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XML Schema 1.1, Part 3: An introduction to XML Schema 1.1
A frequent goal of schema authors is to build schemas for extensibility, where wildcards play a key role in providing extensibility points. New wildcard features introduced in XML Schema 1.1 make it easier for schema authors to write extensible schemas that can tolerate changes in the future. In this third of a six part series of articles, authors Neil Delima, Sandy Gao, Michael Glavassevich, and Khaled Noaman take an in depth look at versioning features introduced by XML Schema 1.1, specifically the new powerful wildcard mechanisms and open content.
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20 Nov 2009 |
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Validating XML in PHP
PHP developers commonly require the services of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) parser in their code. Along these lines, they frequently find it necessary to validate XML input. Fortunately, you can easily accomplish this in PHP. This article shows you how to validate XML documents within PHP and determine the cause of validation failures.
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10 Nov 2009 |
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Building XQuery-powered applications with PHP and Zorba
Zorba is an open-source, robust, and standards-compliant XQuery processor. The Zorba extension in PHP provides an API to Zorba functions from within PHP, and thereby allows developers to add sophisticated XQuery processing to their PHP/XML applications. Examine the Zorba PHP API in detail, and how to use it for a variety of purposes.
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03 Nov 2009 |
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Meet CAM: A new XML validation technology
XML documents are frequently validated against either a DTD (less likely) or an XML schema (more likely). Recently, a new technology called Content Assembly Mechanism (CAM) has emerged. It is endorsed by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). CAM represents a step up from XML schema because it provides even more flexibility in defining both the semantics of an XML document and the business rules associated with the actual data content. Take a broad overview of CAM, including its benefits over the alternatives, in this article.
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22 Sep 2009 |
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Enforce basic document structure with XML constraint checking
The ability to specify, check and act upon constraints is vital to
ensuring the overall quality of healthcare information. The Health Level 7
(HL7) Clinical Document Architecture (CDA), described through XML Schema,
allows the specification of constraints through HL7 Templates, which can be
implemented in Schematron. Schematron can be applied through XSLT. This article illustrates software and
hardware solutions for constraint checking in the HL7 CDA. The two
solutions are demonstrated in an SOA that
includes both successful and failing XML Schema and Schematron constraint
checks. The article evaluates the application of constraints in the HL7 CDA
and identifies some categories of constraints that require further investigation.
The outcome of this evaluation shows that the ability to specify, check, and act
upon constraints through Schematron complements XML Schema processing. The two
constraint approaches are very useful and practical, and should therefore be
pursued further.
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15 Sep 2009 |
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Producing documentation and reusing information in XML, Part 3: Creating multi-target XML documents
XML is an optimal format for writing documentation that you can use with many different documentation software packages and production environments. In this third article in the series, discover how to create single-source documents that can produce output in a variety of different output formats.
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07 Jul 2009 |
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Harness the power of XML to Open Financial Exchange files
The ongoing task of bookkeeping is made somewhat easier when financial institutions allow customers to download files for import into their chosen accounting package. These files can pose a problem for financial programmers, however, because they are frequently only available in Open Financial Exchange (OFX) format, which is not XML compatible. Discover how to use PHP with string substitution to make OFX files XML compliant. Thus, you harness the power of XML parsing and deconstruction to OFX files and make financial programming more precise.
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17 Mar 2009 |
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JiBX 1.2, Part 2: XML schema to Java code
Code generation from XML schema definitions is widely used for all types of XML data exchange, including Web services. Most data-binding tools rigidly structure generated code based on the schema, even aspects of the schema that may be irrelevant to your application. JiBX 1.2 generates cleaner code by doing a better job of interpreting the schema and eliminating unnecessary class clutter. It also provides extensive customizations for the generated code, including customizations for easily eliminating unnecessary components of the schema.
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Tutorial |
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03 Mar 2009 |
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JiBX 1.2, Part 1: Java code to XML schema
XML schema definitions are the basis for many types of data exchanges, including most forms of Web services. But XML Schema is a complex standard, and most tools for creating and modifying schema definitions are not as powerful or easy to use as those for working with Java code. The new features of JiBX 1.2 let you start from Java code and easily generate quality schema definitions to match your data structures. You can then use the schemas directly, whether you use JiBX data binding or not.
