XML By Example, Second Edition, Benoit Marchal, 2002, Que Books: Excerpts for EPA Webmasters

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Title: XML By Example, Second Edition, Benoit Marchal, 2002, Que Books: Excerpts for EPA Webmasters

1
XML By Example, Second Edition, Benoit Marchal,
2002, Que Books Excerpts for EPA Webmasters

Brand Niemann
XML Web Services Evangelist
Data Standards Branch
December 28, 2001

Disclaimer Any reference to or depiction of the
commercial product of any vendor is for
illustrative purposes only and does not
constitute an endorsement by EPA or the trainer.
2
Overview

Introduction
Introduction.
XML Galaxy Chapter 1.
Book Organization
XML Syntax (DTDs, schemas, and Namespaces)
Chapters 2-4.
Style sheets Chapters 5 and 6.
Manipulate XML Documents Chapters 7-9.
Create Models for XML Documents Chapter 10.
Realistic e-Commerce Application Chapter 11-12.
Crash Course in Java-Appendix A.
DTD and XML Schema Simplified Types-Appendix B.

3
Introduction

Philosophy The best way to teach computer
programming is by using multiple examples.
Who should use this book
HTML whiz move to the next level.
Publish large or dynamic document base XML can
simplify your work.
Web developer XML enables you to do cool
things.
E-Commerce of EDI XML has lots to offer.
Use software that supports XML understand how
to make the best use of it.

4
Introduction

Two classes of applications
Publishing.
Data exchange (application integration).
Requisites
Basic HTML coding.
Read and understand simple JavaScript
Some Java (See Appendix A. Crash Course on Java).
Code examples and additional materials
http//www.quepublishing.com/series/by_example/
http//www.marchal.com

5
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Essential concepts
Which problems XML solves (what XML is good at).
What a markup language is and what the
relationship between XML, HTML, and SGML is.
How and why XML was developed.
Typical applications of XML, with examples.
The benefits of using XML when compared to HTML.
When is XML better than HTML?

6
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Contents
Introduction
Document Structure
Markup Language History
Applications
Companion Standards
Software Tools
Code Listings

7
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Introduction
XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language.
Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
to overcome the limitations in HTML.
With almost 100 tags, it is not uncommon to see
Web pages that have more markup than content.
By 2002, 75 of surfers wont be using a PC.
Smaller, faster, and lighter browsers and no
predefined tags, but structure.
XML will not replace HTML but HTML will converge
towards XML through the XHTML standard (rewrite
the HTML standard in XML).

8
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Introduction
XMLs role in the near-term
Large web site maintenance.
Exchange between organizations.
Offloading and reloading of databases.
Syndicating of content (e.g. Wall Street
Journal).
Electronic commerce (collaboration to serve
customers).
Scientific applications.
Electronic books.
Handheld devices and smartphones.

9
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Open Listing 1.1 memo.txt.
Document Structure
A title
A header made of
The sender
The recipient
A subject
A body text made of
Three paragraphs
Several URLs
A signature

10
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Markup Language History
Every electronic document uses some kind of
markup.
Progression from procedural markup to generalized
markup through generic coding.
Procedural (for some output device) Listing 1.2
Three problems (1) structure not recorded (2)
inflexible and (3) inherently slow process.
Generic coding Listing 1.3
Two benefits over procedural (1) higher
portability and flexibility and (2) closer to
describing the structure.

11
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Markup Language History (continued)
Progression from procedural markup to generalized
markup through generic coding.
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)
Listing 1.4.
Advantages (1) an international standard (2)
markup conforms to a model that can be processed
by software or stored in a database (3) author
can both markup document and describe its
structure (DTD-Document Type Definition) and (4)
a language to describe documents.
Famous examples (1) HTML is an SGML DTD (2)
used by Department of Defense to promote
electronic document exchange and (3) used in
DocBook for technical books and articles.
Disadvantages (1) too complex to apply on the
Web and (2) costly to implement in general.

