Google, XML and Quality Website Software

XML Transforms The Internet Landscape - By: Jim Pretin


When the internet was first introduced, all websites were written in HTML. HTML was the only programming language used to describe and display data on the World Wide Web. It was simple and fairly easy to learn. As time progressed, programmers started to realize that they were being stymied by HTML. Web designers wanted to be able to describe data more effectively. This need for a better way to deal with data resulted in the development of a new specification called XML.

What is XML? XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. So, just like HTML, XML is a markup language. A markup language is any language that is used to describe or define information and text. XML is not a substitute for HTML. It is to be used in conjunction with HTML.

HTML focuses on describing how data or text is supposed to be displayed. The XML language does something totally different. XML describes what the data is. So, XML is not something that is apparent on a web page, because it does not actually do anything. As information and data presented on the World Wide Web became more complex, XML was invented to effectively structure, store, and send this information.

What makes XML truly unique is that there are no predefined tags like we have with HTML. All of the tags used in HTML have already been defined, such as the paragraph tag, the header tag, and all the various style tags. XML is not defined. You can make your own tags!

So, the question is, why do we need XML? Why do we need a more versatile specification like XML to describe data? After all, HTML works fine if used properly, so why do we need XML? Well, the answer is simple. XML is a device independent, cross-platform language.

This is extremely important, because people are now using a wide variety of gadgets to connect to the internet, as almost every electronic device on the market now comes equipped with email and internet access. Cell phones, palm tops, computers installed in automobiles, they all have built-in web access. Each of these devices display text and graphics differently, and utilize different platforms and a variety of web browsers.

As a result, someone using a cell phone to access a certain web site may not be able to view the data on that website properly because the browser running on that cell phone might not be able to properly display the HTML. The platforms that run on some of these newfangled products and devices are simply not 100% compatible with HTML.

XML solves this problem by making sure that the most important data on your website can be displayed across all of these different platforms. This is what makes XML so valuable. The other important features of XML is that it enables data to be exchanged between incompatible systems, and because XML files are plain text files, basically anyone using any system can view the contents of the text file.

So, if you are a programmer, you need to learn to use XML for describing, storing, and sending data on the web. With so many different means available to connect to the internet, you should learn to use programming languages like XML.
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XML is Transforming the Internet - By: Jim Pretin


When the internet was first introduced, all websites were written in HTML. HTML was the only programming language used to describe and display data on the World Wide Web. It was simple and fairly easy to learn. As time progressed, programmers started to realize that they were being stymied by HTML. Web designers wanted to be able to describe data more effectively. This need for a better way to deal with data resulted in the development of a new specification called XML.

What is XML? XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. So, just like HTML, XML is a markup language. A markup language is any language that is used to describe or define information and text. XML is not a substitute for HTML. It is to be used in conjunction with HTML.

HTML focuses on describing how data or text is supposed to be displayed. The XML language does something totally different. XML describes what the data is. So, XML is not something that is apparent on a web page, because it does not actually do anything. As information and data presented on the World Wide Web became more complex, XML was invented to effectively structure, store, and send this information.

What makes XML truly unique is that there are no predefined tags like we have with HTML. All of the tags used in HTML have already been defined, such as the paragraph tag, the header tag, and all the various style tags. XML is not defined. You can make your own tags!

So, the question is, why do we need XML? Why do we need a more versatile specification like XML to describe data? After all, HTML works fine if used properly, so why do we need XML? Well, the answer is simple. XML is a device independent, cross-platform language.

This is extremely important, because people are now using a wide variety of gadgets to connect to the internet, as almost every electronic device on the market now comes equipped with email and internet access. Cell phones, palm tops, computers installed in automobiles, they all have built-in web access. Each of these devices display text and graphics differently, and utilize different platforms and a variety of web browsers.

As a result, someone using a cell phone to access a certain web site may not be able to view the data on that website properly because the browser running on that cell phone might not be able to properly display the HTML. The platforms that run on some of these newfangled products and devices are simply not 100% compatible with HTML.

XML solves this problem by making sure that the most important data on your website can be displayed across all of these different platforms. This is what makes XML so valuable. The other important features of XML is that it enables data to be exchanged between incompatible systems, and because XML files are plain text files, basically anyone using any system can view the contents of the text file.