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Tutorial |
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03 Mar 2009 |
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XML Schema 1.1, Part 2: An introduction to XML Schema 1.1
In this second of a six-part series of articles, take an in-depth look at the co-constraint
mechanisms introduced by XML Schema 1.1, specifically the new assertions and type
alternatives features with authors Neil Delima, Sandy Gao,
Michael Glavassevich, and Khaled Noaman.
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Articles |
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13 Jan 2009 |
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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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Leveraging RIXML with Web services
Research Information Exchange Markup Language (RIXML) defines a standard XML schema for exchanging content and metadata that tags content with relevant information such as locations, names, and key information types that organizations can use to efficiently perform look-up, sort, and search operations. Discover how the combination of RIXML and Web services provides a powerful mechanism for exchanging key information.
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Tutorials |
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16 Dec 2008 |
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XML Schema 1.1, Part 1: An introduction to XML Schema 1.1
With XML Schema's wide adoption and diversity of usage, schema users have
requested many improvements and new capabilities. The W3C XML Schema working group has developed XML Schema 1.1 to address these most commonly requested features including several which address shortcomings of XML Schema 1.0. In this first of a multi-part series of articles, authors Neil Delima, Sandy Gao, Michael Glavassevich, and Khaled Noaman introduce XML Schema 1.1 with an overview of the features introduced in this emerging standard and take an in-depth look at the additions and changes to the datatypes portion of the specification.
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08 Dec 2008 |
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Advancing with XQuery: Develop application idioms
The XQuery specification is well over a year old now. A surfeit of solid
implementations combined with (if developer chatter is anything to go by) marked new
interest, seems to indicate that XQuery is finally experiencing higher adoption rates.
Possibly this is due to developers starting to figure out how to utilize XQuery within
a rich mixture of XML technologies (such as XML databases. XSLT, XML Schema). Learn how to use XQuery beyond its original role as an XML query language and apply it toward the development of middleware and Web applications.
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Tutorials |
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30 Sep 2008 |
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Extend enumerated lists in XML schema
The addition of new values to a list is a common and necessary requirement. Schema designers often seek to build into the architecture a means to permit additional values that were unknown at design time. How can schema designers create an enumerated value list that is extensible and easy to implement? Discover several approaches used to achieve this goal.
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Articles |
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23 Sep 2008 |
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Dynamically manage XML schema variations in XMLBeans applications
Apache XMLBeans does not inherently support multiple versions of an XML
schema. For applications that need this type of support to manage
compatibility, this limitation is serious. But there is a solution, and in
this article, you'll learn how dynamic class loading techniques can help.
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Articles |
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26 Aug 2008 |
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Process instance data using schema information
In this article, you meet a function library implemented in pure XSLT that
enables applications to take advantage of XPath 2 schema-related node tests which are
only available in schema-aware processors. You will also see how to decouple the
validation process from the instance data processing. You can use the XSLT function
library with any basic XSLT 2 processor to employ the schema information to process
instance data -- and apply the same approach equally to XQuery applications, too.
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Articles |
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19 Aug 2008 |
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Create a maintainable extensible XML format
XML is a communication format for exchanging structured documents and data. Too
often, an XML format is chosen arbitrarily and on the fly during development, without
much planning or design. Design the right XML format up front, and you can meet the
needs of everyone involved in the communication. If you don't, you're in for a long
journey of format revisions. Learn how to design a format less likely to require change
and agile enough to incorporate new requirements with the simple addition of new
extensions instead of full changes.
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Articles |
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12 Aug 2008 |
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Ten XML Schemas you should know
In this article, look at some top XML schemas that provide solutions for all sorts of problems, from the basics of Web services to data description. You'll also cover database-like solutions that involve contacts and invoices. The schemas in this article were chosen for their usefulness and utility, plus their impact on the XML community in how information is shared and exchanged using the XML format.
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Articles |
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01 Jul 2008 |
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Schema-aware processing with XSLT 2.0
With the release of version 2.0, XSLT now allows you to design your stylesheets to
be schema-aware. A schema-aware XSLT system offers many benefits, including the
ability to validate input trees prior to the XSLT transformation to ensure that the
XSLT stylesheet only processes valid input, as well as the ability to validate output trees to ensure that the XSLT transformation is producing the valid XML output. You are also able to specify data types for variables, for input parameters for user-defined functions and templates, and for return values from the functions. In this article, learn more about the concept of schema-aware facilities and follow some examples that illustrate the benefits.