12
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Markup Language History (continued)
Progression from procedural markup to generalized
markup through generic coding.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Listing 1.5,
1.6, and 1.7.
Advantages (1) an easy to use application of
SGML that does not enforce structure and (2) the
set of tags is adapted to the structure of
hypertext documents.
Disadvantages (1) has very few options for
organizing data and (2) evolved to include many
formatting tags so now partly a procedural markup
language!
Contradiction tags are used to express not only
structure, but presentation!

13
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Markup Language History (continued)
Progression from procedural markup to generalized
markup through generic coding.
eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Listing 1.8.
The evolution of Web site publishing
The first 20 pages are produced with enthusiasm.
Somebody wants to change the appearance.
Someone changes the appearance manually.
Another 50 pages are added with enthusiasm.
Somebody wants to change the appearance, but
doesnt want to do it manually.
XML solves this problem by separating content
from appearance and managing content better than
in HTML.

14
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Applications
Two basic types
Documents for human consumption.
Document publishing to multiple formats and
audiences.
HTML for the Web.
PDF for reading and printing.
WML (wireless Markup Language) for portable
devices and the visually handicapped.
Data for software consumption.
Exchange of data (the application as the XML
document).
Both documents and databases can be expressed in
the XML document hierarchical (tree-like)
structure.
Listing 1.9.

15
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Companion Standards (not comprehensive)
XML Namespaces
Second to none in importance.
Makes it possible to use the same element names
in different XML applications with no conflict
when brought together.
Listing 1.10.
Style Sheets
Probably the mostly widely discussed.
Two types (1) XSL (XML Stylesheet Language) and
(2) CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to control
rendering on screen, on paper, or in an editor.
XSL is more powerful, but CSS is widely
implemented.
Listing 1.11.

16
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Companion Standards (not comprehensive)
DOM (Document Object Model) and SAX (Simple API
for XML)
Allow applications to read XML documents.
Complimentary DOM is best suited for browsers
and editors and SAX is best suited for all the
rest.
XLink and XPointer
Two parts of one standard currently under
development.
Provides a mechanism to establish relationships
between documents
Listing 1.12.

17
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Software Tools (do more in other training units)
XML Browsers
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and 6.
Netscape 6 (but not XSL).
W3C Amaya (and editor).
XML Editors
XML Spy 4.2 (programmers, but Document Editor
now)
XMetal (clerical staff)
XML Parsers
Apaches Xerces
XSL Processor
Apaches Xalan

18
Chapter 1. XML Galaxy

Code listings
Page 11 - 1.1 memo.txt
Page 16 - 1.2 memo.rft
Page 18 - 1.3 memo.tex
Page 20 - 1.4 memo.sgml
Page 21 - 1.5 memo.html
Page 22 - 1.6 memocss.html
Page 24 - 1.7 memocss2.html
Page 27 - 1.8 memo.xml
Page 31 - 1.9 A List of Products in XML (not in
folder)
Page 33 - 1.10 list.xml
Page 34 - 1.11 basic.xsl
Page 35 - 1.12 resources.xml
Also error.txt and memo.tbr

19
Review

Book Organization
XML Syntax (DTDs, schemas, and Namespaces)
Chapters 2-4.
Style sheets (XSL) Chapters 5 and 6.
Manipulate XML Documents Chapters 7-9.
Create Models for XML Documents Chapter 10.
Realistic e-Commerce Application Chapter 11-12.
Crash Course in Java-Appendix A.
DTD and XML Schema Simplified Types-Appendix B.

20
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

This chapter
How to write and read XML documents.
How XML structures documents.
How and where XML can be used.

21
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

Contents
Basics
Advanced
FAQs
Four Common Errors
Two Applications
XML Editors
Coding Listings

22
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

Basics
Markup differentiates XML from plain text to make
it more readable to humans and software
See Listings 2.1 and 2.2.
XML has strict syntax rules
See next slide.
XML elements have some popular conventions
Entirely in lowercase with multiple words
separated by a hyphen.
Capitalize the first letter of each word with no
separation between multiple words (camel case).
Try to be consistent. See Listing 2.3 of poor
style.

