Just XML
2nd Edition
Published on 16. August 2000
Book
Paperback/Softback
448 pages
978-0-13-018554-9 (ISBN)
Description
For courses in XML.
Building a sophisticated Web site doesn't require a Ph.D. in computer science, just the right tools for the job-and no tool offers you more power than XML. Best of all, it's a lot easier to get results with XML than you think. In Just XML, 2/E, John E. Simpson shares the simple secrets behind XML, showing how to add meaning and functionality to your Web site-without complicated code, compiled, or development kits. Simpson walks you step-by-step through all the basics of creating and maintaining your own customizable XML applications.
Drawing on everyday examples from daily newspapers to 1950s "B" movies, Just XML, 2/E gets you rolling with XML faster than you ever thought possible. You'll learn the theory you need along the way, but most important, you'll be using XML from the very beginning. Before you waste time and money learning more complicated approaches to Web development, discover how much you can do with just XML.
Building a sophisticated Web site doesn't require a Ph.D. in computer science, just the right tools for the job-and no tool offers you more power than XML. Best of all, it's a lot easier to get results with XML than you think. In Just XML, 2/E, John E. Simpson shares the simple secrets behind XML, showing how to add meaning and functionality to your Web site-without complicated code, compiled, or development kits. Simpson walks you step-by-step through all the basics of creating and maintaining your own customizable XML applications.
Drawing on everyday examples from daily newspapers to 1950s "B" movies, Just XML, 2/E gets you rolling with XML faster than you ever thought possible. You'll learn the theory you need along the way, but most important, you'll be using XML from the very beginning. Before you waste time and money learning more complicated approaches to Web development, discover how much you can do with just XML.
More details
Edition
2nd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Upper Saddle River
United States
Publishing group
Pearson Education (US)
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 177 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
843 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-13-018554-9 (9780130185549)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Person
JOHN E. SIMPSON began his computing career in 1979, working on mainframe, UNIX, and PC applications for 12 years with AT&T in Piscataway, NJ. Since 1993, he has been a Distributed Systems Specialist with the city of Tallahassee, FL, specializing in database applications development. He is co-author of HTML for Fun and Profit (Prentice Hall PTR) and webmaster for the Tallahassee Public Works Department and for Anhinga Press, a publisher of poetry.
Content
(NOTE: Most chapters conclude with a Summary and Terms Defined in This Chapter.)I. XML BASICS.
1. Markup Laid Down.
Revealing Codes. Shades of Meaning. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify. The Rules of the Markup Game. The XML Difference. A Markup Cartoon. Meanwhile, Back in the Real World. What XML Isn't. What XML Is. From the Sublime to the Ridiculous. Just FlixML. The Nature of the Beast.
2. Breaking the Ice.
How Valid Is It? The DTD. XML Parsers. Rules of Thumb. Tags. Case Sensitivity. Whitespace Handling. Anatomy of an XML Document. The Prolog. The Root Element. The Epilog.
3. Into the Root.
Naming of Parts. Elements. Entities. Comments. Processing Instructions (PIs). Marked Sections. Multimedia. Notations. Namespaces. Declaring the Prefix. Using Namespaces. Namespace Controversy. XML Markup Covered in This Chapter.
II. XML LINKING.
4. Why XLink?
Linking Basics. A Short (Refresher) Course in HTML Linking. Trouble in Hyperlink Paradise. Each HTML Link Goes from One Single Point to a Single Other Point on the Web. Each HTML Hyperlink Retrieves the Entire Document to Which It Links. What HTML Has Put Asunder, HTML Cannot (Easily) Join Together. Only One Thing Can Happen When You Click on a Bit of Linked Text. Using Fragment Identifiers Requires Changes to the Linked Resource. An HTML Hyperlink Goes Only in One Direction. For Any HTML Hyperlink to Work, Its Originator Needs to Know Something Specific about the Target's Content. XML Linking: The Back Story. All Aboard the Digression Express. Tracks, Stations, Tickets to Nowhere, Derailments. One-Way Tickets: HTML Linking. Two-Way, Three-Way, Twenty-Way Tickets: Xlinking.