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Articles |
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15 May 2008 |
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Learn 10 good XML usage habits
Make your XML work easier with the ten tips in this article -- ultimately you'll be less prone to errors and more productive.
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Articles |
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13 May 2008 |
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Evolving your XML schemas using DB2 pureXML
In many systems that use XML, the XML schemas will evolve over time. In this article, you'll learn how to handle those changes using DB2 pureXML Schema Registry (XSR) features, whether they are major or minor, and walk through an example of schema evolution, step-by-step.
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Articles |
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20 Mar 2008 |
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Top ten XML articles and tutorials - March 2008
See what XML content your peers found most valuable last
month
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07 Mar 2008 |
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Data binding with Castor, Part 3: Map between schemas
Use Castor to convert data in an unwieldy or inconvenient XML document to your
custom Java objects.
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Articles |
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29 Jan 2008 |
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Top ten XML articles and tutorials - October 2007
Explore the XML content that your fellow readers recently focused on.
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08 Nov 2007 |
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Validate data types in U2 using XML schema
IBM U2 (IBM UniData and IBM UniVerse) stores all of
its data without any type validation. Thus the same field can contain an integer, a
string, or even an internal date structure. While this may be useful to the
application developer, it can cause problems when integrating the data from your U2
environment to an external environment. In this article, validate the data against a schema and prevent invalid data with update triggers.
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Articles |
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02 Nov 2007 |
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Top ten XML articles and tutorials - September 2007
Explore the XML content that your fellow readers recently focused on.
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12 Oct 2007 |
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Tip: Create portable database representations with PEAR MDB2_Schema
To change an application's database back-end is a complex task, that often
requires the developer to manually re-create database tables and records using data
types and SQL functions compatible with the new RDBMS. The PEAR MDB2_Schema package can make this task easier, by generating a vendor-neutral representation of a database using XML and providing tools to import this representation into any supported RDBMS.
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Articles |
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07 Aug 2007 |
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Tip: Make your life easier with the XML Schema Standard Type Library
XML validation enables you to create complex rules that define acceptable data. But they're no good to anybody unless you use them. In this tip, you learn to use the XML Schema Standard Type Library to simplify the process of requiring formatted data such as e-mail addresses and telephone numbers.
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Articles |
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31 Jul 2007 |
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Service Data Objects (SDO) 2.0: Create and read an XML document based on XML Schema
Learn about the advantages of the SDO 2.0 API by following a simple example. (Updated to correct Listing 1--Ed.)
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Articles |
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03 Jul 2007 |
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Preserving XML queries during schema evolution
XML schemas are constantly evolving to address changes to business requirements, message exchange standards, and persistence and compliance requirements. How do you write applications or queries on data whose schemas are evolving? How do you expect applications or queries to behave when schemas change? This article explores these schema evolution issues and provides several guidelines for application developers to deal with changing schemas.
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Articles |
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05 Jun 2007 |
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Design XML schemas for enterprise data
This tutorial teaches you how to use W3C XML Schema features in different types of enterprise applications. You'll learn when, why, and how to use simple and complex types, regular expressions, unions, lists, and substitution groups while designing data formats for your enterprise applications. You'll also learn how to build multiple file schemas, use external schemas in your XML design, and reuse other schema designers' experience by deploying XML design patterns.
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Tutorials |
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03 Oct 2006 |
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XML and Related Technologies certification prep, Part 2: Information modeling
This tutorial on information modeling is the second in a series of five tutorials that can help you prepare for the IBM certification Test 142, XML and Related Technologies. This tutorial analyzes XML data, contrasts narrative documents with record-like documents, and models a small data problem using Document Type Definition (DTD) grammar and several iterations of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) XML Schema. It finishes with a comparison of DTD and XML Schema to help you choose one or the other in your design.
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Tutorials |
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12 Sep 2006 |
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Automate XML file updates, Part 1: XML Process introduction and conversion stylesheet creation
This is the first part of a tutorial series that describes a method for automating updates to a library of XML files so that they all conform to an updated XML schema. In Part 1, you learn the steps in the entire process and then create an XSLT stylesheet to update the XML files. In Part 2, you learn to install, configure, and run Apache Ant and Java SE to iteratively transform each of your XML files based on the updates specified in your XSLT stylesheet.
