Advanced XML Validation

XSLT stylesheets are designed to transform XML documents. Coupled with Java extensions, stylesheets can also be a powerful complement to XML Schema when grammar-based validation cannot cover all the constraints required. In this article, Peter Heneback presents the case for validating documents using XSLT with Java extensions and provides practical guidance and code samples.

Heneback, Peter. IBM (2006). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Automated Current Awareness Service Using RSS Web Feed    

Web feed is an automated web content syndication and surfing technique. It is a new eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based mechanism that influences and enhances library functions and services. This paper briefly discusses web feed creation using RDF (Resource Description Framework) Site Summary (RSS) format, content syndication, and client software used to track and read the web feed contents. It also describes how libraries can use this technique to offer different Current Awareness Services (CAS)/Information Services libraries' to its subscribers.

P. Rajendiran and Indu Bhushan. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Information Design>Standards>RSS

Figure Microformats

An image, a caption and the image credit. That can't be hard to get the associations right, can it? Delve into the discussion about markup, semantics and microformats of a seemingly simple issue.

Willerich, Matthias. Content with Style (2007). Articles>Information Design>Standards>HTML

Format Comparison Between ODF and MS XML

There has been a lot of attention to the legal encumbrances in Microsoft's new MS XML format. In this article we'll look at the technical side, and try to show you how the design of these formats affect interoperability. After all, that is the purpose of open standards.

Hudson, Alex, J. David Eisenberg, Bruce D'Arcus and Daniel Carrera. Groklaw (2005). Articles>Information Design>Standards>Microsoft Word

Get on Board the XML Train

The next century will be an XML century, make no mistake about it. All our documents, even checks, credit card slips, personal letters, recipes, technical documents, everything, will benefit from XML technologies. Students are already learning XML in schools, and big businesses are using it to publish their databases on the web. The appearance of the electronic spreadsheet ten years ago changed the way we do business. XML will change the way we write documents.

DuBay, William H. Impact Information (1999). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Implementing SGML: The First Steps  

Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is an accepted standard today. It promises to free many companies and industries from problems with document conversion, compatibility, and interoperability. Whether you’re curious about SGML’s benefits or actively planning to implement SGML, this workshop can help. As a participant, you will learn how to apply a life-cycle approach to implementing SGML. Through hands-on exercises, you will gain the knowledge to successfully plan and implement SGML solutions.

Holman, G. Ken and Ray N. Luoma. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Information Design>SGML>Standards

Introducing JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data-interchange format. It is easy for humans to read and write. It is easy for machines to parse and generate. It is based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming Language, Standard ECMA-262 3rd Edition - December 1999. JSON is a text format that is completely language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to programmers of the C-family of languages, including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and many others. These properties make JSON an ideal data-interchange language.

JSON (2007). Articles>Information Design>Standards>Ajax

Mark it up with Groovy Builders

Groovy Builders let you mimic markup languages like XML, HTML, Ant tasks, and even GUIs with frameworks like Swing.They're especially useful for rapid prototyping and, as Practically Groovy columnist Andrew Glover shows you this month, they're a handy alternative to data binding frameworks when you need consumable markup in a snap!

Glover, Andrew. IBM (2005). Articles>Information Design>Standards

Microformats

Microformats are markup that allow expression of semantics in an HTML document. Microformats are designed for humans first and machines second, and are a set of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted web standards.

O'Gribin, Niall. Erigena (2006). Articles>Information Design>Standards>HTML

RELAX NG

RELAX NG is a simple schema language for XML, based on RELAX and TREX. A RELAX NG schema specifies a pattern for the structure and content of an XML document. A RELAX NG schema thus identifies a class of XML documents consisting of those documents that match the pattern. A RELAX NG schema is itself an XML document.

RELAX NG (1997). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

SGML: The Chameleon of Publishing Technology

SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) is an international standard publishing technology that's increasingly being used in government, industry, and academia. Despite this growth, SGML is perhaps the most misunderstood technology around.

Donovan, Truly. Editorial Eye, The (1996). Articles>Information Design>Standards>SGML

Standards with a Future

About ten years ago, a handful of highly specialised consultants were trying with missionary zeal to establish SGML as the basic format in technical communication; today, the XML-standard is no longer something that can be dispensed with, and is, in fact, even mandatory in many projects. This article takes a look in hindsight at the beginnings of SGML and XML, and the current developments and standards around XML, and also hazards a guess at what the years to come might hold in store.

Rath, Hans Holger. tekom (2006). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Validate RSS and Atom Documents

Use an online validator to check your RSS and Atom documents.

