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Thinking XML: Good advice for creating XML
The use of XML has become widespread, but much of it is not well formed. When it is well formed, it's often of poor design, which makes processing and maintenance very difficult. And much of the infrastructure for serving XML can compound these problems. In response, there has been some public discussion of XML best practices, such as Henri Sivonen's document, "HOWTO Avoid Being Called a Bozo When Producing XML." Uche Ogbuji frequently discusses XML best practices on IBM developerWorks, and in this column, he gives you his opinion about the main points discussed in such articles.
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31 Jan 2006 |
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Thinking XML: Learning Objects Metadata
The education technology field is leading the way with some very interesting uses of XML metadata in practice. A wide range of specifications, standards, and developments exist in the area, but at the center of things is the IEEE Learning Objects Metadata (LOM) specification. In this article, Uche Ogbuji introduces LOM and shows how it can be of interest even to those who have no direct connections with education techology.
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02 Dec 2003 |
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Thinking XML: Harold's Effective XML
Noted XML expert Elliotte Rusty Harold's book Effective XML offers best practices for users of XML technologies. Much of the discussion in the book touches on issues of XML design that have also preoccupied Uche Ogbuji, and in this article he discusses the book as the thread for further observations on XML design and best practices.
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16 Jul 2004 |
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Thinking XML: Semantic anchors for XML
XML syntax is just the foundation for data interoperability. The next step is semantic transparency. Some groups are working to address this by defining entire document formats to be adopted wholesale, while other groups are working on ways to express common terminology and concepts at a more granular level. In this installment, Uche Ogbuji looks at XML Topic Maps Published Subjects and Universal Data Element Framework (UDEF), two ideas that take the granular approach by seeking to provide anchors in the semantic stream.
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07 Oct 2003 |
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Thinking XML: XML Topic Maps by the book
Topic Maps provide a system for organizing information, and XML Topic Maps bring this system to the world of XML. In this article, Uche Ogbuji examines XML Topic Maps, introducing the technology in the course of reviewing a key book on the topic.
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30 Jul 2003 |
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Thinking XML: XML meets semantics, Part 4
The success of XML as a basic data format is unquestioned. But much of the promise that accompanied XML 1.0 -- from unifying the ways businesses communicate with each other to making the Web more intelligent -- has not been attained. Using XML for shared semantics and thus shared knowledge is the theme of this column. In this installment, Mr. Ogbuji considers the progress to date along these lines in the context of recent developments from the Open Applications Group and the United States Department of Defense (DoD).
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01 Jun 2002 |
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Thinking XML: Once again round the block
Once again, this column takes a break to look at what's new and what has been neglected in the normal run of discussion. This time, Uche Ogbuji examines a couple of older XML schema systems for common business transactions that are overdue for a look (xCBL, cXML), as well as a new entry to the field (UBL), and some updates in the wide world of RDF.
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01 Jan 2002 |
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Thinking XML: Basic XML and RDF techniques for knowledge management, Part 5
Uche Ogbuji moves on to define RDF and DAML+OIL schemata for the issue tracker application, continuing the discussion of modeling as he goes along.
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01 Mar 2002 |
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Thinking XML: Basic XML and RDF techniques for knowledge management, Part 4
Uche Ogbuji continues his exploration of how RDF combines with XML to enable knowledge management. In this installment, he takes an in-depth look at modeling in the RDF world, and begins to look at developing a schema for the issue tracker and how it is similar to and different from object-oriented and relational modeling. The reader will learn various tips, techniques, and best practices for developing effective knowledge management models from XML data.
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01 Feb 2002 |
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Thinking XML: Basic XML and RDF techniques for knowledge management, Part 3
This column, the third in a series, shows how to add semantic knowledge to an RDF application by incorporating WordNet synonym sets. With the added knowledge of the WordNet lexical database, you can search a set of RDF data for related concepts, not just one keyword at a time. As the demonstration issue-tracker application shows, that means searching once for instances that fit within the concept of "selection" rather than searching individually on "vote," "choice," "ballot," and 86 other related terms. Columnist Uche Ogbuji's sample code in Python illustrates the techniques.
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01 Nov 2001 |
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Thinking XML: Basic XML and RDF techniques for knowledge management, Part 7
Uche Ogbuji takes a moment to review in a broader context the relevance of the XML/RDF techniques he has been presenting. He discusses the importance of XML/RDF interchange, of specialized RDF query, and of applying lessons from RDF modeling to overall application development. He also shows how this thread of the Thinking XML column relates to the parallel thread on developments toward semantic transparency.
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01 Jul 2002 |
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Thinking XML: XML meets semantics, Part 3
Uche Ogbuji discusses several recent events in XML semantic transparency and XML knowledge management, including new developments in ebXML and RosettaNet.
