1 Choosing a pivot representation

The problems associated with exchanging documents with different formats could be solved by developing converters for each pair of document formats, as demonstrated by the trials of some editors on the market (for example, Word's "Save as HTML" option). This goal is difficult to achieve, however, given the multiplicity of these formats (for n formats, n ² conversion programs). Standards (pivot formats) therefore play an important role, since only n converters are needed when transformation is carried out via a standard, which could be handled by a publisher's own utility from the standard (import) and to the standard (export).

These remarks highlight the importance of a pivot...