 |
|
|
|
|
|
XML and how it will change the Web
If you listen to the current hype, XML sounds like a technological achievement on a par with sliced bread and the wheel. Beneath the hoopla, XML represents the next evolution in Web technology. In this article you can explore the basics of XML and find out how it will change the Web.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 1999 |
|
| |
XML and scripting languages
In this first tutorial of his series on using scripting languages to manipulate and transform XML documents, Binary Evolution's Parand Tony Daruger takes you through the first steps of using these techniques with Perl. You'll see a method for transforming XML to HTML, followed by a simple stock trading application that uses Perl, XML, and a database to evaluate trading rules. You can apply the techniques using other scripting languages too, including Tcl and Python.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Feb 2000 |
|
| |
Hands-on XSL
This article presents a simple, hands-on exercise that demonstrates the principles of the Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT). It takes about an hour to complete the concept exercises and about 15 minutes at a computer to try out the results with a real XSLT processor.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Mar 2000 |
|
| |
Parsing comma-separated values
Ask the expert: My assignment on an XML pilot project is a transformation from data formatted in comma-delimited files (CDF) that the customer wants to transform into XML data. Seems logical enough, but I can't find any reference to a CDF-to-XML translator. What would you suggest? --Tom Watson, consultant Doug Tidwell responds: Tom, I think I have a solution. It all starts with getting the data.
|
|
Articles |
|
24 Apr 2000 |
|
| |
JMS, XML, and the heterogeneous enterprise
Most computing environments today are characterized more by a patchwork of different platforms than by an adherence to any one platform. The Java Message Service (JMS), together with the Extensible Markup Language (XML), extends the promise of integration to this heterogeneous environment. This article demonstrates how to use JMS to create and distribute XML-based messages to Java and non-Java applications alike.
|
|
Articles |
|
02 May 2000 |
|
| |
Servlets and XML: Made for each other
Find out how Java servlets and XML work together to generate an XML document and DOM tree and interface with a database. This article includes a couple of useful techniques: using HTTP parameters to control processing and generating a DOM tree without an XML source document.
|
|
Articles |
|
02 May 2000 |
|
| |
Charming Python: Tinkering with XML and Python
A major element of getting started on working with XML in Python is sorting out the comparative capabilities of all the available modules. In this first installment of his new Python column, "Charming Python," David Mertz briefly describes the most popular and useful XML-related Python modules, and points you to resources for downloading individual modules and reading more about them. This article will help you determine which modules are most appropriate for your specific task.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2000 |
|
| |
Dare to script tree-based XML with Perl
Parsing an XML document into tree structures makes it possible to operate on the tree structure of the data. Find out how to use the functions for accessing and manipulating the document tree, and follow a sample stock-trading application that uses Perl, DOM, XML, and a database to evaluate trading rules. (You can apply the same techniques with other scripting languages, including Tcl and Python.) This is the second installment on using scripting languages to manipulate and transform XML documents.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jul 2000 |
|
| |
XML Matters: On the 'Pythonic' treatment of XML documents as objects(II)
In the second installment of his new "XML Matters" column -- and as part of his ongoing quest to create a more seamless integration between XML and Python -- David Mertz presents the xml_objectify module. David describes how to use xml_objectify and the advantages of using this "Pythonic" module for working with XML documents as objects.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2000 |
|
| |
XML Matters: On the 'Pythonic' treatment of XML documents as objects
In the first installment of his new 'XML Matters' column -- and as part of his ongoing quest to create a more seamless integration between XML and Python -- David Mertz presents the xml_pickle module. Mertz discusses the design goals and decisions that went into xml_pickle and provides a list of likely uses.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2000 |
|
| |
The basics of using XML Schema to define elements
The new XML Schema system, now nearing acceptance as a W3C recommendation, aims to provide a rich grammatical structure for XML documents that overcomes the limitations of the DTD. This article demonstrates the flexibility of schemas and shows how to define the most fundamental building block of XML documents -- the element -- in the XML Schema system.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2000 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Getting started with the DocBook XML dialect
In the third installment of his "XML Matters" column, David Mertz gets you started with DocBook, an SGML/XML dialect that describes the content of technical articles and other documents. David discusses the benefits of using DocBook, and then describes how to plan and modularize a large document conversion project.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2000 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Getting started with the DocBook XML dialect
In the third installment of his "XML Matters" column, David Mertz gets you started with DocBook, an SGML/XML dialect that describes the content of technical articles and other documents. David discusses the benefits of using DocBook, and then describes how to plan and modularize a large document conversion project.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2000 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Getting comfortable with the DocBook XML dialect
