XML documents production for an electronic platform of requests for proposals

Addresses the problem of document production in the context of an electronic market application, namely a platform dealing with requests for proposals (RFP). Our project relies on XML as the leading technology, in accordance with a general trend in electronic commerce. The consequences of the RFP workflow on the document publishing requirements are motivated. Various aspects of the XML technology are discussed, with respect to both the present tools and developments which are expected soon. We describe our structuring approach and the two environments that we used as testbeds. The most challenging issues concern collaborative authoring, WYSIWYG software, the document life-cycle, and linking expressiveness.