What is xml

Xml (eXtensible Markup Language) is a mark up language.

• XML is designed to store and transport data.
• Xml was released in late 90’s. it was created to provide an easy to
use and store self describing data.
• XML is not a replacement for HTML.
• XML is designed to be self-descriptive.
• XML is designed to carry data, not to display data.
• XML tags are not predefined. You must define your own tags.
• XML is platform independent and language independent.
• Note: Self-describing data is the data that describes both its
content and structure.
 What is mark-up language

• A mark up language is a modern system for

highlight or underline a document.
• Students often underline or highlight a
passage to revise easily, same in the sense of
modern mark up language highlighting or
underlining is replaced by tags.
 Why xml

• Platform Independent and Language

Independent: The main benefit of xml is that
you can use it to take data from a program like
Microsoft SQL, convert it into XML then share
that XML with other programs and platforms.
You can communicate between two platforms
which are generally very difficult.
• The main thing which makes XML truly
powerful is its international acceptance. Many
corporation use XML interfaces for databases,
programming, office application mobile
phones and more. It is due to its platform
independent feature.
 Features and Advantages of XML

1) XML separates data from HTML

• If you need to display dynamic data in your HTML
document, it will take a lot of work to edit the HTML each
time the data changes.
• With XML, data can be stored in separate XML files. This
way you can focus on using HTML/CSS for display and
layout, and be sure that changes in the underlying data will
not require any changes to the HTML.
• With a few lines of JavaScript code, you can read an
external XML file and update the data content of your web
page.
 2) XML simplifies data sharing

• In the real world, computer systems and

databases contain data in incompatible
formats.
• XML data is stored in plain text format. This
provides a software- and hardware-
independent way of storing data.
• This makes it much easier to create data that
can be shared by different applications.
 3) XML simplifies data transport

• One of the most time-consuming challenges

for developers is to exchange data between
incompatible systems over the Internet.
• Exchanging data as XML greatly reduces this
complexity, since the data can be read by
different incompatible applications.
 4) XML simplifies Platform change

• Upgrading to new systems (hardware or

software platforms), is always time
consuming. Large amounts of data must be
converted and incompatible data is often lost.
• XML data is stored in text format. This makes
it easier to expand or upgrade to new
operating systems, new applications, or new
browsers, without losing data.
 5) XML increases data availability

• Different applications can access your data,

not only in HTML pages, but also from XML
data sources.
• With XML, your data can be available to all
kinds of "reading machines" (Handheld
computers, voice machines, news feeds, etc),
and make it more available for blind people,
or people with other disabilities.
 HTML XML

1) HTML is used to display XML is a software and

data and focuses on how hardware independent tool
data looks. used to transport and
store data. It focuses on
what data is.
2) HTML is a markup XML provides
language itself. a framework to define
markup languages.
3) HTML is not case XML is case sensitive.
sensitive.
4) HTML is a presentation XML is neither a
language. presentation language nor a
programming language.
5) HTML has its own You can define tags
predefined tags. according to your need.
6) In HTML, it is not XML makes it mandatory
necessary to use a closing to use a closing tag.
tag.
 XML Key Components

XML Base
• Override the default URI of a document or any part of a document starting at a
given element;
Stylesheets in XML
• Associate an XSLT transformation with an XML document, for example so that a
Web browser will format it;
XLink
• A vocabulary for hypertext in XML;
xml:id
• Identify an XML attribute or element as containing a name that can be used as a
unique identifier within a document;
XInclude
• Include all or part of other text or XML documents, or duplicate part of the
current XML document;
XPointer
• This is a framework for different ways to point into XML
documents, and is used by XLink;
XForms
• A more powerful cousin to HTML forms;
XML Events, XHTML Modularization
• Specifications primarily relating to the use of XML in Web
browsers or other DOM- based systems;
XML Fragments
• Listed here only for completeness; this specification is not in
widespread use.
 Using XML with Application

• The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a subset of

SGML designed to enable generic SGML to be served,
received, and processed on the Web easily and efficiently.
Because its format is not fixed, XML enables you to design
your own customized markup languages with which to
create various types of documents. In the IDE, XML
documents are represented by XML nodes. The IDE
provides tools to assist you in creating, editing, checking,
and validating the various XML document types it supports
The IDE supports several types of XML documents, including:

• Cascading Style Sheet. A CSS provides a simple mechanism for

formatting and adding style to HTML and XML documents.
• Document Type Definition. A DTD describes the grammar that
can be used in an XML file and indicates the valid arrangement of
the file's tags. It can exist as a prologue to an XML file (internal
DTD) or as a separate file (external DTD).
• Parsed Entity Objects. Parsed entity nodes represent parsed
entity (.ent) files. If several of your XML documents refer to a
single piece of information, you can store that information in a
parsed entity. Any changes you make to the parsed entity are
then automatically reflected in all of the documents that
reference it.
• XML Catalogs. XML catalogs provide mapping
information that maps an external entity in an XML
document to the actual location of the document being
referenced. You can use a catalog to redirect mappings
for an external entity, such as a DTD or XML file, to a
different location.
• XSL Style sheet. XSL style sheets define transformation
rules for your XML documents. You can perform an XML
transformation to transform the data in an XML
document into the output of your choice, such as
formatted HTML or a text file