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Tutorials |
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17 Aug 2006 |
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Automate XML file updates, Part 2: Use Apache Ant and conversion stylesheets to update your XML
This is the second part of a tutorial series that describes a method for automating updates to a library of XML files so that they all conform to an updated XML schema. In Part 1, you learn the steps of the entire process, and then create an XSLT stylesheet to update the XML files. Here, in Part 2, you learn to install, configure, and run Ant and Java SE to iteratively transform each of your XML files based on the updates specified in your XSLT stylesheet.
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Tutorials |
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17 Aug 2006 |
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Automate XML file updates, Part 1: XML process introduction and conversion stylesheet creation
This is the first part of a tutorial series that describes a method for automating updates to a library of XML files so that they all conform to an updated XML schema. In Part 1, you learn the steps in the entire process and then create an XSLT stylesheet to update the XML files. In Part 2, you learn to install, configure, and run Apache Ant and Java SE to iteratively transform each of your XML files based on the updates specified in your XSLT stylesheet.
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Tutorials |
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17 Aug 2006 |
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Automate XML file updates, Part 2: Use Apache Ant and conversion stylesheets to update your XML
This is the second part of a tutorial series that describes a method for automating updates to a library of XML files so that they all conform to an updated XML schema. In Part 1, you learn the steps of the entire process, and then create an XSLT stylesheet to update the XML files. Here, in Part 2, you learn to install, configure, and run Ant and Java SE to iteratively transform each of your XML files based on the updates specified in your XSLT stylesheet.
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Tutorials |
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17 Aug 2006 |
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The Java XML Validation API
Validation reports whether a document adheres to the rules specified by the schema. Different parsers and tools support different schema languages such as DTDs, the W3C XML Schema Language, RELAX NG, and Schematron. Java 5(TM) adds a uniform validation Application Programming Interface (API) that can compare documents to schemas written in these and other languages. Learn about this XML validation API.
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Articles |
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08 Aug 2006 |
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Update XForms using XForms
With XForms technology, you can provide a lightweight editor for an existing collection of XForms. Explore an approach to form authoring for simple, quick changes that improve the effectiveness of data collected. Typical form editing requires a separate application even for the most trivial changes. XForms manipulates XML data and submits it to a server, making it an ideal choice to author these trivial changes and submit them for redeployment.
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Articles |
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24 May 2006 |
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Advanced XML validation
XSLT stylesheets are designed to transform XML documents. Coupled with Java extensions, stylesheets can also be a powerful complement to XML Schema when grammar-based validation cannot cover all the constraints required. In this article, Peter Heneback presents the case for validating documents using XSLT with Java extensions and provides practical guidance and code samples.
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Articles |
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09 May 2006 |
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Tip: Use the right pattern for simple text in RELAX NG
The RELAX NG XML schema language allows you to say "permit some text here" in a variety of ways. Whether you're writing patterns for elements or attributes, it is important to understand the nuances between the different patterns for character data. In this tip, Uche Ogbuji discusses the basic foundations for text in RELAX NG.
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Articles |
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28 Oct 2005 |
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Working XML: Safe coding practices, Part 3
Benoit continues his four-part series of columns reviewing common pitfalls with XML technology. He turns your attention now to validation of documents and error handling. Learn how to avoid common mistakes when you design and implement error handling in your XML applications.
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Articles |
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27 Sep 2005 |
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Compound XML document profiles for rich content, Part 2: A pattern for developing compound XML document schemas
Build compound XML Schema profiles from core specification schemas. Part 1 of this two-part series explores several the extension capabilities of XML Schema and compares approaches in building Compound Document Format (CDF) profiles. This article defines a pattern for developing mixed-namespace profiles using XML Schema, based on the analysis in Part 1.
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Articles |
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21 Sep 2005 |
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Compound XML document profiles for rich content, Part 2: A pattern for developing compound XML document schemas
Build compound XML Schema profiles from core specification schemas. Part 1 of this two-part series explores several the extension capabilities of XML Schema and compares approaches in building Compound Document Format (CDF) profiles. This article defines a pattern for developing mixed-namespace profiles using XML Schema, based on the analysis in Part 1.
