Beginning XML

A complete update covering the many advances to the XML language The XML language has become the standard for writing documents on the Internet and is constantly improving and evolving. This new edition covers all the many new XML-based technologies that have appeared since the previous edition four years ago, providing you with an up-to-date introductory guide and reference. Packed with real-world code examples, best practices, and in-depth coverage of the most important and relevant topics, this authoritative resource explores both the advantages and disadvantages of XML and addresses the most current standards and uses of XML. * Features the most updated content built on audience feedback from the previous edition as well as the vast knowledge from XML developer teams * Boasts new chapters on RELAX NG and Schematron, XML functionality in databases, LINQ to XML, Jabber and XMLPP, XHTML, HTML5, and more * Offers in-depth coverage on extracting data from XML and updated material on Web Services Beginning XML, Fifth Edition delivers the most important aspects of XML in regard to what it is, how it works, what technologies surround it, and how it can best be used in a variety of situations.

Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION XXVII PART I: INTRODUCING XML CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS XML? 3 Steps Leading up to XML: Data Representation and Markups 4 Binary Files 4 Text Files 5 A Brief History of Markup 6 The Birth of XML 6 More Advantages of XML 10 XML Rules 10 Hierarchical Data Representation 11 Interoperability 12 XML in Practice 13 Data Versus Document 13 XML Scenarios 14 XML Technologies 16 Summary 23 CHAPTER 2: WELL-FORMED XML 25 What Does Well-Formed Mean? 26 Creating XML in a Text Editor 26 Forbidden Characters 26 XML Prolog 27 Creating Elements 30 Attributes 33 Element and Attribute Content 34 Processing Instructions 38 CDATA Sections 39 Advanced XML Parsing 40 XML Equivalence 41 Whitespace Handling 42 Error Handling 44 The XML Infoset 47 The Document Information Item 48 Element Information Items 48 Attribute Information Items 48 Processing Instruction Information Items 48 Character Information Item 49 Comment Information Item 49 Namespace Information Item 49 The Document Type Declaration Information Item 49 Unexpanded Entity Reference Information Item 49 Unparsed Entity Information Item 49 Notation Information Item 49 Summary 50 CHAPTER 3: XML NAMESPACES 53 Defi ning Namespaces 54 Why Do You Need Namespaces? 54 How Do You Choose a Namespace? 56 URLs, URIs, and URNs 56 Creating Your First Namespace 57 How to Declare a Namespace 58 How Exactly Does Scope Work? 62 Declaring More Than One Namespace 62 Changing a Namespace Declaration 64 Namespace Usage in the Real World 68 XML Schema 68 Documents with Multiple Namespaces 68 When to Use and Not Use Namespaces 72 When Namespaces are Needed 72 When Namespaces Are Not Needed 73 Versioning and Namespaces 74 Common Namespaces 75 The XML Namespace 75 The XMLNS Namespace 76 The XML Schema Namespace 76 The XSLT Namespace 76 The SOAP Namespaces 77 The WSDL Namespace 77 The Atom Namespace 77 The MathML Namespace 77 The Docbook Namespace 78 Summary 78 PART II: VALIDATION CHAPTER 4: DOCUMENT TYPE DEFINITIONS 83 What Are Document Type Defi nitions? 83 Working with DTDs 84 Using jEdit 84 The Document Type Declaration in Detail 88 Sharing DTDs 92 Anatomy of a DTD 93 Element Declarations 93 Attribute Declarations 103 Entity Declarations 109 DTD Limitations 114 Summary 114 CHAPTER 5: XML SCHEMAS 117 Benefi ts of XML Schemas 118 XML Schemas Use XML Syntax 118 XML Schema Namespace Support 118 XML Schema Data Types 119 XML Schema Content Models 119 XML Schema Specifi cations 119 XML Schemas in Practice 120 Defi ning XML Schemas 124 Declarations 124 Declarations 128 Mixed Content 138 Declarations 139 Declarations 141 An XML Schema for Contacts 141 Data Types 148 Declarations 155 Creating a Schema from Multiple Documents 161 Declarations 161 Declarations 165 Documenting XML Schemas 167 XML Schema 1.1 170 Relaxed Rules 170 171 Summary 171 CHAPTER 6: RELAX NG AND SCHEMATRON 175 Why Do You Need More