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01 May 2001 |
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Thinking XML: Basic XML and RDF techniques for knowledge management, Part 6
Uche Ogbuji moves on to a discussion of a far more sophisticated RDF query language than the primitive API he has discussed thus far. This is the foundation for establishing the middleware for the Issue Tracker article in coming installments.
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10 Apr 2002 |
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Thinking XML: XML meets semantics, Part 2
In this column, Uche Ogbuji completes his introduction to XML and semantics, setting the stage for the more practical columns that will follow.
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01 May 2001 |
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Thinking XML: Basic XML and RDF techniques for knowledge management, Part 2
This Thinking XML column shows how to combine metadata collected from multiple XML source documents into a single Resource Description Framework (RDF) model for effective querying. In this follow-up to his previous installment that introduced how to use XML and RDF together for knowledge management, columnist Uche Ogbuji builds on the techniques for populating RDF models with data from existing XML formats. The centerpiece of this discussion is an example in which a Web-based issue tracker, originally developed to manipulate application data in XML, is extended to take advantage of RDF. Sample code listings in XSLT and Python demonstrate two methods of aggregating metadata from XML files into a single RDF model (one using XSLT and the other using RDF), and examples of simple RDF queries.
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01 Sep 2001 |
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Thinking XML: Basic XML and RDF techniques for knowledge management, Part 1
Columnist Uche Ogbuji begins his practical exploration of knowledge management with XML by illustrating techniques for populating Resource Description Framework (RDF) models with data from existing XML formats. As shown in the three code listings, RDF can be used as a companion to customized XML, not just as a canonical representation for certain types of data. This column, with code samples included, demonstrates how easy it can be to jump-start knowledge management with RDF even relatively late in the development game.
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01 Jul 2001 |
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Thinking XML: Schema standardization for top-down semantic transparency
This installment continues the review of the many different approaches to semantic transparency, discussing what they mean to the developer using XML. One way to save resources on a long journey is to hitchhike. In XML, you can take advantage of countless open schema initiatives that, in effect, use schema standardization for top-down semantic transparency. But it's not all a free ride. In this article, Uche Ogbuji looks at the advantages and disadvantages of third-party schema reuse. He also takes a moment to discuss The Semantic Technology Conference 2005, and respond to some recent discussion on the difficulty of modeling people's names.
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08 Apr 2005 |
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Thinking XML: Review of RFC 3470: Guidelines for the use of XML
Thinking XML author Uche Ogbuji continues with the theme of XML best practices. In the previous installment "Good advice for creating XML," you looked at XML design recommendations from experts. In this article, you'll find recommendations from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an organization whose technical papers drive most Internet protocols. The IETF's XML recommendations are gathered together in RFC 3470: "Guidelines for the Use of Extensible Markup Language (XML) within IETF Protocols."
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18 Apr 2006 |
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Thinking XML: A glimpse into XML in the financial services industry
A recent conference on XML in the financial services industry was an occasion for sober reflection on XML in the real world. Is XML finding its way into practical solutions? What best practices are guiding the adoption of XML? In this column, Uche Ogbuji ponders XML through the prism of the financial services industry, and presents some of the more important XML standards relevant to that industry.
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20 Feb 2004 |
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Thinking XML: XMLOpen and more XML Hacks
Columnist Uche Ogbuji reflects on several noteworthy presentations at the recent XMLOpen conference in Cambridge, England, a rich technical symposium of XML processing topics. Noteworthy topics included XML metrics, Semantic Web, XML pipelines, Web Proper Names, and data types. He also makes one more practical observation on the book XML Hacks, a book of tips and tricks that he covered at length in his last column.
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29 Oct 2004 |
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Thinking XML: Hacking XML Hacks
XML Hacks is a book of tips and tricks for XML users. This useful resource covers a wide variety of topics, but in some cases further expansion and alternatives to material covered could be even more helpful. In this article, Uche Ogbuji offers practical observations based on topics from the book.
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14 Sep 2004 |
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Thinking XML: Search engine enhancement using the XML WordNet server system
In previous installments of this column, Uche Ogbuji introduced the WordNet natural language database, and showed how to represent database nodes as XML and serve this XML though the Web. In this article, he shows how to convert this XML to an RDF representation, and how to use the WordNet XML server to enrich search engine technology.
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06 Dec 2005 |
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Thinking XML: Schema annotation for bottom-up semantic transparency
Learn more about the different approaches to semantic transparency as Uche Ogbuji discusses what they mean to developers using XML. Whether or not you reuse schemata, you might find it valuable to use formal annotations (as opposed to the informal annotations covered earlier). You gain benefits on several levels by doing so. On the most immediately practical level, you can generate better documentation. A more far-sighted benefit is that it gives you an important measure of semantic transparency. This installment discusses semantic anchors, and gives examples. The author also takes a moment to discuss The XTech Conference 2005.