This column continues the discussion of the benefits of using DocBook to convert documents in heterogeneous formats to a single, standard XML format. It also looks at some DocBook tags in greater detail and discusses how to compose a basic DocBook document.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2000 |
|
| |
The Web services (r)evolution: Part 1
This opening article of our new column focuses on the benefits and challenges of building Web service applications. Web services may be an evolutionary step in designing distributed applications, however, they are not without their problems. Graham outlines the difficulties developers face in creating a truly workable distributed system of Web services. This article also outlines his plan for building peer-to-peer Web applications over the coming issues of this column.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 2000 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Transforming DocBook documents using XSLT
Using a DocBook example, David Mertz shows how to convert an XML document to HTML through XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation). Along the way, your intrepid columnist discusses four alternative approaches for transforming XML documents and shares what he experienced in experimenting with some open source tools. Sample code includes fragments of XSLT documents, valid HTML outputter code in XSLT for a simple DocBook chapter, and a brief XSLT looping example.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 2000 |
|
| |
The Web services (r)evolution: Part 2
This article provides a step by step explanation of how to develop a Web service, including what tools you will need, how to install them, how to write the code, and how to deploy the service. It goes on to explain how to invoke other Web services from across the Internet.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Dec 2000 |
|
| |
Sun's Java API for XML Parsing, Version 1.1
In this follow-up article on JAXP, Sun's Java API for XML Parsing, the author analyzes the newest version, 1.1, which includes updated support for the SAX and DOM standards. With the addition of TRaX, JAXP 1.1 provides Java and XML developers an indispensable tool in writing vendor-neutral code for parsing and transforming XML documents.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Dec 2000 |
|
| |
Abstracting the interface
Using XML to describe parts of a Web app user interface can make it easy to convert the UI for multiple devices via XSL style sheets. The article describes using XML data and XSL style sheets to build the user interface of complex Web applications. A Web calendar sample application demonstrates the basic techniques and concepts. The article also includes more than two dozen code samples that you can easily extend for your specific requirements.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Dec 2000 |
|
| |
Improve your XSLT coding five ways
Whether you're a beginner with XSLT or a seasoned programmer, you'll surely find that these five tips from Benoit Marchal will improve your coding and give you new ideas. The handful of tips cover using CSS with XSL style sheets (including HTML entities), incorporating client-side JavaScript, working with multiple input documents, and using XSLT to generate style sheets automatically. The article includes sample code to adapt and reuse.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jan 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: A roundup of editors
In this column David Mertz gives an up-to-date review of a half-dozen leading XML editors. He compares the strengths, weaknesses and capabilities of each -- especially for handling text-heavy prose documents. The column addresses the very practical question of just how one goes about creating, modifying, and maintaining prose-oriented XML documents.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jan 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Documenting style sheets using RDF
Uche Ogbuji shows how to use Resource Description Framework (RDF) to document your XSLT style sheets and discusses some of the powerful applications that can be made of this structured documentation. This tip assumes that you already have a basic knowledge of XSLT and RDF.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Feb 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: XSLT lookup tables
Lookup tables, a common programming tool, efficiently transform one value to another. In this tip learn how to implement lookup tables in XSLT. A basic understanding of XSLT is required.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Feb 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Generating internal HTML links with XSLT
Uche Ogbuji walks you through how to use XSLT to populate HTML or XHTML output with anchors and internal links. Internal links help to organize long HTML content; XSLT provides facilities for generating those internal links, but some of the methods are somewhat obscure. This tip, with reusable sample code, clearly spells out two approaches for the process.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Feb 2001 |
|
| |
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.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Feb 2001 |
|
| |
Portable database reporting using Java and XML
This article explains how to generate printable reports from a database using Java- and XML-related technologies like Xalan, Xerces, and FOP. It demonstrates how Java and XML make it possible to develop reporting tools that work under different operating systems using the same source code.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Feb 2001 |
|
| |
Soapbox: Why I'm using SOAP
In the XML zone's new opinion department, Benoît Marchal steps up on the soapbox to tell why SOAP is winning him over. SOAP's selling point is its simplicity, Marchal says. Because the new protocol builds on familiar technologies, in particular the Web server and XML, it's relatively easy for developers to design and deploy SOAP servers.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Feb 2001 |
|
| |
Introduction to XML messaging
This tutorial gives a hands-on introduction to the basic building blocks for applications that communicate two ways using Web protocols. If you are working on dynamic Web applications or distributed programming, this tutorial will get you started. XML is a useful way to introduce structure into the body of HTTP requests. This tutorial gives hands-on examples of XML messaging.