Ways of Validating XML? 176 Setting Up Your Environment 176 Using RELAX NG 177 Understanding the Basics of RELAX NG 177 Understanding RELAX NG's Compact Syntax 183 Converting Between the Two RELAX NG Formats 185 Constraining Content 186 Reusing Code in RELAX NG Schema 189 Using Schematron 193 Understanding the Basics of Schematron 193 Choosing a Version of Schematron 194 Understanding the Basic Process 194 Writing Basic Rules in Schematron 195 Creating a Schematron Document 196 Adding More Information to Messages 197 Constraining Values in Schematron 200 Handling Co-Constraints in Schematron 202 Using Schematron from Within XML Schema 203 Summary 207 PART III: PROCESSING CHAPTER 7: EXTRACTING DATA FROM XML 211 Document Models: Representing XML in Memory 211 Meet the Models: DOM, XDM, and PSVI 212 A Sample DOM Tree 212 DOM Node Types 213 DOM Node Lists 214 The Limitations of DOM 215 The XPath Language 216 XPath Basics 216 XPath Predicates: The Full Story 218 XPath Steps and Axes 220 XPath Expressions 222 Variables in XPath Expressions 226 New Expressions in XPath 2 227 XPath Functions 231 XPath Set Operations 234 XPath and Namespaces 234 Summary 236 CHAPTER 8: XSLT 239 What XSLT Is Used For 240 XSLT as a Declarative Language 240 How Is XSLT a Functional Language? 242 Setting Up Your XSLT Development Environment 242 Setting Up Saxon for .NET 243 Setting Up Saxon for Java 244 Foundational XSLT Elements 245 The Element 246 The Element 247 The Element 251 The Element 251 The Element 253 Push-Processing versus Pull-Processing 254 The Role of XPath in XSLT 254 Using Named Templates 256 The Element 259 The document() Function in XSLT 260 Conditional Logic 266 The element 270 The Element 271 and Elements 273 Reusing Code in XSLT 276 The Element 276 The Element 279 The Mode Attribute 280 Understanding Built-In Templates and Built-In Rules 282 Using XSLT 2.0 284 Understanding Data Types in XSLT 2.0 285 Creating User-Defi ned Functions 285 Creating Multiple Output Documents 290 Using the collection() Function 291 Grouping in XSLT 2.0 292 Handling Non-XML Input with XSLT 2.0 295 XSLT and XPath 3.0: What's Coming Next? 302 Summary 303 PART IV: DATABASES CHAPTER 9: XQUERY 307 XQuery, XPath, and XSLT 308 XQuery and XSLT 308 XQuery and XPath 308 XQuery in Practice 309 Standalone XQuery Applications 309 Part of SQL 309 Callable from Java or Other Languages 309 A Native-XML Server 310 XQuery Anywhere 310 Building Blocks of XQuery 313 FLWOR Expressions, Modules, and Functions 313 XQuery Expressions Do Not Have a Default Context 317 The Anatomy of a Query Expression 318 The Version Declaration 318 The Query Prolog 319 The Query Body 325 Some Optional XQuery Features 332 XQuery and XPath Full Text 332 The XQuery Update Facility 333 XQuery Scripting Extension 333 Coming in XQuery 3.0 333 Grouping and Windowing 334 The count Clause 335 Try and Catch 335 switch Expressions 336 Function Items and Higher Order Functions 337 JSON Features 338 XQuery, Linked Data, and the Semantic Web 338 Summary 338 CHAPTER 10: XML AND DATABASES 341 Understanding Why Databases Need to Handle XML 341 Analyzing which XML Features are Needed in a Database 343 Retrieving Documents 343 Retrieving Data from Documents 343 Updating XML Documents 344 Displaying Relational Data as XML 344 Presenting XML as Relational Data 344 Using MySQL with XML 345 Installing MySQL 345 Adding Information in MySQL 345 Querying MySQL 348 Updating XML in MySQL 353 Usability of XML in MySQL 353 Client-Side XML Support 354 Using SQL Server with XML 355 Installing SQL Server 355 Presenting Relational Data as XML 356 Understanding the xml Data Type 371 Creating Indexes with the xml Data Type 374 W3C XML Schema in SQL Server 384 Dealing with Namespaced Documents 385 Using eXist with XML 386 Downloading and Installing eXist 387 Interacting with eXist 389 Summary 399 PART V: PROGRAMMING CHAPTER 11: EVENT-DRIVEN PROGRAMMING 403 Understanding Sequential Processing 404 Using SAX in Sequential Processing 404 Preparing to Run the Examples 405 Receiving SAX Events 406 Handling Invalid Content 417 Using the DTDHandler Interface 427 EntityResolver Interface 428 Understanding