So, if you are a programmer, you need to learn to use XML for describing, storing, and sending data on the web. With so many different means available to connect to the internet, you should learn to use programming languages like XML.
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Integrating XML into SAP Business Connector - By: Ron


Corporations are always in search of the most effective mechanism for both acquiring and selling goods as well as services at very minimum total cost over the Internet. The Business Process Connectors for SAP systems supports for the dynamic integration between the application processes and server systems thus it facilitates in faster and efficient functioning of SAP R/3, SAP Portals and MySAP solutions. In the current model, SAP Business Connector Framework uses XML schemas for generating a JSP that can be assessed from any of the web browsers dynamically, so that one can test and deploy integration tools between the application server environment and SAP systems immediately. For the purpose of adding flexibility, convergence of XML schema approach to the SA Business Connector facilitates to all the SAP standards. Thereby the customers can leverage the power and flexibility of XML into their business documents with an improved efficiency and improved cost-effectiveness as well.

Integrating Business Connectors with XML

SAP BC combines both the RFC server and the client. Additionally it supplies an XML layer over R/3 functionality and also comes with XML automation since it has the ability in converting SAP’s RFC format into XML. There is no requirement of SAP R/3 automation at the receiving end since it supports both synchronous RFC and asynchronous RFC protocols.

Benefits of XML Integration:

End-to-End Web Business Processes

Internet bridges the gap between different businesses, systems and users and facilitates them to do business via web. SAP BC makes communication easier by its XML conversions. By means of integration with XML, it enables the exchange of structured business documents over the Internet by providing common standard for various applications together with IT systems for communing with each other and for exchanging business data.

Open Business Document Exchange over the Internet

SAP Business Connector uses hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) for exchanging XML-based documents over the Internet. Without the need of developing tool, it guarantees the security in replacing of documents in accordance with the help of its SSL (Security Socket Layer) technology. Additionally, SAP BC offers openness and flexibility for complying with emerging semantics of business that keep on changing frequently.

XML Solutions for SAP services

SAP BC makes all solutions to be accessible by means of XML based business documents and with the support of XML-based interface Repository (IFR) and empowers SAP customers to benefit from SAP functionality over the Internet, it helps all major existing interfaces that are being offered by SAP. This particular IFR gives the choice of downloading XML schemas and tenders a uniform XML interface representation despite different implementation technologies such as RFC, IDOC and BAPI. XML messages are easily translated into equivalent SAP internal call whenever you need and it gets converted back into XML format when received from SAP system thereby enhancing the existing programming model for distributed applications formed by ALE along with SAP BC.
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XML - Features and Benefits of XML Conversion - By: Adison Patel
What is XML?


XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. XML represent the text information in a standard format. XML was designed to transport and store information. It is used for documents containing structure information in a reliable way. These documents include vector graphics, mathematical equations, e-commerce transactions, server APIs, object meta-data, and a thousand other types of structured data.

Following is a feature of XML:

• XML is designed to be self-descriptive
• XML was designed to carry data, not to display data
• XML is being designed to distribute structured data over the internet
• XML specification defines a standard way to add markup to documents
• It used both ASCII and Unicode standard text within documents
• All elements are easily identified in the documents
• No formatting data is contained in the documents
• Structure information contains content (words, picture, etc.)
• XML tags are predefined, so you can define your own tags
• Extensible markup language is a W3C recommendation, etc.

Why XML?
XML was created so that opulently structured documents could be used over the web. HTML and SGML is the only feasible alternatives, are not realistic for this purpose. XML is merely a standardized meta-format that can represent any type of data and for which precise schema definitions are optional. XML support wide range of miscellaneous applications such as content analysis, browsing, authoring, etc.

What are the benefits of XML?
Converting any data to XML not only gives you the ability to publish documents to the Web, CD-ROM, print and to handheld devices at the click of a button, it also brings very real cost savings for any businesses, professionals and individuals. XML has several usable features that make it so popular and widely used by businesses to integrate enterprises, supply chains, and Web applications because it having following benefits:

• Self describing
• Simplicity and openness
• Industry Standardization
• Software and platform independent
• Extensibility, flexibility, scalability and versatility
• Merging materials from different suppliers
• Machine readable context data
• Separates content from presentation
• Repurpose data for diverse publication media
• Supports multilingual documents and Unicode
• Facilitates the comparison and aggregation of data
• Can implant existing and numerous data types

At last, XML format is the first choice for all business industries that need to manage their intellectual capital. Just convert your doc, word, text, excel, csv, html, xhtml, sgml, binary, ado, edi or any data format into XML because XML conversion offers the most lucrative package of benefits at reasonable cost.
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XML Conversion: Convert into XML Format - By: Adison Patel


In today’s global business oriented age, converting your important and valuable data into XML format is a unique requirement in any business establishment.