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Articles |
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20 Sep 2005 |
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Web services tip: Use polymorphism as an alternative to xsd:choice
xsd:choice is not always the most optimal XML schema construct. For instance, a type containing xsd:choice does not map to a user-friendly Java class using a JAX-RPC code generator. In this article, you learn about a functional equivalent to xsd:choice: polymorphism.
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Articles |
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20 Sep 2005 |
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Compound XML document profiles for rich content, Part 1: Exploring extensibility alternatives using XML Schema
Discover how to build compound XML Schema profiles from core specification schemas. In this article, you explore several extension capabilities of XML Schema and compare approaches for building Compound Document Format (CDF) profiles. In Part 2, you will define a pattern for developing mixed-namespace profiles using XML Schema based on this analysis.
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Articles |
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13 Sep 2005 |
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Cache and serialize XML Schemas with Xerces-C++
Use Xerces-C++ to validate documents more efficiently. XML plays an increasingly important role in C and C++ applications. To ensure successful interpretation of a document's contents, many of these applications require W3C XML Schemas to validate the documents they process. This article includes examples that demonstrate how to preprocess and cache schemas in advance of or during the validation process, and thus avoid the expensive process of repeatedly processing given XML Schema documents. You'll also learn how to save the processed schemas to disk, so you'll only need to reprocess the original XML Schema documents if they change.
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Articles |
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29 Jul 2005 |
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Model-driven compound document development
Build flexible tools for the creation of mixed-namespace documents with an open standards-based approach that uses the Eclipse Modeling Framework and underlying ECore models to represent functional schemas and the connections between them. Using these models, you can provide a dynamic environment for automated serialization of instance documents that adhere to the combined functional schema definitions, while providing a directed editing experience.
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Articles |
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22 Jul 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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Articles |
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14 Jul 2005 |
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Simplify XML processing with XJ
Extend Java technology with first-class support for XML, XPath, and XML Schema to make XML processing programs easier to write, more robust, and more efficient. This article provides a gentle introduction to XML Enhancements for Java (XJ), a set of language extensions that adds direct support for XML in the Java programming language. The authors are part of the team that developed XJ.
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Articles |
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28 Jun 2005 |
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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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Articles |
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08 Apr 2005 |
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Tip: Look up XML schemata and Web services with these helpful resources
It's not always easy to find XML schemata and Web services that meet your exact needs. This tip shows you how to comb through the enormous variety of Internet resources to find schemata and Web services using common search criteria.
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Articles |
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11 Feb 2005 |
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Discover the flexibility of Schematron abstract patterns
If you have the basics of an XML format in mind, but know that you will not be able to get everyone at the table to agree to every detail of the schema, consider Schematron abstract patterns. Schematron is probably the most powerful XML schema language available (and it can be much more than just a schema language). Its advanced features, especially abstract patterns, allow for schemata that you can quickly adapt to multiple variants of XML formats. This opens up extraordinary possibilities for XML schema, including the abilities to restrict XML formats and to make them generic and adaptable as well.
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Articles |
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08 Oct 2004 |
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A hands-on introduction to Schematron
Meet Schematron, a schema language that allows you to directly express rules without creating a whole grammatical infrastructure. Schematron is useful whenever you wish to apply and check against rules for the contents of XML documents. Schematron is extraordinarily flexible in the variety of rules you can express, and it's even more expressive than other schema languages such as DTD, W3C XML Schema (WXS) and RELAX NG. In this tutorial, author Uche Ogbuji uses detailed examples to illustrate Schematron's use, and offers recipes for common schema needs.
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Tutorials |
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02 Sep 2004 |
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Working XML: UML, XMI, and code generation, Part 4
In this final article in his series on UML and XML, Benoit wraps up the technique. He discusses the need to simplify the model by burying some of the logic in the XSLT stylesheet. He also points out several common pitfalls.
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Articles |
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18 Aug 2004 |
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XML Watch: Describe open source projects with XML, Part 4
In this installment, Edd Dumbill concludes the development of a vocabulary for describing open source software projects, exploring the documentation, tools, and community that are required for the successful launch of the DOAP vocabulary. The steps taken are drawn from his experience with both open source projects and vocabularies such as FOAF and RSS.
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Articles |
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28 Jul 2004 |
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Working XML: UML, XMI, and code generation, Part 3
In his third article on UML modeling and XML, Benoit further refines the conversion stylesheet with the introduction of stereotypes and tags. These are extension mechanisms for UML that are used to store implementation information in the model.
