Design>Web Design>XML

Reading XML with jQuery

How to use the common jQuery JavaScript library to parse XML data sources, and to integrate them into your pages.

Unwebbable

It’s time we came to grips with the fact that not every “document” can be a “web page.” Some forms of writing just cannot be expressed in HTML—or they need to be bent and distorted to do so. But for once, XML might actually help.

Introduction to RDFa: Part 2

RDFa (“Resource Description Framework in attributes”) is having its five minutes of fame: Google is beginning to process RDFa and Microformats as it indexes websites, using the parsed data to enhance the display of search results with “rich snippets.”

Enabling Web Service with Common Information Model

In this article we will introduce the concept of WS-Management and Common Information Model (CIM). By exploring the SOAP message with multiple examples, we will learn how to transfer CIM operations through WS-Management SOAP messages.

XSLT Tutorial

A brief and basic tutorial about the XML-based scripting language.

Improving an XML Feed Display Through CSS and XSLT

XML feeds, though useful, are boring to look at in a browser because they are simple XML files. It's possible though to make them easier on the eye, and in this article we'll look at two ways of doing that. First, we'll use simple CSS properties to format each XML node, and then we'll use a little more complex but much more powerful XSL transformation.

Browser Problems with the XML Prolog

Some browsers have difficulty upon encountering the XML Prolog. In some cases, the browser will render all the markup as text. In other cases, when a browser has some XML support, it might attempt to render the document as an XML tree. To avoid these problems, many practicing web professionals prefer to leave the prolog off. This table will help you make that decision by showing you which browsers have known problems with the XML prolog.

Building Dynamic Applications With Mozilla, REX and XQuery.

The Mozilla platform offers a rich support of XML techniques, from low level ones (XPath, RDF, DOM, e4x) to rendering dialects like XHTML, SVG, XUL and XForms, thus making this platform a natural choice for the XML inclined. It is becoming a platform of choice when developing rich connected applications. When building dynamic applications, the developer is often facing a common set of programming patterns : gathering data from various remote and local sources, storing data with an optional transformation phase, and updating parts of the GUI to reflect the modifications in the data store. With today's ubiquitous use of XML as a data exchange syntax, a major part of these tasks can be achieved with XML based solutions. In this article we will present an XML centric solution that aims at minimizing the impedance mismatch between different data models that plagues classical architectures involving for instance XML/object/relationnal translation. It combines some of Mozilla's existing capabilities with REX (Remote Events for XML) and a native XML database with XQuery support. REX provides means to update the XUL based GUI and the database, while the XML database is used as a versatile storage engine.

The Essence of Declarative, XML-based Web Applications: XForms and XSLT

In this session, the author discusses best practices, common patterns and pitfalls in using XSLT as a host language for generating web-based user interfaces expressed in XForms.

Language Support for Web Service Development

We will demonstrate how enhancements to the XJ language (http://alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/xj) facilitate the development of Web Service applications.

The Session Concept and Web Services

This paper describes the session concept as it relates to middleware systems in general and Web services in particular. Common applications of the session concept are found in distributed object systems, the Web, and messaging middleware systems. The purpose of a session is to allow multiple individual Web Services to enter a relationship by sharing certain common attributes as an externally modeled entity. For example, multiple Web Services executing within the scope of a single authorized/secure session. In the context of Web services, explicit building blocks for session-oriented protocols and services have been proposed in two specifications, WS-Addressing and WS-Context. The distinguishing characteristic of these two proposals is the degree of coupling they introduce between session participants. In this paper we shall compare and contrast the underlying models these specifications present, as they relate to the session concept in Web services. The aim is to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches and summarize best-practices and techniques for supporting a scalable Web services architecture. Note, although this paper is not purely research oriented, it does make an important contribution in the area of software practices and experiences for current and future researchers. The authors believe that it is important to ensure that the Web services architecture scales as well as the World Wide Web and as we shall see, the session concept and how it is provided play an integral role in that arena.

Bulletproofing Web Services

As companies and consumers rely more on Web services, it becomes increasingly important for Web services developers to know how to properly design, develop, deploy, and ultimately manage a Web services system. However, because of the inherent complexities that can arise with a Web service implementation, it can be difficult to grasp practical fundamentals and devise a step-by-step plan for Web services development.

