Extensible Markup Language: Rationale

Extensible Markup Language
Rationale
Data interchange is essential to carry out business

transactions. However, organizations store data in disparate
formats, which makes the process of data interchange
complex and time-consuming.
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a standard, simple
way of storing the data in a format that can be exchanged
across multiple systems across an enterprise. Providing an
insight into XML will benefit students as it is a standard
technology to describe and define documents.
The course is applicable to students who want to create
well-formed XML documents. This course introduces
students to the fundamentals of XML.
Ver. 1.0 Session 1 Slide 1 of 45

Objectives
In this session, you will learn to:

Identify the need for XML as a standard data interchange
format
Identify the structure of XML documents
Introduce XML Schema

Getting Started with XML
Traditionally, preprinted formats were used to exchange

information between businesses.
Need for a more effective way of communicating and
processing business data led to the emergence of
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
EDI refers to the process of exchanging documents in a
standard format between two computer systems.
EDI has the following limitations:
Rigid transaction set
Fixed business rules
High costs
Slow pace of standards evolution

Introducing XML
XML is a text-based markup language that enables storage

of data in a structured format.
XML is a cross-platform, hardware and software
independent markup language that enables structured data
transfer between heterogeneous systems.
XML is used as a common data interchange format in a
number of applications.
Let us understand the usage of XML with the help of the

diagram.

Introducing XML (Contd.)
Mobile Application Web Services
Windows Application
Web Application
XML
DB2 Oracle
SQL Server Access
Data Sources

Web Architecture Using XML

In a traditional Web architecture, a client sends a request to
the server in a pre-defined format and receives the response
accordingly.
The advantage of using XML in the Web architecture is that the
structure of the request can be obtained from the server at run
time.
XML can encode non-relational data as well as relational data
structure.

Web Architecture Using XML (Contd.)

The following figure depicts the XML Web architecture.

Difference Between SGML, HTML, and XML

Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) allows
documents to describe their grammar by specifying the tag set
used in the document and the structural relationship that these
tags represent.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is used for data
presentation.
XML is used for data description and definition.

Difference Between SGML, HTML, and XML (Contd.)
SGML HTML XML

Extensibility
Yes Yes Yes
Structure
Yes No Yes
Validation Yes No Yes
Browser Low High Low

Dependency
Cost/Benefit Poor Good Medium

Advantages of XML
Some of the advantages of XML are:
Domain-specific vocabulary
Data interchange
Smart searches
Granular updates
User-selected view of data
Message transformation

Advantages of XML
Domain-specific vocabulary In HTML, only the predefined tags can
be used.
Data interchange
Smart searches In XML, you can create new tags based
on the requirements of the application.
Granular updates
Various languages such as MathML and
User-selected view of data WML have been derived from XML.

Advantages of XML
Data interchange XML produces files that are
unambiguous, easy to generate,
Smart searches
and easy to read.
Granular updates
XML provides a structure to
User-selected view of data store data in textual format,
Message transformation which can then be used as a
standard format or protocol for
data interchange.

Advantages of XML
Data interchange
Smart searches The flexibility to create user-defined
tags in XML enables creation of
Granular updates
smart search engines.
You can differentiate whether you
Message transformation want do to search based on a text
or on a tag, which enables the
browser to perform a focused
search and return precise
information that matches the search
query.

Advantages of XML
Data interchange
Smart searches
Granular updates Document updates in HTML
are slow as the entire
User-selected view of data document needs to be
Message transformation refreshed from the server.
Document updates in XML are
faster as only the changed
content needs to be
downloaded.

Advantages of XML
Data interchange
Smart searches
Granular updates
User-selected view of data In HTML, you need to create
separate HTML pages to
Message transformation display the same information
in different formats while XML
concentrates on data and not
on its presentation.
HTML does not allow
conditional formatting of a
document while in XML
conditional formatting is
possible.

Advantages of XML
Data interchange
Smart searches
Granular updates
Message transformation In XML, a message can be stored in
the form of a document, object data,
or data from a database.
XML design provides flexibility while
storing data as it does not impose
any restriction on the field size and
the order in which the data is stored.

Future of XML
The future uses of XML can be summarized as:
XML will be widely used in e-commerce.
XML will have a huge core market in the form of Business to
Business (B2B).
XML will be used for mobile devices due to its ability to easily
convert into the appropriate format for any device.
XML will be used to solve communication problems in EDI and
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) as it provides
interoperability between disparate applications.