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Articles |
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30 Jun 2004 |
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XML Watch: Describe open source projects with XML, Part 3
In this installment, Edd Dumbill continues the development of a vocabulary for describing open source software projects, presenting a schema for the new vocabulary and example project descriptions.
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Articles |
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11 Jun 2004 |
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Tip: Use data dictionary links for XML and Web services schemata
When designing XML and Web services schemata you will often (and ideally) reuse data elements defined in pre-existing standards. When you do, it is extremely useful to include links to such standards, providing precise data dictionary references. In so doing, you make processing and maintenance easier to automate. This tip illustrates this practice.
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Articles |
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20 May 2004 |
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Working XML: UML, XMI, and code generation, Part 2
In the second part of this series on UML and XML, Benoit introduces the UML metamodel. He proceeds to XMI, the XML-based specification for the exchange of models. He then shows how to map from the metamodel to XML schema. As an illustration, he includes two stylesheets that provide simple round-trip engineering between UML and XML.
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Articles |
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11 May 2004 |
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Working XML: UML, XMI, and code generation, Part 1
In this first article in a new series on UML and XML schema development, Benoit discusses the motivations for modeling XML schema through the use of UML. He also introduces XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) and sketches out a strategy for deriving XML schemas automatically from UML models.
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Articles |
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31 Mar 2004 |
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XML Watch: Describe open source projects with XML, Part 2
Edd Dumbill continues the development of a vocabulary for describing open source software projects, looking at existing software registries and examining the problem of constraining property values.
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Articles |
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24 Mar 2004 |
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Principles of XML design: When to use elements versus attributes
The oldest question asked by adopters of XML is when to use elements and when to use attributes in XML design. As with most design issues, this question rarely has absolute answers, but developers have also experienced a lack of very clear guidelines to help them make this decision. In this article, Uche Ogbuji offers a set of guiding principles for what to put in elements and what to put in attributes.
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Articles |
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04 Mar 2004 |
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A survey of XML standards: Part 4
The world of XML is vast and growing, with a huge variety of standards and technologies that interact in complex ways. It can be difficult for beginners to navigate the most important aspects of XML, and for users to keep track of new entries and changes in the space. XML is a basic syntax upon which you develop local and global vocabularies. Uche Ogbuji has presented the most important standards relating to XML in three in-depth articles. In this fourth article, he provides a detailed cross-reference of all the covered standards.
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Articles |
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02 Mar 2004 |
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XML Watch: Describe open source projects with XML, Part 1
In this installment, Edd Dumbill starts the development of a vocabulary to describe open source software projects, setting goals and deciding among XML and RDF schema technologies.
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Articles |
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26 Feb 2004 |
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A survey of XML standards: Part 1
The world of XML is vast and growing, with a huge variety of standards and technologies that interact in complex ways. It can be difficult for beginners to navigate the most important aspects of XML, and for users to keep track of new entries and changes in the space. In this series of articles, Uche Ogbuji provides a guide to XML standards, including a wide range of recommended resources for further information.
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Articles |
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20 Jan 2004 |
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Web services programming tips and tricks: Array gotcha -- null array vs. empty array
Some programs depend on a distinction between a null array and an empty array. What is often used to represent arrays in XML schemas does not have any such distinction. Is there anything you can do to get around this feature of XML? This article will show you.
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06 Jan 2004 |
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XML style guidelines for leveraging schema validators
Used correctly, XML Schema validation can dramatically reduce the effort necessary to perform basic data validation tasks. Additionally, validation rules that are centrally located in an XML schema can help users to better understand your system. It takes the right XML structure, however, to leverage a schema validator. This article discusses proper XML structure as well as best and worst practices for defining data validation rules in XML Schema.
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11 Nov 2003 |
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Tip: When to use local and global declarations
W3C XML Schema offers many powerful options for structuring and organizing your XML vocabularies. In this tip, Benoit compares global and local declarations of elements, and provides pointers on when to use which.
