Developer Newsletter

XML Tutorials

Starting with XML
XML continues the separation of data from presentation, to the point that one XML stylesheet contains all the common HTML code and a separate CSS stylesheet contains the formatting code. The XML file itself only needs to contain the code that is specific to that page.
Wednesday, 7th November 2007

Performing Client-Side XSL Transformations
It is a feature of my software that I produce HTML output from XML documents with server-side XSL transformations. This means that as well as producing the XML document I transform it into HTML on the server before I send the result to the client.
Monday, 12th December 2005

Create a Google Sitemap for your Web Site
Google Site Maps is a simple and fast way for your site to be constantly indexed and updated by Google. This article will discuss the benefits of implementing this new technology, who should use it, how it works and how to create a Google Site Map for your web site.
Thursday, 11th August 2005

XML and Scripting Languages
In this first tutorial of his series on using scripting languages to manipulate and transform XML documents, Binary Evolution's Parand Tony Daruger takes you through the first steps of using these techniques with Perl. You'll see a method for transforming XML to HTML, followed by a simple stock trading application that uses Perl, XML, and a database to evaluate trading rules. You can apply the techniques using other scripting languages too, including Tcl and Python.
Wednesday, 18th May 2005

Parsing Comma-Separated Values
Ask the expert: My assignment on an XML pilot project is a transformation from data formatted in comma-delimited files (CDF) that the customer wants to transform into XML data. Seems logical enough, but I can't find any reference to a CDF-to-XML translator. What would you suggest? --Tom Watson, consultant Doug Tidwell responds: Tom, I think I have a solution. It all starts with getting the data.
Wednesday, 18th May 2005

XML Security Suite: Increasing the Security of E-Business
As more and more companies use XML to transmit structured data across the Web, the security of documents becomes increasingly important. This article presents some basics of Web security, describes the components of the XML Security Suite, and gives examples that illustrate how the technologies in the XML Security Suite increase the security of Web commerce.
Wednesday, 18th May 2005

Servlets and XML: Made for Each Other
Find out how Java servlets and XML work together to generate an XML document and DOM tree and interface with a database. This article includes a couple of useful techniques: using HTTP parameters to control processing and generating a DOM tree without an XML source document.
Wednesday, 18th May 2005

Thinking XML: State of the Art in XML Modeling
The running theme of the column has been semantic transparency: the ability to correctly interpret the contents of XML documents. Semantic transparency might be the most important aspect of XML modeling. This is first in a series of articles that review the many different approaches to semantic transparency and discuss what they mean to developers using XML.
Monday, 16th May 2005

Tip: Create Multiple Files in XSLT 2.0
For any reasonably complex data set, you need multiple views to navigate it. Take a QA test system, for example: With a pool of tests and test results, you need to see the data by date, by test category, by individual test, and so on. Each view would be in its own HTML file. So, can you have a single template in XSLT 2.0 build multiple HTML files from the one input data set?
Monday, 16th May 2005

Linking in XHTML 2.0
As a fundamental part of the Web, hypertext linking has been the subject of repeated attempts at standardization beyond the basic format allowed in simple HTML. Such attempts can be characterized as efforts to balance machine processing ability with authoring convenience. The latest specification in this area, XHTML 2.0, just might have gotten it right.
Wednesday, 4th May 2005

Tip: Batch Processing XML with XSLT 2.0
A common problem with XSLT is that it takes only a single XML file as input. You can use a cross-platform Java™ tool to create an XML directory listing, then use XSLT to process every file in the directory from that listing. This tip covers installation and use of such a tool, as well as the corresponding XSL that processes multiple files from the directory listing.
Wednesday, 4th May 2005

Text Configuration Files and XML
Configuration files are a problem for both operating systems and applications. Where do you keep them, how are they structured? Traditionally, Unix systems used text files with wildly varying internal structures, and Windows used either binary data or ".ini" text files (in this sense, "binary" is used for anything that you can't access directly with a simple text editor). More recently, Windows abandoned .ini files in favor of a binary central registry.
Monday, 25th April 2005