Introducing W3C
W3C is responsible for the development of Web

specifications that describe communication protocols and
technologies for the Web.
Due to the flexibility for customization in XML, W3C has laid
down these rules that need to be followed by all XML
vendors:
XML must be directly usable over the Internet.
XML must support a wide variety of applications.
XML must be compatible with SGML.
XML should have absolute minimum number of optional
features, ideally zero.
XML documents must be human legible and clear.
XML design must be formal and concise.
XML documents must adhere to a set of constraints called full
normalization.

Identifying the Structure of XML Documents
An XML application is considered well designed if it is

robust and scalable.
To design a robust and scalable XML application, the
following steps need to be performed:
1. Create an information model.
2. Identify the required components of the XML document.
3. Create the XML document.

Information Modeling
An information model is a description of the information

used in an organization.
Information modeling helps identify:
Objects involved in an application
Properties of the objects
Relationships among objects
XML provides the following additional capabilities to
information modeling:
Heterogeneity Each record can contain different data
fields.
New data types can be added
Extensibility
whenever
Data fieldsrequired.
can vary in size and
Flexibility configuration between instances.

Information Modeling (Contd.)
Types of information models that can be created for an XML

application are:
Static model: Helps define all the objects in an application and
the relationships among them.
Dynamic model: Helps to determine the information flow of an
application in the form of messages.

Components of an XML Document
The various components of an XML document used for

representing data in a hierarchical order are:
Processing Instruction (PI)
Tags
Elements
Content
Attributes
Entities
Comments

Components of an XML Document (Contd.)
<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

<STOREDATA> Processing Instruction (PI)
 Provides information on how

the XML file should be
<STORE STOREID=“S101”>
processed.
<PRODUCTNAME>Toys</PRODUCTNAME>
<QUANTITY>100</QUANTITY>
<DISPLAY>The price of this toy is
< 200 </DISPLAY>
</STORE>
</STOREDATA>


<STOREDATA>
 Tags
<STORE STOREID=“S101”> Is a means of identifying
<PRODUCTNAME>Toys</PRODUCTNAME> data. Tags consist of start
<QUANTITY>100</QUANTITY> tag and end tag.
< 200 </DISPLAY>
</STORE>
</STOREDATA>


<STOREDATA>
Root Element

Contains all other elements
in the document.
< 200 </DISPLAY>
</STORE>
</STOREDATA>


<STOREDATA>
Comments
Are statements used to
explain the XML code.
< 200 </DISPLAY>
</STORE>
</STOREDATA>


<STOREDATA>
<STORE STOREID=“S101”> Child Elements
Are the basic units used to
identify and describe data in
<DISPLAY>The price of this toy is XML.
< 200 </DISPLAY>
</STORE>
</STOREDATA>


<STOREDATA>
Attributes
<QUANTITY>100</QUANTITY> Provide additional
information about the
elements for which they are
< 200 </DISPLAY> declared.
</STORE>
</STOREDATA>


<STOREDATA>
<PRODUCTNAME>Toys</PRODUCTNAME> Content
Refers to the information
<DISPLAY>The price of this toy is represented by the elements
< 200 </DISPLAY> of an XML document. An
</STORE> element can contain:
</STOREDATA> • Character or data content
• Element content
• Combination or mixed
content


<STOREDATA>
<DISPLAY>The price of this toy is Entities
< 200 </DISPLAY> Is a set of information that
</STORE> can be used by specifying a
</STOREDATA> single name.

Identifying the Rules for Creating XML Documents
The rules that govern the creation of a well-formed XML

document:
Every start tag must have an end tag.
Empty tags must be closed using a forward slash (/).
All attribute values must be given in double quotation marks.
Tags must have proper nesting.
XML tags are case sensitive.

Demo: Creating an XML Document
Problem Statement:
CyberShoppe, Inc. sells toys and books in the United States. It
has three branches in different parts of the country. Currently,
the three branches maintain data on their local computer
systems. The IT manager at CyberShoppe has identified that a
centralized data repository on the products sold through its
e-commerce site is required. The data from all branches must
be collated and housed in a centralized location. This data
must be made available to the Accounts and Sales sections at
the individual branches, regardless of the hardware and
software platforms being used at the branches.
In addition, the sales personnel require access to the data
using palmtops and cellular phones. The product details of
CyberShoppe consist of the product name, a brief description,
the price, and the available quantity on hand. A product ID
uniquely identifies each product.