|
|
Tutorials |
|
13 Feb 2001 |
|
| |
Abstracting the interface, Part II
This article, a sequel to the author's December article on Web application front ends, describes extensions to the basic framework for XML data and XSL style sheets. It focuses on the back end this time, covering National Language Support (NLS), enhancements of the view structure, and performance issues. While the first article demonstrated the basic architecture for building Web applications using XML and XSLT, this article shows you how to make the applications ready to go online.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Mar 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Using JDOM and XSLT
In this tip, Brett McLaughlin tells how to avoid a common pitfall when working with XSLT and the JDOM API for XML developers working in Java. You'll learn how to take a JDOM document representation, transform it using the Apache Xalan processor, and obtain the resulting XML as another JDOM document. Transforming a document using XSLT is a common task, and JDOM makes the transformation go quite easily once you know how to avoid the missteps. The code demonstrates how to use JDOM with the new Apache Xalan 2 processor (for Java).
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Mar 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Achieving vendor independence with SAX
While newer XML developers are learning to achieve vendor independence with JAXP, SAX veterans have been vendor neutral for years. This tip explains how to use SAX and a SAX helper class to achieve vendor independence in your SAX-based applications.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Mar 2001 |
|
| |
Managing ezines with JavaMail and XSLT, Part 1
This article, part one of two-part series, demonstrates how to automate e-mail publishing chores with Java and XML.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Mar 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Moving DOM nodes
This tip takes a look at a common exception that occurs when you attempt to move DOM nodes. Here you'll learn the causes of this exception and, most important, how to avoid it when doing DOM programming. The code listings demonstrate how to move nodes from one document to another, what the code that generates the dreaded Wrong document exception looks like, and how to write correct code that doesn't present this problem. This tip assumes that you already know the basics about how to work with the DOM."
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Mar 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Comparing W3C XML Schemas and Document Type Definitions (DTDs)
This installment of the XML Matters column steps up to the challenge of comparing schemas and DTDs and clarifying just what is going on in the XML schema world.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Mar 2001 |
|
| |
The gentoo.org redesign, Part 1: A site reborn
Have you ever woken up one morning and suddenly realized that your cute little personal development Web site isn't really that great? If so, you're in good company. In this series, Daniel Robbins shares his experiences as he redesigns the www.gentoo.org Web site using technologies like XML, XSLT, and Python.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Mar 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Putting XML in context with hierarchical, relational, and object-oriented models
On the way to making a point about how XML is best suited to work with databases, David Mertz discusses how XML fits with hierarchical, relational, and object-oriented data modeling paradigms.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Apr 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Converting from JDOM
Learning to work with JDOM? Well, no API is an island, and in this tip you'll learn how to convert with ease from JDOM to SAX and DOM for fluent programming of XML applications that use all three APIs. The code samples provide examples of converting from JDOM to SAX and from JDOM to DOM.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Apr 2001 |
|
| |
Managing ezines with JavaMail and XSLT, Part 2
This second of a two-part article demonstrates how to automate e-mail publishing chores with Java and XML.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Apr 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Converting from DOM
In this tip, you'll learn how to convert DOM structures to SAX and JDOM to allow communication with applications that do not use DOM. The code listings demonstrate how to convert from DOM to an output stream for use by SAX, and how to convert from DOM to JDOM.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Apr 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Converting from SAX
Brett McLaughlin explains how to use SAX to communicate with applications that require DOM and JDOM inputs. It's a useful technique: With the flurry of XML APIs available, developers now have to be able to easily move from one to another, and then on to another. The sample code provides a concrete example of converting from SAX to JDOM.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Apr 2001 |
|
| |
Programming XML and Web services in TCL, Part 1: An initial primer
Tcl and XML make good partners. Tcl boasts several strengths for standalone XML processing. Moreover, in this article XML is presented as the initial building block in a series that describes the capacity for Tcl in Web services work.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Apr 2001 |
|
| |
Soapbox: Magic bullet or dud?