First, let’s see what XML is?

XML stand for extensible markup language same like HTML but it differ from HTML. Hyper text markup language was designed for displaying data and XML was designed to carry data. XML is flexible way to create common information formats and share these format and data over the internet and World Wide Web. XML is used to transport and store data with aim on what data is.

Moreover, extensible markup language provides essential syntax that can be used to share information between different types of computers, different kind of applications, and different organizations.

Why XML conversion is necessary for your business?

Converting data into XML gives you the facility to publish your data, documents and file to the WEB, print, CD-ROM, and to handheld devices at the click of a button.

Converting data into XML is extremely necessary for Publishers, Technical, Educational, Commercial, Media, Financial & Legal firms and other business industries who dealing with large and complex content. XML is used by many companies or group of individuals or individuals that wants to share information in a consistent way because XML is readable way of describing structure data.

Depending on your business you can convert following data into XML format:

• PDF to XML
• HTML to XML
• Word to XML
• Text to XML
• Doc to XML
• CSV to XML
• Database to XML
• Microfilm to XML
• Microfiche to XML
• Other XML conversion services, etc

In addition, Outsourcing is a profitable option for those who want quick, reliable and affordable XML conversion services. It’s no matter what type of data is, what kind of format is, Outsourcing XML Conversion Company is able to convert your precise data, files and documents into XML Format.

You can boost up your performance by outsourcing your conversion work to reliable XML Conversion Company and remove from management headache. Most importantly you can save time & money. By outsourcing your requirements you can concentrate on your core business activities and also save up to 60% on your projects costs.

In the end, I can say that outsourcing is an ideal option for getting accurate and quality XML conversion services at affordable rates.

XML Conversion Service is worldwide well-known conversion company in India provide perfect XML conversion solutions for your entire business needs at cost-effective rates.

For more info please visit us at: http://www.xmlconversionservices.com/ or just drop your requirements at: info@xmlconversionservices.com and we will revert back within 24 hours.

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Google, XML and Quality Website Software - By: James Schramko


Love it or hate it, few website buiders would argue that the top dog in the world of search engines is Google.

The algorithms that govern the engine produces results that people want to see, so they keep going back to Google.

Well, you can use Google's success to contribute to your own.

The Google search engine works on the premise that it can effectively narrow down the websites that will be most appealing to searchers given the terms that they typed into the search.

The search engine matches these terms to the massive number of keywords and websites that it has automatically indexed, then returns the results that match the most.

The way that you can make Google work for you is to get your site listed towards the top of that list of results.

Now, Google has never unveiled its algorithms, but it have given independent website owners like yourself something to balance against the huge websites and companies that can afford to pay professional search engine optimizers. That option is the XML Sitemap Submission.

A sitemap is just what its name suggests, a map of your entire website. All of the different pages and subpages that constitute your site are shown on a sitemap - it shows its organizational structure clearly. "So what?" you may ask.

Good website builders you see, are proactive about having their total website indexed by Google. This gives them a much better chance of getting their website to show up in search results, in turn leading to a higher volume of visitors.

A high end, top quality website software package will automatically create a sitemap for submission.

Another good way to make some money off of Google is to insert their Adsense ads into your website.

Once these ads are posted on your web pages, you will get a commission each time a click on the ad results in a sale. The amounts are small, but if you can create a website that has a lot of visitors, then you can easily generate a lot of extra income. So, how do you create these ads?

By ensuring you use a good web design program, it is possible to enter them with just a few mouse clicks. As well, if you place these ads into your sites, you will be able to instantly apply them to each of the pages that compose your website.

Make sure that you choose a good website builder package that has easy to use and apply XML tools to help you befriend Google.

