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Part 2: Legal Building Blocks of XML

- A Document Type Definition (DTD) defines the structure and legal elements and attributes of an XML document. It allows developers to specify validation rules that XML documents must conform to. - DTDs ensure a common format for XML documents and allow applications to verify that received data is valid. They contribute to interoperability when using XML. - A DTD can be declared internally within the XML document or externally in a separate file referenced by the XML document. The DTD specifies elements, attributes, entities and other components that make up valid XML documents.

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93 views29 pages

Part 2: Legal Building Blocks of XML

- A Document Type Definition (DTD) defines the structure and legal elements and attributes of an XML document. It allows developers to specify validation rules that XML documents must conform to. - DTDs ensure a common format for XML documents and allow applications to verify that received data is valid. They contribute to interoperability when using XML. - A DTD can be declared internally within the XML document or externally in a separate file referenced by the XML document. The DTD specifies elements, attributes, entities and other components that make up valid XML documents.

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neha
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Part 2: Legal Building Blocks of XML

• A Document Type Definition (DTD) allows the developer to


create a set of rules to specify legal content and place
restrictions on an XML file
• If the XML document does not follow the rules contained
within the DTD, a parser generates an error
• An XML document that conforms to the rules within a DTD is
said to be valid.
• A DTD defines the structure and the legal elements and
attributes of an XML document.
Why Use a DTD?
– A single DTD ensures a common format for each
XML document that references it
– An application can use a standard DTD to verify
that data that it receives from the outside world is
valid
– A description of legal, valid data further
contributes to the interoperability and efficiency
of using XML
An Internal DTD Declaration
If the DTD is declared inside the XML file, it must be wrapped inside
the <!DOCTYPE> definition:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE note [
<!ELEMENT note (to,from,heading,body)>
<!ELEMENT to (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT from (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT heading (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT body (#PCDATA)>
]>
<note>
<to>Tove</to>
<from>Jani</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
<body>Don't forget me this weekend</body>
</note>
• !DOCTYPE note defines that the root element of this
document is note
• !ELEMENT note defines that the note element must
contain four elements: "to,from,heading,body"
• !ELEMENT to defines the to element to be of type
"#PCDATA"
• !ELEMENT from defines the from element to be of type
"#PCDATA"
• !ELEMENT heading defines the heading element to be
of type "#PCDATA"
• !ELEMENT body defines the body element to be of
type "#PCDATA"
An External DTD Declaration
• If the DTD is declared in an external file, the
<!DOCTYPE> definition must contain a reference
to the DTD file:
• <?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE note SYSTEM "note.dtd">
<note>
<to>Tove</to>
<from>Jani</from>
<heading>Reminder</heading>
<body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
</note>
And here is the file "note.dtd", which contains
the DTD:
• <!ELEMENT note (to,from,heading,body)>
<!ELEMENT to (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT from (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT heading (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT body (#PCDATA)>
DTD - Elements
• Declaring Elements
• In a DTD, XML elements are declared with the
following syntax:
• <!ELEMENT element-name category>
or
<!ELEMENT element-name (element-
content)>
• a
Empty Elements
• Empty elements are declared with the category keyword EMPTY:
• <!ELEMENT element-name EMPTY>
Example:
<!ELEMENT br EMPTY>
XML example:
<br />
Elements with Parsed Character Data
• Elements with only parsed character data are declared with
#PCDATA inside parentheses:
• <!ELEMENT element-name (#PCDATA)>
Example:
<!ELEMENT from (#PCDATA)>
Elements with any Contents
• Elements declared with the category keyword ANY, can contain any
combination of parsable data:
• <!ELEMENT element-name ANY>
Example:
<!ELEMENT note ANY>

Elements with Children (sequences)


