XML for dummies

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XML for dummies

by Lucinda Dykes and Ed Tittel

(--For dummies)

Wiley, c2005

4th ed

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Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

See how XML works for business needs and RSS feeds Create consistency on the Web, or tag your data for different purposes Tag -- XML is it! XML tags let you share your format as well as your data, and this handy guide will show you how. You'll soon be using this markup language to create everything from Web sites to business forms, discovering schemas and DOCTYPES, wandering the Xpath, teaming up XML with Office 2003, and more. Discover how to * Make information portable * Use XML with Word 2003 * Store different types of data * Convert HTML documents to XHTML * Add CSS to XML * Understand and use DTDs

Table of Contents

Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 How This Book Is Organized 4 Part I: XML Basics 4 Part II: XML and the Web 4 Part III: Building in Validation with DTDs and Schemas 5 Part IV: Transforming and Processing XML 6 Part V: XML Application Development 6 Part VI: The Part of Tens 7 Glossary 7 Icons Used in This Book 7 Where to Go from Here 8 Part I: XML Basics 9 Chapter 1: Getting to Know XML 11 XML (eXtreMely cooL) 12 Mocking up your own markup 12 Separating data and context 12 Making information portable 13 XML means business 13 Figuring Out What XML Is Good For 14 Classifying information 14 Enforcing rules on your data 15 Outputting information in a variety of ways 16 Using the same data across platforms 17 Beyond the Hype: What XML Isn't 18 It's not just for Web pages anymore 19 It's not a database 20 It's not a programming language 20 Building XML Documents 21 Chapter 2: Using XML for Many Purposes 23 Moving Legacy Data to XML 23 The Many Faces of XML 24 Creating XML-enabled Web pages 24 Print publishing with XML 25 Using XML for business forms 28 Incorporating XML into business processes 29 Serving up XML from a database 31 Alphabet Soup: Even More XML 31 Chapter 3: Slicing and Dicing Data Categories: The Art of Taxonomy 33 Taking Stock of Your Data 33 Looking at business practices and partners 34 Gathering some content 34 Checking whether a DTD or schema already exists 35 Searching for a schema repository 36 Breaking Down Data in Different Ways 37 Winnowing out the wheat from the chaff 38 Types of data that can be stored in XML 39 Developing Your Taxonomy 39 Testing Your Taxonomy 41 Using trial and error for the best fit 41 Testing your content analysis 42 Looking Ahead to Validation 43 Part II: XML and the Web 45 Chapter 4: Adding XHTML for the Web 47 HTML, XML, and XHTML 47 What HTML does best 48 The limits of HTML 49 Comparing XML and HTML 50 Using XML to describe data 51 The benefits of using HTML 53 The benefits of using XML 53 XHTML Makes the Move to XML Syntax 54 Making the switch 55 Every element must be closed 56 Empty elements must be formatted correctly 56 Tags must be properly nested 57 Case makes a difference 57 Attribute values are in quotation marks 58 Converting a document from HTML to XHTML 59 The Role of DOCTYPE Declarations 62 Chapter 5: Putting Together an XML File 65 Anatomy of an XML File 65 The XML declaration 67 Marking up your content 68 Playing by the Rules: Well-Formed Documents 74 Adding Style for the Web 76 Seeking Validation with DTD and XML Schema 78 Why describe XML documents? 79 Choosing between DTD and XML Schema 80 Chapter 6: Adding Character(s) to XML 83 About Character Encodings 84 Introducing Unicode 85 Character Sets, Fonts, Scripts, and Glyphs 87 For Each Character, a Code 88 Key Character Sets 89 Using Unicode Characters 91 Finding Character Entity Information 93 Chapter 7: Handling Formatting with CSS 95 Viewing XML on the Web with CSS 96 Basic CSS Formatting: CSS1 97 The Icing on the Cake: CSS2 98 Building a CSS Stylesheet 98 Adding CSS to XML 99 A simple CSS stylesheet for XML 101 Dissecting a simple CSS stylesheet 102 Linking CSS and XML 106 Adding CSS to XSLT 107 Part III: Building In Validation with DTDs and Schemas 109 Chapter 8: Understanding and Using DTDs 111 What's a DTD? 112 When to use a DTD 113 When NOT to use a DTD 113 Inspecting the XML Prolog 114 Examining the XML declaration 115 Discovering the DOCTYPE 116 Understanding comments 116 Processing instructions 117 How about that white space? 117 Reading a DTD 118 Using Element Declarations 119 Using the EMPTY element type and the ANY element type 120 Adding mixed content 121 Using element content models 122 Declaring Attributes 123 Discovering Entities 125 General entities 126 Parameter entities 128 Understanding Notations 130 Calling a DTD 131 Internal DTDs 131 External DTDs 132 When to use an internal or external DTD 133 Chapter 9: Understanding and Using XML Schema 135 What's an XML Schema? 136 So Many Datatypes, So Little Time 138 XML Prolog 139 Document Structures 141 Element declarations 141 Attribute declarations 144 Attribute groups 144 What about that white space? 