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How XML Transformed the Internet - By: Jim Pretin


When the internet was first introduced, all websites were written in HTML. HTML was the only programming language used to describe and display data on the World Wide Web. It was simple and fairly easy to learn. As time progressed, programmers started to realize that they were being stymied by HTML. Web designers wanted to be able to describe data more effectively. This need for a better way to deal with data resulted in the development of a new specification called XML.

What is XML? XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. So, just like HTML, XML is a markup language. A markup language is any language that is used to describe or define information and text. XML is not a substitute for HTML. It is to be used in conjunction with HTML.

HTML focuses on describing how data or text is supposed to be displayed. The XML language does something totally different. XML describes what the data is. So, XML is not something that is apparent on a web page, because it does not actually do anything. As information and data presented on the World Wide Web became more complex, XML was invented to effectively structure, store, and send this information.

What makes XML truly unique is that there are no predefined tags like we have with HTML. All of the tags used in HTML have already been defined, such as the paragraph tag, the header tag, and all the various style tags. XML is not defined. You can make your own tags!

So, the question is, why do we need XML? Why do we need a more versatile specification like XML to describe data? After all, HTML works fine if used properly, so why do we need XML? Well, the answer is simple. XML is a device independent, cross-platform language.

This is extremely important, because people are now using a wide variety of gadgets to connect to the internet, as almost every electronic device on the market now comes equipped with email and internet access. Cell phones, palm tops, computers installed in automobiles, they all have built-in web access. Each of these devices display text and graphics differently, and utilize different platforms and a variety of web browsers.

As a result, someone using a cell phone to access a certain web site may not be able to view the data on that website properly because the browser running on that cell phone might not be able to properly display the HTML. The platforms that run on some of these newfangled products and devices are simply not 100% compatible with HTML.

XML solves this problem by making sure that the most important data on your website can be displayed across all of these different platforms. This is what makes XML so valuable. The other important features of XML is that it enables data to be exchanged between incompatible systems, and because XML files are plain text files, basically anyone using any system can view the contents of the text file.

So, if you are a programmer, you need to learn to use XML for describing, storing, and sending data on the web. With so many different means available to connect to the internet, you should learn to use programming languages like XML.

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Single-source Documentation - Docbook Versus DITA - By: Teresa Mulvihill


When it comes to documentation projects, primarily technical, medical, and scientific, using XML is a no-brainer. The heavy thinking comes when deciding which flavor of XML to use: DocBook or DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture). I have been a steadfast supporter of DocBook for over six years. I’d tried my hand at DITA and gave it up as a fad; lots of bells and whistles, but too complicated to integrate. And couldn’t DocBook do everything DITA promised anyway?

So when Allette Systems contacted me to speak on XML standards in SydneyAustralia, I jumped at the chance to prove to the documentation world just how wonderful DocBook is and how DITA falls short. Fortunately, my in-depth research opened my eyes to the benefits and limitations of both.

In a nutshell, DocBook has the advantage of age; it’s stable, easy to setup, and created for technical documentation publications. While DITA has the advantage of youth; it’s innovative, complete with its own architecture, and created for documentation outside the book. DocBook was hatched in 1991 by HaL computer Systems and O’Reilly. In 1998, Oasis gave DocBook its own technical community. A year later, DITA began evolving from cross-department teams within IBM. Its Oasis technical community was established in 2004.

My research and experimentation with these two standards is summarized in the following table.

1. Definitions

DocBook is a document type definition (DTD) for writing technical books and articles, with the structure that such forms imply.

DITA is both a DTD and a set of rules for writing online contextual documentation such as software help files.

2. Concepts

DocBook is hierarchical by nature, and must be developed to allow for single-sourced content DocBook has a fixed element and attribute set.

DITA separates content from context, allowing multiple architectures of information DITA is extensible, allowing the definition of information types

3.Context

Docbook: book (section) oriented
DITA: topic oriented

4. Key Features

Docbook: large set of elements and attributes targeted for technical documentation
DITA: topic based, separation of content and context, specialization

5. Download and Installation

Docbook: bat, bin, dtd, etc. files and eDE able to run with as is
DITA: bat, bin, dtd, etc. files, and transformation engine

6. Document File

Docbook: regular XML file called an include file with all files included in the document
DITA: ditamap file with all files and each file’s related links

7. Output

Docbook: PDF, HTML, HTMLHelp
DITA: unrestricted, but all need development

8. Community

Docbook: well supported by the XML community
DITA: small but strong, growing community

9. Complexity

Docbook: with a little development, DocBook can do what DITA is attempting on a smaller scale
DITA is impressively engineered, but can be too industrial-strength

10. Possible Needs

Docbook: Content Management System
DITA: Publishing plug-ins

DocBook is well supported, easy to integrate, and tailored to technical documentation needs. DITA has a highly technical, innovative community, can (with development) publish to all online formats, and comes with its own architecture (content management).