Getting the Most Out of COCOON: A XML-Based Webs Service for a Registration Agency

Since 2005 the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) is established as a DOI registration agency for scientific content. Data providers transmit XML-files containing the DC-based metadata descriptions of the scientific data to a webservice infrastructure at the TIB, which was created by the Research center L3S during a project founded by the registration agency for scientific content. Data providers transmit XML-files containing the DC-based metadata descriptions of the scientific data to a webservice infrastructure at the TIB, which was created by the Research center L3S during a project founded by the German research association (DFG). This webservice infrastructure is based on the web application framework COCOON. We have however extended COCOON with full webservice functionalities. Using XSLT the webservice is furthermore able to transform XML-metadata files into well-formed PICA-files to insert the metadata information into the library catalogue of the TIB.

Binding the Graphical Web (Component and Data Bindings with XBL, XHTML and SVG)

The emerging XML based web increasingly relies upon ways of presenting content in a just in time manner. Presentation technologies such as SVG and XHTML can do so, yet the power to properly harness them will likely lie in the emergent binding languages such as XBL, sXBL, and XTF. In this presentation, bindings and binding languages will be explored, illustrating how such environments as the Mozilla Firefox 1.5 browser are using XBL as a means for performing component binding into XHTML, SVG and XForms interfaces, looks at sXBL and the W3C's XBL directions, and details why such binding languages likely represent the future of XML presentation and interaction.

Deployment Scenarios for Web Service Discovery

Several Web service discovery technologies including Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI), Web Services Metadata Exchange (WS-MEX) and other lightweight protocols and techniques can be used for particular scenarios. This presentation will discuss the status of each of these technologies and how they relate to the Web services stack as well as which technology should be employed to solve certain types of Web service integration problems.

Lessons from the Front Line: Building Interoperable Web Services

The ability to interoperate across disparate vendors, platforms and infrastructure stacks is inherently important to the adoption of Web Services technology. For most organizations, cross platform interoperability and the move to a loosely coupled, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is usually the main rationale for adoption of the underlying Web Service technologies. In this paper we will discuss some of the issues and stumbling blocks towards interoperability. We will also demonstrate with an example, how an application developed in Java and deployed in a J2EE 1.4 compatible container can interoperate and be consumed from a different client, developed in C# on the .NET platform.

The Foundation for Occasionally Connected Computing

This paper motivates the need for a lightweight, standards-based web services implementation that runs on mass market mobile devices. It describes the advantages of using web services and the challenges which must be overcome to use web services on mass market devices with limited computing power and network bandwidth. The paper concludes by describing a new approach to web services which drastically reduces the code required to exchange data with remote services, enabling the creation of more compelling applications with sophisticated user interfaces and application logic.

DOM, SAX and Standards - Where Now?

It's been 7 years and three "levels" since the first W3C DOM activity. XML and the way it is used has changed vastly over that time. DOM itself has moved from an API to access and manipulate an in-memory tree with no concept of namespaces, to an end to end XML technology, where parsing, modification of the tree (with the ability to check for validity with a schema as you go) and serialization are all specified.

Enhanced Interoperability for Security of XML Web Services

Enterprises are adopting Web Services to ease application integration across heterogeneous environments within and across security domain boundaries. Security is an important element for the adoption of Web Services. The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) has recently ratified the Web Services Security standards (Web Services Security: SOAP Message Security 1.0 (WS-Security 2004 ), Web Services Security: UsernameToken Profile 1.0 , and Web Services Security: X.509 Certificate Token Profile ) to provide an extensible framework for providing message integrity, confidentiality, identity propagation, and authentication. The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) is profiling standards to provide guidelines for implementation and use of relevant standards to enhance interoperability. This paper describes the activities of the WS-I Basic Security Profile (BSP) Working Group (WG). This Working Group is chartered to improve interoperability of security technologies for Web Services by profiling the OASIS Web Service Security and HTTP Over TLS standards. This interoperability profile (known as the Basic Security Profile 1.0) is an extension of the WS-I Basic Profile . The WS-I Basic Profile addresses interoperability for implementations of core Web Services standards.

Web 2.0: The Tipping Point for XML

Have you been waiting for the right time to switch to XML publishing? O’Keefe illustrates that with the advent of Web 2.0, the time is now.

