A Survey of XML Standards: Part 1

The world of XML is vast and growing, with a huge variety of standards and technologies that interact in complex ways. It can be difficult for beginners to navigate the most important aspects of XML, and for users to keep track of new entries and changes in the space. In this series of articles, Uche Ogbuji provides a guide to XML standards, including a wide range of recommended resources for further information.

Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2004). Design>Information Design>Standards>XML

SVG as a Page Description Language

SVG has matured into a rich, fully featured graphics language resulting in its suitability for all traditional graphics applications. The SVG working group is continuing development of various profiles for use in specific application areas, such as mobile devices. One of the most important uses of computer graphics languages is in the area of printing. Many languages used for printing are proprietary and display various feature sets. SVG in contrast is vendor neutral, contains much of the functionality of existing languages for printing and is a wonderful candidate for future hard copy devices. A new SVG profile for printing is being developed as part of the SVG standardisation effort.

Danilo, Alex and Jun Fujisawa. SVG Open (2002). Articles>Graphic Design>XML>SVG

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.

Vitiello, Eric Jr. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Design>Web Design>XML>SVG

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.

Smith, Michael. O'Reilly and Associates (2000). Design>Web Design>Writing>XML

Technical Communication, Knowledge Management, and XML    

Technical communicators can expand their roles into the realm of knowledge management if they augment their already considerable skills with a basic understanding of XML coding and a critical understanding of how this applied tool can allow us to shape, store, and transfer knowledge. To do this, they can start by examining how the use of tools and their relationship to the materials, assumptions, and methods of the scientific community contribute to the culture of research activity and then transferring these ideas to their workplaces. Additionally, they need to understand that knowledge management systems can include tacit knowledge. In their roles as knowledge managers, they can teach organization members how they can help design, access, and contribute to databases; alert them to new information as it is made available in knowledge repositories; and work to facilitate an environment of trust and sharing that allows knowledge management systems to flourish.

Applen, J.D. Technical Communication Online (2002). Design>Knowledge Management>XML>Metadata

Technical Context and Cultural Consequences of XML

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is an open standard for creating domain- and industry-specific markup vocabularies. XML has become the predominant mechanism for electronic data interchange between information systems and can be described as a universally applicable, durable “Code of Integration.â€Ω As we celebrate its tenth anniversary, it is appropriate to reflect on the role XML has played and the technical ecosystem in which it functions. In this paper, we discuss both the environment from which XML arose and its technical underpinnings, and we relate these topics to companion papers in this issue of the IBM Systems Journal. We discuss the broad consequences of XML and argue that XML will take its place among the technical standards having the greatest impact on the world in which we live. We conclude with some reflections on the significant technical, economic, and societal consequences that XML is likely to have in the future.

Adler, S., R. Cochrane, J.F. Morar and A. Spector. IBM (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML

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.

Rockley, Ann and Steve Manning. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Web Design>XML

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.

Bridge, Karl. Microsoft (2005). Design>Web Design>User Centered Design>XML

Three Ways of Using XML in Software User Assistance

Technical writers are gearing towards challenging roles that enable them to enrich software users' experience. Extensible Markup Language (XML) happens to be one of the ways in which writers are enhancing their skills for software user assistance.

Ryali, Kavita. STC Puget Sound (2004). Articles>Documentation>XML>Help

Tips for Documenting an XML DTD  

XML-based development projects often require the development of a Document Type Definition (DTD), which defines the XML code used in an XML document or application. Even if you are customizing an existing DTD like the DocBook DTD, documenting the DTD is a best practice for a number of reasons, including:Providing documentation

Kelly, William T. TechRepublic (2003). Articles>Documentation>Programming>XML

Too Many Pieces

Do you ever think about how much time you spend tackling process issues and tools issues? The tools, as advanced and automated as they are, will not fix all our problems. But we have to work with what we have, and automate as much of the production and maintenance of our content as possible.