Introducing XML Schema
An XML schema defines the list of elements and attributes

that can be used in an XML document.
An XML schema specifies the order in which the elements
appear in the XML document, and their data types.
Microsoft has developed the XML Schema Definition (XSD)
language to define the schema of an XML document.

Advantages of XML Schema Created Using XSDs
Some of the advantages of creating an XML schema by

using XSD are:
XSD provides control over the type of data that can be
assigned to elements and attributes.
XSD enables you to create your own data types.
XSD enables you to specify restrictions on data.
The syntax for defining an XSD is the same as the syntax used
for XML documents.
XML schema content models can be used to validate mixed
content.
XML schema is extensible.
XML schema is self documenting.

Support for XML Schemas in Various Parsers
Parsers that provide support for XML schemas are:

IBM XML4J: Validates XML documents against several types
of XML schemas.
MSXML 6.0: Enables loading of XML data from anonymous or
untrusted sources in a secured manner.

Data Types in XML Schemas
In an XML schema created using XSD, every element must

be associated with a data type.
XSD provides the following list of predefined data types:
Primitive
Derived
Atomic
List
Union

Data Types in XML Schemas (Contd.)

Primitive Do not contain elements or attributes.
Derived Contain only values.
Atomic
List
Union


Primitive
Derived Are defined by using other data types
called base types.
Atomic
Can be built-in or user-defined.
List
Union


Primitive
Derived
Atomic Cannot be broken down into smaller
units.
List
Can be primitive or derived.
Union


Primitive
Derived
Atomic
List Are derived data types that contain a set
of values of atomic data types.
Union
Elements referring to a list data type can
contain a value only from that defined
set.


Primitive
Derived
Atomic
List
Union Are derived from the atomic and list data
types.

Summary
In this session, you learned that:

EDI refers to the process of exchanging documents in a
standard format between two computer systems.
XML is a text-based markup language that enables you to
store data in a structured format by using meaningful tags.
Using XML in Web architecture enables loose coupling
between the server application and the client application.
XML has the following advantages:
Domain‑specific vocabulary
Data interchange
Smart searches
Granular updates
User‑selected view of data

Summary (Contd.)
In future, XML will be widely used in:

E-commerce
B2B services
Mobile services
EDI and EAI
XML was defined by W3C to ensure that structured data is
uniform and independent of vendors and applications.
In XML, an information model is used to understand the
structure and meaning of information that will be stored in XML
documents.
You can create static, dynamic, or a combination of both these
information models for an XML application.
A static information model helps you define all the objects in an
application and the relationships among them.

Summary (Contd.)
In a dynamic model, data flow diagrams and process diagrams

are used to determine the flow of information.
An XML document consists of:
Processing Instruction (PI)
Tags
Elements
Content
Attributes
Entities
Comments
An XML schema can be used to specify the list of elements
and the order in which these elements must appear in the XML
document.
The XSD language is used to describe the structure of the
elements in a schema.

Summary (Contd.)
The data types supported by an XML schema can be

categorized as follows:
Primitive
Derived
Atomic
List

Extensible Markup Language: Rationale

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Extensible Markup Language

Data interchange is essential to carry out business

Ver. 1.0 Session 1 Slide 1 of 45

In this session, you will learn to:

Ver. 1.0 Session 1 Slide 2 of 45

Traditionally, preprinted formats were used to exchange

Ver. 1.0 Session 1 Slide 3 of 45

XML is a text-based markup language that enables storage

Let us understand the usage of XML with the help of the

Ver. 1.0 Session 1 Slide 4 of 45

Mobile Application Web Services

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Web Architecture Using XML

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Web Architecture Using XML (Contd.)

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Difference Between SGML, HTML, and XML

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Difference Between SGML, HTML, and XML (Contd.)

SGML HTML XML

Validation Yes No Yes

Browser Low High Low

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W3C is responsible for the development of Web

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An XML application is considered well designed if it is

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An information model is a description of the information

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Types of information models that can be created for an XML

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The various components of an XML document used for

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<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

Provides information on how

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<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

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<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

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<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

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<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

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<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

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<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

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<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

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The rules that govern the creation of a well-formed XML

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An XML schema defines the list of elements and attributes