• Elements with one or more children are declared with the name of the
children elements inside parentheses:
• <!ELEMENT element-name (child1)>
or
<!ELEMENT element-name (child1,child2,...)>
Example:
<!ELEMENT note (to,from,heading,body)>
When children are declared in a sequence separated by commas, the
children must appear in the same sequence in the document
Declaring Only One Occurrence of an Element
• <!ELEMENT element-name (child-name)>
Example:
<!ELEMENT note (message)>
• The example above declares that the child element "message" must occur
once, and only once inside the "note" element.
Declaring Minimum One Occurrence of an Element
• <!ELEMENT element-name (child-name+)>
Example:
<!ELEMENT note (message+)>
• The + sign in the example above declares that the child element
"message" must occur one or more times inside the "note" element.
Declaring Zero or More Occurrences of an Element
• <!ELEMENT element-name (child-name*)>
Example:
<!ELEMENT note (message*)>
• The * sign in the example above declares that the child element
"message" can occur zero or more times inside the "note" element.
Declaring Zero or One Occurrences of an Element
• <!ELEMENT element-name (child-name?)>
Example:
<!ELEMENT note (message?)>
• The ? sign in the example above declares that the child element
"message" can occur zero or one time inside the "note"
element.
Declaring either/or Content
• <!ELEMENT note (to,from,header,(message|body))>
• The example above declares that the "note" element must
contain a "to" element, a "from" element, a "header" element,
and either a "message" or a "body" element.
Declaring Mixed Content
• <!ELEMENT note (#PCDATA|to|from|header|message)*>
• The example above declares that the "note" element can
contain zero or more occurrences of parsed character data,
"to", "from", "header", or "message" elements.
DTD - Attributes
In a DTD, attributes are declared with an ATTLIST declaration.
Declaring Attributes
An attribute declaration has the following syntax:
<!ATTLIST element-name attribute-name attribute-type
attribute-value>
DTD example:
<!ATTLIST payment type CDATA "check">
XML example:
<payment type="check" />
The attribute-type can be one of the
following:
Type Description
CDATA The value is character data
The value must be one from an enumerated
(en1|en2|..)
list
ID The value is a unique id
IDREF The value is the id of another element
IDREFS The value is a list of other ids
NMTOKEN The value is a valid XML name
NMTOKENS The value is a list of valid XML names
ENTITY The value is an entity
ENTITIES The value is a list of entities
NOTATION The value is a name of a notation
xml: The value is a predefined xml value
The attribute-value can be one of the
following:
Value Explanation

value The default value of the attribute

#REQUIRED The attribute is required

#IMPLIED The attribute is optional

#FIXED value The attribute value is fixed


A Default Attribute Value
• DTD:
<!ELEMENT square EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST square width CDATA "0">

Valid XML:
<square width="100" />
• In the example above, the "square" element is
defined to be an empty element with a "width"
attribute of type CDATA. If no width is
specified, it has a default value of 0.
#REQUIRED

Syntax
• <!ATTLIST element-name attribute-name attribute-type
#REQUIRED>
Example
• DTD:
<!ATTLIST person number CDATA #REQUIRED>
Valid XML:
<person number="5677" />
Invalid XML:
<person />
• Use the #REQUIRED keyword if you don't have an option for a
default value, but still want to force the attribute to be present.
#IMPLIED
Syntax
• <!ATTLIST element-name attribute-name attribute-type #IMPLIED>
Example
• DTD:
<!ATTLIST contact fax CDATA #IMPLIED>
Valid XML:
<contact fax="555-667788" />
Valid XML:
<contact />
• Use the #IMPLIED keyword if you don't want to force the author to
include an attribute, and you don't have an option for a default
value.
#FIXED
Syntax
• <!ATTLIST element-name attribute-name attribute-type #FIXED
"value">
Example
• DTD:
<!ATTLIST sender company CDATA #FIXED "Microsoft">
Valid XML:
<sender company="Microsoft" />
Invalid XML:
<sender company="W3Schools" />
• Use the #FIXED keyword when you want an attribute to have a fixed
value without allowing the author to change it. If an author includes
another value, the XML parser will return an error.
Enumerated Attribute Values

Syntax
• <!ATTLIST element-name attribute-name (en1|en2|..)
default-value>
Example
DTD:
<!ATTLIST payment type (check|cash) "cash">
XML example:
<payment type="check" />
or
<payment type="cash" />
• Use enumerated attribute values when you want the
attribute value to be one of a fixed set of legal values.
•
DTD - Entities
Entities are used to define shortcuts to special characters.
• Entities can be declared internal or external.
• An Internal Entity Declaration
• Syntax
• <!ENTITY entity-name "entity-value">
• Example
• DTD Example:
<!ENTITY writer "Donald Duck.">
<!ENTITY copyright "Copyright W3Schools.">
XML example:
<author>&writer;&copyright;</author>
• Note: An entity has three parts: an ampersand (&), an entity
name, and a semicolon (;).
An External Entity Declaration
• Syntax
• <!ENTITY entity-name SYSTEM "URI/URL">
• Example
• DTD Example:

<!ENTITY writer SYSTEM


"http://www.w3schools.com/entities.dtd">
<!ENTITY copyright SYSTEM
"http://www.w3schools.com/entities.dtd">

XML example:

<author>&writer;&copyright;</author>
Some Example DTD Declarations
• Example 1: The Empty Element
<!ELEMENT Bool (EMPTY)> <!--DTD declaration of empty
element-->
<Bool Value="True"></Bool> <!--Usage with attribute
in XML file-->

