1. A data processing system for randomly accessing and formatting a portion of an electronically published document having fixed text content and fixed structure defined by descriptive markup defining a plurality of hierarchical elements, wherein each element except a root element has an ancestor element and a type name and at least one element has text content, the data processing system comprising: means for storing a format specification for each type name utilized for elements in the electronically published document, wherein the format specification for a type name defines appearance of the text content of the elements in the electronically published document having the type name, and wherein the means for storing is separate from the electronically published document; means for receiving an indication of a starting point within the electronically published document; means for selecting a starting point element within the electronically published document according to the received indication of the starting point; means for selecting elements of the electronically published document beginning with the selected starting point element; means for identifying any ancestor elements of the selected elements; and means for formatting the text content of each selected element according to a combination of the format specifications for the type names of ancestor elements identified for the selected element and for the type name of the selected element.
1. A data processing system for randomly accessing and formatting a portion of an electronically published document having fixed text content and fixed structure defined by descriptive markup defining a plurality of hierarchical elements, wherein each element except a root element has an ancestor element and a type name and at least one element has text content, the data processing system comprising: means for storing a format specification for each type name utilized for elements in the electronically published document, wherein the format specification for a type name defines appearance of the text content of the elements in the electronically published document having the type name, and wherein the means for storing is separate from the electronically published document; means for receiving an indication of a starting point within the electronically published document; means for selecting a starting point element within the electronically published document according to the received indication of the starting point; means for selecting elements of the electronically published document beginning with the selected starting point element; means for identifying any ancestor elements of the selected elements; and means for formatting the text content of each selected element according to a combination of the format specifications for the type names of ancestor elements identified for the selected element and for the type name of the selected element. 8. A data processing system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the means for selecting a starting point element includes: means for searching backward from the starting point in the electronically published document for a selected element having a selected type name; and wherein the starting point element is the selected element.