Web and XML Glossary

A concise list of all acronyms, with individual letter indices (always accessible via the letter bar) which organizes the full names as well.

The Wisdom of Crowds Meets the Wisdom of Authors: How XML Enables the Semantic Web

Key to the Semantic Web is semantic markup, which lets users annotate their web pages with metadata -- HTML attributes that don't get displayed in the document. Semantic metadata describes what the pages are about, letting authors define things with authority and precision.

Microformat Encoding and Visualization

So you have heard about microformats, read the introductory articles, and even bought the book. But now you are probably thinking "great - I have done my part to make the web a better place by adding microformats; what's next? What can people do with my data besides add it to their address book or calendar?" The intent of this article is to get you to think about microformats in different ways, and to demonstrate some interesting visualizations and mash-ups of microformatted content.

jQuery and XML Revisited

In releasing jQuery v.1.2, a decision was made by the development team to drop XPath support from the core. Instead, an officially released XPath jQuery plugin is now available, which provides deprecated functionality. Although initially disappointed by this decision, I was happy to discover that alternative methods for obtaining data from an XML file are still available without the plugin.

An Introduction to RELAX NG

RELAX NG is not a capitalized misspelling of something you probably get to do all too rarely as a busy programmer and web designer. If you use XML to any great degree, you'll want to take a close look at it. It can help make your life as a web developer easier, allowing you to relax a little more.

Providing Options in RELAX NG

XML schemas don't have to be rigid. Sometimes, it's best to provide flexibility and allow the author of XML documents to make choices. In this second part of a three-part article, we'll make some modifications to the schema we created in the first part, and learn how to make some things optional.

Datatypes and More in RELAX NG

Welcome to the third part of a three-part series on RELAX NG. In this part, we will discuss datatypes, the grammar element, and creating named patterns.

The Wisdom of Crowds Meets the Wisdom of Authors: How XML Enables the Semantic Web

Combining semantic markup with a granular authoring approach like DITA holds a lot of promise for content creators and consumers alike. Content becomes easy to define and even easier to discover. The combination also holds a lot of promise for the future of the Semantic Web itself. In fact, creating the Semantic Web might be as easy as authoring content in DITA.

httplib2: HTTP Persistence and Authentication

In this latest Restful Web column, Joe Gregorio explains HTTP persistent connections, pipelining, and the sad state of HTTP authentication.

RSS, Search Engine Visibility and Brand Perception

Branding has been called the most powerful idea in business, yet few companies consciously craft and promote their brand. Making a brand visible to an online audience can be an additional challenge. Studies show that searchers regard the companies that are placed on the first page of search engine results as the major players in the field. So how do you get the coveted page-one positioning? New technologies like RSS feeds are one way to accomplish this and make your brand more visible in the process.

XML Processing in Ajax, Part 1: Four Approaches

Any programming problem can be solved in multiple right ways. This series looks at four approaches for creating an Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (Ajax) weather badge, a small reusable widget that's easily embedded on any Web page. This first article lays the foundation and examines the first approach--walking the DOM tree.

Visual Authoring With XML Data

Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 supports two workflows when authoring with XML: client-side authoring with complete XSLT template pages and server-side with XSLT fragments. The client-side option is available from the Start page.

Convert Atom Documents to JSON

Converting an Atom document to JSON might, at first, appear to be a fairly straightforward task. Atom is, after all, just a bit of XML and XML-to-JSON conversion tools are widely available. However, the Atom format is more than just a set of XML elements and attributes. A number of subtle details can make proper handling of Atom difficult. This article describes those issues and demonstrates a mechanism implemented by the Apache Abdera project to convert Atom documents into JSON and produces a result that is readable, usable, and complete.

Assemble a Cross-Platform Firefox Extension

XUL is a surprisingly easy way to build cross-platform browser extensions or even stand-alone applications. Discover how to build powerful, flexible Mozilla browser extensions that go beyond the capabilities of other tools like embedded scripting languages or CGI--because they're built right into the user's browser.

Yellow Screen of Death

In Mozilla-based applications, the yellow screen of death is the screen displayed when they encounter an XML parsing error. This typically happens when the XML document that the browser is trying to access is not well-formed, for example when it does not nest tags properly.

