New documents can be created or existing unstructured documents imported
Athena accepts as input documents in any format that Word® can handle. This makes Athena ideal for converting unstructured legacy data into XML.

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TeX/Latex files can be imported into Athena
Athena includes an optional add-on facility for converting files in TeX or Latex format into RTF documents which can then be imported into Word. TeX equations are initially converted into an ASCII format (MTEF data) from which MathType® equation objects are generated when the RTF document is loaded into Athena. TeX tables, lists, footnotes, etc., are are all converted into their Word equivalents.

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Athena can be used to generate XML for Books 
As well as being capable of generating XML for single entities Athena can be used to manage Books and collections of documents.

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No prior knowledge of XML is required 
Athena was designed for users with little or no knowledge of the basic concepts of XML; the user, however, will quickly become familiar with the basics of XML as familiarity with the system grows. If Athena is configured correctly the user should never have to look at an XML file.

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All documents are tagged in virtually the same way, irrespective of target DTD 
In a multi-DTD environment it would be impractical for an editor to have to alter tag names, tagging structure, tagging order, etc. when switching from from one DTD to another. Athena is designed in such a way that all documents, regardless of the specifications of the target DTD, can be tagged in virtually the same way; Athena's DTD engine takes care of the complex transformations required to produce the desired XML output. This has a significant effect on the level of output achievable by an editor and makes the system much easier to learn.

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Once set up a high level of output can be achieved 
Once Athena has been configured for a particular DTD high levels of output can be achieved. Configuring the user interface for a particular DTD is quite straightforward. Implementing a DTD conversion using Athena's DTD engine requires some programming knowledge; however, once the DTD engine has been mastered it becomes quite easy to use. Output level can be increased further by using Athena's Batch conversion

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Athena comes with a tutorial to get the beginner started 
To get the beginner started as quickly as possible Athena provides a demo document and an accompanying tutorial to introduce new users, step by step, to all of Athena's key features.

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Athena includes a comprehensive help system
Athena assumes no prior knowledge on the part of the user of XML or XML-editing systems. Every feature in Athena is explained in detail. Images of all of Athena's dialog boxes are included, accompanied by descriptions of each dialog option. All the main dialog boxes in Athena have buttons linking to context-sensitive help information.

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Athena has a built-in validator for pinpointing errors 
Athena validates the tagged document before an XML file can be generated. It checks that the tagging structure is valid and pinpoints error locations for the user with appropriate error messages. It also runs various checks on cross-references and their targets and generates an error report in the event of errors.

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Tables/lists/footnotes/endnotes are set up in the usual way in Word 
Normal Word tables, lists, footnotes and endnotes can be used in Athena. In the case of tables and lists Athena merely adds wrapper tags to identify them.

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Athena is a macro-based system 
Athena is a macro-based system. Macros can be used to tag single items such as an author's forename or entire sections of an article such as frontmatter. Athena's macros are organised into dialog boxes which can be accessed via short-cut keys or toolbars; all the most common macros can also be accessed with short-cut keys.

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Complex sections are tagged automatically 
As well as macros for automatically tagging cross-references, paragraphs, equations, etc. Athena can tag entire sections. The entire frontmatter section can be tagged using a single macro. There is also a macro for tagging the entire bibliography section; this macro will examine each reference in turn and break it down into its constituent parts before applying tags.

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Includes several useful bibliography-related macros 
In addition to the macro described above for tagging the entire bibliography section Athena provides several useful macros for manipulating bibliographies and their cross-references. Numbered-style bibliographies can be converted into Name/date-style bibliographies and vice-versa. Bibliographic items and their cross-references can be automatically renumbered. Bibliographic items can be sorted alphabetically.

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Several editorial aids 
As well as a comprehensive system of macros for tagging the document Athena provides several useful macros for editing the content of documents including numerous file-cleaning macros and extended search/replace capabilities.

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Athena can be customised to translate characters from any font 
Athena provides built-in recognition for several fonts. The list of fonts which it is capable of recognising and translating can be extended by the user. Translations for built-in fonts can also be overridden.

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Equations are created using MathType 
Equations in Athena are created using Design Science's powerful 'wysiwig' equation editor MathType. As well as being very easy to use this editor comes with a built-in conversion utility for generating XML which can be customised by the user. MathType can also convert equations created in other formats into its own native format.

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Equations can be translated to TeX or MathML 
As well as generating XML from equations Athena can be set up to generate TeX or MathML. Athena's MathType translation file (Athena.tdl) can be customised to directly output MathML rather than XML; alternatively, Athena's DTD (athe18f9.htm) engine can be configured to output either TeX or MathML.

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Custom tags can be created in Athena 
Athena comes with an extensive pallette of tags. Since these may not always suffice they can be supplemented by user-defined tags.

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XML conversion is implemented with a programmable DTD engine 
Athena's most important feature is its programmable DTD engine. Athena initially produces generic XML output from tagged Word documents. The DTD engine takes this generic XML file as input and performs the necessary transformations to produce XML output that conforms to the specifications of the target DTD. The DTD engine uses the XLISP language and is completely customisable by the user. As an alternative to XLisp, the latest version of Athena includes a Perl interface which can be used to load XSL style sheets to implement DTD tranformations.

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Athena provides several complete working DTD conversions 
Athena provides working DTD conversions for several DTDs: Elsevier Science's DTDs 3 and 4, Taylor & Francis' XML DTD and the ISO12083 Article and Book DTDs. These can be used as starting points in the creation of new DTD conversions.

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Athena can generate XML-compatible output 
Athena provides an option to generate XML-compatible output as well as XML output.

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