In this Soapbox opinion piece, Brett McLaughlin casts a critical eye on the Simple Object Access Protocol, assessing the value this much-discussed new technology can provide developers and demonstrating its foundation in a mixture of the old RPC (remote procedure calls) technology and in XML. Brett examines RPC, XML-RPC, RMI, and SOAP in detail, comparing and contrasting the use of each, and discusses whether SOAP makes sense. This article also includes sample code for a SOAP envelope.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Apr 2001 |
|
| |
What's the diff?
How can you tell whether two XML document are equivalent? Brett McLaughlin explains why answering this common question is more than a trivial task. The explanation shows how to go about comparing XML documents, including how to deal with significant and ignorable whitespace and external entity references.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 May 2001 |
|
| |
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.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 May 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: DTDs and XML documents from SQL queries
This column discusses the public-domain sql2dtd and sql2xml utilities that allow RDBMS-independent generation of portable XML result sets.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 May 2001 |
|
| |
A simple SOAP client
This article describes a simple, general purpose SOAP client in Java that uses no specialized SOAP libraries. Instead of creating the SOAP request XML document for you under the hood, this client lets you create your own request with any XML editor (or text editor). Instead of merely giving you the remote method's return values, the client shows you the actual SOAP response XML document. The short Java program shows exactly what SOAP is all about: opening up an HTTP connection, sending the appropriate XML to invoke a remote method, and then reading the XML response returned by the server.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 May 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Indexing XML documents
As XML document storage formats become popular, especially for prose-oriented documents, the task of locating contents within XML document collections becomes more difficult. This column extends the generic full text indexer presented in David's Charming Python #15 column to include XML-specific search and indexing features. This column discusses how the tool design addresses indexing to take advantage of the hierarchical node structure of XML.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 May 2001 |
|
| |
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.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 May 2001 |
|
| |
Soapbox: Industrial strength or suds?
In Brett McLaughlin's second turn on the Soapbox, he compares the Simple Object Access Protocol in more detail with RMI and RPC, and suggests how developers can make the best choice among the three messaging protocols. He looks at the real-world SOAP implementations from IBM and Microsoft and examines the limitations of XML -- SOAP's underlying encoding format -- and the problems involved in it as a full-fledged programming language. The article includes sample code for RPC and SOAP airline ticket requests, for side-by-side comparison.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 May 2001 |
|
| |
Understanding ebXML
ebXML is a big project with a lot of pieces. In this article David Mertz outlines how the pieces all fit together. This overview provides an introduction to the ebXML concept and then looks a bit more specifically at the representation of business processes, an important starting point for ebXML implementations. Two short bits of sample code demonstrate the ProcessSpecification DTD and a package of collaborations.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
XML for Data: Using XML Schema archetypes
In the first installment of his new column, Kevin Williams describes the benefits of using archetypes in XML Schema designs for data and provides some concrete examples. He discusses both simple and complex types, and some advantages of using each. Code samples in XML Schema are provided.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Using Python modules xml2sql and dtd2sql
David Mertz shows that the reverse direction of translating an XML document and DTD back into an RDBMS storage format is equally possible, but with its own set of constraints and complications.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Validation and the SAX ErrorHandler interface
In this tip, Brett McLaughlin explores SAX's validation capabilities and explains how to turn XML document validation on and off. He also covers the ErrorHandler interface, which enables you to receive notification of errors in your applications and act on that notification. Code samples demonstrate how to request validation and how to create and register an error handler in SAX.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
Soapbox: Why XML Schema beats DTDs hands-down for data
In his turn on the Soapbox, info-management developer and author Kevin Williams tells why he's sold on XML Schema for the structural definition of XML documents for data. He looks at four features of XML Schema that are particularly suited to data representation, and he shows some examples of each. Code samples include XSD schemas and schema fragments.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Using an entity resolver
Brett McLaughlin discusses how to use external entity references to include external content in an XML document, and how to use the SAX EntityResolver interface. Code samples illustrate the interface, document its use, and demonstrate how to register the entity resolver in your parser.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
Perl developers: Fill your XML toolbox
In this article updated June 2001, find out about more than 20 of the essential tools, libraries, and modules needed for XML development with Perl. Use the table of resources to quickly locate the elements that enable you to assemble a powerful toolkit for XML manipulation.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