O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Information Design>Standards>RSS

Validating a Custom DTD

This article will show you how to create a custom DTD that will add custom attributes, and will also show you how to validate documents that use those new attributes.

Eisenberg, J. David. List Apart, A (2005). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

XML Basics

XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. XML is used to aid the exchange of data. The language makes it possible to define data in a structured way. XML tags are not predefined like HTML. XML lets you create your own unique tags that are meaningful for your data, hence the use of the term 'extensible.'

Zaman, Mamun. Dev Articles (2007). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

XML is Like...

Maybe XML is more like a carcinogen. We don't notice it's there, but we're still getting exposed to it. In ever-increasing doses. But unlike a carcinogen, XML is not bad for our health; in fact, it has many life-enhancing properties. Well, work-enhancing properties.

HyperWrite (2006). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Information Mapping

Information Mapping is a proprietary method for the analysis, organisation, and presentation of information. It is based on the needs of the users and their purpose in using the documentation. Information Mapping has three parts: analysis, organisation, presentation.

Unwalla, Mike. TechScribe (2007). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>Standards

Mark of Success

It is just seven years since specifications were developed to allow XML data to be exchanged over the internet. Simon Bisson looks at the development of the lingua franca of the connected world.

Bisson, Simon. Guardian Unlimited, The (2005). Articles>Information Design>XML>Standards

Getting Standards to Emerge, or, How to Build a Recipe Book While Everyone's Busy Cooking

The UK Local e-Government Standards Body was established late in 2003, and tasked with compiling an XML based data standards catalogue for use by UK Local Authorities. This is to be achieved by mapping existing standards, identifying gaps to be filled, advising and supporting local Councils, their partners and suppliers on the interpretation and adoption of standards, and establishing processes for developing new standards as required. However, UK Local Authorities have been developing e-services for several years already, so this new effort has to take place in a context where many projects are already under way, using a variety of business models, and with diverse approaches to XML interoperability design. An additional factor is the traditional tension between central and local government, which has led to patchy and inconsistent adoption of the national UK e-Government Interoperability framework. This paper is an account of the methodology developed by CSW Group Ltd and the LeGSB to tackle this situation.

Harvey, Anna and Ann Wrightson. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>XML>Standards

Document Model Selection: Off-the-Shelf, Altered-to-Fit, or Bespoke?

Document Model selection is a key success factor in XML. Approaches include: adopting an existing model, modifying a model to meet your needs, and creating one to meet your needs. Advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed.

Usdin, B. Tommie. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Accommodating XML 1.1 in XML Schema 1.0

As published the W3C XML Schema specification references XML 1.0 explicitly, and incorporates by reference certain key definitions, in particular those of the 'Char', 'Name' and 'S' character classes. XML 1.1 changes the contents of these classes, so although nothing in the existing XML Schema specification specifically bars infosets produced by XML 1.1 conformant parsers, such infosets, if they exploit any of the relevant changes in XML 1.1, will not be accepted as valid by conformant XML Schema 1.0 processors.

Thompson, Henry S. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Document Models and XML Vocabulary Building for Business Users

Our work presents an experiment with a modeling tool that captures domain knowledge in a fashion natural to business users while producing formal models for use in IT processes. We demonstrate the use of this tool for designing XML Schemas.

Spraregen, Susan L. and Douglas Lovell. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Model Driven Architecture: Feasibility or Fallacy?

The high integration costs which exist today mean that we must automate interface maintenance and integration tasks or go insane, or worse, out of business. Ongoing pressure to reduce software development costs while increasing the quality and completeness of the work provide an opportunity for the use of model driven computing. MDA (Model Driven Architecture) is a technique for model based platform independent software specification based on the MOF (Meta-Object Facility) and XMI (XML Meta-data Interchange) standards from the OMG (Object Management Group). There are a number of tool vendors using XMI (especially UML (Unified Modeling Language) drawing tools) but common use and value seem to be slow to show themselves.

Soukup, Martin. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

XTche

This paper describes the design of a new language to formally specify constraints over Topic Maps. This language allows to express contextual conditions on classes of Topic Maps and the corresponding processing syntem. With XTche, a topic map designer defines a set of restrictions that enables to verify if a particular topic map is semantically valid. As the manual checking of large topic maps (frequent in real cases) is impossible, it is mandatory to provide an automatic validator.

Librelotto, Giovani Rubert, José Carlos Ramalho and Pedro Rangel Henriques. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Designing XML Formats: Versioning vs. Extensibilty

Designers of XML formats have to face the problem of how to design their formats to be extensible and yet be resilient to changes due revisions of the format. This presentation covers various techniques and considerations for versioning XML formats.

Obasanjo, Dare. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML