Introduction to DITA References

DITA is quickly becoming the dominant XML schema for topic-oriented authoring. DITA is a highly practical way of moving to XML authoring in general and granular content reuse in particular. DITA distinguishes itself from predecessor standards by explicitly rejecting the book paradigm in favour of a topic-oriented model.

Prescod, Paul. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA

An Introduction to Extensible Stylesheet Language  

Introduces the three technologies that comprise the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) family of specifications as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Hodge, Drew W. Intercom (2004). Articles>Information Design>XML>XSL

Introduction to OMG's Unified Modeling Language (UML)

Large enterprise applications - the ones that execute core business applications, and keep a company going - must be more than just a bunch of code modules. They must be structured in a way that enables scalability, security, and robust execution under stressful conditions, and their structure - frequently referred to as their architecture - must be defined clearly enough that maintenance programmers can (quickly!) find and fix a bug that shows up long after the original authors have moved on to other projects. That is, these programs must be designed to work perfectly in many areas, and business functionality is not the only one (although it certainly is the essential core). Of course a well-designed architecture benefits any program, and not just the largest ones as we've singled out here. We mentioned large applications first because structure is a way of dealing with complexity, so the benefits of structure (and of modeling and design, as we'll demonstrate) compound as application size grows large. Another benefit of structure is that it enables code reuse: Design time is the easiest time to structure an application as a collection of self-contained modules or components. Eventually, enterprises build up a library of models of components, each one representing an implementation stored in a library of code modules. When another application needs the same functionality, the designer can quickly import its module from the library. At coding time, the developer can just as quickly import the code module into the application.

UML Resource Page (2005). Articles>Information Design>XML>UML

Introduction to Relations in XML Schema

This is the first article in a series concentrating on implementing relations for designing robust XML schema definitions.

Chaterjee, Jagadish. Dev Articles (2006). Articles>Information Design>Databases>XML

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.

Duffy, Scott. XGuru (2003). Articles>Web Design>XML>RSS

Introduction to the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)

The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based, end-to-end architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering technical information. This architecture consists of a set of design principles for creating 'information-typed' modules at a topic level and for using that content in delivery modes such as online help and product support portals on the Web. This document is a roadmap for DITA: what it is and how it applies to technical documentation.

IBM (2001). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA

Introduction to XML

XML, the Extensible Markup Language, has gone from the latest buzzword to an entrenched eBusiness technology in record time. This newly revised tutorial discusses what XML is, why it was developed, and how it's shaping the future of electronic commerce. It also covers a variety of important XML programming interfaces and standards, and ends with two case studies showing how companies are using XML to solve business problems.

Tidwell, Doug. IBM (2002). Resources>Education>Information Design>XML

Introduction to XML Document Object Model

Learn about XML and the hierarchical structure of the Document Object Model. Nodes, NodeLists, NameNodeMaps, as well as properties such as parentNodes, childNodes, nodeNames, and nodeValues are explored, explained and code is given.

Gokul, Gayathri. ASP Free (2002). Articles>Information Design>XML

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.

Sall, Ken. Intranet Journal (2001). Design>Web Design>XML>Metadata

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.

Manning, Steve. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Web Design>XML>Technical Writing

Introduction to XML for Web Developers

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

Sol, Selena. WDVL (1999). Design>Web Design>XML>XSL

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.

Extropia. Design>Web Design>XML

Introduction to XPath

XPath is a language for addressing parts of an XML document, designed to be used by both XSLT and XPointer. In this article we will learn about XPath, XPath expressions and how to use XPath in .NET and Java.

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

Just Say "Help": Implementing Help in VoiceXML

One of the exciting aspects of XML is the number of ways it is being used to provide new means of communicating and gathering new information. One such use is VoiceXML, an emerging W3C standard that brings voice to the Web or the Web to the phone.

Beebe, Allen. WritersUA (2002). Design>Documentation>XML

Lessons From The Trenches: DocZone.com Is Doing It With DITA

Interviews Chris Hill of DocZone.com and explores the lessons his firm learned while implementing the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA).

Abel, Scott. Rockley Group, The (2006). Articles>Content Management>XML>DITA

Managing and Delivering Your Content as Data  

Houser describes several options for organizations interested in data-oriented publishing--the delivery of discrete, independent pieces of information that can be selected, manipulated, and presented to meet the needs of different audiences with different characteristics and different goals.

Houser, Alan R. Intercom (2003). Design>Content Management>Single Sourcing>XML

Managing and Documenting Your Project, XML Style

Here are links to the listings described in Managing and Documenting Your Project XML Style.

Fisher, Timothy. XML Journal (2003). Articles>Documentation>Project Management>XML

Managing XML Data Storage

XML is becoming the data format of choice for a wide variety of information systems solutions. Common applications using XML include document transmission in B2B systems, message format construction for integration of Internet applications with legacy systems, binding of XML data to visual and non-visual controls, data storage and retrieval, and various data manipulation activities within applications.

Emerick, Jerry. ACM Crossroads (2002). Articles>Information Design>XML

Manipulate XML Service Definitions with Java Programming

A Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) typically exports a range of services. For XML service modelling and subsequent consumption of those services by users (people, machines, or other services), Java technology provides powerful mechanisms to handle XML data, which in turn provides a key foundation for using SOA concepts. Dive into the practical aspects of SOA using XML and Java technology, and discover clear examples of why this seemingly complex technology is so popular.

Morris, Stephen B. IBM (2007). Articles>Information Design>XML>Java

Mapping Between XML and Relational Data

This chapter explores the various methods for mapping between XML and relational data models. It focuses on the underlying fundamentals: goals and requirements for mapping between XML and relational data; issues that arise when mapping, such as handling of datatypes and order; and when a particular technique can or cannot support update operations.

Draper, Denise. InformIT (2004). Design>Information Design>XML

Merging XML Files: A New Approach Providing Intelligent Merge of XML Data Sets  

As XML becomes ubiquitous so the need for powerful tools to manipulate XML data becomes more pressing. Merging XML is particularly tricky, but often necessary to consolidate data feeds from heterogeneous systems, or to synchronize submissions of XML fragments which make up a larger document. An automated mechanism for defining and controlling such merges has been developed and is demonstrated to provide a consistent, adaptable and resilient solution to this problem. Integration into an information pipeline allows limitless customization.

La Fontaine, Robin. DeltaXML.com (2001). Articles>Information Design>XML>Collaboration

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.

Fischer, Peter. New Architect (2000). Design>Web Design>XML>XHTML

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.

W3C Quality Assurance Team. List Apart, A (2005). Design>Web Design>Standards>XML

Moving into XML Functionality: The Combined Digital Dictionaries of Buddhism and East Asian Literary Terms  

Compilation of the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (DDB) began with the realization of the dearth of adequate lexicographical and other reference works in the English language for the textual scholar of East Asian Buddhism in particular, and East Asian philosophy and religion in general. The (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) CJK-English Dictionary (CJK-E) began soon after. I decided, during my first Buddhist and Confucian/Taoist texts readings courses, to save everything I looked up, and have continued that practice to the present, through the course of studying scores of classical texts. Although the content of these two lexicons is presently being supplemented by other interested parties, the terms that I have been compiling serve as the major portion of the work.

Muller, Charles and Michael Beddow. Journal of Digital Information (2002). Articles>Publishing>Online>XML