So how do you decide? Well, the good news is DocBook and DITA are quite similar in basic elemental parts and XML tags. For example, DocBook is built on sections, which can be compared to DITA’s topics, as shown in the figure below (see image at http://www.livetechdocs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/04_DBvDITAStructure.png).

Why is this good news? Because smaller companies, or those new to XML, you start with DocBook and graduate to DITA when and if needed.
Online communities (Oasis Open Document) and companies (Flatiron Solutions) are already attempting to facilitate compatibility between these two standards.

The table below may help you decided which standard is right for you and your company today.

1. Documentation volume

Docbook: small and medium
DITA: large

2. Documentation output

Docbook: PDF, HTML, HTMLHelp, others with development
DITA: all with development

3. Basic integration time frame (no conversion)

Docbook: one business day
DITA: one month plus

4. Budget

Docbook: small to medium
DITA: medium to large

I am always interested in your comments and experiences, especially if they differ from mine. Please feel encouraged to comment on this blog (www.livetechdocs.com/blog), or send me an email teresa.mulvihill@livetechdocs.com.
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XML – Advantages of XML Conversion - By: Adison Patel


XML – Extensible Markup Language is known as XML. It is a collection of rules for encoding data, information, documents electronically.

But the question is why we use XML document? Why we need to convert any data into XML format?

Following are benefits and features of converting data into XML:

• XML mainly focus is on offering structured documents over the web.
• It is a mechanism to identify structures in a document in a reliable manner.
• The XML specification defines a standard way to add markup to documents.
• XML design goals emphasize generality, simplicity and usability over the internet.
• It is used in interchanging data over the internet.
• It is a textual data format, with support via Unicode for the languages of the world.
• Structure information contains content such as picture, words, etc.
• XML tags are predefined, so you can define your own tags
• XML documents are composed of markup and content.
• Even though XML’s design focuses on documents, it is extensively used for the representation of arbitrary data structures.
• It is designed rationally, to be companionable with existing standards while solving the relatively new issue of sending richly structured documents over the internet.
• XML supports the direct use of almost any Unicode character in element names, attributes, comments, character data and processing instructions.
• Now days, there are a diverse of programming interfaces which software developers may use to access XML data, and several schema systems designed to aid in the definition of XML based languages.
• XML shall support a broad variety of different application such as browsing, content analysis, authoring, etc.

Finally I can say that to use XML and by converting your important data into XML format is not a wrong choice because XML document is widely accepted and very useful in various business industries.

To convert your PDF, HTML, XHTML, SGML, Excel, CSV, Text, Doc, Word, Binary, EDI, RTF, XSD, ADO and other data types into XML at reasonable rates then contact us at: http://www.xmlconversionservices.com/contactus.php or just e-mail us on info@xmlconversionservices.com with your conversion details and receive FREE quote.
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Why use XML? - By: Jamie Simpson


XML Schemas describe the structure of an XML document. XML Schemas can be more powerful than any form of DTD (DocType Definition), and because of this, the web is evolving towards using XML Schemas more often than their DTD predecessors. XML Schemas also offer the support of namespaces, defining data types and are more extensible to further additions.

XML Schema Language is also referred to by the name XML Schema Definition, or XSD for short. Like DTD's, XSD's are the legal base of the document that they are governing. In short, they can define elements, child elements and values, and set whether each of these is to be displayed or not.

XDS's support for data types means that it is easier to describe and define numerous factors regarding the schema, or the data that will be governed by it. Schemas outline what content is allowed in the content, and whether the content is valid. It also simplifies the use of data from databases, as it defines a common structure that can be used across platforms. As a result of this, it is also easy to convert the data stored between data types.

