An XML Tutorial

JTC1/SC32
Victoria, BC Canada
October 2001
Charles E. Campbell Ph.D. (USA)
Why is XML an important?
There is a lot more beneath the surface!
There is a whale of a lot of stuff that will
depend upon XML technologies in the future!
SC32s technologies will all be impacted by
XML in some way!
XML is going to be everywhere and will only
become more pervasive with time.
What is XML
XML -- A Markup Language
It is a protocol for containing and managing
data.
A family of technologies:
Formatting documents to filtering data
A philosophy for handling information.
Where XML fits into the picture
SGML ( Standard Generalized Markup Language) as defined
by ISO 8879. Not well suited for serving documents over the
WEB.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) a W3C
Recommendation. Markup Language used to create
documents on the WEB. Mixes content and display
instructions.
XML (Extensible Markup Language) a W3C
Recommendation, was created so that richly structured
documents could be used on the WEB, something neither
SGML or HTML were able to provide.
The XML layer
The XML layer
W3C
World Wide Web Consortium
Domains
Architecture Domain -- XML
Document Format Domain
Interaction Domain
Technology and Society Domain
Web Accessibility Initiative
Quality Assurance Activity
W3C Process
Notes
Workshop
Charter
Requirements
Drafts
Candidate Recommendations
Proposed Recommendations
Recommendations
How the W3C Process Works
WGs are chartered for a specific time and task
Communications
Face-to-face meetings
Weekly teleconferences
Email (high volume)
Consensus driven
Editor plays large role in creating recommendations
3-Month Heartbeat Requirement for publication.
All comments are responded to
W3C is a consortium not an open body
When did XML Become a
Recommendation?
The W3C published the XML 1.0
Recommendation on 10-February-1998
A Second Edition was published on 6-
October-2000 with the title:
Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0
(Second Edition)
XML Activity after XML 1.0
XML Coordination Group
XML Schema Working Group
XML Linking Working Group
XML Information Set Working Group
XML Fragment working Group
The XML Syntax Working Group
Todays
XML Coordination Group
XML Coordination Group Chairs of XML WGs
XML Plenary Interest Group
XML Core Working Group
XML Query Working Group
XML Schema Working and Interest Groups
XML Linking Working and Interest Groups
XML Coordination Group --
Liaison
XSL Working Group
DOM Working Group
CSS and FP Working Group
XML Protocol Working Group
XForms Working Group
A Simple XML Document
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<greeting>Hello, world!</greeting>
A Simple XML Document with
internal DTD
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!-- This document is valid -->
<!DOCTYPE greeting [
<!ELEMENT greeting (#PCDATA)>
]>
<greeting>Hello, world!</greeting>
A Simple XML Document with
external DTD, Comment & PI
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!-- Here is a procession instruction
-->
<?render bold ?>
<!DOCTYPE greeting SYSTEM
"hello.dtd">
<greeting>Hello, world!</greeting>
Elements
A defined piece of an XML Document
<Element Name>Content</Element Name>
<Element Name></Element Name>
<Empty Element Name/>
Attributes vs. Elements
An attribute defines a specific setting or provides
additional information about an Element:
<team person1=sue person2=chuck>
<team>
<person>sue</person>
<person>chuck</person>
</team>
PCDATA vs. CDATA
PCDATA is parsed-character data
Any character data that should be checked by the
XML Processor for entity references.
Entity is a name assigned by means of declaration to a
chunk of data. [ &lt; &amp;]
CDATA is non-parsed-character data
An entity datatype consisting of non-parsed
characters.
Used anywhere character data can occur, content not interpreted
<![CDATA[10 < 1000, really!!!!]]>
Well-Formed vs. Valid XML
Well-Formed means that the document
conforms to the syntax rules of XML.
Has both start tags and end tags and elements
dont overlap
Valid XML means that the document is Well-
Formed and conforms to a DTD or Schema.
