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Building Blocks
In order to create a well-formed XML document; it is necessary to have a basic understanding of the fundamental building blocks of this markup language. In this video; Brigitte Birze provides a detailed overview the main building blocks of an XML document.
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AJAX
AJAX allows you to enhance the user experience of your web applications through asynchronous client-server request and response. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to code and execute an AJAX JavaScript that goes to the server asynchronously; brings data back; and updates a portion of the screen.
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XSLT and Text Transformation
Extensible Stylesheets (XSL) is a language for expressing style sheets and is the best way to transform XML documents. In this video; Brigitte Birze explains how you can use XSL to transform an XML document into an HTML page; which can be displayed on a browser; using an example.
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Attribute Value Normalization
XML Attribute Value Normalization ensures that the XML processor normalizes an attribute's value before checking it for validity and passing it on to an application. Character and entity references; white space characters; and leading and trailing spaces are checked before being appended to the attribute value. In this video; Brigitte Birze tracks an exhaustive algorithmic attribute value normalization process.
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CSS and HTML Transformation
A cascading style sheet allows you to transform your XML document into an HTML page. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to apply a cascading style sheet to an XML document and transform it into an HTML page that can be displayed on your browser.
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Defining Attributes in an Schema
In XML; attributes provide accompanying information about an element and are defined in an XML schema where elements and attributes form the basic building blocks of the schema. In this video; Brigitte Birze provides an overview of the rules you need to follow when defining attributes in an XML schema.
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Defining Elements in an Schema
Elements are the foundation of an XML document and form the basis of the XML schema where rules are defined for the elements thereby providing XML documents with shape and structure. In this video; Brigitte Birze uses XSD to demonstrate how elements are defined in an XML schema.
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DOM to Create Files
DOM allows you to marshal data out to an XML file and stream to the console. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use business objects to create a DOM tree; populate it; and then marshal it out to an XML file and pretty-print on the browser.
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DOM to Read Files
DOM allows you to read XML files into an application. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to parse an XML file; put it in the DOM tree; reverse the tree; pull the data out; and print it.
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DOM to Validate File
The Document Object Model (DOM) allows you to validate your XML files. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use DOM to validate your XML files against the schema.
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JAXB Generated Classes
JAXB generated classes allow you to output Java classes to the Java application. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use the JAXB binding compiler to generate Java objects.
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JAXB: Assign Namespace Prefix
Assigning namespace prefix helps you avoid confusion when marshalling your generated JAXB classes out to an XML document; especially if you've a lot of namespaces in your XML document. In this video; Brigitte Birze shows how to assign the namespace that you want for each of your namespaces as you marshal your document out.
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RELAX NG
RELAX NG allows you to define and validate your XML documents. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use the XML-based form of this popular schema.
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SAX to Read Files
SAX allows you to read XML files into an application. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to create business objects and populate them with SAX.
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The Declaration
The XML declaration enables the XML processor to identify your document as XML markup and content; note its version; recognize its character encoding; and accommodate its dependence on; or independence of; external information sources. In this video; Brigitte Birze details the syntax and rules of the XML declaration and explains the version; encoding; and standalone attributes.
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The Document Type Declaration
The XML Document Type Declaration forms part of the XML document prolog that associates the XML document with its Document Type Definition (DTD); wherein element and attribute definitions form a grammar. In this video; Brigitte Birze details the rules of the DOCTYPE declaration and its subset definitions; and illustrates their interaction with an externally located SYSTEM or PUBLIC DTD.
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Well-Formed Documents
XML syntax; which refers to the rules that determine how you create a well-formed XML document; is uncomplicated and easy to understand. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to apply the structural rules in XML that will allow you to produce well-formed XML documents.
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Why Use an Schema
XML schemas describe what can be contained in specific XML documents. These constraints define the shape and structure of an XML document and eliminate rework by ensuring that developers on a project work from the same XML language. In this video; Brigitte Birze illustrates the importance of XML schemas when developing XML documents in a project.
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Working with CDATA and PCDATA in
XML's CDATA tags enable you to isolate general; special; or illegal character data within PCDATA to prevent the XML processor parsing and treating such data as XML markup. CDATA sections cannot be nested as they cannot contain character strings by which they are themselves defined. In this video; Brigitte Birze explains the syntax of CDATA tags and demonstrates their uses and rules.
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Working with Namespaces in
Declaring XML Namespaces – named Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) detailing XML vocabularies – with the xmlns property and a namespace identifier enables you to avoid name conflicts between different XML elements and attributes sharing names. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to prefix such elements and attributes and explains how and where the Namespaces property can be used.
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Working with Whitespace in Documents
In XML; whitespaces are needed to make documents readable; but they are interpreted differently by the parser depending on where they occur. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how whitespaces make XML documents more readable; and explains how they are ignored or handled by the parser.
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Working with Data Types and AnyType
XML Schema data types are used to validate element content and attribute values. In this video; Brigitte Birze explains how the data types are classified before highlighting some of the different data type types and their relationships in order to better understand their place in the data type hierarchy and their usage within the XML Schema.