23
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

Basics
Some XML syntax rules
Unlike HTML, both start and end tags are
required.
Names must begin with either a letter or the
underscore character (_). Spaces are not
allowed. Names cannot start with the string xml
which is reserved for the XML specification
itself.
Elements can have attributes. Attributes have a
name and a value. The names follow the same rules
as element names.
Elements can be empty (no content) noted as
.
The name of the attribute is separated from the
value by the equal character and the value is
enclosed in single or double quotation marks.
The XML declaration is the first line of the
document, there is one and only one root of the
XML document, and all elements are nested in a
hierarchical tree.

24
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

Advanced
Comments (for documentation) must be outside the
markup
Unicode (major extension to the ASCII character
set to support all spoken languages)
Entities (complex topic)
us United
States
Processing instructions (non-XML statements such
as scripts
typetext/xsl?
Special attributes (xml space and xml lang).
CDATA (character data)
John
Doe

25
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

FAQs
Code indenting
Makes the code more readable and is generally
ignored by the parser. If whitespace is important
then use xmlspace.
End tag
The browser can be programmed to deduce it but
the parser doesnt know how to interpret it.
See Listing 2.4.
XML and semantic
XML alone does not define the meaning of the
document but the application does along with some
XML companion standards.
See Listing 2.5.

26
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

Four Common Errors
1. Forgetting end tags
End tags are mandatory except for empty elements.
2. Forgetting that XML is case sensitive
513-744-7098 is wrong.
3. Introducing spaces in the name of the element
The XML parser interprets spaces as the beginning
of an attribute.
4. Forgetting the quotes for the attribute value
513-744-8889 in wrong.

27
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

Two applications
Publishing (XML roots)
Advantages
Convert XML documents to different media (Web,
print, etc.)
Ability to enforce common structure that
simplifies editing for large document sets.
Future proofs information because structure is
more stable than formatting.
Listing 2.6 is for a monthly newsletter.

28
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

Two applications (continued)
Electronic commerce
Advantages
HTML, which is ideal for storefronts, is
inadequate for business-to-business e-commerce.
If the e-commerce documents are written in XML,
the markup matches the structure of the document.
The focus is not merely on reducing costs but
increasingly on opening new markets.
Listing 2.7 is for a book order.

29
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

XML Editors
Can do much better than using a simple text
editor.
XML Spy for developers (Document editor now).
XMetal for editors.
XML Notepad from Microsoft (1998).
XML Pro (http//www.vervet.com)
Morphon (http//www.morphon.com)
Epic from Arbortext (http//www.arbortext.com)

30
Chapter 2. XML Syntax

Code listings
Page 42 2.1 abook.xml
Page 43 2.2 abook.txt
Page 46 2.3 poorstyle.xml
Page 58 2.4 abook.html
Page 59 2.5 mixedup.xml
Page 62 2.6 excerpt.xml
Page 64 2.7 order.xml

31
Chapter 3. XML Namespaces

This chapter
How namespaces compliment XML extensibility.
How to use namespaces in documents.
How the W3C uses namespaces in its own
recommendations.

32
Chapter 3. XML Namespaces

Contents
The Problem
Namespaces
URIs
Scoping
Digital Signatures Example
Code Listings

33
Chapter 3. XML Namespaces

The Problem
In a networked environment, such as the Web,
extensibility must be managed to avoid conflicts.
Namespaces places the name of XML elements in a
more global context.
Example
You publish your bookmarks see Listing 3.1.
Someone else rates the quality of your bookmarks
by adding a new element See Listing 3.2.
Someone else rates the quality of your bookmarks
using the same element, but against family
criteria See Listing 3.3.
Someone then tries to combine the two ratings in
an incompatible way See Listing 3.4.
Someone realizes that different element names are
needed for each concept See Listing 3.5.

