Document Type

Definition

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 Agenda

1 Introduction to DTD – Elements

2 Attributes Declaration in DTD

3 Entities and Notation

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 Objectives
At the end of this module, you will be able to
• Create DTDs
• Use internal and external DTDs
• Declare elements
• Declare attributes
• Declare entities
• Use predefined entities
• Use external entities containing text
• Use external entities containing non-xml data
• Declare notations in DTDs

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 Introduction to DTD - Elements

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 Valid XML Documents
• An XML document is considered well-formed if it follows XML
Syntax rules

• An XML document is valid if it

• Is well-formed
• Declares a DTD (Document Type Definition)
• Conforms to the constraints specified in that DTD
• Document Type Definitions and XML Schemas provide
descriptions of document structures.

• The purpose of a DTD is to define legal building blocks of an XML

document

• Few alternatives to DTDs are XML Schemas and RELAX NG

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 Document Type Definition (DTD)
• A means to validate XML documents
• A DTD can be included in XML, but usually created as a separate
document
• Syntax for DTDs is built into the XML 1.0 specification
• Defines what tags are legal
• Where they can occur in XML document

• Provides grammar for one or more XML documents

• Contains necessary rules that XML code must follow
• Describes a model of the structure of the content of an XML
document

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 Syntax of a DTD declaration

• A DTD is declared in a document by using a document type

declaration

• A <!DOCTYPE> element is used to create a DTD and the DTD

appears in that element

• The element can take different forms

<!DOCTYPE rootname [ DTD ]>
<!DOCTYPE rootname SYSTEM URI >
<!DOCTYPE rootname PUBLIC identifier URI >

rootname is the name of the root element

URI is the URI of a DTD outside the current XML document

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 Types of DTDs
A DTD can be declared inline in your XML document,
or as an external reference

Internal DTD

The <!DOCTYPE> declaration lies within XML document

External DTD

The <!DOCTYPE> declaration lies in external document

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 External DTD
• External DTDs are also known as external subset. The DTD portion of
the document need not always have to be stored inside the related
XML document. Instead, it can be saved in a file for reference by one
document or by several different documents.
• Syntax:
< !DOCTYPE Root element System "filename">
If the DTD is an external DTD, then we have to include in the xml
document the following statement which uses SYSTEM or PUBLIC
identifiers.

• Ex : <!DOCTYPE BOOK SYSTEM “output.dtd”>

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 External DTD : Example
<?xml version="1.0" An XML Source file
encoding="UTF-8"?> library.xml
<!DOCTYPE library SYSTEM
“library.dtd">
<library>
<magazine>Quest</magazine>
<book>Java</book>
</library>

<?xml version="1.0"
encoding="UTF-8"?> A external DTD file
<!ELEMENT library ANY> library.dtd
<!ELEMENT book (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT magazine (#PCDATA)>

Note: Keywords like ANY, #PCDATA will be discussed shortly.

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 Internal DTD

• Internal DTDs are also known as internal subset.

• If the DTD is included in your XML source file, it should be wrapped in
a DOCTYPE definition, with the following syntax :

• Syntax:
< !DOCTYPE Rootname [element declaration] >

Since the declarations are defined in the internal DTD subset, the XML
processor need not have to read and process external documents.

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 Internal DTD : Example
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE EMAIL [
<!ELEMENT EMAIL (TO+, FROM, CC*,SUBJECT?,
BODY?)>
<!ELEMENT TO (#PCDATA) >
<!ELEMENT FROM (#PCDATA) > DTD
<!ELEMENT CC (#PCDATA) >
<!ELEMENT SUBJECT (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT BODY (#PCDATA)>
]>
<EMAIL>
<TO>[email protected]</TO>
<TO>[email protected]</TO> XML
<FROM>[email protected]</FROM>
<BODY>Hello, Learning XML!</BODY>
</EMAIL> An XML Source file
email.xml
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 Declaring Elements in DTDs
• Elements that appear in XML document are declared by
<!ELEMENT> declaration in DTD

• Syntax of an element in a DTD:

<!ELEMENT name content_model >

Name of the element Content model of the element

• A content model indicates what content the element is allowed to

have
• Use ANY keyword to allow any content
• Use EMPTY keyword to allow empty element
• You can allow child elements or text data

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 ELEMENT descriptions
• Suffixes:
Suffix Meaning Example
? Zero or Once (Optional) Subject?
+ One or More TO+
* Zero or More FROM*

• The absence of suffix used for an operator means that the element or content
must appear exactly once.
• For example: Consider
<!ELEMENT email (TO+, FROM, CC*, Subject?, Body?)>
• The + sign in this example associated to “TO” element declares that the child element
“TO" can occur 1 or more times inside the “email" element.
• The child element “FROM" must occur once, and only once inside the “EMAIL" element.
• The * sign declares that the child element “CC" can occur 0 or more times.
• The ? sign declares that the child element “SUBJECT and BODY" can occur 0 or one
time.