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14 Jul 2005 |
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Thinking XML: Patent filings meet XML
The major patent organizations all have the dual goal of making electronic patent filing easy and making such filings compatible from one office to another. XML is the leading technology behind these efforts and a great deal of thought and work has gone into XML formats for patent filing. In this column, Uche Ogbuji examines the background of XML patent e-filing and chats with patent expert Carl Oppedahl about the practicalities of XML filings.
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07 Apr 2004 |
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Thinking XML: The commons of creativity
Many artists independent of big media concerns seek to collaborate with others and make their work more widely available. They are often willing to offer less restrictive contractual terms than those that consumers have recently been forced to accept. Creative Commons, which Uche Ogbuji introduces in this article, seeks to address this need by providing a way to express copyright license terms that are both human-readable and machine-readable. The machine-readable form uses RDF and thus makes available the network effects that have been covered throughout this column.
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12 May 2003 |
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Thinking XML: Introducing N-Triples
RDF/XML isn't the only representation of an RDF model. The W3C developed N-Triples, a format for an RDF representation that is especially suited for test suites. Here, Uche Ogbuji introduces N-Triples using examples converted from RDF/XML.
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08 Apr 2003 |
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Thinking XML: Universal Business Language (UBL)
Universal Business Language (UBL) is an ambitious effort to unify the chaotic world of XML formats for business. Recently, the group behind UBL released the first work products for public review. In this article Uche Ogbuji takes a first in-depth look at UBL.
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01 Feb 2003 |
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Thinking XML: The open office file format
OpenOffice.org is a mature, open source, front office applications suite with the advantage of a saved file format based on an open XML DTD. This gives users and developers an extraordinary amount of flexibility and power in dealing with work produced in OpenOffice.org. In this article, Uche Ogbuji introduces the OpenOffice file format and explains its advantages.
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01 Jan 2003 |
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Thinking XML: Manage metadata with MusicBrainz
Since its emergence in the mid-1980s, digital music has seen plenty of controversy, and even the management of digital music metadata has been subject to its own share of drama. But sometimes out of political dust-ups, good technical solutions emerge. In this article, Uche Ogbuji introduces MusicBrainz, a project for managing digital media metadata. MusicBrainz uses RDF in its core data formats and, in so doing, offers some important technical advantages over its predecessors.
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01 Dec 2002 |
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Thinking XML: Shedding light on PRISM
PRISM is a standard for metadata related to publishing. It allows the formal description of content and related resources by providing standardized properties, controlled vocabularies, and extensibility mechanisms that enable users to define their own controlled vocabularies. In this column, Uche Ogbuji introduces PRISM by example.
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01 Oct 2002 |
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Thinking XML: XML meets semantics, Part 1
This discussion of XML and semantics kicks off a column by Uche Ogbuji on knowledge management aspects of XML, including metadata, semantics, Resource Description Framework (RDF), Topic Maps, and autonomous agents. Approaching the topic from a practical perspective, the column aims to reach programmers rather than philosophers.
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01 Feb 2001 |
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Thinking XML: Use the Atom format for syndicating news and more
The Web has always included sites that present series of articles, events, and other postings which are meant to be shared and cross-referenced. With large parts of the Web becoming conversational communities, many in these communities have come together to work on an XML-based standard for such interchange and cross-reference. Atom is the product of this effort -- a format and API for exchanging Web metadata. In this article, Uche Ogbuji introduces Atom.
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25 May 2004 |
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Thinking XML: State of the art in XML modeling
The running theme of the column has been semantic transparency: the ability to correctly interpret the contents of XML documents. Semantic transparency might be the most important aspect of XML modeling. This is first in a series of articles that review the many different approaches to semantic transparency and discuss what they mean to developers using XML.
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11 Mar 2005 |
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Thinking XML: Analyze financial reporting using XBRL
Thanks to recent events, the world turns its eyes to Wall Street. One of the hot topics is how to increase the transparency of descriptions of business activity and financial results. The financial sector and the SEC have long approached this problem with XBRL, an XML language for business reports. XBRL uses a variety of XML technologies, including XLink to provide rich detail for financial information. Learn to interpret and analyze financial report information in XBRL, using an actual U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report as an example.
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06 Jan 2009 |
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Thinking XML: Enrich Schema definitions with SKOS
The things in schemata (people, places and things) are inextricably tied to how people describe them, and this is the key to alignment of business with technology. One of the most important things an XML schema designer can do is express this connection clearly. SKOS, a language well known as a component of DITA, is a very useful means for such expression. Learn how to enrich schema definitions with SKOS definitions.