XML Data Binding

XML became an integral part of Microsoft's strategy around the time of Internet Explorer 4. IE4 was an XML-aware browser. As well as displaying HTML documents, it could also display XML documents through an inbuilt XML parser. Another part of IE4 was something known as the XML DSO (Data Source Object). The XML DSO allows you to manipulate primitive XML 'data islands' by binding (or attaching) the XML data to HTML presentation elements. The XML elements within Internet Explorer continue to be improved and added to with every new IE release.

Firefox 2.0 and XML

Firefox 2.0 brought several important changes in its XML support. It's currently reaching its peak in user deployment. Learn about updated XML features in Firefox 2.0, including a controversial change to the handling of RSS Web feeds.

Save Time and Code with XPath 2.0 and XSLT 2.0

Three interesting new features in XPath 2.0 and XSLT 2.0 are the item data type, the to operator, and the concept of sequences. Build a sample application that uses these features to generate a sophisticated HTML view of an XML document, and with the new features in XSLT 2.0, create shorter stylesheets that are easier to maintain. Along the way, spend a bit of time on data typing in XSLT 2.0, and learn to use the new element.

The Why and How of XML Data Islands

This article explains a useful way to embed data in an HTML document, and store it on the client, using XML. With XML becoming ever more pervasive and the client side implementation gaining a lot of ground, you will probably find yourself using this technique in many projects.

Ajax Tradeoffs: The Many Flavors of XML

Ajax stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML and the idea is that with modern Web browsers you can, with acceptable reliability, keep a channel open to the server to pass data back and forth as your Web application is used. This contrasts with standard Web techniques that follow links, causing the entire page to load anew. Many aspects of Ajax-based development require design different decisions than traditional Web pages: How to manage the back button, how to display updated data, how often to send updates, and more. The focus for now will be on just one group of related aspects: what format should the data exchange take?

Calling a Web Service Using VB6 with SOAP 3.0

This article shows you how to create a client that calls a web service from Visual Basic 6 using SOAP 3.0. If you are still using Microsoft VB 6.0 or C++ and don't plan to move into VB.NET, you will find this method very useful.

XML and Browsers

Now you should know what XML is for and how to write a basic XML document. In this part I will show you how to create a full XML document and load it in a browser, as well and the different ways it can be displayed.

Ajax RSS Reader

Learn how to build an Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) Really Simple Syndication (RSS) reader, as well as a Web component that you can place on any Web site to look at the articles in the RSS feeds.

Up and Atom

Atom is really two different things, both related to syndication (blogs, newsfeeds, and other information which gets updated periodically). The Atom Syndication Format is an IETF standard for publishing entries (single topics or items) and feeds (collections of topics or items). The Atom Publication Protocol (sometimes called the Atom API or abbreviated APP) is a means for finding, listing, adding, editing, and removing content from an Atom repository. While Atom the Syndication Format has gone through the IETF process to become a standard, the standards committee is still at work on Atom the Publishing Protocol, although it seems likely that much of it has stabilized at this point.

Don't CSS your XML

CSS should not be used to present homemade XML as web pages. You end up with nothing but style. Neither man nor machine can understand the structure of your document. CSS should only be used for widely supported XML applications like XHTML.

Delivering Content with RSS for Web Developers

The delivery of web content is being revolutionized by a new technique known as syndication. The most common format for syndication is RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format for coordinating the delivery of time-based content streams, or 'feeds.' This means that RSS can be used to deliver content that changes over time. RSS provides for the inclusion of additional data, similar to email attachments, using the ENCLOSURE tag.

Using SOAP with PHP

SOAP, the Simple Object Access Protocol, is the powerhouse of web services. It's a highly adaptable, object-oriented protocol that exists in over 80 implementations on every popular platform, including AppleScript, JavaScript, and Cocoa. It provides a flexible communication layer between applications, regardless of platform and location. As long as they both speak SOAP, a PHP-based web application can ask a C++ database application on another continent to look up the price of a book and have the answer right away.

XML Transformations with CSS and DOM

Mozilla permits XML to be rendered in the browser with CSS, and manipulated with the DOM. This is a real boon to those of us eager to experiment with XML transformations (both visual and structural) without having to delve into unfamiliar technologies such as XPath, the verbose traversal language of XSLT. If you’re already familiar with CSS and DOM, you’re more than halfway to achieving XML transformations in Mozilla.

