Design of document structure using an information modelling approach

Designing the structure of multi-author documents and specification of the interaction between a document, its media and its authors are important issues. The paper describes the application of an information modelling approach, NIAM, to address these issues. Document design has been decomposed into specification of the structure, the media and the authors of a document, followed by the relationships between them. NIAM has been used to specify the structure of a document and the relationships between its parts and the authors, and any constraints. The paper illustrates the flexibility and power of this approach to document design