XML Recommendations of Interest
REC 2000-11-13 DOM Level 2
REC 1999-01-14 Namespaces in XML
REC 2001-06-27 XBase
REC 2001-06-27 XLink 1.0
REC 2001-05-02 XML Schema
REC 2001-03-19 Canonical XML
REC 1999-11-16 XSLT
REC 1999-11-16 XPath 1.0
REC 1998-10-01 DOM Level 1
REC 2000-10-06 XML 1.0 (Second Ed.)
REC 1998-02-10 XML 1.0
Status Date Specification
XML Recommendations of Interest
WD 2001-07-09 XML Protocol Abstract Model
CR 2001-05-14 InfoSet
WD 2001-07-09 SOAP 1.2
LC 2001-01-08 XPointer 1.0
LC 2001-05-17 XInclude 1.0
CR 2000-11-21 XSL 1.0
CR 2001-02-12 XML Fragment
Status Date Specification
PR Proposed REC, CR Candidate REC, LC Last Call WD,
WD Working Draft
Namespaces in XML
Problem: documents containing multiple
markup and vocabularies pose problems with
recognition and collision.
An XML namespace is a collection of names,
identified by a URI reference. Provided
Scope.
No file or content need exist
Namespace Example
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<book:book xmlns:book='urn:loc.gov:books'
xmlns:isbn='urn:ISBN:0-395-36341-6'>
<book:title>Cheaper by the
Dozen</book:title>
<isbn:number>1568491379</isbn:number>
</book:book>
Other XML Recommendations
XBase for specifying a base URL for relative URLs.
XLink for describing links between resources.
DOM-- Document Object Model is an API that
provides a standard set of interfaces for manipulating an
XML Document. Document is modeled in Memory.
SAX Simple API for XML, non-W3C API for
streaming document processing.
XPath An expression language, not XML, providing a
syntax for finding specific parts of an XML document.
Other XML Recommendations
XSL Extensible Stylesheet Language
XSLT -- Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation
uses XPath to match nodes for transforming an XML
document document into another format i.e.: HTML
FO Formatting Object used to format. For example
Apaches FOP is used render XSL format objects into
PDF.
XML Schema an alternative to a DTD and used to validate
XML documents. Unlike DTDs XML Schemas are written
in XML and it has Structure and Data Type information.
Other XML Recommendations
InfoSet An infoset is an abstract model of a well-
formed XML document that conforms to the namespace
recommendation
An infoset consists of information items, each of which has a set
of properties.
An infoset always contains a single document information item.
XML Fragment Describes how to split XML
documents into pieces for transport across networks.
XInclude for including existing XML documents or
portions of XML documents into another XML
Document.
Other XML Recommendations
XPointer for pointing to a documents contents.
Built upon XPath and supports addressing into the
internal structure of the XML Documents.
SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol, W3C XML
Protocol WG. Provide a framework for expressing
application semantics, encoding data and packaging it
into modules.
XHTML is a reformation of HTML 4 as an XML
application. The XML DTD defines elements and
attributes as they are in HTML 4.01
Custom Markup Languages
MathML A calculus expression language
OpenMath Another math language
CML Chemical Markup Language
WML Wireless Markup Language
GML Geographical Markup Language
SMIL Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language
SVG Scalable Vector Graphics
BML Bean markup language
X3D Extensible 3D language
XBRL Extensible Business Reporting Language
BIPS Bank Internet Payments System
ebXML Electronic Business XML
Custom Markup Languages
Visa XML Invoice Specification
cXML Commerce XML
LegalXML
NewsML
Open eBook Publication Structure
XUL Extensible User Interface Language
XML Technologies and
Applications
DSML Directory Services Markup Languages
RDF Resource Definition Framework
XTM XML Topic Maps
VHG Vertical HyperGlossary
CDF Channel Definition Format
ICE Information and Content Exchange Protocol
RSS Rich Site Summary
P3P Platform for Privacy Preferences
BXXP Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol
XML Digital Signature
XrML Extensible Rights Markup Language
XMI XML Metadata Interchange
XML Resource Sites
W3C www.w3.org
Oasis www.oasis-open.org
Cover Pages xml.coverpages.org
XML.org www.xml.org
XML.com www.xml.com