145 Datatype Declarations 148 Simple datatypes 148 Complex datatypes 149 Defining constraints and value checks 149 Dealing with Entities, Notations, and More 150 Annotations 151 Deciding When to Use a Schema 152 Referencing XML Schema Documents 153 The inside view: Referencing a schema in an XML document 153 Calling for outside support: Referencing external schemas in your schema 153 Double-Checking Your Schemas and Documents 155 Chapter 10: Building a Custom XML Schema 157 Doing the Validity Rag 157 Step 1: Understanding Your Data 159 Step 2: Being the Root of All Structure: Elements 159 Step 3: Building Content Models 161 Step 4: Using Attributes to Shed Light on Data Structure 163 Step 5: Using Datatype Declarations to Define What's What 164 Tricks of the Trade 167 Creating a Simple Schema 168 Using a Schema with an XML File in Word 2003 170 Chapter 11: Modifying an Existing Schema 173 Trading Control for Flexibility 174 Eliciting Markup from an XML Schema 174 Modifying a Schema 176 Using Datatypes Effectively 177 Using datatypes with data-intensive content 177 Using datatypes with text-intensive content 179 Making Elements Work Wisely and Well 180 Creating crafty content models 180 A matter of selection 181 Mixing up the order 183 Using Complex Datatypes 183 When XML Schemas Collide: Namespaces 185 Including External Data 188 Including/Excluding Document Content 188 Converting DTDs to Schemas 190 Part IV: Transforming and Processing XML 195 Chapter 12: Handling Transformations with XSL 197 The Two Faces of XSL 198 Xslt 198 Xsl-fo 200 XSL Stylesheets Are XML Documents 201 A Simple Transformation Using XSLT 202 An XSLT Stylesheet for Converting XML to HTML 202 The pieces of the stylesheet puzzle 205 Processing element content 207 Dealing with repeating elements 209 Creating an XSLT Stylesheet with XSLT Editors 210 Chapter 13: The XML Path Language 215 Why Do You Need Directions? 216 XPath document trees 217 Understanding XPath nodes 218 XPath Directions and Destinations 220 XPath Syntax 221 Some simple location paths 222 Adding expressions 223 Taking steps along the XPath 223 Looking at attributes 224 Going backward 224 Reversing direction 225 Null results 225 Getting back to your roots 226 XPath functions 226 Using XPath with XMLSpy 226 The Short Version 228 Child-axis abbreviations 229 Attribute-axis abbreviation 229 Predicate and expression abbreviations 229 Some more abbreviations 230 What's New in XPath 2.0? 231 Where to Now? 233 Chapter 14: Processing XML 235 Frankly, My Dear, I Don't Give a DOM 235 Keeping in touch with the family 238 Understanding DOM structure 238 What Goes In Must Come Out: Processing XML 240 So many processors, so little time 242 Which processor is right for you? 243 Part V: XML Application Development 245 Chapter 15: Using XML with Web Services 247 What's Up with Web Services? 248 A Web Services Architecture 251 Transport: Moving XML messages 252 Packaging/Extensions: Managing information exchange 253 Description: Specifying services and related components 254 Discovery: Finding what's available 255 Where Will Web Services Lead? 256 Chapter 16: XML and Forms 259 Collecting Information with Forms: The Basics 260 HTML Forms 260 XML Forms 261 XForms 261 InfoPath 267 Chapter 17: Serving Up the Data: XML and Databases 271 Using Databases with XML 272 Text-intensive XML 272 Data-intensive XML 273 Creating XML from Database Files 273 Using Word 2003 274 Using InfoPath 275 Using XMLSpy 278 Using XML with Access 2003 281 Chapter 18: XML and RSS 285 Introducing RSS 286 Sorting Out the Versions 286 RSS 0.9x 287 Rss 2.0/2.01 290 Rss 1.0 291 Validating an RSS Feed 295 Creating RSS Feeds 296 Get Syndicated! 297 Using an RSS Reader 298 Part VI: The Part of Tens 299 Chapter 19: XML Tools and Technologies 301 Creating Documents with Authoring Tools 301 Epic Editor 302 Turbo XML v2.4.1 303 XMetaL Author 4.5 303 XML Pro v2.0.1 303 XML Spy 2005 304 Checking Documents with Parser Tools 304 AElfred 305 expat 306 Lark 306 Viewing with XML Browsers 307 Amaya 307 Internet Explorer 6 307 Mozilla 308 Firefox 1.0 308 Opera 308 Using XML Parsers and Engines 309 XML C Library for Gnome 309 Java XML Pack 310 Xerces 310 Employing Conversion Tools 311 HTML Tidy 311 Extensible Programming Script (XPS) 311 The Ultimate XML Grab Bag and Goodie Box 312 Microsoft does XML, too! 312 webMethods automates XML excellence 312 Chapter 20: Ten Top XML Applications 313 Xhtml = Xml + Html 314 XML Style Is a Matter of Application 314 Wireless Markup Language (WML) 314 DocBook, Anyone? 315 Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) 315 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 316 Resource Description Framework (RDF) 316 Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 317 Servin' Up Web Services 317 XQuery 318 Create XML Applications with Zope 319 Chapter 21: Ten Ultimate XML Resources 321 XML's Many and Marvelous Specs 321 An XML Nonpareil 322 XML in the Mail 323 Excellent XML Examples at zvon.org 323 XML News and Information 323 XML Training Options 324 Building a Bodacious XML Bookshelf 325 Studying XML for Certification 326 Serious Searches Lead to Success 327 Glossary 329 Index 347

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