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11 Sep 2003 |
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XML Matters: TEI -- the Text Encoding Initiative
Nowadays, XML is usually thought of as a markup technique utilized by programmers to encode computer-oriented data. Even DocBook and similar document-oriented DTDs focus on preparation of technical documentation. However, the real roots of XML are in the SGML community, which is largely composed of publishers, archivists, librarians, and scholars. In this installment, David looks at Text Encoding Initiative, an XML schema devoted to the markup of literary and linguistic texts. TEI allows useful abstractions of typographic features of source documents, but in a manner that enables effective searching, indexing, comparison, and print publication -- something not possible with publications archived as mere photographic images.
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04 Sep 2003 |
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Introducing Examplotron
A zoo of XML schema languages is out there, and although some of the beasts are bigger than others none is as friendly as Examplotron. With Examplotron, your example XML document is your schema, for the most part. It requires you to learn very little new syntax, and most of the core features of XML can be specified by providing representative examples in the source. In this article, Uche Ogbuji introduces Examplotron, providing plenty of, well, examples.
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10 Jun 2003 |
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Tip: Tell a parser where to find a schema
This tip shows you how to implement robust document validation with XML schema and JAXP 1.2. Examples are included for SAX and DOM parsers.
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22 May 2003 |
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XML Matters: Kicking back with RELAX NG, Part 3
The RELAX NG compact syntax provides a much less verbose, and easier to read, format for describing the same semantic constraints as RELAX NG XML syntax. This installment looks at tools for working with and transforming between the two syntax forms.
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14 May 2003 |
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XML Matters: Kicking back with RELAX NG, Part 2
RELAX NG schemas provide a more powerful, concise, and semantically straightforward means of describing classes of valid XML instances than do W3C XML Schemas. In this installment, David continues the discussion of RELAX NG begun in part 1 of this series by addressing a few additional semantic issues and looking at tools for working with RELAX NG.
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26 Mar 2003 |
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Design XML schemas using UML
Learn to use Unified Modeling Language (UML), an industry standard, as you design XML schemas with this hands-on approach for using the UML framework to create your XML vocabularies.
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01 Feb 2003 |
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XML Matters: Kicking back with RELAX NG, Part 1
RELAX NG schemas provide a more powerful, more concise, and semantically more straightforward means of describing classes of valid XML instances than do W3C XML Schemas. The virtue of RELAX NG is that it extends the well-proven semantics of DTDs while allowing orthogonally extensible datatypes and easy composition of related instance models. David takes a first look at RELAX NG in this, the first installment of a three-part series.
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01 Feb 2003 |
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Case-insensitive enumerations
IBM's own XML ace Doug Tidwell offers one curious reader an automated solution for defining a case-insensitive enumeration that's straightforward, standards-compliant, and requires little work on the developer's part. Several code samples are included.
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01 Oct 2002 |
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XML Watch: Exploring alternative syntaxes for XML
XML's syntax has brought many benefits due to its interoperability, yet it can be tiresome to author XML documents. Edd Dumbill examines a range of alternative syntaxes for XML, and discusses their benefits and drawbacks.
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01 Oct 2002 |
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Create flexible and extensible XML schemas
XML schemas offer a powerful set of tools for constraining and formalizing the vocabulary and grammar of XML documents. With XML rapidly emerging as the data transport format of the future, it is clear that the structure of the XML, as outlined by schemas, must be created and stored in an organized manner. Developers experienced in object-oriented design know that a flexible architecture ensures consistency throughout the system and helps to accommodate growth and change. This instructional article uses an object-oriented framework to show you how to design XML schemas that are extensible, flexible, and modular.
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01 Oct 2002 |
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Tip: Work with schemas and namespaces
This tip explains how the XML Schema specification requires one XML Schema per namespace, and shows you how to include more than one schema for a document and how to reference one schema from another.
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01 Sep 2002 |
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Analyzing XML schemas with the Schema Infoset Model
As the use of schemas grows, the need for tools to manipulate schemas grows. The new Schema Infoset Model provides a complete modeling of schemas themselves, including the concrete representations as well as the abstract relationships within a schema or a set of schemas. This article will show some of the power of this library to easily query the model of a schema for detailed information about it; we could also update the schema to fix any problems found and write the schema back out.
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01 Jun 2002 |
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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.
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01 Aug 2001 |
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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.
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01 Jul 2001 |
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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.
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01 Jun 2001 |
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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.
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01 Jun 2001 |
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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.
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01 Mar 2001 |
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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.
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01 Aug 2000 |
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