Albing, Bill. Carolina Communique (2006). Resources>Software>Tools>XML

Topic-Oriented Information Development and Its Role in Globalization

For all of its upside, XML-based single-source publishing has proven to be expensive and complicated to implement. XML-based single sourcing requires significant tool development, data conversion, and system integration prior to realizing the benefits of repurposing and reuse. To mitigate this, some vertical industries have developed their own XML tag sets. While successful on their own, these vertical industry efforts have not been extensible to other industries. A new XML-based approach to information development is the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA).

Trippe, Bill. Gilbane Report (2004). Articles>Information Design>Metadata>XML

TopicMaps.net

An informative web site about Topic Maps.

Biezunski, Michel and Steven R. Newcomb. TopicMaps. Resources>Information Design>XML

TopicMaps.org

Topicmaps.Org is an independent consortium of parties interested in developing the applicability of the Topic Maps Paradigm to the World Wide Web, by leveraging the XML family of specifications as required.

TopicMaps (2002). Resources>Information Design>XML

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.

Eisenberg, J. David. List Apart, A (2001). Articles>Web Design>XML

Transforming Documentation from the XML Doctypes Used for the Apache Website to DITA: A Case Study  

A primary factor behind the enormous interest in XML is the support it provides for transforming documents to meet the needs of information-processing applications as well as human readers working with HTML, print, and other presentation media. This case study reviews the issues we confronted, the tools we implemented, and the procedures we adopted to transform a documentation set from one XML document type to another, and from XML to HTML and Adobe PDF. The documentation set for Xalan, the Apache XSL transformer based largely on code donated by Lotus/IBM, is written in XML, using document types shared by the projects on the Apache XML website. To present Xalan reference releases to IBM project groups, the Cambridge Advanced Technology Group has set up build procedures to transform the Xalan XML documentation to DITA, an extensible XML information typing architecture currently under development in IBM. After verifying that the DITA output conforms to its declared document type, the build publishes the DITA documentation set as HTML and as PDF.

Leslie, Donald M. Cover Pages (2004). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA

Transforming XML with XSLT  

Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is a language designed to provide presentation for the content of XML documents. It is composed of three parts: XSLT, XPath, and XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO). In this chapter, I'll show you XSLT and the .NET assembly that deals with it, System.Xml.Xsl. But first, some background.

Bornstein, Niel M. O'Reilly and Associates (2003). Design>Information Design>XML>XSL

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.

Zydron, Andrzej. XML.com (2004). Design>Web Design>Localization>XML

Trends in XML Software  

Houser explores the growing popularity of XML and compares several current XML authoring tools. A sidebar to the article explains the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) standards process.

Houser, Alan R. Intercom (2001). Design>Information Design>XML

Tutorial de XML en Castellano

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

Bravo Montero, Joaquin. Programacion.net (1999). (Spanish) Design>Web Design>XML

UI Design with Java and XML Toolkits

XML has revolutionized application UI design in recent years. With a cunning blend of XML and script languages such as JavaScript, rich, aesthetically pleasing applications can be quickly constructed with ease. We've looked at Widgets and XUL as two examples of this in the past and now, I'm going to take a look at some of the innovative Java UI toolkits that implement XML as an integral mechanism for application II design. Please note, this is the first part of a two-part article.

Wellman, Dan. Dev Articles (2006). Design>User Interface>Programming>XML

UML 3.0 and the Future of Modeling  

The major revision work for UML 2.0 is complete, and it is now an OMG Final Adopted Specification. This is a good time to reflect on UML's future, and the future of model-driven development.

Kobryn, Cris. UML Forum (2004). Articles>Information Design>XML>UML

A UML Primer  

This document covers key areas in UML (the Unified Modeling Language), such as Association, Multiplicity, Aggregation, Generalization and diagrams such as the Use Case diagram, Class Diagram, and Sequence Diagram.

Sundaram, Elango. Yahoo (2003). (Farsi) Articles>Information Design>XML>UML

UML Resource Page

UML is the way the world models not only application structure, behavior, and architecture, but also business process and data structure.

UML Resource Page (1996). Resources>Information Design>XML>UML

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.

Chase, Nicholas. IBM (2003). Design>Web Design>Information Design>XML