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 ELEMENT descriptions
• Separators
Separator Meaning Example
, Both, in order(sequence) TO+, FROM
| Or, but not both (Choice) A|B

• Grouping
Grou Meaning Example
p () Grouping (A|B)+

• In the previous example:

• <!ELEMENT email (TO+, FROM, CC*, Subject?, Body?)>
• The , (comma) specifies that TO, FROM, CC, Subject, Body elements
should occur in the same order in the XML document.
• Grouping of the elements are done by ()

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 Handling text data - #PCDATA
• Parsed character data (#PCDATA) is a text examined by parser for
entities and markup
• Should not contain any characters such as &, <, or >
• These need to be represented by &amp; &lt; and &gt;
entities, respectively
• Character data is the text found between start and end tag of an XML
element
• Example of PCDATA
<A>The character data within this element is PCDATA</A>
• Given the element
<Bookstore>Barnes &amp; Noble
Bestsellers</Bookstore>
The parsed character data is Barnes & Noble Bestsellers

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 Handling any content - ANY
• Specifying content model of an element with ANY allows any content
• Means any elements and/or any character data
• Example
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE employee [
<!ELEMENT employee ANY>
<!ELEMENT benefit (#PCDATA)>
]>
<employee>James
<benefit>Medical</benefit>
<benefit>Loan</benefit>
</employee>
• If the user is not sure about the content he can specify the ANY
content in the DTD file; whereas the sub-elements occurring in the
enclosing elements also need to be declared explicitly.
• Since the whole point of using a DTD is to define the structure of a
document, ANY should be avoided wherever possible
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 Empty Elements - EMPTY

• Specifying content model of an element with EMPTY

• Elements do not contain character data
• Elements do not contain child elements

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE employee [
<!ELEMENT employee ANY>
<!ELEMENT fulltime EMPTY>
]>
<employee>James
<fulltime></fulltime> Is semantically same as <fulltime/>
</employee>

• It might contain any number of attributes, e.g.: <Temperature

scale=“C”/>
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 Element’s content model – Child elements

There are a number of options for declaring an element that can

contain child elements

• Containing a single child element

<!ELEMENT company (employee)>

• Containing a list of child elements

<!ELEMENT company (employee, contractor, partner)>

• Allowing zero or more occurrences of <employee> elements

<!ELEMENT company (employee)*>

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 Elements with Mixed Content Model
• Combination of elements and PCDATA

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE company [
<!ELEMENT company (#PCDATA | employee)*>
<!ELEMENT employee (#PCDATA | benefit)*> This is mixed content
<!ELEMENT benefit (#PCDATA)>
]>
<company>ABC Inc.
<employee>Jane
<benefit>Medical</benefit>
</employee>
<employee>Anny</employee>
</company>

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 Elements with Mixed Content Model
• Elements in the DTD can contain a mix of PCDATA or other
elements. #PCDATA describes elements with only character data.

• Use #PCDATA, “|” and “*” signs in combination for a mixed content
model.

• For example, #PCDATA that can be used in an “or” grouping:

<!ELEMENT company (#PCDATA|employee)*> is called mixed
content.
• However, certain restrictions apply:
• #PCDATA must be first
• The separators must be “|”
• The group must be starred (meaning zero or more)

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 Attribute Declarations

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 What is an Attribute?

• The property of an element

• Expressed as name - value pairs

• Used in a start tag or an empty tag to provide additional information

for an element

• Example: XML Code

<employee supervisor=“yes”>
<name>Harry</name>
</employee>

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 Attribute Declaration

• Specifies attribute list of an element

• Use ATTLIST attribute list declaration

• The format of an attribute (where name-type-requirement may be

repeated as desired) is:

<!ATTLIST element-name
name type requirement
name type requirement>

• In XML, attributes may occur in any order

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 Attribute Declaration - Example
There are 4 parts in the syntax

• The first ATTLIST is the syntax

• Second part is the Element Name for which the attribute has to be
declared
• Third the Attribute Name, fourth the Datatype of the attribute since the
attribute stores values as name - value pairs
• The last is the Default value of the attribute.