XML training wheels
See how developerWorks produced a custom XSLT application with Java-based open-source tools that automates the tedious work of producing HTML-based tutorials. Known as the Toot-O-Matic, the tool is available for any developer either to inspect as an XSLT exemplar or to tailor to your own training needs. Doug Tidwell explains the design goals and the XML document design. He also describes how the 13 code samples demonstrate the techniques used in generating a truckload of HTML panels full of custom graphics, a ZIP file, and two PDF files from a single XML source document.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Revisiting xml_pickle and xml_objectify
This column presents some of the changes to his module suite, as well as some tips on advanced aspects of using and customizing the modules.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
Application integration using XML on z/OS and OS/390
Application integration is the magic mantra we've been hearing for quite a while. It's not an easy problem to solve. Applications designed at different times are not easy to link together, and eventually the linking glue code itself becomes a handicap to further integration. While XML is not a silver bullet that can solve all application integration problems, it can help simplify some of the associated issues. Although some of this article is very specific to OS/390 and z/OS, you'll find that much of the information is valid for many other platforms.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
Charming Python: Revisiting XML tools for Python
This special installment article revisits the author's previous discussion of XML tools, and provides up-to-date code samples.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jun 2001 |
|
| |
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.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jul 2001 |
|
| |
XML for Data: XLink and data
This column takes a look at how to use XLink pointers when representing data to make XML documents more compact and flexible. Sample code shows examples of an invoice with and without the XLink pointers, plus an example of using XLinks with a URL-addressable database.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jul 2001 |
|
| |
Working XML: Using XSLT for content management
This is the first installment of Working XML, a column with companion project code that demonstrates the evolution of full-fledged XML applications.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jul 2001 |
|
| |
XML for Data: Styling with schemas
This column by developer and author Kevin Williams demonstrates how to use XML Schema archetyping (and style sheets) to control styling of data for various presentation modes. Ten code samples in XML, XML Schema, and XSLT show how the techniques work to reduce code bulk and simplify maintenance.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jul 2001 |
|
| |
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.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jul 2001 |
|
| |
The gentoo.org redesign, Part 3: A site reborn
Have you ever woken up one morning and suddenly realized that your cute little personal development Web site isn't really that great? If so, you're in good company. In this series, Daniel Robbins shares his experiences as he redesigns the www.gentoo.org Web site using technologies like XML, XSLT, and Python.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Jul 2001 |
|
| |
SAX, the power API
Benoit Marchal gives a solid introduction to SAX, the event-based API for processing XML that has become a de facto standard.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2001 |
|
| |
Enabling XML documents for globalization
Facilitate the process of globalizing an application by organizing translatable resources in XML documents. You can use this technique to externalize the translatable content of your documents into language-specific subdocuments, as well as to structure XML documents, along with user-specified XML elements and attributes, to naturally process your translated documents. XML and Java sample code examples show how the technologies work together to handle globalization.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2001 |
|
| |
Working XML: Link management and preparing the future
This article shows how to use XML filters to add new functionality to XM, an open-source Web publishing application.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Using SAXTransformerFactory
In this detailed tip, Benoit Marchal explains how SAXTransformerFactory -- a class that feeds SAX events directly in an XSLT processor -- buys you greater flexibility when you save XML files.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2001 |
|
| |
XML for Data: Four tips for smart architecture
This column tells how to avoid some common mistakes that even smart architects make when designing an XML solution. XML architect and author Kevin Williams offers four tips for designing flexible and high performance systems.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Referencing XML schemas
Start using XML Schema to constrain XML documents. This brief tip tells how to reference an XML schema from your XML documents. Five pieces of sample code show how.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2001 |
|
| |
Soapbox: Humans should not have to grok XML
Today the computing world tends toward using XML for any and all formal specifications and data descriptions. The author, a big fan of XML, asks a blasphemous question: "Is XML totalitarianism a good idea?" In this opinion piece, Terence Parr, co-founder of jGuru, demonstrates that XML makes a lousy human interface. He also provides questions to ask yourself to determine if XML is appropriate even for your project's program-to-program interface needs.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Aug 2001 |
|
| |
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.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Sep 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: XML and compression