34
Chapter 3. XML Namespaces

Namespaces
Two basic solutions
Establish a global registry of tags names in use.
Introduce a flexible and friendly mechanism to
manage the extensibility (anyone can still make
up their tag names).
Examples
Listing 3.6 equivalent to Listing 3.5 but with
namespaces (prefixes are declared with URIs).
Listing 3.7 with different prefixes, but with the
same namespace (URI).

35
Chapter 3. XML Namespaces

URIs
Uniform Resource Identifier.
In most cases are URLs (Uniform Resource
Locator), but URNs (Universal Resources Names)
are also acceptable.
URLs are guaranteed to be unique because they are
based on domain names, which are registered to
prevent conflicts.
It need not be valid (it might not point to
anything).
They best URLs strike a balance between brevity
and descriptiveness.
To guarantee uniqueness, register your own domain
name.

36
Chapter 3. XML Namespaces

Scoping
The namespace is valid for the element where it
is declared and all the elements within its
content.
Examples
Listing 3.8 shows three namespaces declared (bk
declared on the top-level element and valid for
all elements and ns is declared twice for the two
rating elements but with different URIs).
Listing 3.9 shows that attributes can be
associated with a namespace.

37
Chapter 3. XML Namespaces

Digital Signatures Example
Namespaces make it possible to develop reusable
elements, elements that can be used in multiple
XML documents.
Listing 3.10 is an example of a signed XML
document with the digital signature at the top
and the data at the bottom, each with its own
namespace.
The W3C and IETF have developed standards for
signing documents to warrant that the document
has not been tampered with.

38
Chapter 3. XML Namespaces

Code listings
Page 72 3.1 resources.xml
Page 73 3.2 ratings.xml
Page 73 3.3 pgratings.xml
Page 74 3.4 combinedratings.xml
Page 75 3.5 prefixratings.xml
Page 76 3.6 nsratings.xml
Page 78 3.7 2prefixes.xml
Page 82 3.8 scooping.xml
Page 83 3.9 sponsored.xml
Page 85 3.10 signed.xml
Also straratings.xml and temp.xml

39
Chapter 4. XML Models

This chapter
Model XML documents.
Express these models in DTDs or XML Schemas.
Validate documents against the model.

40
Chapter 4. XML Models

Contents
DTDs and XML Schemas
The DTD Syntax
Relationship Between the DTD and the Document
Advanced DTD Concepts
The Schema Syntax
Namespaces and Other Advanced Schema Concepts
Modeling XML Documents
Modeling Documents from an Object Model
Modeling from Scratch
A Tool to Help

41
Chapter 4. XML Models

DTDs and XML Schemas
Serve the same objective describe document
structure and valid against model.
DTD is a proven SGML solution, but is not
perfect.
Lack support for object-oriented modeling.
Ill-suited to data exchange and application
integration.
Have their own, non-XML syntax.
XML Schemas solve these deficiencies but at the
price of increased complexity.

42
Chapter 4. XML Models

The DTD Syntax
The Document Type Declaration
See Listing 4.1 (declares root element of the
document and the filename).
Not the Document Type Definition (DTD).
The DTD Itself
See Listing 4.2 (a special syntax to declare
every object-elements, attributes, and so on).
Skim read pages 92-96.

43
Chapter 4. XML Models

Relationship Between the DTD and the Document
Specifies which elements are allowed in the
document.
Exercise Validate Listing 4.1 with Listing 4.2
in XML Spy 4.2.
Exercise Understand why Listings 4.3 and 4.4 are
valid and invalid, respectively.
DTDs make all the writers follow the same set of
editorial rules and can enforce the structure of
XML documents in an enterprise.

44
Chapter 4. XML Models

Advanced DTD Concepts
Can skip this section with subtopics as follows
Internal and External Subsets
See Listing 4.5.
Public Identifier.
Standalone Documents.
Entities.
General and Parameter Entities.
Internal and External Entities
See Listings 4.6 and 4.7.
Parsed, Unparsed Entities, and Notation.
Conditional Sections
See Listing 4.8.