• Example 2: Elements with Data

<!ELEMENT Month (#PCDATA)> <!--DTD declaration of an element->


<Month>April</Month> <!—Valid usage within XML file-->
<Month>This is a month</Month> <!—Valid usage within XML file-->
<Month> <!—Invalid usage within XML file, can’t have
children!-->
<January>Jan</January>
<March>March</March>
</Month>
Some Example DTD Declarations
Example 3: Elements with Children
To specify that an element must have a single child element, include the element name within
the parenthesis.
<!ELEMENT House (Address)> <!—A house has a single address-->
<House> <!—Valid usage within XML file-->
<Address>1345 Preston Ave Charlottesville Va 22903</Address>
</House>
An element can have multiple children. A DTD describes multiple children using a sequence,
or a list of elements separated by commas. The XML file must contain one of each element in
the specified order.
<!--DTD declaration of an element-->
<!ELEMENT address (person,street,city, zip)>
<!ELEMENT person (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT street (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT city (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT zip (#PCDATA)>
<!—Valid usage within XML file-->
<address>
<person>John Doe</person>
<street>1234 Preston Ave.</street>
<city>Charlottesville, Va</city>
<zip>22903</zip>
</address>
Cautions concerning DTDs
• All element declarations begin with <!ELEMENT and end
with >
• The ELEMENT declaration is case sensitive
• The programmer must declare all elements within an XML
file
• Elements declared with the #PCDATA content model can not
have children
• When describing sequences, the XML document must
contain exactly those elements in exactly that order.
Walking Through an Example
• Using the file “music.xml” contained in the extras folder,
create a Document Type Definition that describes all of the
elements. The goals for this exercise are to:
– map out the elements
– define each element
– pick the best content model for each element
– correctly order the elements using sequences
• Internally embed the DTD within the XML document
<!DOCTYPE TVSCHEDULE [
< !ELEMENT TVSCHEDULE (CHANNEL+)>
< !ELEMENT CHANNEL (BANNER,DAY+)>
< !ELEMENT BANNER (#PCDATA)>
< !ELEMENT DAY (DATE,(HOLIDAY|PROGRAMSLOT+)+)>
< !ELEMENT HOLIDAY (#PCDATA)>
< !ELEMENT DATE (#PCDATA)>
< !ELEMENT PROGRAMSLOT (TIME,TITLE,DESCRIPTION?)>
< !ELEMENT TIME (#PCDATA)>
< !ELEMENT TITLE (#PCDATA)>
< !ELEMENT DESCRIPTION (#PCDATA)>
< !ATTLIST TVSCHEDULE NAME CDATA #REQUIRED>
< !ATTLIST CHANNEL CHAN CDATA #REQUIRED>
< !ATTLIST PROGRAMSLOT VTR CDATA #IMPLIED>
< !ATTLIST TITLE RATING CDATA #IMPLIED>
< !ATTLIST TITLE LANGUAGE CDATA #IMPLIED>
]>
<!DOCTYPE CATALOG [ < !ELEMENT OPTIONS (#PCDAT
< !ENTITY AUTHOR "John Doe"> < !ATTLIST OPTIONS
Product Catalog DTD
< !ENTITY COMPANY "JD Power Tools, Inc.">
< !ENTITY EMAIL "[email protected]">
FINISH (Metal|Polished|Matte
ADAPTER
(Included|Optional|NotApplic
< !ELEMENT CATALOG (PRODUCT+)> "Included"
CASE (HardShell|Soft|NotApp
< !ELEMENT PRODUCT "HardShell">
(SPECIFICATIONS+,OPTIONS?,PRICE+,NOTES?)>
< !ATTLIST PRODUCT < !ELEMENT PRICE (#PCDATA)>
NAME CDATA #IMPLIED < !ATTLIST PRICE
CATEGORY (HandTool|Table|Shop-Professional) MSRP CDATA #IMPLIED
"HandTool" WHOLESALE CDATA #IMPLIED
PARTNUM CDATA #IMPLIED STREET CDATA #IMPLIED
PLANT (Pittsburgh|Milwaukee|Chicago) "Chicago" SHIPPING CDATA #IMPLIED>
INVENTORY (InStock|Backordered|Discontinued)
"InStock"> < !ELEMENT NOTES (#PCDATA)

< !ELEMENT SPECIFICATIONS (#PCDATA)> ]>


< !ATTLIST SPECIFICATIONS
WEIGHT CDATA #IMPLIED
POWER CDATA #IMPLIED>
Questions

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