5. XLink: Getting from Here to There.
Words, Words. Resources. Locators. Links. Traversal. Arcs. Anatomy of an Xlink. Xlinking with Reserved Attribute Names. Simple Xlinks. Href="Url." Role="Value." Title="Value." Show="Value." Actuate="Value." From the Ground Up (But Not Too Far Up). Linking Elements in Valid XML Documents. Linking Elements in Well-Formed XML Documents. Extending Links to a New Plane. Breaking the Link. Attributes for Extended Links. To="Value." From="Value." In Search of the Lost Arc. Coding Extended Xlinks. Ruffles and Flourishes. Arcs. Titles. Out-of-Line Extended Links. The Twilight Zone: External Linksets. How Not to Link to the Whole Xlink Universe.
6. XPointers and XPath: The "Where" of XML.
Xpointing The Way. Why Xpointers? Using an Xpointer. Making Xpointers Fail-Safe. Getting around Downtown: Xpath. A Sample Document. Words and Concepts. Coming Down to Earth: Xpath Syntax. Location Step Shortcuts. Elaborations on a Theme. Functions. Xpointer Extensions to Xpath. Points and Ranges. One More Extension.
III. XML: DOING IT IN STYLE.
7. XML and Cascading Style Sheets.
The Style Problem. And Now along Comes XML. The Style Sheet Solution. Cascading Style Sheets. About That "Cascading." Declaring a CSS for XML Documents. Basic CSS Syntax. An Example. More Advanced CSS2 Syntax. Attribute-Specific Selectors. "Generating" Content for Non-Content Elements. Hiding Element Content. User Interface Controls. Aural Style Sheets. CSS2 Shortcuts. The Universal Selector. Shorthand Properties. Multiple Selectors, Same Properties. Elements within Elements.
8. Transforming XML with Style: XSL.
Why XSL(T)? Style by Transforming. Separate Transforming and Display Standards. Syntax. Differences between CSS2 and XSL. Lineage. Structure-Awareness. Structure-Reordering. Sophisticated, Quasi-Programming Features. Support for Multiple Media Types. Other Key XSL(T) Concepts. Relationship to Xpath: Nodes. Source and Result Trees. Linking to an XSLT Style Sheet. Anatomy of sn XSL Style Sheet. XSLT snd Namespaces. The XSLT Element Hierarchy. HTML Recap. Template Rules. Conflict Resolution. Built-In Template Rules. XSLT Stylesheet Syntax. A Big Example. Templates from the Ground Up. Adding Specific Template Rules. Little Funny Bits: "Special" Text. Using Xsl: Text to Output Text. Controlling the Overall Form with Xsl: Output. Whitespace Behavior with Xsl: Strip- and Xsl: Preserve-Space. Making Life Easier. Named Attribute Sets. Named Templates. Variables and Parameters. External Resources. Importing and Including Other Stylesheets. Accessing Multiple Source Trees.
IV. ROLLING YOUR OWN XML APPLICATION.
9. The XML DTD.
Why a DTD? Consistency. Rigor. XML Features Requiring A DTD. Getting Started. Is There Already a DTD You Can Use? Your Information's Structure. Ease of Use. Complete, but Not Too Complete. Types of XML Document Content. Parsed Character Data. Nonparsed Character Data. "Empty Data." Back to the Road Map. Boxes at the Bottom: EMPTY or #PCDATA? All Other Boxes. A Complete (More or Less) Road Map. Anatomy of A DTD. Structure. Appearance. DTD Syntax. Comments. Elements. The Content Model. Attributes. Attribute Values and Constraints. Attribute Types. Attribute Default Specification. Multiple Attribute Declarations for an Element. Entities. General Entities. Character Entities. Parameter Entities. Unparsed (Binary or Otherwise) Entities. Notations.
