Sams Teach Yourself XML in 21 Days, 3/e

Summary

Sams Teach Yourself XML in 21 Days, written by expert author Steve Holzner, offers hundreds of real-world examples demonstrating the uses of XML and the newest tools developers need to make the most of it. In Week One, he starts from basic syntax, and discusses XML document structure, document types, and the benefits of XML Schema. Week Two covers formatting using either CSS or the Extensible Sytlesheet Language, and working with XHTML and other tools for presenting XML data on the Web, or in multimedia applications. The final chapter of week two discusses XForms, the newest way to process forms in XML applications. Week Three applies XML to programming with Java, .NET or JavaScript, and building XML into database or Web Service applications with SOAP. Along the way, Steve shows readers the results of every lesson and provides both the "how" and "why" of the inner working of XML technologies.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

I. AT A GLANCE.

Day 1. Welcome to XML.

All About Markup Languages. All About XML. Looking at XML in a Browser. Working with XML Data Yourself. Structuring Your Data. Creating Well-Formed XML Documents. Creating Valid XML Documents. How XML Is Used in the Real World. Online XML Resources. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 2. Creating XML Documents.

Choosing an XML Editor. Using XML Browsers. Using XML Validators. Creating XML Documents Piece by Piece. Creating Prologs. Creating an XML Declaration. Creating XML Comments. Creating Processing Instructions. Creating Tags and Elements. Creating CDATA Sections. Handling Entities. Summary. Q&A. Workshop. Quiz.

Day 3. Creating Well-Formed XML Documents.

What Makes an XML Document Well-Formed? Creating an Example XML Document. Understanding the Well-Formedness Constraints. Using XML Namespaces. Understanding XML Infosets. Understanding Canonical XML. Summary. Q&A. Workshop. Quiz.

Day 4. Creating Valid XML Documents: DTDs.

All About DTDs. Validating a Document by Using a DTD. Creating Element Content Models. Commenting a DTD. Supporting External DTDs. Handling Namespaces in DTDs. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 5. Handling Attributes and Entities in DTDs.

Declaring Attributes in DTDs. Specifying Default Values. Specifying Attribute Types. Handling Entities. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 6. Creating Valid XML Documents: XML Schemas.

Using XML Schema Tools. Creating XML Schemas. Dissecting an XML Schema. The Built-in XML Schema Elements. Creating Elements and Types. Specifying a Number of Elements. Specifying Element Default Values. Creating Attributes. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 7. Creating Types in XML Schemas.

Restricting Simple Types by Using XML Schema Facets. Creating XML Schema Choices. Using Anonymous Type Definitions. Declaring Empty Elements. Declaring Mixed-Content Elements. Grouping Elements Together. Grouping Attributes Together. Declaring all Groups. Handling Namespaces in Schemas. Annotating an XML Schema. Summary. Q&A. Workshop. Quiz. Exercises.

Part I. In Review.

Well-Formed Documents. Valid Documents.

II. AT A GLANCE.

Formatting XML Documents.

Day 8. Formatting XML by Using Cascading Style Sheets.

Our Sample XML Document. Introducing CSS. Connecting CSS Style Sheets and XML Documents. Creating Style Sheet Selectors. Using Inline Styles. Creating Style Rule Specifications in Style Sheets. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 9. Formatting XML by Using XSLT.

Introducing XSLT. Transforming XML by Using XSLT. Writing XSLT Style Sheets. Using <xsl:apply-templates>. Using <xsl:value-of> and <xsl:for-each>. Matching Nodes by Using the match Attribute. Working with the select Attribute and XPath. Using <xsl:copy>. Using <xsl:if>. Using <xsl:choose>. Specifying the Output Document Type. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 10. Working with XSL Formatting Objects.

Introducing XSL-FO. Using XSL-FO. Using XSL Formatting Objects and Properties. Building an XSL-FO Document. Handling Inline Formatting. Formatting Lists. Formatting Tables. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Part II. IN REVIEW.

Using CSS. Using XSLT. Using XSL-FO.

III. AT A GLANCE.

XML at Work.

Day 11. Extending HTML with XHTML.

Why XHTML? Writing XHTML Documents. Validating XHTML Documents. The Basic XHTML Elements. Organizing Text. Formatting Text. Selecting Fonts: <font>. Comments: <!--> Q&A. Summary. Workshop.

Day 12. Putting XHTML to Work.

Creating Hyperlinks: <a>. Linking to Other Documents: <link>. Handling Images: <img>. Creating Frame Documents: <frameset>. Creating Frames: <frame>. Creating Embedded Style Sheets: <style>. Formatting Tables: <table>. Creating Table Rows: <tr>. Formatting Table Headers: <th>. Formatting Table Data: <td>. Extending XHTML. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 13. Creating Graphics and Multimedia: SVG and SMIL.

Introducing SVG. Creating an SVG Document. Creating Rectangles. Adobe's SVG Viewer. Using CSS Styles. Creating Circles. Creating Ellipses. Creating Lines. Creating Polylines. Creating Polygons. Creating Text. Creating Gradients. Creating Paths. Creating Text Paths. Creating Groups and Transformations. Creating Animation. Creating Links. Creating Scripts. Embedding SVG in HTML. Introducing SMIL. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 14. Handling XLinks, XPointers, and XForms.

Introducing XLinks. Beyond Simple XLinks. Introducing XPointers. Introducing XBase. Introducing XForms. Creating Input Controls. Summary. Workshop.

Part III. In Review.

IV. AT A GLANCE.

Programming and XML.

Day 15. Using JavaScript and XML.

Introducing the W3C DOM. Introducing the DOM Objects. Working with the XML DOM in JavaScript. Searching for Elements by Name. Reading Attribute Values. Getting All XML Data from a Document. Validating XML Documents by Using DTDs. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

16. Using Java and .NET: DOM.

Using Java to Read XML Data. Finding Elements by Name. Creating an XML Browser by Using Java. Navigating Through XML Documents. Writing XML by Using Java. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 17. Using Java and .NET: SAX.

An Overview of SAX. Using SAX. Using SAX to Find Elements by Name. Creating an XML Browser by Using Java and SAX. Navigating Through XML Documents by Using SAX. Writing XML by Using Java and SAX. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 18. Working with SOAP and RDF.

Introducing SOAP. A SOAP Example in .NET. A SOAP Example in Java. Introducing RDF. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Part IV. In Review.

V. AT A GLANCE.

Data Handling and XML.

Day 19. Handling XML Data Binding.

Introducing DSOs. Binding HTML Elements to HTML Data. Binding HTML Elements to XML Data. Binding HTML Tables to XML Data. Accessing Individual Data Fields. Binding HTML Elements to XML Data by Using the XML DSO. Binding HTML Tables to XML Data by Using the XML DSO. Searching XML Data by Using a DSO and JavaScript. Handling Hierarchical XML Data. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 20. Working with XML and Databases.

XML, Databases, and ASP. Storing Databases as XML. Using XPath with a Database. Introducing XQuery. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Day 21. Handling XML in .NET.

Creating and Editing an XML Document in .NET. From XML to Databases and Back. Reading and Writing XML in .NET Code. Using XML Controls to Display Formatted XML. Creating XML Web Services. Summary. Q&A. Workshop.

Part V. In Review.

Appendix A: Quiz Answers.

Index.