45
Chapter 4. XML Models

The Schema Syntax
Improve on DTDs by supporting more data types
(see Appendix B) and namespaces and using the XML
syntax.
See Listing 4.9 (an XML document that describes
other XML documents!)
Exercise Validate Listing 4.10 with Listing 4.9
in XML Spy 4.2.
XML Schema in for the address used so far, but is
not strictly identical to the DTD because it uses
advanced DTD features.

46
Chapter 4. XML Models

The Schema Syntax (continued)
Simple Type Definitions
Atomic (string, integer, boolean, and more).
Complex Type Definitions
Aggregate simple types.
Simple and Complex Content
Example extending a string with a preferred
attribute.
Mixed Content
A complex type with the mixed attribute.
Global Element Definitions
Must contain at least one global declaration for
root of the document.

47
Chapter 4. XML Models

Namespaces and Other Advanced Schema Concepts
Can skip this section with subtopics as follows
Introduction
See Listing 4.11 (declares two global elements
address-book and entry).
References to Global Elements.
Namespaces and the Document
See Listing 4.12.
Rules Global elements must always be qualified
with a namespace prefix. Local elements may or
may not depending on the value of the
elementFormDefault attribute.
Annotations.
Typically replaces comments with a documentation
element.
More on Global and Local Elements.
Rule Global elements can become root of XML
documents but local elements cannot.
Name Groups.
Two forms element and attribute.

48
Chapter 4. XML Models

Modeling XML Documents
A creative, fun, and rewarding activity.
Subject of entire books and practice makes
proficient.
Some guidance
Avoid modeling if you can.
It often pays to reuse someone elses models.
Search the Internet for similar applications and
their XML models.
Take the model that almost works and extend it in
your own namespace.

49
Chapter 4. XML Models

Modeling Documents from an Object Model
Two examples
Start from an object model (uses XML Schema).
Create a new model from scratch (uses DTD) (next
section).
Unified Modeling Language (UML) used for
designing applications written in object-oriented
programming languages (Java, C) can be used
with XML!
Read example on pages 121-128.
Translated this model to XML by deciding on the
root and drawing a tree to express object
relationships.
Iterate to improve the document logic, navigation
and data extraction.
Create a few sample documents to evaluate it. See
Listing 4.13 and 4.14.
Create the XML Schema for the final model. See
Listing 4.15.
Exercise Validate Listing 4.14 with Listing 4.15
in XML Spy 4.2.

50
Chapter 4. XML Models

Modeling from Scratch
Have to do the object model analysis as well as
the conversion to XML.
Variation modify an existing XML model, use a
different namespace, and create and analyze
sample documents to improve.
Flexibility, Extensibility, and Usability
(revisit in Chapter 10)
Provide enough structural information to allow
for evolution.
Changes will come from where you least expect
them.
There is no fool-proof solution experience
improves skills.
See if applicable standards exist (e.g. RFC 2426
vCard standard for electronic business cards).
Study how the sample XML document in Listings
4.17 was created from Listing 4.16.
The author considers converting the model into a
DTD or XML Schema to be trival!

51
Chapter 4. XML Models

A Tool to Help
XML Authority from TIBCO/Extensibility
http//www.extensibility.com
Part of XML Canon/Developer Portal for enterprise
XML asset management.
See Unit 5 for tutorials and training materials.
XML Spy 4.2 from Altova
http//www.xmlspy.com
Also see Unit 5 for tutorials and training
materials.

52
Chapter 4. XML Models

Code listings
Page 91 4.1 abook-dtd.xml
Page 92 4.2 abook-dtd.dtd
Page 96 4.3 entry-dtd.xml
Page 97 4.4 entry-invalid-dtd.xml
Page 99 4.5 card.xml
Page 102 4.6 states-provinces.ent
Page 103 4.7 entry-entity.xml
Page 104 4.8 Using Conditional Sections (not
in folder)
Page 105 4.9 abook-wo-ns.xsd
Page 107 4.10 abook-wo-ns.xml
Page 112 4.11 abook-wt-ns.xsd
Page 116 4.12 abook-wt-ns.xml
Page 123 4.13 account-sample.xml
Page 125 4.14 accounts.xml
Page 126 4.15 accounts.xsd
Page 129 4.16 The Address Book in Plain Text
(not in folder)
Page 130 4.17 Sample Address Book (not in
folder)
Also comments-invalid-wo-ns.xml,
comments-invalid-wt-ns.xml, conditional.xml,
conditional.xsd?, entry-wo-ns.xml, and
entry-wt-ns.xml