V. XML DIRECTIONS.
10. XML Software.
State of the Art. Sample XML Code. XML Software Categories. Parsers. Jeremie Miller's Xparse. SAX. (R)Lfred. Document Editors. Wordperfect. Xeena. DTD Editors/Generators. XML Spy. Dtdgenerator. Style Sheet Tools. Homesite Style Editor. Excelon Stylus. Stylesheet Processors. XT. SAXON. XML-Ized Generic Web Browsers. Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 (IE5). Mozilla/Netscape.
11. Whither XML?
Upcoming XML Specifications. Core XML Working Group. XML Linking: XLink/XPointer. XML Query. XML Schema. XSL Formatting Objects. Document Object Model (DOM). XML and Data. RDF. XML Vocabularies. SVG: Scalable Vector Graphics. XBEL: XML Bookmark Exchange Language. Whither You? Where to Go from Here.
APPENDICES.
Appendix A: The FlixML Files.
The FlixML DTD (Version 3.0). Sample FlixML Review. carnival_of_souls.xml. detour.xml. XSLT Stylesheet. flixml.xsl. CSS2 Stylesheet. flixml_in_html.css.
Appendix B: Other Resources.
XML-Related W3C Specifications/Proposals. Other Web Resources. Mailing Lists and Newsgroups. B Movie Information. Web Resources. Books. Videotape/DVD Distributors.
Index.
1. Markup Laid Down.
Revealing Codes. Shades of Meaning. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify. The Rules of the Markup Game. The XML Difference. A Markup Cartoon. Meanwhile, Back in the Real World. What XML Isn't. What XML Is. From the Sublime to the Ridiculous. Just FlixML. The Nature of the Beast.
2. Breaking the Ice.
How Valid Is It? The DTD. XML Parsers. Rules of Thumb. Tags. Case Sensitivity. Whitespace Handling. Anatomy of an XML Document. The Prolog. The Root Element. The Epilog.
3. Into the Root.
Naming of Parts. Elements. Entities. Comments. Processing Instructions (PIs). Marked Sections. Multimedia. Notations. Namespaces. Declaring the Prefix. Using Namespaces. Namespace Controversy. XML Markup Covered in This Chapter.
II. XML LINKING.
4. Why XLink?
Linking Basics. A Short (Refresher) Course in HTML Linking. Trouble in Hyperlink Paradise. Each HTML Link Goes from One Single Point to a Single Other Point on the Web. Each HTML Hyperlink Retrieves the Entire Document to Which It Links. What HTML Has Put Asunder, HTML Cannot (Easily) Join Together. Only One Thing Can Happen When You Click on a Bit of Linked Text. Using Fragment Identifiers Requires Changes to the Linked Resource. An HTML Hyperlink Goes Only in One Direction. For Any HTML Hyperlink to Work, Its Originator Needs to Know Something Specific about the Target's Content. XML Linking: The Back Story. All Aboard the Digression Express. Tracks, Stations, Tickets to Nowhere, Derailments. One-Way Tickets: HTML Linking. Two-Way, Three-Way, Twenty-Way Tickets: Xlinking.
5. XLink: Getting from Here to There.
Words, Words. Resources. Locators. Links. Traversal. Arcs. Anatomy of an Xlink. Xlinking with Reserved Attribute Names. Simple Xlinks. Href="Url." Role="Value." Title="Value." Show="Value." Actuate="Value." From the Ground Up (But Not Too Far Up). Linking Elements in Valid XML Documents. Linking Elements in Well-Formed XML Documents. Extending Links to a New Plane. Breaking the Link. Attributes for Extended Links. To="Value." From="Value." In Search of the Lost Arc. Coding Extended Xlinks. Ruffles and Flourishes. Arcs. Titles. Out-of-Line Extended Links. The Twilight Zone: External Linksets. How Not to Link to the Whole Xlink Universe.
6. XPointers and XPath: The "Where" of XML.
Xpointing The Way. Why Xpointers? Using an Xpointer. Making Xpointers Fail-Safe. Getting around Downtown: Xpath. A Sample Document. Words and Concepts. Coming Down to Earth: Xpath Syntax. Location Step Shortcuts. Elaborations on a Theme. Functions. Xpointer Extensions to Xpath. Points and Ranges. One More Extension.
