New Perspectives on XML

1

• Tutorial 2.1
• XML Fields and Records

2
Using XML as a Data Source

• Data binding is a technique where the Web pages
  content is drawn from a data source. Data binding
  frees the data from the format in which it is
  displayed so the same data source can be combined
  with several different Web pages.
• In this tutorial, the data source is an XML
  document containing information about the
  employees at Freezing Point.
• The Web pages uses placeholders which we will
  later populate with data from two XML documents.

3
Opening the Web Page

• Open the file FP1text and save as FP1.htm.
• Open and view FR1.htm using Internet Explorer.

hyperlink to the pages author
subtitle text
information about an employee
employee photograph
employee name
buttons to display different employees
4
Using Data Binding to Create a Final Web Page

• This figure shows how data binding will be used
  to create a final Web page

5
Fields, Records, and Recordsets

• Data in a data source is organized by fields,
  records, and recordsets.
• A field is an element that contains a single item
  of information such as an employees last name.
• A record is a collection of those fields.
• A recordset is a collection of records.

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Fields, Records, and Recordsets
This figure shows fields, records, and a
recordset of an XML document
7
Data Islands

• The first step in data binding is to attach the
  Web page to a recordset. The attached data is
  called a data island. They can be either external
  files or code entered into the HTML file.
• The syntax to create a data island from an
  external file is
• ltxml idid srcURLgtlt/xmlgt
• Here, id is the id name assigned to the data
  island
• URL is the filename and location of the external
  XML file

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Data Islands

• For example
• ltxml idCompany srcCompany.xmlgtlt/xmlgt
• This creates a data island named Company attached
  to Company.xml.

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Data Islands

• To insert a data island directly into the HTML
  file, use this syntax
• ltxml ididgt
• xml code
• lt/xmlgt
• While this technique can be used, it is not
  recommended. After all, the philosophy of XML is
  to separate data content from data formatting.

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Data Islands

• Data islands are stored by the XML parser as a
  Data Source Object (DSO).
• The DSO takes care of the interaction between the
  Web page and the data island. Also, program code
  can be written to control the actions of the DSO
  such as specifying which records will be
  displayed in the Web page at any one time.

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Creating a Data Island
This figure shows how to create the data island
12
Binding XML Elements to HTML Tags

• After the data island has been created, the
  elements in the XML document need to be bound to
  the HTML file.
• The syntax is
• lttag datasrcid datafldfieldgt
• Here, tag is the name of the HTML tag, id is the
  name of the data island, and field is the name of
  the field in the data source.

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HTML Tags that Support Data Binding in Internet
Explorer
This figure shows HTML tags that support data
binding in Internet Explorer
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Binding XML Elements to HTML Tags
This figure shows how to bind XML elements to
HTML tags
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Binding XML Elements to HTML Tags Continued
This figure shows how to bind the rest of the
FPINFO.XML elements