XML in Firefox 1.5, Part 1: Overview of XML Features

The open source Firefox Web browser continues to grow in popularity. Users like the security and convenience features it offers. Developers like the Firefox attention to standards compliance, inherited from its Mozilla roots. The most recent version, Firefox 1.5, comes with many features for XML developers, including XML parsing, XHTML, CSS, XSLT, SVG, XML Events in JavaScriptâ„¢, and XForms. Additional third-party extensions provide even more XML support. In this article, Uche Ogbuji provides an overview of XML features in Firefox 1.5.

XML in Firefox 1.5, Part 2: Basic XML Processing

This second article in the series, "XML in Firefox 1.5," focuses on basic XML processing. Firefox supports XML parsing, Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), and XSLT stylesheets.

Text Alternatives to Inaccessible Web Pages

This document details an XML-based method of providing end-user control over the format of an online document, Web page or entire Web site. This functionality is useful in situations where users, due to preference or physical ability, require a way to personalize their view of the content. Content managers, editors, and developers are also able to work with one set of documents, eliminating the need for multiple files that contain the same information with different formatting, therefore reducing redundancy, version inconsistencies, and workload.

Processing the Output Buffer with XSLT

This article shows an example of a technique mentioned in one of our recent articles. It uses the PHP output buffer in combination with XML as intermediate application layer. Ideally you should familiarize yourself with this concept first.

Database-Driven Tree Structures with XML and XSLT

This article deals with the display of tree-structures that are driven by a database. There are actually a few approaches to transform a 2-dimensional structure into a tree, and it seems odd that most are unknown to many developers.

XML as Intermediate Application Layer

In this article I want to share my thoughts on techniques for keeping our code XML-based - so there's no need to get your hands dirty in your application code to change the markup that is rendered afterwards.

More About Custom DTDs

Discusses the need for custom DTDs: why making a custom DTD for the sole purpose of validation is a mistake, and in which cases it does make sense to create and use one. For these cases, this article will also present techniques for creating clean custom DTDs and avoiding hacks.

Can XForm Transform the Web?

Today's Web forms are hopelessly tied to the original GUI of NCSA Mosaic for X Windows, circa 1994.

Creating RSS Files for Your Web Site

Recently I have received more and more questions about the Rich Site Summary (RSS) format and its use for Web masters. The short answer is that RSS is a great way for any Web site to advertise their content in an always up-to-date fashion.

Doing It With XML

An introduction on using XML for web development, tools for editing XML, and how to use CSS or XSL to control the presentation and processing of XML.

GUIs and XML Configuration Data

Discusses how XML is used in the configuration of GUI interfaces. He looks at Mozilla's XML-based User Interface Language (XUL) which allows you to write applications that run without any particular dependency on the choice of underlying operating system. This may seem strange at first, but you'll soon see that this Mozilla project offers powerful tools for GUI building that allow you to develop for an extensive base of installed users.

Introduction to XML for Web Developers

Using simple, well-explained examples this tutorial walks you through XML and the sister XSL style sheet language.

XML 1.1 and Namespaces 1.1 Revealed

Explains what XML 1.1 and Namespaces 1.1 are about, what changes they bring, and how they affect other specs and users.

Introduction to RSS

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an XML format for news headlines. With RSS-enabled feeds, other web sites can easily include your content in their sites. And other applications (besides web browsers) can be used to view your content.

The Organized Web

This document discusses the evolution of the Internet from an unorganized collection of web pages to an organized collection of data. It outlines how XML is at the center of that transformation, and how organizations can take advantage of this evolution with the development of web based services.

XSLT Programmer's Reference: XSLT in Context

The purpose of XSLT, what kind of language it is, and how it fits in with other technologies you're likely to use in a typical Web-based application.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) Tutorial

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a subset of the Standard Generalised Markup Language (SGML), the standard for creating markup documents. Unlike HTML, another markup language based on SGML, XML allows you to describe data and its structure rather than display it. XML is not a replacement for HTML, but compliments it by allowing the author to describe their own tags. XML is extensible as the author can create an unlimited number of tags. There are no predefined tags in XML.