III. XML: DOING IT IN STYLE.
7. XML and Cascading Style Sheets.
The Style Problem. And Now along Comes XML. The Style Sheet Solution. Cascading Style Sheets. About That "Cascading." Declaring a CSS for XML Documents. Basic CSS Syntax. An Example. More Advanced CSS2 Syntax. Attribute-Specific Selectors. "Generating" Content for Non-Content Elements. Hiding Element Content. User Interface Controls. Aural Style Sheets. CSS2 Shortcuts. The Universal Selector. Shorthand Properties. Multiple Selectors, Same Properties. Elements within Elements.
8. Transforming XML with Style: XSL.
Why XSL(T)? Style by Transforming. Separate Transforming and Display Standards. Syntax. Differences between CSS2 and XSL. Lineage. Structure-Awareness. Structure-Reordering. Sophisticated, Quasi-Programming Features. Support for Multiple Media Types. Other Key XSL(T) Concepts. Relationship to Xpath: Nodes. Source and Result Trees. Linking to an XSLT Style Sheet. Anatomy of sn XSL Style Sheet. XSLT snd Namespaces. The XSLT Element Hierarchy. HTML Recap. Template Rules. Conflict Resolution. Built-In Template Rules. XSLT Stylesheet Syntax. A Big Example. Templates from the Ground Up. Adding Specific Template Rules. Little Funny Bits: "Special" Text. Using Xsl: Text to Output Text. Controlling the Overall Form with Xsl: Output. Whitespace Behavior with Xsl: Strip- and Xsl: Preserve-Space. Making Life Easier. Named Attribute Sets. Named Templates. Variables and Parameters. External Resources. Importing and Including Other Stylesheets. Accessing Multiple Source Trees.
IV. ROLLING YOUR OWN XML APPLICATION.
9. The XML DTD.
Why a DTD? Consistency. Rigor. XML Features Requiring A DTD. Getting Started. Is There Already a DTD You Can Use? Your Information's Structure. Ease of Use. Complete, but Not Too Complete. Types of XML Document Content. Parsed Character Data. Nonparsed Character Data. "Empty Data." Back to the Road Map. Boxes at the Bottom: EMPTY or #PCDATA? All Other Boxes. A Complete (More or Less) Road Map. Anatomy of A DTD. Structure. Appearance. DTD Syntax. Comments. Elements. The Content Model. Attributes. Attribute Values and Constraints. Attribute Types. Attribute Default Specification. Multiple Attribute Declarations for an Element. Entities. General Entities. Character Entities. Parameter Entities. Unparsed (Binary or Otherwise) Entities. Notations.
V. XML DIRECTIONS.
10. XML Software.
State of the Art. Sample XML Code. XML Software Categories. Parsers. Jeremie Miller's Xparse. SAX. (R)Lfred. Document Editors. Wordperfect. Xeena. DTD Editors/Generators. XML Spy. Dtdgenerator. Style Sheet Tools. Homesite Style Editor. Excelon Stylus. Stylesheet Processors. XT. SAXON. XML-Ized Generic Web Browsers. Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 (IE5). Mozilla/Netscape.
11. Whither XML?
Upcoming XML Specifications. Core XML Working Group. XML Linking: XLink/XPointer. XML Query. XML Schema. XSL Formatting Objects. Document Object Model (DOM). XML and Data. RDF. XML Vocabularies. SVG: Scalable Vector Graphics. XBEL: XML Bookmark Exchange Language. Whither You? Where to Go from Here.
APPENDICES.
Appendix A: The FlixML Files.
The FlixML DTD (Version 3.0). Sample FlixML Review. carnival_of_souls.xml. detour.xml. XSLT Stylesheet. flixml.xsl. CSS2 Stylesheet. flixml_in_html.css.
Appendix B: Other Resources.
XML-Related W3C Specifications/Proposals. Other Web Resources. Mailing Lists and Newsgroups. B Movie Information. Web Resources. Books. Videotape/DVD Distributors.
Index.