53
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

This chapter
Convert XML documents to HTML, or another XML
markup.
Publish a large set of documents.
Reorganize XML documents to create table of
contents or other information.

54
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

Contents
Why Styling?
XSL
Basic XSLT
Supporting Different Markup Languages
When and Where to Use Style Sheets
Advanced XSLT

55
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

Why Styling?
XML concentrates on the structure and styling
instructions are organized in stylesheets
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) (W3C
Recommendation)
Originally developed for HTML, but extended for
XML.
A set of rules that tells the browser which font,
style, and margin to use to display the text.
XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language) (W3C
Recommendation)
More ambitious than CSS because it includes a
scripting language (XSLT) to manipulate XML
documents.
Create table of contents, compile an index, and
much more (e.g. XIL in NextPages LivePublish and
NXT 3).

56
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

XSL
Organized in two parts
XSLT (XSL Transformations) (this chapter)
Concepts
A language to specify transformations on XML
documents (XML document and an XSLT into an XSL
processor yields a new XML document).
Some possible applications
Add new elements, create new content (e.g. table
of contents), extract information, convert
between different XML vocabularies or models, and
transform XML documents into HTML for backward
compatibility.
Need an XSLT processor (add-ins to XML Spy 4.2).
http//www.xmlspy.com/download_components.html

57
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

XSL
Organized in two parts (continued)
FO (Formatting Objects) (next chapter)
Very similar in scope to CSS.
Need a FO processing engine (Apache FOP)
http//www.xmlspy.com/download_components.html

58
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

Basic XSLT
Viewing XML in the Browser
Listing 5.1 (displays collapsible elements).
A Simple Style Sheet (override the default
behavior)
Listing 5.2 (parts explained in pages 147-154).
Exercise Use XML Spy 4.2 to display Listings 5.1
and 5.2. Do XSL, Assign XSL, Window, select open
file, and Okay. Do XSL, XSL transformation.
View, Browser view. The result is Listing 5.3.
Additional explanation in pages 147-154.

59
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

Supporting Different Markup Languages
Now mostly browsers, but more Net Appliances in
the future which require new markup language to
address the limitations of these new devices
(e.g. WML for small phone screens and slow
connections).
Maintain one XML document and convert it to
different markup languages.
WML is like HTML (the root is wml instead of
html).
Example Apply Listing 5.4 (XSL) to an XML
document to produce a WML document and render it
in a WAP-enabled smartphone.
Download a phone emulator or usew the Opera
browser
http//forum.nokia.com
http//www.opera.com

60
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

When and Where to Use Style Sheets
So far the browser never sees XML as the only
safe option because of limited XSLT support.
Applying a XSL in the browser
Exercise Use XML Spy 4.2 to display Listings 5.5
and 5.6. Do XSL, Assign XSL, Window, select open
file, and Okay. Do XSL, XSL transformation.
View, Browser view.

61
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

Advanced XSLT
So far only used a subset of it with the
structure of the new document close to the
structure of the original document.
Create documents that bear little resemblance to
the original one and redo large Web sites in
minutes.
Creating a table of contents
Exercise Use XML Spy 4.2 to display Listings 5.7
and 5.1. Do XSL, Assign XSL, Window, select open
file, and Okay. Do XSL, XSL transformation.
View, Browser view.
More explanation on pages 168-172.