<!ATTLIST book publisher CDATA “O’Reilly”>

Element Attribute Attribute Default

Name Name Type Value

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 Attribute Types
The attribute type in attribute declaration can be one of the following:

Type Description of attribute value

CDATA Character data
(en1 | en2) One from an enumerated list
ID A unique id
IDREF The id of another element
IDREFS A list of other ids
NMTOKEN A valid XML name
NMTOKENS A list of valid XMLnames
separated by whitespace
ENTITY An entity
ENTITIES A list of entities
NOTATION A name of a notation
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 Types of default values

The default value (requirement) in attribute declaration can be one of

the following:

Value Description
Explicit value The default value of the
attribute
#REQUIRED The attribute must be
present
#IMPLIED The attribute is optional
#FIXED value The attribute value is
fixed

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 Using explicit default value

• If the attribute is not used in XML document then it automatically

takes default value

• In DTD
<!ATTLIST BOOK publisher CDATA “O’Reilly”>

• In XML
<BOOK>XML in a Nutshell</BOOK>

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 Using #IMPLIED

• Indicates existence of an attribute for an element and its usage is

optional

• In DTD
<!ATTLIST CONTACT phone CDATA #IMPLIED >

• In XML
<CONTACT phone=“080-4421380” />
<CONTACT />

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 Using #REQUIRED

• Indicates existence of an attribute for an element and its usage is

mandatory

• In DTD
<!ATTLIST PERSON pid CDATA #REQUIRED>

• In XML
<PERSON pid=“172386” />

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 Using #FIXED

• It appears in the DTD with an attribute having a fixed value

• In DTD
<!ATTLIST COMPANY name CDATA #FIXED “ABC Inc.”>

• In XML
<COMPANY name=“ABC Inc.” />

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 Attribute type - CDATA

• Specifies character data which is just text without markup

• Characters like "<" and "&" are illegal in CDATA attribute values since
they are markup
• "<" generates an error as parser interprets it as start of a new
element
• "&" generates an error as parser interprets it as start of a
character entity

• In DTD: <!ATTLIST BOOK title CDATA #IMPLIED>

• In XML: <BOOK title=“Web Designing” />

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 Attribute types – NMTOKEN / NMTOKENS

• NMTOKEN is used for strings that can contain characters, digits,

underscores, colons, periods and dashes

• Use NMTOKENS if string has white spaces as attribute value

• In DTD
<!ATTLIST test
a CDATA #IMPLIED
b NMTOKEN #REQUIRED
c NMTOKENS #REQUIRED>
• In XML
<test a=">;d&lt;1>" b="a1:12" c="3.4 div -4"/>

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 Enumerated Attribute Type

• A list of possible values that an attribute can take

• Each possible value must be a valid XML name

• Example: The supervisor attribute has two possible values—"yes"

and "no” and a default value of "no”

<!ATTLIST employee supervisor (yes | no) "no">

• Example: The gender attribute can have either value M or F and F is

default value

<!ATTLIST person gender ( M | F ) “F”>

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 Attribute type – ID

• IDs are unique identifiers for elements

• ID attributes can have default values of #REQUIRED or #IMPLIED

• In DTD
<!ELEMENT customer (name)>
<!ELEMENT name (#PCDATA)>
<!ATTLIST customer cid ID #REQUIRED>

• In XML
<customer cid=“A114">
<name>Jason</name>
</customer>

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 Attribute type – IDREF

Use IDREF to tie an element to another element, using the other

element's ID value as a reference

DTD XML

<employee id="E234" supervisor="E567">

<!ATTLIST employee <name>Harry</name>
id ID #REQUIRED </employee>
supervisor IDREF #IMPLIED> <employee id="E567“>
]> <name>John</name>
</employee>

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 Entities and Notation

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 What is an Entity ?

An entity in XML is a data item

Symbolic representation of information

Used as a container for content

The content can reside inside or outside the XML

document

Deal with both text data and binary data

Most entities must be declared in DTD (except

predefined entities)

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 Types of Entities
Entities can be:

Internal Definitions found within the

Entities document’s DTD

External Definitions found outside the

Entities document’s DTD

Parsed
Contents parsed by XML parser
Entities

Unparsed Contents not parsed by XML parser.

Entities E.g.: Sound files, Image files etc.

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 Types of Entities
• Entities may be either parsed or unparsed. A parsed
entity’s contents are referred to as its replacement text.

• An unparsed entity is a resource whose contents may or

may not be text and if text, may be other than XML. Each
unparsed entity has an associated notation, identified by
name. Beyond a requirement that an XML processor
makes the identifiers for the entity and notation available
to the application, XML places no constraints on the
contents of unparsed entities.