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11 Nov 2008 |
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Thinking XML: Querying WordNet as XML
WordNet is a Princeton University project that aims to build a database of English words and lexical relationships between them. Such a tool is an excellent basis for semantic application in XML, like the synonym-aware searching example that Uche Ogbuji presented in an earlier installment of this column. Here, he takes a step back to first principles, showing code for querying WordNet 2.0 as XML documents as a first step towards building more general applications of WordNet in XML.
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28 Jan 2005 |
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Thinking XML: Firefox 3.0 and XML
Mozilla continues to improve its flagship browser and the latest major release,
Firefox 3.0, offers something for just about everyone. XML developers were certainly
not left out -- the new version improves basic parsing, DOM, XSLT, SVG, and more. In this article, learn of the new features Firefox 3.0 offers for XML processing; pay close attention to how the added EXSLT extensions open up fresh possibilities for XSLT on the browser.
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29 Jul 2008 |
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Thinking XML: UBL 1.0 (plus ebXML Core Components and more)
Universal Business Language (UBL) is an XML business information interchange and transaction format that has made a few appearances in this column. UBL just reached a major milestone in its 1.0 release, which brings about a few more developments and some changes to the XML representation. In this installment, Uche Ogbuji looks at UBL 1.0, and introduces ebXML Core Components, which form the foundation of UBL's conceptual model.
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09 Dec 2004 |
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Thinking XML: Firefox 2.0 and XML
Firefox 2.0 brought several important changes in its XML support. It's currently reaching its peak in user deployment. Learn about updated XML features in Firefox 2.0, including a controversial change to the handling of RSS Web feeds.
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02 Oct 2007 |
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Thinking XML: Microformats the XML way
You might have heard about microformats, a way to embed small, specialized information within standard formats. In fact, microformats come in two types: elemental microformats, which are often quite useful, and compound microformats, which are often quite problematic. Learn about a basic approach to avoid the hacks in some compound microformats by virtue of the structure of the Web. XML, and other natural data representation technologies such as JSON, are just as viable as many of their counterparts in microformats.
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15 May 2007 |
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Thinking XML: The XML decade
IBM Systems Journal recently published an issue dedicated to XML's 10th anniversary. It is primarily a collection of interesting papers for XML application techniques, but some of its articles offer general discussion of the technical, economic and even cultural effects of XML. There is a lot in these papers to draw from in thinking about why XML has been successful, and what it would take for XML to continue its success. This article expands on some of these topics that are especially relevant to readers of this column.
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14 Nov 2006 |
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Thinking XML: Manage XML data sets for security
Most developers have to learn a different playbook when they deal with XML and they're used to database technologies. XML's transparency requires a lot of care when you expose XML to applications on a network. Carelessness in this regard can lead to security breaches. Learn about the security implications of XML's transparency and how to avoid the vulnerabilities.
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11 Jul 2006 |
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Thinking XML: Serving up WordNet as XML
A few articles back, Uche Ogbuji discussed WordNet 2.0, a Princeton University project that aims to build a database of English words and lexical relationships between them. He showed how to extract XML serializations from the word database. In this article he continues the exploration, demonstrating code to serve up these WordNet/XML documents over Web protocols and showing you how to access these from XSLT.
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30 Aug 2005 |
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Recurse, not divide, to conquer
Software consultant and author Benoît Marchal answers an XSLT student's frequently asked question: How do you divide an HTML element between two XSLT templates? The trick is to ask the right question. This article demonstrates how to shift your thinking into the XSLT recursive approach, which is especially helpful if you have a background in a procedural language (Java and the like). Sample code demonstrates the right way (and the wrong way) to work with a flat XML or XHTML file that you want to process hierarchically.
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01 Jul 2001 |
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Fast incremental updates of XML records
XML is often used today as a data export and exchange format. In such
cases, you might deal with a feed of XML records; sometimes, if this feed, is too
long, there are performance problems importing it into another system. As such, you
might want to produce only an incremental feed -- that is, one that only
includes items that have changed. This article presents a collection of simple techniques that you can combine into a system for more digestible feeds containing only updated records.
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28 Aug 2007 |
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Tip: Multi-pass XSLT
Transforms can often be made cleaner and clearer if executed in phases or passes. First some intermediate output is produced, and then this is further transformed into a final output form. There can even be more than one intermediate form. In this tip, Uche Ogbuji discusses ways of breaking down XSLT operation into two or more clear passes of transformation using the common node-set extension.
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01 Sep 2002 |
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