XML Introduction

2-3 days

Prerequisites

·           General Web Development knowledge

·           HTML is recommended, but not required

·           DHTML is recommended, but not required

·           Scripting Language (VBScript or JavaScript) is recommended, but not required

·           Database knowledge

Description

This course aims to tell you about XML (eXtensible Markup Language). However, in order to understand XML, you need some background.  In this course, you start by looking at what the term markup means, and then you learn about the idea of generalized markup.  By the end of this course, you should have a good idea what XML is and why it is needed.

Outline/Table of Contents

Introducing XML

·           Overview

·           History of XML

·           Benefits of XML

·           What do XML Documents look like?

·           Differences between XML and HTML

History of HTML  

·           A Brief History of Markup Languages

·           How Markup Works

·           Document Structure

·           A Look At HTML

·           Specific and Generalized Markup Languages

·           The Big Markup Picture

History of XML

·           What is XML?

·           The Case for XML

·           XML is About Data

·           Where Does XML Fit In?

·           The Goals for XML

·           XML, Recommendations and Standards

Creating XML

·           XML Structure

·           Logical Structure in XML

·           Physical Structure in XML

·           XML Syntax

·           Valid Versus Well-Formed XML

·           Well-Formed Documents

·           The XML Processor

The DTD (Document Type Definition)

·           DTD Structure

·           Creating a Simple DTD

·           Element Declarations

·           Data Types

·           Structure Symbols

·           Attributes

·           Entities

·           The Ignore and Include Keywords

·           Processing Instructions

·           Comments

·           External DTD’s

·           Class DTD’s

·           Required Markup Declaration

·           Vocabularies

Displaying XML

·           Using the XML Data Source Object

·           Working with One Record at a Time

·           Viewing all the Data

·           XML Data Islands

·           Working with Inline XML Data Islands

·           Working with Linked XML Data Islands

·           Attributes of the XML Element

Scripting XML

·           A Scripting Refresher

·           HTML and Scripts

·           The Dynamic HTML Object Model

·           Event Handlers

·           Working On Object Properties

·           Object Naming

·           The XML Processor

·           The Right Processor for the Job

·           XML:  The Parent/Child Relationship

·           Back to Basics

·           The XML Object Model

·           From XML to HTML

·           Creating the Basic HTML Page

·           Adding the Scripts

·           Displaying the Data

·           Measuring the Costs and Benefits3

·           Beyond the Basics – More Scripting Techniques

·           Walking the XML Document Tree

·           Error Handling

·            

XML as Data

·           Data Typing in XML

·           Strong Typing vs. Weak Typing

·           Specifying Data Types

·           Working with Data Types in Scripts

·           XML Namespaces

·           Creating Unique Names

·           Putting It All Together

·           The Style Sheet

·           The onload Script

·           The Linked Script

·           The Remaining Script

·           The Control Section

·           The Wildflower Information Table

·           The Customer Area and Function Buttons

·           The List Table

·           Using XML as Application Data

Linking with XML

·           Simple Links the HTML Way

·           HTML Links with the Anchor Element

·           Linking to External Documents with the Link Element

·           Xlink:  The XML Linking Mechanism

·           Simple Links in XML

·           Extended Links in XML

·           XPointer – Looking Inward

·           XPointer Basics

XSL:  XML with Style

·           Style Sheet Basics

·           A Look at Cascading Style Sheets

·           XSL Basics

·           The Parts of XSL

·           XSL Style Sheets

·           Using Templates

·           Displaying the Output Elements

·           Getting Data from XML

·           Creating Queries in XSL

·           Scripting in XSL

·           XSL Elements

·           XSL Methods

·           Built-In Templates

·           Conflicts

XSL Patterns

·           What is XSL Patterns?

·           Some Goals of XSL Patterns

·           What, Not How

·           The XSL Patterns Advantage

·           XSL Patterns Language Syntax

·           Providing Context

·           Grouping and Precedence

·           Comparing Data

·           Using Methods

·           The XSL Patterns Object Model

·           The nodeList Object

·           The selectNodes Method

·           The selectSingleNode Method

XML Schema

·           The Need for a Schema Language

·           The Goals of XML-Data

·           The XML-Data Schema Language

·           Schema Document Structure

·           Element Type Declarations

·           Attribute Type Declarations

·           Data Types

·           Schemas at Work

·           The Email Document

·           The DTD

·           The HTML Page

·           The Schema

·           Advanced Topics

·           Open and Closed Content Models

·           Element Inheritance and Subclassing

·           Including Other Schemas by Using Namespaces

Future for XML

·           XML for the (Serious) Programmer

·           Object Persistence with XML

·           Web Distributed Data Exchange

·           Multimedia Description Languages

·           SMIL

·           HTML+TIME

·           Vector Images with XML

·           Raster Image Format

·           Vector Image Format

·           Vector Images with VML

·           Document Object Model

·           What id DOM and Where Did It Come From?

·           What DOM Is Not

·           The Future of DOM

·           Document Content Description

·           Cross-Platform XML

·           Some Conclusions