This XML Matters column explores several approaches to compressing XML documents.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Sep 2001 |
|
| |
XML and Java technologies: Document models, Part 1: Performance
In this article, Java consultant Dennis Sosnoski compares the performance and functionality of several Java document models. It's not always clear what the tradeoffs are when you choose a model, and it can require extensive recoding to switch if you later change your mind. Putting performance results in the context of feature sets and compliance with standards, the author gives some advice on making the right choice for your requirements. The articles includes several charts and the source code for the test suite
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Sep 2001 |
|
| |
Working XML: Processing instructions and parameters
This month our hardworking columnist adds support for multiple style sheets to the XM content-management project. In so doing, he taps into TrAX URIResolver and writes his own parser for pseudo-attributes. As usual, the complete source code is available in the developerWorks Open source zone.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Sep 2001 |
|
| |
C/C++ developers: Fill your XML toolbox
Designed for C and C++ programmers who are new to XML development, this article gives an overview of tools to assemble in preparation for XML development. Tool tables outline generic XML tools like IDEs and schema designers, parsers, XSLT tools, SOAP and XML-RPC libraries, and other libraries either usable from or actually written in C and/or C++. The article includes advice for installing open-source libraries on Windows, Unix, and Linux, plus a brief glossary of key XML terms.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Sep 2001 |
|
| |
Enabling XML security
XML is a major enabler of what the Internet, and latterly Web services, require in order to continue growing and developing. Yet a lot of work remains to be done on security-related issues before the full capabilities of XML languages can be realised. At present, encrypting a complete XML document, testing its integrity, and confirming the authenticity of its sender is a straightforward process. But it is increasingly necessary to use these functions on parts of documents, to encrypt and authenticate in arbitrary sequences, and to involve different users or originators. At present, the most important sets of developing specifications in the area of XML-related security are XML encryption, XML signature, XACL, SAML, and XKMS. This article introduces the first two.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Sep 2001 |
|
| |
Using JDBC to extract data into XML
This tutorial is designed to assist Java developers who need to extract information from a database and place it into an XML document.
|
|
Tutorials |
|
28 Sep 2001 |
|
| |
Walking the Web with DOM
Using the DOM HTML module, developers can work with their XML documents and output them as HTML, using the same familiar API for both tasks. This article explains the DOM HTML module, shows examples of its use, and explains how to output HTML using DOM in a servlet environment. Code samples demonstrate the techniques.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
XMI and UML combine to drive product development
Countless organizations rely on UML (Unified Modeling Language) in the software development process. But software to manage UML itself has a well-earned reputation for being inflexible and difficult. This article describes how the Danish development house Ideogramic ApS extended XMI (an XML specification targeted at such metadata as UML), and explores both the benefits and limitations of "XMLization."
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Working XML: Wrapping up XM version 1
In this month's column, developer and author Benoît Marchal adds final features to the first release of XM, a low-cost open-source content management solution based on XSLT (in Java). New features in this revision manage download pages and tables of contents via a directory reader that makes use of SAX and XMLFilter.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Effective XML processing with DOM and XPath in Perl
Based on an analysis of several large XML projects, this article examines how to make effective and efficient use of DOM. Developer/author Tony Daruger provides a set of usage patterns and a library of functions to make DOM robust and easy to use. Though the DOM offers a flexible and powerful means for creating, processing, and manipulating XML documents, some aspects of DOM make it awkward to use and can lead to brittle and buggy code. This article suggests ways to avoid the pitfalls. Perl code samples demonstrate the techniques.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: Transcending the limits of DOM, SAX, and XSLT
Consider Haskell in lieu of DOM, SAX, or XSLT for processing XML data. The library HaXml creates representations of XML documents as native recursive data structures in the functional language Haskell. HaXml brings with it a set of powerful higher order functions for operating on these "datafied" XML documents. Many of the HaXml techniques are far more elegant, compact, and powerful than the ones found in familiar techniques like DOM, SAX, or XSLT. Code samples demonstrate the techniques.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Putting XSL transformations to work
This paper introduces the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) and highlights several real-world business scenarios that benefit from the use of XSL transformations. XML data comes in many forms, so one of the most important technologies needed for XML applications is the ability to translate the data from one form to another and to convert it into document types -- such as HTML and PDF -- that can be rendered visible to end users. XSL defines a powerful mechanism for doing just that.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Using JDBC to insert data from XML into a database
This tutorial is designed to assist Java developers who need to extract information from an XML document and enter it into a database.