Some Thoughts about SOAP versus REST on Security

REST is the underlying architecture of the World Wide Web and its two core specifications, URIs and HTTP. It has been proposed that instead of using new-from-scratch Web Services technologies we can get much more bang for our buck by understanding the full generality of what we've got. A community has arisen around this idea and we spend our time proving that what the Web already has is better than what is being developed. This page addresses the security weaknesses of the SOAP approach.

Translating XML Documents with xml:tm

Sooner or later someone will want to have your XML document translated into another language. In fact XML documents are much easier to translate than other electronic documents because they separate out form from content, and they conform to a rigorous standard and defined syntax. There are various approaches to improving the translation process.

Перево XML- окументовс помощью xml:tm

Рано или поздно созданный вами XML-документ кто-то захочет перевести на другой язык. В действительности XML-документы переводить гораздо легче нежели другие электронные документы, т. к. они разделяют форму и содержание и соответствуют строгому стандарту и установленному синтаксису.

XML Tips

Extensible Markup Language, or XML, is currently the most promising language for storing and exchanging information on the World Wide Web. Although Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is presently the most common language used to create Web pages, HTML has a limited capacity for storing information. In contrast, because XML allows you to create your own elements, attributes, and document structure, you can use it to describe virtually any kind of information—from a simple recipe to a complex database. And an XML document—in conjunction with a style sheet or a conventional HTML page—can be easily displayed in a Web browser.

Introduction to XML for Web Developers

Surely, if you have decided to learn about XML, you are probably already quite familiar with the concepts behind HTML (HyperText Markup Language). So let's start from there.

Programming Web Services with SOAP

The task of creating and deploying web services is really not all that difficult, nor is it all that different than what developers currently do in more traditional web applications. The tendency on all platforms is to automate more and more of the gory details and tedious work in creating web services. Most programmers don't need to know the exact details of encodings and envelopes; instead, they'll simply use a SOAP toolkit such as those described here.

Beyond Text and Graphics: XML Makes Web Pages Function Like Applications

XML is displacing the traditional 'web page'--generally a static document, created with HTML. Most traditional web pages offer only slim interactivity and rely on an overworked server and CGI script. XML is promoting the concept of a 'weblication' (web application) that can work wonders on the web client without generating so much Internet traffic.

Take My Advice: Don't Learn XML

If you're a developer interested only in the data-oriented side of XML, and if you don't care about document authoring (writing books, articles, manuals, love poems, Web pages, whatever), feel free to ignore this article. If, on the other hand, document authoring is important to you (you're a technical writer, an HTML markup author, manager of a documentation group, an anonymous pamphleteer) and you're trying to decide whether it would be worthwhile for you to learn XML and use it for authoring documents, stick around. What you learn might save you a lot of time and spare you from some unnecessary frustration.

Understanding DOM

Even before there was XML, there was the Document Object Model, or DOM. It allows a developer to refer to, retrieve, and change items within an XML structure, and is essential to working with XML. In this tutorial, you will learn about the structure of a DOM document. You will also learn how to use Java technology to create a Document from an XML file, make changes to it, and retrieve the output.

XML Topic Maps By the Book

Topic Maps provide a system for organizing information, and XML Topic Maps bring this system to the world of XML. In this article, Uche Ogbuji examines XML Topic Maps, introducing the technology in the course of reviewing a key book on the topic.

Sharing Your Site with RSS

Jason shares his knowledge about RSS: What it is, how it's used, and why you need it. Just don't ask him what it stands for.

Deep XML

At the recent XML conference, Norm Walsh hosted a nocturne on Practical RDF, the highlight of which was his tour through thenorman.walsh.name setup. From the outside you may think this is a mere blog, but it’s actually a side-effect of a frighteningly gnarly confluence of metadata streams which are shaken and stirred to produce a sprawling network of resources a small part of which you might want to peruse for Norm’s news & views. I have a picture that made the audience at the session gasp in disbelief.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity Statement

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a simple, very flexible text format derived from SGML (ISO 8879). Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing, XML is also playing an increasingly important role in the exchange of a wide variety of data on the Web.

Migrating from HTML to XML

As the Internet world shifts its focus to XML and related technologies, what happens to HTML? Everywhere you go, products are becoming 'XMLitized' as vendors rush to gain market share. While this is great for companies that are only now beginning to build their infrastructures, what about the rest of us whose sites have existed for years, accumulating documents architected on old HTML technology? How are we to take our millions and millions of HTML documents and bring them into the next generation of Internet computing? Fortunately, the market for tools in this space is growing, and technologies like Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) are making it easier to migrate your repository of existing HTML documents.

