XML , 4th Edition (2005)

How This Book Is Organized

This book contains six major parts; each part contains three or more chapters; each chapter has (in all modesty) lots of good stuff. Any time you need help or information, pick up the book and start anywhere you like, or use the table of contents and index to locate specific topics or keywords. This section of your friendly intro offers a preview of the six parts and what you find in each one.

Part I: XML Basics

Part I sets the stage. It begins with an overview of XML’s special capabilities and discusses what XML is and what XML is not. We tempt you toward the XML side of the Force (hopefully) by exploring the many uses for XML — and checking out the applications to which it’s so well suited. We also briefly dis­cuss the relationships between and among the many XML languages and let you know which ones we think are particularly useful for today’s developer. We conclude Part I with a look at techniques for analyzing and classifying your data so that you can make XML documents meet your data require­ments. You also get to see how XML documents gain their structure and content — from a thorough analysis of requirements and examples.

Part II: XML and the Web

In Part II, you find out all about displaying XML content on Web pages. First, we cover what’s involved in converting HTML to its XML-based equivalent, XHTML, as a way of introducing XML’s syntax and structure. Chapter 5 picks up that thread, and you find out how to construct an XML document piece by piece while playing by the rules of XML. We show you how to create well-formed documents and discuss how XML documents and data can be made subject to formal descriptions (a great way to define a set of rules that humans and computers can follow with equal ease). You find out why you might (or might not) want to validate your XML documents with a DTD or XML Schema.

In Chapter 6 we explore character sets and related entities that XML depends on to represent content and explain how to use them in your documents.

We conclude Part II with an explanation of what’s involved in bringing XML documents to the Web and talk about the best ways to use styles to make their contents more presentable. To that end, we explore ways to use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to make native XML documents (or XML content trans­formed into HTML) easier to read and appreciate online.

Part III: Building in Validation with DTDs and Schemas

In Part III, we explain the purpose and functions that Document Type Definitions (DTDs) can play in describing XML documents. We use a DTD to teach you about the XML markup that it enables. We explain how to read a DTD to recognize the elements, attributes, and content models it contains.

After that, we look at an “all-XML, all the time” alternative to DTDs called XML Schema — an application that provides even more capabilities to describe, use, and control XML documents. One part of XML Schema’s appeal derives from its basis in XML itself. Because XML Schema is just another XML application (albeit one that allows you to describe other XML applications), you’ve got a leg up if you already have a working knowledge of XML: You can apply that knowledge to describing XML applications without having to learn yet another markup language. DTDs (on the other hand) are based on SGML, not XML; you have to have XML under your belt before you can use, cus­tomize, or create DTDs that describe XML applications. Another major part of XML Schema’s appeal derives from its broad selection of built-in datatypes and support for user-derived datatypes; you can be as specific as you want (or need) to be in describing your data.

We explain how to create elements, attributes, datatypes, and content models to work in XML Schemas. We provide details on how to construct a valid XML Schema document and show you how to use this document to create new XML documents in Word 2003.

We conclude Part III by explaining how to combine XML Schemas and how to mix and match XML Schema contents or components to maximize this tech­nology. We also introduce XML namespaces and take a look at converting DTDs to XML Schemas.
The four chapters in this part represent some of the most important nuts and bolts in the entire book.

Part IV: Transforming and Processing XML

In Part IV, we jump into the ins and outs of the eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) that can be used to turn XML-based data or documents into just about any form or format imaginable. After that, we explore the details of transform­ing an XML document into different formats — and dispel the mysteries involved in putting XSL to work for you when you change things around.

Next, we show you how to use XPath to describe the precise location of ele­ments, attributes, and their values in an XML document.

To conclude Part IV, our final stop is inside the machinery that makes XML usable, as we explore what’s involved when a computer reads and absorbs an XML document and list what kinds of capabilities the necessary software (usually called an XML processor) can deliver.
Part V: XML Application Development

In Part V,

we explore what you can do with XML when you’ve got some ready to work with — and show you many possible ways to get things done with a little help from XML.

First, we take a look at an exciting set of XML-based applications designed to advertise, locate, and use so-called “Web services” — a software and messag­ing architecture that enables service providers to advertise their services on the Web and users to locate and use such services. Web services can involve anything from access to proprietary databases, remote storage or process­ing, or even access to basic productivity applications (word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, and so forth) that users normally see on their own desktops but often show up running elsewhere on the Internet. There’s plenty of hype and hope for the future of Web services, and you explore the reasons why this is the case.

Next, you find out all about using forms to collect XML data and take a close look at two very different ways to use forms with XML: XForms, the W3C’s “next generation” of Web forms, and InfoPath, Microsoft’s visual XML forms editor.

In Chapter 17, you explore using XML with databases and how to import and export XML data using Word, InfoPath, XMLSpy, and Access.

To conclude Part V, we explain how to use XML on the Web for syndicating content with RSS news feeds. You get the word on how to create an RSS file, as well as how to validate your file and submit it for syndication.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Part VI introduces our picks of the best XML tools, applications and resources. We begin this part with a brief survey of popular, widely used XML tools and technologies. These include special-purpose XML editors and authoring tools, XML-based management tools, XML-capable browsers, parsers and engines, and conversion tools.

In Chapter 20, you have a chance to observe some of the best and brightest uses of XML and to understand why a certain set of XML applications is of such great interest to so many content designers and developers. Finally, in Chapter 21, you can read about some of the most appealing and useful sources of information about XML and related applications known to man and woman.
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