• Parsed entities are invoked by name using entity

references. Unparsed entities are invoked by name given
in the value of ENTITY or ENTITIES attributes.
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 Uses of Entities
Entities are used for:

Reducing code in the DTD by bundling declarations into

entities

Denoting special markups such as > and < tag

Managing binary files and other data which is not native to

XML

Repeating frequently used text, which guarantees

consistency in spelling and usage

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 Pre-defined Entities

• Pre-defined entities are built-in entities that can be invoked without

declaration

• There are exactly five predefined entities: &lt;, &gt;, &amp;, &quot; ,
and &apos;

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 Declaring Entities

• Entities must be declared in DTD before using them

• Declared with the "ENTITY" declaration

<!ENTITY name definition>

• name: an entity name used to refer to the entity

• definition: an entity's definition can take several different forms

• Exact format of the declaration distinguishes between internal and

external entities

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 Declaring Internal Entities

• An internal entity declaration has the following form:

<!ENTITY name "replacement text">

• Example: Entity defined in

DTD
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-
8"?>
<!DOCTYPE newspaper [ This is an entity
<!ENTITY ADTEXT "An XML training"> reference that
<!ELEMENT newspaper (#PCDATA)> will be replaced
]> with the text

<newspaper>&ADTEXT;</newspaper>

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 Declaring External Entities
External entity declarations come in two forms
• 1st form: An external entity defined in another document containing
text
<!ENTITY name SYSTEM URI>
• name: an entity name used to refer to the entity
• SYSTEM: an external entity that is private
• URI: an external document, most commonly a simple filename
<!DOCTYPE library [
<!ENTITY greet SYSTEM "C:\greeting.txt">
<!ELEMENT library (#PCDATA | magazine)*>
<!ELEMENT magazine (#PCDATA)>
]>
<library>
<magazine>&greet;</magazine>
</library>
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 External entities: Non-xml formats

• 2nd form: External entities that refer to files containing non-XML data

• For example : Graphics stored in odd formats like PNG and GIF must
declare that data they contain is not XML

• Achieved by indicating the format of external entity in a notation

<!ENTITY entityname SYSTEM URI NDATA notation>

• An external entity that refers to GIF image pic1.gif might be declared

<!ENTITY myphoto SYSTEM “pic1.gif" NDATA GIF>

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 Entity Attributes

• External entities can be further classified as either "parsed" or

"unparsed“
• Entities which refer to external files that contain text are
called "parsed entities"
• Entities which refer to other types of data, identified by a
notation, are "unparsed“
• Parser inserts replacement text of a parsed entity into the document
wherever a reference to that entity occurs
• Using entity reference to an unparsed entity directly in an XML
document is an error
• Unparsed entities can only be used as attribute values on elements
with ENTITY attributes
• Unparsed entities are used most frequently on XML elements that
incorporate graphics into a document

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 Example
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE picture [
<!ELEMENT picture (para|graphic)+>
<!ELEMENT para (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT graphic EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST graphic
image ENTITY #REQUIRED
alt CDATA #IMPLIED >
<!NOTATION GIF SYSTEM "Graphics Format">
<!ENTITY myphoto SYSTEM "adventure.gif" NDATA GIF>
<!ENTITY tig "Wild Animal">
]>
<picture>
<para>image incorporated which is declared as "myphoto":
</para>
<graphic image="myphoto" alt="A picture of &tig;"/>
</picture>
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 Notations
• Allow to include non-XML data in your documents by describing the
format and allow your application to recognize and handle it

• The format for a notation is:

<!NOTATION name SYSTEM "external_ID">

identifies format used in the document identifies the notation - usually with MIME-types
• For example, to include a GIF image in your XML document:

<!NOTATION GIF SYSTEM "image/gif">

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 Attribute type - NOTATION

• The NOTATION declaration describes the format of non-XML data

within an XML document

• In DTD
<!NOTATION abc SYSTEM "image/jpeg">
<!NOTATION xyz SYSTEM "image/gif">
<!ELEMENT person (#PCDATA)>
<!ATTLIST person
photo NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
filetype NOTATION (abc|xyz) #IMPLIED>

• In XML
<person photo="p1.gif" filetype=“xyz">Anny</person>

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 Summary
In this module, you were able to
• Create DTDs
• Use internal and external DTDs
• Declare elements
• Declare attributes
• Declare entities
• Use predefined entities
• Use external entities containing text
• Use external entities containing non-xml data
• Declare notations in DTDs

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 Thank You

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