Features and Properties 429 Using XmlReader 434 Using XmlReaderSettings 441 Controlling External Resources 447 Summary 448 CHAPTER 12: LINQ TO XML 451 What Is LINQ? 451 Why You Need LINQ to XML 454 Using LINQ to XML 454 Creating Documents 457 Creating Documents with Namespaces 459 Creating Documents with Prefi xed Namespaces 460 Extracting Data from an XML Document 461 Modifying Documents 468 Adding Content to a Document 468 Removing Content from a Document 470 Updating and Replacing Existing Content in a Document 470 Transforming Documents 472 Using VB.NET XML Features 474 Using VB.NET XML Literals 474 Understanding Axis Properties in VB.NET 478 Managing Namespaces in VB.NET 480 Summary 480 PART VI: COMMUNICATION CHAPTER 13: RSS, ATOM, AND CONTENT SYNDICATION 485 Syndication 485 XML Syndication 486 Syndication Systems 488 Format Anatomy 491 Working with News Feeds 501 Newsreaders 501 Data Quality 501 A Simple Aggregator 502 Modeling Feeds 502 Program Flow 505 Implementation 505 Extending the Aggregator 521 Transforming RSS with XSLT 524 Generating a Feed from Existing Data 524 Processing Feed Data for Display 528 Browser Processing 531 Preprocessing Feed Data 532 Reviewing the Diff erent Formats 532 Useful Resources 534 Summary 535 CHAPTER 14: WEB SERVICES 539 What Is an RPC? 539 RPC Protocols 541 COM and DCOM 541 COBRA and IIOP 542 Java RMI 543 The New RPC Protocol: Web Services 543 The Same Origin Policy 544 Understanding XML-RPC 546 Choosing a Network Transport 548 Understanding REST Services 559 The Web Services Stack 564 SOAP 565 WSDL 566 UDDI 566 Surrounding Specifications 567 Summary 569 CHAPTER 15: SOAP AND WSDL 573 Laying the Groundwork 574 The New RPC Protocol: SOAP 574 Comparing SOAP to REST 579 Basic SOAP Messages 579 More Complex SOAP Interactions 587 Defining Web Services: WSDL 600 601 601 602 602 603 605 Other Bindings 609 Summary 612 CHAPTER 16: AJAX 615 AJAX Overview 615 AJAX Provides Feedback 616 Loading Incomplete Data With AJAX 616 AJAX Performs Asynchronous Operations 617 Introduction to JavaScript 617 The Web Browser Console 618 Values, Expressions, and Variables 619 Control Flow Statements 621 Properties, Objects, Functions and Classes 622 The XMLHttpRequest Function 623 Using HTTP Methods with AJAX 628 Accessibility Considerations 629 The jQuery Library 630 Learning jQuery 631 The Domain-Specifi c Language (DSL) Approach 631 jQuery Plug-ins and Add-On Libraries 632 JSON and AJAX 635 JSON Example 635 JSON Syntax 636 JSON and jQuery 636 JSONP and CORS 637 The Web Sever Back End 637 Sending Images and Other Non-Textual Data 638 Performance 638 The Server Logs Are Your Friend 639 A Larger Example 639 Summary 644 PART VII: DISPLAY CHAPTER 17: XHTML AND HTML 5 649 Background of SGML 650 HTML and SGML 650 XML and SGML 651 The Open Web Platform 651 Introduction to XHTML 652 The XHTML Element 653 The XHTML Element 654 The XHTML Element 656 More Advanced HTML Topics 668 XHTML and HTML: Problems and Workarounds 669 Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 670 CSS Levels and Versions 670 CSS at a Glance 671 CSS Selectors 673 CSS Properties 675 CSS Special Rules 680 CSS and XML 681 Separating Style and Markup: Unobtrusive CSS 682 Unobtrusive JavaScript 682 HTML 5 683 Benefits of HTML 5 683 Caveats of HTML 5 683 New Elements in HTML 5 684 Summary 686 CHAPTER 18: SCALABLE VECTOR GRAPHICS (SVG) 689 Scalable Vector Graphics and Bitmaps 689 Procedural Graphics 690 Declarative Graphics 690 Bitmap Graphics 691 Vector Images 692 SVG Images 692 The SVG Graphics Model 694 SVG and CSS 696 SVG Tools 698 SVG Basic Built-in Shapes 700 Rectangles 701 Circles 702 Ellipses 702 Straight Lines 703 Polylines and Polygons 704 SVG Paths 705 SVG Transforms and Groups 708 Transforms 708 Groups 709 SVG Defi nitions and Metadata 709 The SVG

About the Author :
Joe Fawcett is the head of software at Kaplan Financial and was one of the first Microsoft MVPs for XML. Liam R. E. Quin is the W3C XML Activity Lead and Staff Contact for the XML Query Working Group, and the XSL-FO subgroup of the XSL Working Group. Danny Ayers works for Talis on applications for their hosted semantic web platform.