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An Introduction to XML: History, Benefits, and Applications

Explore the world of XML, a universal format for structured documents and data on the web. Learn about XML-derived markup languages, parsing XML data, benefits of using XML, and how it can be processed and transformed. Discover the key technologies and elements of XML documents, as well as guidelines for creating well-formed and validated XML content.

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An Introduction to XML: History, Benefits, and Applications

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  1. Introduction to XML Eugenia Fernandez IUPUI

  2. What is XML? • From the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) • The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is the universal format for structured documents and data on the web. • It is a tag-based markup language that both describes data and is used to create markup languages for specific contexts.

  3. XML-derived Markup Languages • Open Financial Exchange (OFX) • XML/EDI • Markup for Electronic Data Interchange • Resource Description Framework • Markup for describing data about data (metadata) for cataloging and search purposes • Chemical markup Language (CML) • Wireless Markup Language (WML)

  4. XML Style sheets (CSS, XSL) A Document Contains • Data • Structure • Presentation

  5. Unstructured vs.Structured Data Unstructured diluvio m. Inundación causada por lluvias copiosas. Lluvia muy copiosa. Structured <word>diluvio</word><type>m.</type><definition>Inundación causada por lluvias copiosas. Lluvia muy copiosa.</definition>

  6. History of XML • SGML (Standard Generalization Markup Language) was developed as a way to express data in electronic texts • XML is simplified subset of SGML, designed to work across a limited-bandwidth network such as the Internet. • XML is in process of being standardized. It is currently at the recommendation stage.

  7. XML vs. HTML HTML = presentation format <html><b>101 Main St.<br>Chicago, IL 60661</b></html> <?xml version=”1.0” ?><address> <street>101 Main St.</street> <city>Chicago</city> <state>IL</state> <zip>60661</zip></address> XML = structured content

  8. Why XML? • Readable format • Distribute data to any machine on any platform • Easily combine multiple sources of data • Easier way to do data interchange between applications

  9. Benefits of Using XML • Describes content and structure • Both machine- and human- readable • Separates content from display • Well-formed, follows rules • Can be validated • Open and extensible • One source – multiple formats

  10. Conversion HTML PDF XML XML One Source – Multiple Formats • Separating data from presentation and processing frees the data from any one use • Data becomes "use neutral"

  11. Processing XML into HTML XML Document HTML Document XSL Processor XSL Stylesheet

  12. Processing XML to XML XML Document New XML Document XSL Processor XSL Stylesheet

  13. How XML Can Be Used • Enable business-to-business communication • Enable smart agents • Enable smart searches • XML data can be manipulated by the browser reducing server & network load

  14. A Few XML Technologies • Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) • Extensible Style Language (XSL) • XML Document Transformation (renamed XSLT) • XPath, a pattern matching syntax • XSLFO, a formatting object interpretation, for printing • XML Pointer Language (XPointer) and XML Linking Language (XLink) • Document Type Definition (DTD) • XML Schemas (XSD)

  15. Contents of XML Document • Processing instructions • Comments • Elements • Root Element • Child Element • Empty Element • Attributes • Text <?xml version=“1.0“?> <!-- Student Information --> <student_list> <name>John Smith</name> <full_time/> <email type=“home”> jsmith@home.com </email> </student_list>

  16. XML Data is Hierarchical <?xml version=“1.0”?> student <!-- Student Information --> name John Smith full_time <student> <name>John Smith</name> <full_time/> <email type=“home”> jsmith@home.com </email> </student> email jsmith@home.com type home

  17. Well-formed Documents • Contain single root element • Match open and close tags • Consistent capitalization • Correctly nested elements • All attributes enclosed in quotes • No repeating attributes in an element

  18. Validation of XML Documents • Ensures that document is grammatically correct • Validation done via • Document Type Definition (DTD) • XML Schema

  19. References • MSDN DevSeries, Web 105: Introduction to XML • Microsoft Class Pack: Building XML-Based Web Applications, Module 1: Overview of XML Documents • XML Seminar at Quilogy, May 9, 2001 • Introduction to XML, a Barnes & Noble University Online Course

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