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Working with Schemas Attribute Groups
The XML Schema allows you to arrange attribute declarations into named groups that can be included as part of a complex type definition and reused throughout the XML Schema document. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use the XML Schema attributeGroup element to group attributes and illustrates how the attribute groups are reused within the schema document.
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Working with Schemas Groups
The XML Schema allows you to group sets of elements that can be incorporated as a group into complex type definitions and appear in multiple locations within the schema's structure. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how the XML Schema group element is used to declare a complex type and how the group is reused throughout an XML Schema document.
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Working with Schemas Model Groups
XML Schema model groups are useful for building a complex type definition by providing a convenient means of specifying the element structure and the order in which child nodes appear in the element. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to define model groups in an XML Schema using the three group elements.
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Working With Schemas: Simple Types
In an XML schema; you can use one of the 19 built-in primitive data types provided in XSD; or construct new user-defined types; to constrain the value of elements and attributes. In this video; Brigitte Birze provides an overview of simple types in an XML schema and how to create your own user-defined types.
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Working with Schemas: Complex Types
By using the complexType tag in an XML schema document you can define the complex type elements; which are elements containing other elements or attributes. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use the complexType tag in an XML schema to specify complex elements.
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Character and Entity Reference
Illegal XML PCDATA character references use UCS character encoding to bypass the parser; while user-defined or XML entity references alert the parser to substitutions for complex character strings defined in the document or the external Data Type Definition File. In this video; Brigitte Birze details and demonstrates the practical uses of XML character and entity references in an XML document.
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Data Binding with JAXB: Marshal ->
JAXB allows you to marshal and unmarshal Java objects with almost no work on your part. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to not only unmarshal XML documents into Java generated objects; but also populate the objects and marshal them back to XML documents.
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Data Binding with JAXB: Namespace Collisions
xjb binding files help you to avoid namespace collisions by customizing the generated Java classes. XML schema allows some combinations that aren’t legal in a Java object. In this video; Brigitte Birze shows how to use an xjb binding file with your Binding Compiler to avoid any name conflicts while generating Java classes.
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Data Binding with JAXB: Unmarshal -> JAXB Object
JAXB allows you to unmarshal XML documents into your application. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use generated JAXB classes with the JAXB framework to unmarshal XML documents into an application.
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Data Binding with JAXB: Validate
Validation is the process of confirming that an XML document meets all the restraints mentioned in the schema. JAXB allows you to validate your XML document against its schema while unmarshalling it into your application. In this video; Brigitte Birze explains how to carry out validation during unmarshalling.
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Language Identification
The inherited XML language attribute enables you to inform the XML processor of different natural-language content values throughout your document. It is used to improve browser rendering; grammar and spell checking; translation; and search. In this video; Brigitte Birze explains and demonstrates the lang attribute’s multiple uses; as well as its declaration; syntax; and inheritance.
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Processing Instructions
You can pass processing instructions to the application parsing an XML document - from within the document – using tags the parser does not see as CDATA or PCDATA. In this video; Brigitte Birze details the structure and rules governing the tags and their target designations; and explains their use in commenting; referencing stylesheets; and forwarding data to external applications.
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Schema 1.1 Components that Affect Element Definitions
XSD 1.1 has introduced components that affect your element definitions; providing unexpected behavior where XML Schema declarations don't appear to match your document elements but still allow them to validate. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how XSD 1.1 declarations can affect the look of elements in XML documents; and explains why they still validate without matching the schema declaration.
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Schema 1.1 New Assertion Restrictions for Simple Values
XML Schema 1.1 allows you to control the values of attributes and simpleType elements using assertions. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use assertions to apply a test to the value of a simpleType element to check its validity.
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Schema 1.1 New Assertions for Business Rule Checking
XML Schema 1.1 allows you to check the values of attributes and elements; as well as the XML document grammar. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use assertions for validating business rules.
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Schema 1.1 New Conditional Type Attributes
XML Schema 1.1 has introduced a new mechanism called conditional type alternatives that allows you to specify a sequence of schema type alternative components that the validator uses to substitute types on element declarations. In this video; Brigitte Birze illustrates how the validator tests a sequence of alternative types in order make type substitutions on element declarations.
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Schema 1.1 New Data and Time Data Types and Tags
The XML Schema 1.1 recommendation defines new data types that deal with time; date; and duration; which provide more control over how time is formatted. In this video; Brigitte Birze reviews the yearMonthDuration and dayTimeDuration data types.
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Schema 1.1 New Data Types
XML Schema 1.1 introduces a number of new data types that clean up some of the limitations of version 1.0. In this video; Brigitte Birze reviews the anyAtomicType; precisionDecimal; and error data types.
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Schema 1.1 New Default Attribute Groups
XML Schema 1.1 provides a new default attribute group that allows you to define a set of global attributes that you can reuse in complex definitions throughout a schema file. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how the new default attributes group eliminates the need for multiple references to the attribute group within complex type definitions sharing the same attributes.