When sending data between two computers, or two pieces of software, it's important that both applications have the same expectations of the data. By storing and transmitting in a structural format, with a readily available doctype to describe it, it will ensure that the transfer is not problematic to the end user.

XML also has predefined data types, such as date, which is shown as 2010-01-10. In some regions, the date string 10-01-2010 could be interpreted as January 10th, and in others it could be interpreted as October 1st. With the XML date definition above, confusion is eliminated, as the date type required the format of YYYY-MM-DD.

Various other advantage of XML is that it uses language to describe elements, making it more understandable for humans to read. This means that collaborating on documents can be easier, and new and younger developers can get on board, as this makes it very easy to understand. As well as this, it can be used on any platform that is capable of running Java, meaning it is a cross platform language, including smart phones, and proprietary systems.

Over the past 10 years, methods of creating, writing and editing XML have evolved. Due to the structural nature of the language, graphical representations of schemas and files are possible. This has lead to an increase in the use of GUI's in the development stage.

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The History of XML - By: Jamie Simpson


XML in many ways set out to overcome the shortcomings of both SGML and HTML. SGML is a powerful and extensible language that has been used since the 1980's as a structured method of cataloguing and indexing data.

SGML can be used to create an infinite number of mark-up languages, like XML can now do. SGML however is complex - unlike XML - especially for web uses. SGML is also expensive and currently unsupported in many web browsers as a mark-up language.

Conversely, HTML is free and widely supported by both paid and free editing software and all major web browsers. The initial reason for producing HTML was to provide a basic version of SGML that would be accessible to the wider public, which it did, however HTML was not without its limitations.

In 1996 this issue was addressed. The specification was to deliver a semantic, extensible mark-up language with the power of SGML, yet the simplicity similar to HTML. As a result, the specification for XML, when finalised, was only one twentieth of the size of its equally powerful SGML predecessor.

Over the development time of just short of 24 months, various other extensible languages broke off, including MathML, and CML - the Chemical Mark-up Language. Microsoft announced its Channel Definition Format (CDF) in 1997, and then in 1998 the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) approved version 1.0 of the XML specification.

The W3C have outlined the following in its online tutorial:
- XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language .
- XML is a markup language much like HTML.
- XML was designed to describe data.
- XML tags are not predefined. You must define your own tags.
- XML uses a Document Type Definition (DTD) or an XML Schema to describe the data.
- XML with a DTD or XML Schema is designed to be self-descriptive.
- XML is a W3C Recommendation.

A Document Type Definition is a specification for the mark-up, to ensure that the document holds legal data in the structure it was intended. This DTD could be defined and stored within an XML document, although usually they are hosted separately. Many HTML DTD's are stored on w3.org servers, however t may be necessary to write your own.

XML documents may have such a need for a custom DTD that it is probably worthwhile reading up on XML Schemas (XSD) - the modern equivalent. Essentially it stores data on the structure of the document along the same lines of DTD, but can cater for custom entities.

The main positive benefits of XML today are that it is cross platform compatible. Not only can data be stored in a common way and shared between people, operating systems and applications, but the structure can also evolve as the needs of the file type change. There are an almost infinite number of structures an XML document can produce.

HTML, unlike XML focuses on how data is displayed and presented. XML's main focus is to describe the data structurally and to convey meaning of what the data is. Generally as a rule of thumb, XML is less forgiving than HTML. XML is case sensitive, and this is reflected within browser performance. Both XML and HTML can be used inside web browsers, but from the two, only XML can be used for data transfer.

To finalise the article, I have found a list of advantages of XML:
- It is text-based.
- It is platform-independent.
- It manifests as plain text files.
- It supports Unicode (allowing information in any language).
- It can represent data structures: records, lists and trees.
- It is based on international standards.
- The hierarchical structure is suitable for most types of documents.
- It makes parsing algorithms simple, efficient, and consistent

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What is an XML Schema? - By: Jamie Simpson


XML Schema Definition Language, XSDL, is used to enforce rules on data structures within XML files. The Schema Definition Language ensures that each object within the XML file conforms to a predefined structure as described within the XSDL document.

XML Schemas facilitate the creation of significantly complex data structures. Essentially, the XSD files themselves are simple files which would be legible to any basic programmer. They define elements within the object in terms of variables which have data types, such as string, integers and floating point numbers.

