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What software can open SGML files. I have some documentation files, in *.sgml format. If i open in some text editor it opens along with the embedded meta data, without interpreting it.

Using which viewer can i view these sgml files - On windows as well as Linux?

thank you,

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4 year old topic. I found a Linux tool docbook2html using the code below it creates an html file for each sgml file. 

docbook2html -u filename.sgml

I had to first install docbook-utils for my particular ubuntu distribution using: 

apt-get install docbook-utils
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    This was helpful. I just used this successfully. To make HTML files out of my .sgml ones. I also found that the .sgml files I was looking at had a makefile with them and could be compiled into a .pdf using jade (OpenJade in my case).
    – TafT
    Apr 21, 2015 at 8:16
  • Now a 6.5 yo topic. Trying to install PyKota on Ubuntu 16. Doc files were sgml. Fingers crossed.
    – user38537
    Mar 23, 2017 at 1:52
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From What Is the File Extension Sgm?

Programs that can save files in the .sgm format and also can open .sgm files include Panorama SGML viewer, Adobe Framemaker, and Corel WordPerfect Office X4. These programs are only available on Windows-based operating systems.

An old version of the Panorama SGML viewer can be found in here, but it dates from Windows 3.1 and as it is mainly meant as plugin to browsers that no longer exist, this free version refuses to open files.

The best you could do is download trial versions of the other products and try to convert the SGML files to some more modern format, in the hope that they still support that format.

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  • +1 - SGM is oldschool, predecessor to .XML. Panorama is from the early/mid 90's and was originally a Win 3.1 app I think.
    – JNK
    Sep 13, 2010 at 16:59
  • I had downloaded that file panofr10.exe. But when i execute it on command prompt, its strangely turns out that it is a pksfx compression program. Is there any other link where i can get the panorama executable.
    – goldenmean
    Sep 13, 2010 at 18:08
  • The panofr10.exe file is a self-extracting archive. If you want to manually extract the files, you can rename the file to have a .zip extension.
    – Bavi_H
    Sep 14, 2010 at 1:33
  • I found another download of the program, but it's not helpful. See my edit above.
    – harrymc
    Sep 14, 2010 at 5:56
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Details of SGML viewers and browsers were in my book on SGML and XML Tools and there are some details in the browser page of the XML FAQ, but many of the programs for SGML are now defunct as the world has moved on to XML. If you own or control access to the SGML files, my strong recommendation is to convert them to XML.

If you can't, then I am giving a paper at MarkupUK next week (2019-06-08) on what we have lost (if anything) from old [SGML] software, and it will be available online afterwards, with details of dozens of applications including Panorama. I have CDs and manuals of software from the SGML era which will be available at the conference.

Panorama Free needs Netscape or another browser from the period, and runs in Windows 95 or XP. It may or may not work on later versions (I'm not a Windows person so I don't know).

Anyone stuck with SGML or XML should read the FAQ or email me.

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  • Why are you answering an 8 year old question? You appear to be just promoting yourself ...
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Jun 1, 2019 at 15:41
  • Because I came across it last week while finishing the paper I mentioned. At Silmaril we do still get queries about SGML even after all these years, so I thought the least I could do was answer the question and cover some of the misunderstandings that still abound about SGML. But if you feel I have overstepped the mark then feel free to ask the moderators to delete it.
    – Peter Flynn
    Jun 4, 2019 at 9:50
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    There aren't exactly a lot of SGML resources around, or a lot of discussion about it, so personally I'm happy to hear from experts in the field. The "browser page of the XML FAQ" linked above is in fact useful to me, thanks @PeterFlynn.
    – doshea
    Oct 4, 2021 at 3:37
  • Glad it was useful. Every year at XML meetings people ask "Isn't SGML dead?" and every year there are still people reporting users with SGML systems still running. The paper I gave about the software is online at markupuk.org/2019/Markup-UK-2019-proceedings.pdf#page=19 but the CDs and floppies and manuals I brought with me were distributed to delegates, and anything left over was trashed.
    – Peter Flynn
    Oct 5, 2021 at 18:25

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