A Child's Garden of XML

Sooner or later, most web designers will be called upon to create an internal site. And will quickly learn that one's own company can be tougher to deal with than any client. Dave Linabury offers tips on surviving the process (and building something good in spite of it).

Rated XHTML

The W3C’s XHTML language is intended to bridge the web’s past (HTML) and future (XML). Shall we cross this bridge, now that we’ve come to it? Or is XHTML more trouble than it’s worth? Peter-Paul Koch puts forth the pros and cons.

Validating XML: A Pretty Complete Primer

XML does not come with a spell checker, and will not work if written improperly. Eisenberg teaches you two nifty ways to validate your XML.

XML in Brief

XML is the acronym for the extensible markup language. According to the W3C, it is 'the universal format for structured documents and data on the Web'. The following list explains what XML is and what it is not.

XML: Better Grist from a Better Mill?

In a world of documentation acronyms — ASCII, ANSI, SGML, HTML, DTD, FOSI — I have recently been exposed to the current newcomer on the scene: Extensible Markup Language (XML). For the first time, I'm seriously impressed with the possibility of a true breakthrough documentation solution. I'm particularly impressed that, at last, the industry is thinking of documentation in a way that promises to be practical and useful to us all.

XML and Accessibility

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a meta-syntax, used to create new languages. It can be seen as a simplification of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language), designed to promote a wider acceptance in Web markets, but serving the same functionality of extensibility and new language design. XML is therefore not to be seen as a replacement of HTML, but as a new building layer, usage examples of which are: XHTML (for general HyperText content). Furthermore, it is important to understand that XML is not only a User Interface technology (like HTML), but can and is often used in protocol communication, to serialize and encode data to be sent from one machine to another.

Introduction to XML for Technical Writers

XML is still the hot technology for technical writing. New XML tools are being delivered at a fast pace Every day, there are new XML initiative being announced. But when you try to learn about this exciting new technology, when you review the many books that are appearing on shelves, or sites popping up on the Web, you'll find that the information that is available is mostly aimed at developers. This session focuses on the value that it brings to technical writers and their users, and will include code samples.

XML: One Input, Many Outputs

Hillesund (2002) argues that XML does not and cannot fulfil the often touted benefit that it allows authors and publishers to create documents that can be effectively presented in a variety of formats; that the 'doctrine of 'one input â*” many outputs' ... is basically wrong.' This Letter defends the position that XML is an effective technology, in fact the most effective technology in widespread use, for producing multiple output formats from a single input document.

Tutorial de XML en Castellano

En las siguientes páginas podéis acceder a un manual sobre XML y tecnologías asociadas totalmente en castellano.

XML Structures for Existing Databases

Relational databases are a mature technology, which, as they have evolved, have enabled users to model complex relationships between data that they need to store. In this chapter, we will see how to model some of the complex data structures that are stored in relational databases in XML documents. To do this, we will be looking at some database structures, and then creating content models using XML DTDs. We will also show some sample content for the data in XML to illustrate this. In the process, we will come up with a set of guidelines that will prove helpful when creating XML models for relational data.

XML Accessibility Guidelines

This document provides guidelines for designing Extensible Markup Language (XML) applications that lower barriers to Web accessibility for people with disabilities (visual, hearing, physical, cognitive, and neurological). XML, used to design applications such as XHTML, SMIL, and SVG, provides no intrinsic guarantee of the accessibility of those applications. This document explains how to include features in XML applications that promote accessibility.

Building the Semantic Web

In the information age it is widely understood that there is now too much information. Some of this newly created information will most certainly be valuable, but despite marked improvement in search tools, finding the valuable information is a slow panhandle. Perhaps in light of this situation, the W3C under the direction of Berners-Lee has begun to build the foundation for the next phase of the web. This phase, called the Semantic Web, will make information stored with this technology much more processible by machines.

Inline XML

I was sitting at my desk a few days ago, whiling away the time and I suddenly wondered why HTML includes a <code> tag, and a <var> tag, and yet it takes marking up code no further than that. It’d be understandable to have just the <code> tag, but if they’re going to have a <var> tag, shouldn’t they have more programming tags?