|
|
Tutorials |
|
03 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Develop Python/XML with 4Suite, Part 1: PyXml
Many XML-related technologies are no more than specifications for a standard way for information to be processed and interpreted. This is no different with the Document Object Model (DOM), which provides a standard way for users to access and manipulate an XML document. There are various DOM implementations, in varying computer languages. Here, we will be introducing Fourthought's PyXml. This particular implementation is written in Python.
|
|
Tutorials |
|
17 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Modularization of XHTML
This tutorial is designed for users who need to understand the modularization of XHTML, either to use a subset of XHTML, or to add their own tags to create their own markup language variants.
|
|
Tutorials |
|
23 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Manipulating data with XSL
This tutorial explains the basics of retrieving data from a database into a DOM document, transforming the DOM document into a second document, and inserting the data from the second document into the database using updatable ResultSets in Java. (Though the examples are all written in Java, the concepts are the same in any programming language and the tutorial can assist any developer who wants to learn how to manipulate data with XSLT.) Several of the more advanced features of XSLT and XPath are covered, demonstrating some of the ways that XSLT style sheets can be used to emulate the programming capabilities of database stored procedures.
|
|
Tutorials |
|
24 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Develop Python/XML with 4Suite, Part 2: 4XPath and 4XSLT
This tutorial introduces 4XPath and 4XSLT, open-source XPath and XSLT implementations written and provided by Fourthought Inc. in Python. Roughly the first half of the tutorial addresses XPath/4XPath whereas the second half covers XSLT/4XSLT. If you plan to use Python in association with XML processing, these are useful tools to get to know.
|
|
Tutorials |
|
30 Oct 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Subelement contents versus tag attributes
In this tip, developerWorks columnist David Mertz advises when to use tag attributes and when to use subelement contents to represent data. Learn what considerations go into designing a DTD, Schema, or just an ad hoc XML format. You'll also learn when attributes and contents are interchangeable, and when they aren't. Code samples show the options.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 2001 |
|
| |
Using XSL-FO to create printable documents
Need portable documents that, unlike most XML documents, include representation information? This article introduces XSL-FO (XML Stylesheet Language-Formatting Objects) and explains how it can come to the rescue. To demonstrate the advantage of using XSL-FO, the article includes an example implementation of a database reporting system that uses Java and XML code.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 2001 |
|
| |
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.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 2001 |
|
| |
Working XML: Building a compiler for the SAX ContentHandler
This installment of the column describes the requirements for the Java project and analyzes its overall design. The new project, called HC (short for Handler Compiler), will take some drudgery out of event-based XML parsing by automatically generating the SAX ContentHandler for a list of XPaths.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 2001 |
|
| |
Java configuration with XML Schema
This article shows how to use a Java XML parser together with the Java language reflection features to create an arbitrary set of named objects according to the content of an XML file. Objects created by the proposed initialization process live in a hierarchical, global namespace. References to these objects anywhere in the code can be obtained by a simple query. The configuration-file XML schema discussed in this article is designed to specify the creation of "parameter objects" as instances of arbitrary Java classes.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 2001 |
|
| |
Building an XML-based message server
This article shows how to code a lightweight, transport-protocol-agnostic, XML-based message server that not only allows clients to place and pick up messages on queues, but also transform messages using XSL. Written in the Java language, eight code listings take you from opening a client connection to invoking XSL transformations on messages.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Nov 2001 |
|
| |
XML signatures: Behind the curtain
The XML Digital Signature Standard establishes how XML can functionally sign itself over an insecure network like the Internet. While this effort does not require an established PKI to function, it may require the use of trusted XML servers for authentication. Consequently, each enterprise will have to evaluate the potential security risk of outsourcing this increasingly critical business function.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Dec 2001 |
|
| |
XML Matters: XML-RPC as object model
Columnist David Mertz examines XML-RPC as a way of modeling object data, and -- in response to reader feedback -- compares XML-RPC as a means of serializing objects with the xml_pickle module discussed in his earlier columns.
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Dec 2001 |
|
| |
Tip: Using CSS2 to display XML documents
Use CSS2 to view XML documents
|
|
Articles |
|
01 Dec 2001 |
|
| |