There are various XSD Editors on the market at present, the most obscure, yet well known is Microsoft Word. MS Word allows basic XML Editing, exporting, and even inclusion of XSDL Schema files so that you can check whether your document conforms to the correct standards.

There are other paid alternatives, which offer graphical XML and XSD Editing, for more hands on development tasks. For tasks which involve large amounts of XML Editing, I'd recommend purchasing some quality software. Bearing this in mind, you won't have to purchase any software if you're just getting started with XML, as you probably already have it.

If you're looking for a way to learn XML Schemas, search Google for some short tutorials, or purchase a book from somewhere like Amazon.

XML Style sheet Transformation Language XSLT is not the same as XSDL. XSLT is a transformations language which transforms XML Data to another format, such as HTML for web rendering. XSDL forces data integrity throughout this process, but will not alter data during this.

Schemas are actually XML Documents too, and they must conform to the legal boundaries of a schema specification, which is known as a 'schema schema'. Schemas themselves can be imbedded in the files, (for example XML, HTML). Now it has started getting complicated, the need for an XML Editor is apparent! Ideally, XML and XSD Editors are necessary for editing these files of modest complexity.

To understand schemas in detail, you really should do a little background reading in XML Prefixes and XML Namespaces. Again, reading on these can be found on Google (or Amazon if you're old school). XML Documents attach the URI of the Schema on the second line, by using the tag:

< Contact xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="contact.xsd" xmlns:xsi = "http: / / w3.org/2001/X MLSchema-instance"> (without spaces)

In this example, the XML file would generally be about a set of contacts, with the root element being defined as a 'Contact' i.e. < xs:element name=" Contact">

Root elements are usually defined as complex type as they can contain numerous data types and objects within them. Within root elements, there is a 'sequence' of child objects. The available data types for these are; "element", "simpleType", "complexType", "date", "integer", to name just a few. Within XML Schema Documents, you may often see elements with a prefix 'xs:', or 'xsd:', this is a standard to define schema tags.

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How XML Contributed To The Development Of RSS - By: Jamie Simpson


When RSS was originally developed, it was defined as a lightweight - or simplified - subset of XML grammar. Even the RSS acronym's basis has changed since its inception in 1997. Formerly, it was known as Rich Site Summary, it is now commonly called Real Simple Syndication which more accurately - and less ambiguously - describes its purpose.

Initially, the purpose of RSS was to standardize describing a website's metadata. The format, whether by serendipity or intentional design, turned out to be an ideal way to feed data rapidly and effectively to any website with a mechanism to interpret the XML content. In time, RSS became a stand-alone entity, with its roots solidly planted in the XML Document Type Definition (DTD).

The DTD is a formal syntax and structure which defines the XML, thus RSS. The DTD can exist locally or be referenced by a pointer to an external DTD in the XML DOCTYPE declaration. This was somewhat of an impediment for early RSS constructs, as not all DTDs are necessarily compliant without agreement of a standard. This gave rise to the RSS validators which parse the tags, content and values, and ensures they are accurate and consistent.

While it is a stretch to say internet news syndication wouldn't exist if not for XML, RSS made the news feed accessible to anyone - either as a contributor or as a consumer - without the need for cost-prohibitive intermediate syndication subscription services.

XML was created as a subset of the Standard General Markup Language (SGML), which in turn was based on IBM Corporation's General Markup Language (GML). All of GML and most of SGML predated the blossoming of the internet, while XML was developed during the formative days of the modern internet in the late 1990s. XML and RSS were nearly concurrent since inception, with RSS being a more streamlined format particularly suited to dissemination of text-oriented item content.

XML, while originally intended as a document handling tool, could be easily manipulated to simply and effectively tag and contain any textual data. RSS was the necessary component to enable easy promulgation of the content in a consistent and predictable way. By using a validator to ensure tags and inadvertent content would be passed error-free to the parser, the XML file is sent to an aggregator with reasonable assurance that it would be passed successfully from the aggregator to a much larger audience.

A number of Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) exist that make publishing news - or similar data - validation, and submission to an aggregator a transparent process for the user. Once the GUI is set to match any platform specific constraints, the resulting RSS output is completely platform independent. This approach ensures websites and browsers are all capable of supporting a stand-alone RSS reader, a browser plug-in, or PDA app designed to connect to any number of aggregators and properly interpret and display the content.

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