Introduction to XML Events
A number of markup technologies involve attaching behaviors to specific parts of a document. XML Events is a W3C Recommendation that allows declarative attachment of a behavior -- which can be a predefined bundle of actions defined in XML or a more general call to a scripting language -- to a specific element. This article gives an overview of how XML Events came about, what it's useful for, and how it works.
Friday, 22nd April 2005

Reusable XSL Stylesheets and Templates
When producing software it is not considered good practice to write the same code over and over again. Not only is this inefficient when writing the code in the first place, it is also inefficient when the time comes to make changes as the same change has to be made to every copy of that code.
Wednesday, 20th April 2005

Using PHP 5s XSL Extension to Perform XSL Transformations
This tutorial is for developers who wish to know how to generate HTML documents using a combination of XML data and XSL stylesheets. It also includes examples of how to use XSL parameters and included stylesheets.
Tuesday, 19th April 2005

Tip: Use XML to Send SMS Messages
Many developers tend to think of Web services as a way to easily move information from one place to another, but it's also important to understand how integral a Web service can be to the overall application. This tip gives some examples of using XML for Short Message Service (SMS) messages. If you're familiar with SMS, you'll find out how adding this tool to your toolbox can help you; if you're not an SMS developer, you'll see a real-life example of how Web services are integrated into an application.
Monday, 11th April 2005

Tip: Use Data Dictionary Links for XML and Web Services Schemata
When designing XML and Web services schemata you will often (and ideally) reuse data elements defined in pre-existing standards. When you do, it is extremely useful to include links to such standards, providing precise data dictionary references. In so doing, you make processing and maintenance easier to automate. This tip illustrates this practice.
Saturday, 9th April 2005

Working XML: Fundamentals of Web publishing with XML
As more developers learn and experiment with XML, many have become interested in using stylesheets to publish and manage Web sites. In this article, Benoit Marchal provides step-by-step instructions to get you started. He shows how to organize your project in source, rules (stylesheets), and publishing directories.
Monday, 28th June 2004

Better SOAP Interfaces With Header Elements
SOAP, the Simple Object Access Protocol, is an evolving W3C standard. Developed by IBM, Microsoft, DevelopMentor, and UserLand Software for the exchange of information over a network, SOAP stands at the point where three technologies -- Remote Procedure Call (RPC), XML, and Web applications -- are converging.
Monday, 26th January 2004

Variable Substitution In XML Documents
XML is primarily a static language. However, by using entity references, you can perform a limited amount of dynamic substitution. This tip explains how to use entity references, and shows you how they are useful.
Wednesday, 7th January 2004

Create JPEGs Automatically With SVG
In this tip, Benoit Marchal discusses a pragmatic approach to Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). Until the SVG viewer becomes as ubiquitous as the Macromedia Flash player, it will be difficult to incorporate SVG images directly into a Web site. In the meantime, Web developers benefit from generating JPEGs and other bitmaps through SVG. SVG is especially helpful because it is pure XML.
Monday, 22nd December 2003

Grab Headlines From A Remote RSS File
In this article, Nick shows you how to retrieve syndicated content and convert it into headlines for your site. Since no official format for such feeds exists, aggregators are often faced with the difficulty of supporting multiple formats, so Nick also explains how to use XSL transformations to more easily deal with multiple syndication file formats.
Friday, 19th December 2003

Tip: Convert from HTML to XML with HTML Tidy
This tip demonstrates how to convert HTML documents to XML (or more specifically, XHTML) with a simple, open source tool, HTML Tidy. This conversion is useful for webmasters who are migrating to XML. It can also help XML converts who have to interface with legacy HTML tools.
Tuesday, 16th December 2003

XML and How it Will Change the Web
If you listen to the current hype, XML sounds like a technological achievement on a par with sliced bread and the wheel. Beneath the hoopla, XML represents the next evolution in Web technology. In this article you can explore the basics of XML and find out how it will change the Web.
Wednesday, 17th September 2003