The Death of HTML?

Knobel considers whether recent developments in Web technology, such as the increasing popularity of XML, have fated HTML to obsolescence.

Styling XML: An Opinionated Guide

McLaughlin evaluates the abilities of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and XSLT (eXstensible Style Language for Transformation) to render XML content in Internet browsers.

Using XSL in Internet Explorer 5

Dann explains the workings of a simple Extensible Style Language (XSL) stylesheet capable of displaying an Extensible Markup Language (XML) user procedure in Internet Explorer 5.

SVG: The New Flash

Macromedia has been the dominant force behind vector-based graphics and animation on the web for nearly the past 10 years. Times change, and new methods are always on the horizon. The upcoming contender for vector graphics is Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an XML-based language under development by the W3C.

Using XML

XML is not just a pretty face, living in isolation from the rest of the computing world. XML is more than a rulebook for generating custom markup languages. It is part of a family of technologies, which, working together, make your XML-based documents very useful indeed.

What the Hell is XML?

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the Eurodollar of web development. Both XML and the Euro bring order to chaos; both offer undeniable, wide-ranging benefits; both are poised, in 2002, to change the way we do things. Frankly, both scare the crap out of people. For web developers, 2002 is a time to conquer fears and take their first hands-on approach to XML. It's time to examine XML and realize the practical benefits that it can provide to web projects today. The bankers can fend for themselves.

A Technical Writer's Introduction to XML

XML is one of the hot topics in Web technology. More and more XML sites are being developed every day. You've probably seen XML without realizing it. It's also showing up in specific tools for technical writers: Sun's JavaHelp uses XML components. But when you try to learn about this exciting new technology, when you review the many books that are appearing on shelves, or sites popping up on the Web, you'll find that the information that is available is mostly aimed at developers. This session cuts through the technical detail to the core of XML, to the value that it brings to technical writers and their users. Unlike HTML, which is based on a specific set of tags, XML allows you to define your own tags. This means you have the ability to tag information based on content rather than format structure.

Transformers: Using XSLT to Transform XML

XSLT, the Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation, can convert your XML data to HTML and other friendly formats. Introduce yourself to this snazzy technology.

XML Basics and FAQ

The World Wide Web Consortium, the standards body for all web technologies, describes XML as a “method for putting structured data in a text file” (See www.w3.org/XML/1999/XML-in-10-points.) That’s accurate, but doesn’t really describe what XML is. This session will attempt to cover the basics of what XML is and answer the questions most frequently asked by technical writers.

X Marks the Spot

An explanation of how one writer is using XML to produce documentation and why it's such a great idea.

Introduction to XML: Fixing the Web

What's wrong with the Web and how can the new XML technology fix it? This XML introduction is geared toward newcomers who have heard the buzz, but don't know what all the fuss is about. The article briefly surveys a number of new Web technologies such as XLL, XSL, RDF, DOM, MathML, SMIL, PGML, and how they relate to XML. Benefits of XML are stressed, as are potential applications in diverse fields. A reference section provides links to key XML resources, as well as to collections of other introductory articles.

Defining an XML Document Model with a DTD

An XML document is considered 'well written' when its syntax is correct, and 'valid' when it respects a document model. While a document must be 'well written,' it does not necessarily have to be 'valid.' However, as XML is a meta language, there are an infinite number of XML formats, and most XML documents should respect a particular document model, which can be defined in one of two ways: By a Document Type Definition (DTD); By an XML Schema. In this article, we are going to look at how you should go about implementing the former, using a DTD.

Using XML/XSL for Web Publication

In this article, we look at the problem of Web publication, a process which concerns all enterprises having to send and receive information. What makes XML the technical solution to content syndication? How can the XML/XSL couple facilitate multi-channel publication? We will illustrate this last point using an example near and dear to our hearts, the publication of TrendMarkers e-newsletter.

XML: Structuring Data for the Web: An Introduction

This XML introduction is geared toward newcomers who have heard the buzz, but don't know what all the fuss is about. The article briefly surveys a number of new Web technologies such as XLL, XSL, RDF, DOM, MathML, SMIL, PGML, and how they relate to XML. Benefits of XML are stressed, as are potential applications in diverse fields. A reference section provides links to key XML resources, as well as to collections of other introductory articles.