Glossary
More Technical Definition by Bob GUTHRIE
SUBMITTED BY: BOB GUTHRIE GA Express 15/08/2000 XML Definition XML is a meta-markup language. It provides a format for describing structured data (containing words, graphics, numerical data, etc.) and an indication of what role that content plays. XML is derived from SGML (Standard Generalised Markup Language - defined by ISO 8879), but is optimised for Web applications. XML is similar to TML, but differs in many ways, among them that XML tags specify what the content means not how it should appear. The extensibility and flexibility of XML allow it to describe data contained in a wide variety of heterogeneous applications, from describing collections of Web pages to data records. Since XML-based data describes its own content, data can be exchanged and processed without having a built-in description of the incoming data. The importance of XML for eCommerce developers is that XML is designed to enable structured data from different sources to be easily combined. Software agents can be used to integrate data on a middle-tier server from back-end databases and other applications. This data can then be delivered to clients or other servers for further aggregation, processing and distribution. XML DOM: manipulating XML data The W3C XML Document Object Model (W3C XML DOM) specifies a standard application-programming interface for loading, parsing, formatting, navigating, and manipulating XML documents in a web-enabled environment. It allows data to be manipulated with scripting or other programming languages. Data computations can be performed without additional return trips to the server, reducing network traffic and accelerating performance. Separating the user interface that views data from the data itself allows powerful applications, formerly found only on high-end databases, to be created naturally for the Web using a simple, flexible, open format. The W3C XML DOM has the following characteristics: o The XML document is represented as a tree structure composed of nodes. Typically, the most common node types are element, attribute and text. o The API (application programming interface) enables applications to navigate the tree and manipulate its nodes. The content and structure of an XML document can be queried, navigated, and modified. The advantages of XML o It can represent structured data in a format that is uniform and independent of applications or vendors. o Its interoperability is ideal for transferring data between line-of-business applications and eCommerce applications over the World Wide Web. o Once the data is on the client desktop, the XML DOM specifies how it can be manipulated, edited, and presented in multiple views, without return trips to the server. This lowers the demands on the servers. o Since data is exchanged in the XML format, it can be easily merged from different sources. o As a text-based format, XML is easier to understand and work with than binary standards such as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), which requires special drivers that are complex to write, debug, and adapt to new tools and technologies. o XML can represent rich, hierarchical data structures as easily as flat, SQL-relational data structures, making it is uniquely suited for representing hierarchical data from legacy databases. The challenge: connecting line-of-business data systems and XML-based eCommerce systems As flexible and powerful as XML is, there are some difficulties to be overcome in implementing line-of-business to eCommerce data-transfer solution. o Custom tool development is required. Line-of-business data typically resides in a database management system that is not directly accessible by eCommerce applications. Tools must be developed to export the DBMS data as an XML document that the eCommerce applications can understand. o Overlapping and conflicting standards exist. There are several XML eCommerce and eBusiness standards currently in existence. The vast majority of XML-based applications are not built on a standard, but are a proprietary set of tags published by the specific vendor. o Rich data structures add complexity. XML supports and sometimes requires rich data structures. Most DBMSs are relational, and don't support such rich structures, adding another layer of complexity to the developer's task. o XML DOM API requirements increase the difficulty. The W3C's XML DOM API specifies that hierarchical data be represented by parent and child nodes, which is not ideal for describing business data. Conclusion XML is a flexible, open, standards-based markup language that can represent structured data in a format that is uniform and independent of applications or vendors. Its text-based format, optimised for transmission over the web, is simple and intuitive to work with, so XML applications can be built quickly, are easy to maintain, and can provide multiple views on the structured data. Its resulting interoperability, combined with strong industry support, makes XML the best choice for data transfer between a new generation of business and eCommerce web applications. For all XML's potential, however, the dearth of tools for converting eBusiness data and line-of- business data to XML and back again poses a challenge to companies wanting to implement an XML solution. XML white paper
W3 definition provided by Shirley KEATING
SUBMITTED BY: Shirley KEATING Turn-Key Systems 16/08/2000 XML Definition 1.1 Origin and Goals XML was developed by an XML Working Group (originally known as the SGML Editorial Review Board) formed under the auspices of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in 1996. It was chaired by Jon Bosak of Sun Microsystems with the active participation of an XML Special Interest Group (previously known as the SGML Working Group) also organized by the W3C. The membership of the XML Working Group is given in an appendix. Dan Connolly served as the WG's contact with the W3C. The design goals for XML are: 1.XML shall be straightforwardly usable over the Internet.
2.XML shall support a wide variety of applications.
3.XML shall be compatible with SGML.
4.It shall be easy to write programs which process XML documents.
5.The number of optional features in XML is to be kept to the absolute minimum, ideally zero.
6.XML documents should be human-legible and reasonably clear.
7.The XML design should be prepared quickly.
8.The design of XML shall be formal and concise.
9.XML documents shall be easy to create.
10.Terseness in XML markup is of minimal importance.
This specification, together with associated standards (Unicode and ISO/IEC 10646 for characters, Internet RFC 1766 for language identification tags, ISO 639 for language name codes, and ISO 3166 forcountry name codes), provides all the information necessary to nderstand XML Version 1.0 and construct computer programs to process it.
Who: sgg
Authorised: sgg
Created: 08:17 Fri 18/08/2000 Syd
Who: sgg
Revision: 3a4a9.001
Original: 3a4a9
Authorised: sgg
Date: 18/08/200