62
Chapter 5. XSL Transformations

Code listings
Page 141 5.1 excerpt.xml
Page 144 5.2 basic.xsl
Page 146 5.3 basic.html (not in folder)
Page 156 5.4 smartphone.xsl
Page 161 5.5 ie5.xml
Page 162 5.6 ie5.xsl
Page 165 5.7 fun.xsl
Page 172 5.8 rigid.xsl

63
Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

This chapter
Builds on the previous one.
How to display XML without converting to HTML.
How to convert XML to PDF (Portable Document
Format, the Adobe Acrobat file format).
How to customize an XML editor for author comfort.

64
Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Contents
Rendering XML Without HTML
The Basics of CSS and FO
Simple CSS
Simple FO
Flow Objects and Areas
Property Values
Box Properties
Text and Font Properties
Some Advanced Features
When Should You Use Which

65
Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Rendering XML Without HTML
Think of FO as a more sophisticated replacement
for HTML.
Convert XML documents to FO, not HTML.
FO is
A fixed set of elements.
Significantly greater control over presentation
than HTML.
Better suited for printing (FO to PDF!).
See Figure 6.1 on page 177 for differences
between the three
XML (XSLT) to HTML to browser, XML (XSLT) to FO
(to PDF) to browser and printer, and XML (CSS) to
just browser.

66
Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

The Basics of CSS and FO
CSS was originally drafted for HTML, but As HTML
grew Web pages became more complex, more
difficult to read and maintain and slower to
download.
XML was the solution and CSS also works with XML.
Three versions of CSS from W3C
CSS1
Internet Explorer 5.0 an 5.5 support it.
CSS2 builds on CSS1 and improves XML support.
Netscape 6.0 and Opera 5.0 support it.
CSS3 is under development.

67
Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Simple CSS
Listing 6.1 (non-XML syntax) displays Listing 6.2
(XML syntax) in the browser which is the
processor (no special XSLT processor).
Pages 182-183 explore the style sheet in more
detail.

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Simple FO
Need to take advantage of the benefits of using
semantic-rich markup with a target language that
describes how to format documents with complex
designs and printing.
FO is a better target language than HTML, has
rich graphic primitives, and is ideally suited
for printing.
FO is still under development by the W3C, but
major changes are not expected.

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Simple FO (continued)
FO appears as a rewriting of CSS properties in
XML markup with elements and attributes for all
CSS properties.
FO improves on CSS by offering more options, such
as hyperlinks and proper page management.
Exercise Use the XSLT processor with Listing 6.3
to create an XML document (see Listing 6.4) which
is similar to Listing 6.2 but the markup is now
FO. The use the FO (Listing 6.4) in PDF format
using an FO processor (Apache FO). Do in XML Spy
4.2.

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Simple FO (continued)
XML Spy 4.2 User Reference, XSL Menu
1. Open a FO document in XML Spy. This example
uses the tiger.fo document in the tutorial
folder.
2. Select the menu option XSL XSLFO or click
the FO icon in the title bar. This opens the
"Choose XSLFO output" dialog box.
3. Clicking OK, causes the FO document to be
transformed and displayed in the FOP viewer.
Click the Next icon in the viewer, to see the
next page of this document.
4. Close the window viewer window when you want
to return to XML Spy. Click the print icon to
print icon if you want to print the document.
5. Clicking the "Generate output file" radio
button enables you to select the specific type of
output you want to create. Confirming with OK
creates the output you choose.

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Flow Objects and Areas

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Property Values

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Box Properties

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Text and Font Properties

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Some Advanced Features

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

When Should You Use Which

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Chapter 6. XSL Formatting Objects and Cascading
Stylesheets

Code listings
Page 179 6.1 basic.css
Page 180 6.2 excerpt.xml
Page 184 6.3 basic.xsl
Page 186 6.4 basic.fo
Page 193 6.5 boxes.xsl
Page 201 6.6 smart.xsl
Also basic.pdf and smart.pdf

78
Chapter 7. The Parser and DOM

This chapter
What an XML parser is.
How to interface a parser with an application.
What DOM, the Document Object Model, is.
How to write JavaScript applications that use
DOM.
How to write Java applications that use DOM.
Which other applications use DOM.

