O'Reilly - Learninig XML.pdf - XML - godthab

Learning XML

Erik T. Ray

First Edition, January 2001

ISBN: 0-59600-046-4, 368 pages

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a flexible way to create "self-describing data" -

and to share both the format and the data on the World Wide Web, intranets, and

elsewhere.

In Learning XML, the author explains XML and its capabilities succinctly and

professionally, with references to real-life projects and other cogent examples.

Learning XML shows the purpose of XML markup itself, the CSS and XSL styling

languages, and the XLink and XPointer specifications for creating rich link structures.

Release Team[oR] 2001

Preface

What's Inside

Style Conventions

Examples

Comments and Questions

Acknowledgments

1 Introduction

1.1 What Is XML ?

1.2 Origins of XML

1.3 Goals of XML

1.4 XML Today

1.5 Creating Documents

1.6 Viewing XML

1.7 Testing XML

1.8 Transformation

2 Markup and Core Concepts

2.1 The Anatomy of a Document

2.2 Elements: The Building Blocks of XML

2.3 Attributes: More Muscle for Elements

2.4 Namespaces: Expanding Your Vocabulary

2.5 Entities: Placeholders for Content

2.6 Miscellaneous Markup

2.7 Well-Formed Documents

2.8 Getting the Most out of Markup

2.9 XML Application: DocBook

3 Connecting Resources with Links

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Specifying Resources

3.3 XPointer: An XML Tree Climber

3.4 An Introduction to XLinks

3.5 XML Application: XHTML

4 Presentation: Creating the End Product

4.1 Why Stylesheets?

4.2 An Overview of CSS

4.3 Rules

4.4 Properties

4.5 A Practical Example

5 Document Models: A Higher Level of Control

119

5.1 Modeling Documents

5.2 DTD Syntax

5.3 Example: A Checkbook

5.4 Tips for Designing and Customizing DTD s

5.5 Example: Barebones DocBook

5.6 XML Schema: An Alternative to DTD s

6 Transformation:RepurposingDocuments

156

6.1 Transformation Basics

6.2 Selecting Nodes

6.3 Fine-Tuning Templates

6.4 Sorting

6.5 Example: Checkbook

6.6 Advanced Techniques

6.7 Example: Barebones DocBook

7.1 Character Sets and Encodings

206

7.2 Taking Language into Account

8.1 XML Programming Overview

215

8.2 SAX: An Event-Based API

8.3 Tree-Based Processing

8.4 Conclusion

7 Internationalization

8 Programming for XML

A Resources

235

A.1 Online

A.2 Books

A.3 Standards Organizations

A.4 Tools

A.5 Miscellaneous

B A Taxonomy of Standards

241

B.1 Markup and Structure

B.2 Linking

B.3 Searching

B.4 Style and Transformation

B.5 Programming

B.6 Publishing

B.7 Hypertext

B.8 Descriptive/Procedural

B.9 Multimedia

B.10 Science

Glossary

252

Colophon

273

The arrival of support for XML - the Extensible Markup Language - in browsers and authoring tools has followed a

long period of intense hype. Major databases, authoring tools (including Microsoft's Office 2000), and browsers

are committed to XML support. Many content creators and programmers for the Web and other media are left

wondering, "What can XML and its associated standards really do for me?" Getting the most from XML requires

being able to tag and transform XML documents so they can be processed by web browsers, databases, mobile

phones, printers, XML processors, voice response systems, and LDAP directories, just to name a few targets.

In Learning XML, the author explains XML and its capabilities succinctly and professionally, with references to

real-life projects and other cogent examples. Learning XML shows the purpose of XML markup itself, the CSS and

XSL styling languages, and the XLink and XPointer specifications for creating rich link structures.

The basic advantages of XML over HTML are that XML lets a web designer define tags that are meaningful for the

particular documents or database output to be used, and that it enforces an unambiguous structure that supports

error-checking. XML supports enhanced styling and linking standards (allowing, for instance, simultaneous linking

to the same document in multiple languages) and a range of new applications.

For writers producing XML documents, this book demystifies files and the process of creating them with the

appropriate structure and format. Designers will learn what parts of XML are most helpful to their team and will

get started on creating Document Type Definitions. For programmers, the book makes syntax and structures

clear It also discusses the stylesheets needed for viewing documents in the next generation of browsers,

databases, and other devices.

Learning XML

Preface

Since its introduction in the late 90s, Extensible Markup Language (XML) has unleashed a torrent of new

acronyms, standards, and rules that have left some in the Internet community wondering whether it is all really

necessary. After all, HTML has been around for years and has fostered the creation of an entirely new economy

and culture, so why change a good thing? The truth is, XML isn't here to replace what's already on the Web, but

to create a more solid and flexible foundation. It's an unprecedented effort by a consortium of organizations and

companies to create an information framework for the 21st century that HTML only hinted at.

To understand the magnitude of this effort, we need to clear away some myths. First, in spite of its name, XML is

not a markup language; rather, it's a toolkit for creating, shaping, and using markup languages. This fact also

takes care of the second misconception, that XML will replace HTML. Actually, HTML is going to be absorbed into

XML, and will become a cleaner version of itself, called XHTML. And that's just the beginning, because XML will

make it possible to create hundreds of new markup languages to cover every application and document type.

The standards process will figure prominently in the growth of this information revolution. XML itself is an

attempt to rein in the uncontrolled development of competing technologies and proprietary languages that

threatens to splinter the Web. XML creates a playground where structured information can play nicely with

applications, maximizing accessibility without sacrificing richness of expression.

XML's enthusiastic acceptance by the Internet community has opened the door for many sister standards. XML's

new playmates include stylesheets for display and transformation, strong methods for linking resources, tools for

data manipulation and querying, error checking and structure enforcement tools, and a plethora of development

environments. As a result of these new applications, XML is assured a long and fruitful career as the structured

information toolkit of choice.

Of course, XML is still young, and many of its siblings aren't quite out of the playpen yet. Some of the subjects

discussed in this book are quasi-speculative, since their specifications are still working drafts. Nevertheless, it's

always good to get into the game as early as possible rather than be taken by surprise later. If you're at all

involved in web development or information management, then you need to know about XML.

This book is intended to give you a birds-eye view of the XML landscape that is now taking shape. To get the

most out of this book, you should have some familiarity with structured markup, such as HTML or TeX, and with

World Wide Web concepts such as hypertext linking and data representation. You don't need to be a developer to

understand XML concepts, however. We'll concentrate on the theory and practice of document authoring without

going into much detail about writing applications or acquiring software tools. The intricacies of programming for

XML are left to other books, while the rapid changes in the industry ensure that we could never hope to keep up

with the latest XML software. Nevertheless, the information presented here will give you a decent starting point

from which to jump in any direction you want to go with XML.

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