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Schema 1.1 New Inheriting Attributes
XML Schema 1.1 allows you to access an attribute value on a parent node through the use of attribute inheritance. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to test for and set the data type of conditional type alternatives using parent attributes.
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Schema 1.1 New Vendor Unique Extensions
XML Schema 1.1 allows vendors to define their own primitive data types and facets in a vendor defined namespace. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how vendor unique extensions are defined in an XML Schema document and how the attributes contained in the new XSD 1.1 version control namespace enable the XML validator to identify the vendor extensions.
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Schema 1.1 New Version Control Namespace
XML Schema 1.1 has introduced a new version control namespace that allows the same schema document to be used with schema validators supporting different versions of XSD. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how the attributes provided by the new XSD 1.1 version control namespace are used to control how validators process element values.
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Schema 1.1 Other Element Updates
XML Schema 1.1 is the latest World Wide Web Consortium recommendation; offering exciting new features; including element updates that provide you with the flexibility you need when defining your schema while maintaining backward compatibility. In this video; Brigitte Birze outlines some of the element updates in XSD 1.1 while highlighting the advantages they offer when compared to XML Schema 1.0.
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Schema 1.1 Updated <all> Model Group
In XML Schema 1.1 the <all> model group has been updated by removing some of the restrictions that were imposed on it in XML Schema 1.0; thereby allowing for a much more versatile model group. In this video; Brigitte Birze highlights the new content that has been legalized by the XSD 1.1 updates to the <all> model group.
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Schema 1.1 Updated Wildcards
XML Schema 1.1 has enhanced the wildcards used for defining extension points in schemas; as well as introduced negative wildcards that allow you to specify exceptions for wildcards. In this video; Brigitte Birze illustrates how the XSD 1.1 updates have made the wildcards more flexible; and how negative wildcards are used to disallow specified extension elements and attributes.
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Schema 1.1 Using Default Open Content
XML Schema 1.1 allows you to specify an open content model for your entire Schema using default open content. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to use the defaultOpenContent element to set the open content mode for all complex elements defined in the Schema.
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Schema 1.1 Using Open Content
XML Schema 1.1 provides an easy way to insert extension elements from any namespace inside a defined element. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to open up an element so that it has open content.
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Schema Less Used Data Types
Apart from the often used string and numeric data types; the XML Schema includes numerous built-in data types that although used less often; are very helpful when expressing values in your XML documents. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how some of the infrequently used XSD data types are used to constrain values in an XML document.
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Schema Numerical Data Types
An understanding of the XML Schema numerical data types is important when defining numerical values for the elements and attributes in your XML document. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how the three atomic built-in primitive numeric data types are used to define numerical values; before highlighting some of the commonly used data types derived from the three base types.
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Schema String Data Types
The XML Schema string data type is used for values that contain character strings. It is an important base data type from which several other data types are derived. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how the string data type and data types derived from it are used to parse values containing data strings.
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Schema Structure
An XML schema uses XML Schema Definition (XSD); a markup language with content structures that need to be adhered to in order to create well-formed XML schema documents. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to structure a well-formed XML schema document using XSD.
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Text Data
The characters in XML documents can be classified as CDATA or text data. Text data is parsed; so it has rules. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates what legal text data is and how to handle illegal characters.
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Transformations using CSS and XSLT
XSLT and CSS are compatible style sheets which; because they act independently; do not conflict. They can effect XML transformations through a combination of XSL and CSS elements that generate attractive HTML markup. In this video; Brigitte Birze uses XSL for-each and template elements with HTML DIV elements and CSS markup to render a simple XML file as a table.
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Transformations Using the For; Each; and When Tags
Used together; the XSL for-each element; the choose command; and the when tag enable you to introduce conditions into the HTML output of your XML file. In this video; Brigitte Birze uses this combination to sort on an XML element attribute in a table but; where this attribute does not exist; introduces the otherwise action to specify alternative HTML output.
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Transformations Using XSLT Patterns and Expressions
You can use XSL in conjunction with XPATH patterns to manage and manipulate your XML file to generate outputs meeting your needs. XPATH expressions allow you to test data output. In this video; Brigitte Birze uses several patterns in the XSLT for-each and template elements to generate different outputs before running a test using the if expression.
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Transformations Using XSLT Sort
The XSL sort command; allows you to sort information gathered from your XML document by your XSL style sheet using several optional attributes including select; language code; data type; order; and case order. In this video; Brigitte Birze sorts table data using the XSL sort command; the select XPATH expression; and the order attribute in a for-each element.
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Comments
XML comments are invaluable for adding notes to your XML documents; or commenting out portions of markup you may want in the future. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to create XML comments and how the XML processor views them.
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Schemas
XML types make your XML schema modular. In this video; Brigitte Birze demonstrates how to clean up an XML file and make it more maintainable.