79
Chapter 7. The Parser and DOM

Contents
What Is a Parser?
The Parser and the Application
Document Object Model
Getting Started with DOM
Managing the State
Common Errors and How To Solve Them
DOM and Java
DOM in Applications

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Chapter 7. The Parser and DOM

Code listings
Page 215 7.1 products.xml
Page 220 7.2 conversion-ie5.html
Page 230 7.3 conversion-ns6.xml
Page 232 7.4 common.css
Page 234 7.5 products2.xml
Page 235 7.6 stateful.html
Page 242 7.7 conversion.java
Page 245 7.8 showparser.html
Page 246 7.9 controls.html
Page 248 7.10 products3.xml
Also build.xsl and products3.css

81
Chapter 8. Alternative API SAX

This chapter, SAX
Is an event-based API (Application Programming
Interface).
Operates at a lower level than DOM.
Gives you more control than DOM.
Is almost always more efficient than DOM.
But, unfortunately, requires more work than DOM.

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Chapter 8. Alternative API SAX

Contents
Why Another API?
SAX The Power API
Commonly Used SAX Interfaces and Classes
Maintaining the State
Flexibility

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Chapter 8. Alternative API SAX

Code listings
Page 256 8.1 pricelist.xml
Page 260 8.2 Cheapest.java
Page 271 8.3 xtpricelist.xml
Page 272 8.4 BestDeal.java
Also build.xsl and classpath.bat

84
Chapter 9. Writing XML

This chapter, learn how to write documents
Through DOM, which is ideal for modifying XML
documents.
Through your own generator, which is more
efficient.

85
Chapter 9. Writing XML

Contents
The Parser Mirror
Modifying a Document with DOM
Exploring Netscape Support for DOM
DOM Methods to Create and Modify Documents
Creating a New Document with DOM
Using DOM to Create Documents
Creating Documents Without DOM
Doing Something with the XML Documents
Writing with Flexibility in Mind

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Chapter 9. Writing XML

Code listings
Page 289 9.1 conversion-ie5.html
Page 294 9.2 conversion-ns6.xml
Page 297 9.3 common.css
Page 301 9.4 ProductsCreator.java
Page 307 9.5 editor.html
Page 315 9.6 Script to Post an XML Document
Through XMLHTTP (not in folder)
Page 317 9.7 Saving ML Documents with
Microsoft Parser (not in folder)
Page 318 9.8 multi.html
Also build.xsl, alternative-post.java, and
dump.bat

87
Chapter 10. Important XML Models

This chapter
How to take advantage of XML extensibility
through namespaces.
Some standards under development by the W3C.
Warning signs that may point to problems in an
XML document.
The raging debate in the XML community
attributes versus elements.

88
Chapter 10. Important XML Models

Contents
Structured and Extensible
XLink
XHTML
E-commerce, XML/EDI, and ebXML
The Right Level of Abstraction
Attributes Versus Elements

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Chapter 10. Important XML Models

Code listings
Page 327 10.1 docbook.xml
Page 329 10.2 signed.xml
Page 333 10.3 view.xsl
Page 340 10.4 extended-xlink.xml
Page 348 10.5 products-el.xml
Page 349 10.6 e12at.xsl
Page 349 10.7 products-at.xml
Page 350 10.8 at2el.xsl
Page 350 10.9 el2html.xsl
Page 351 10.10 products.html
Page 355 10.11 order.dtd
Page 357 10.12 order.xml
Also actuate-xlink.xml?, extended-simple.xsl?,
signed.html, and simple-xlink.xsl?

90
Chapter 11. N-Tiered Architecture and XML

Learned
How to read and write XML documents as well as
XML models.
How to publish XML documents through style
sheets.
How to manipulate XML documents with a parser.
This chapter
How to use XML for interapplication communication
(SOAP-Simple Object Access Protocol).
How XML benefits Web applications and, in
particular, electronic commerce.
How to integrate XML tools in an application
(e.g. XSLT processors).

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Chapter 11. N-Tiered Architecture and XML