An introduction to XML technology

Objectives

This course introduces XML technology, with plenty of hands-on exercises, and clearly explains the underlying purpose of XML as a means of separating content from styling. It includes the creation of content pages and shows how to transform them using XSL for delivery to the web page. By the end of the day delegates will have created a simple XML document, a DTD, a simple XML Schema and a CSS file to display XML in a web browser.


Pre-requisites:

Delegates must have practical knowledge of HTML and be comfortable with building simple pages without the use of a WYSIWYG authoring tool such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage.


Course Includes:

A comprehensive set of reference notes covering course topics, follow-up telephone support and, for training on Transmedia premises, lunch and refreshments.


Course Outline


Introduction


· XML's history
· XML's future
· Standards
· Software available for XML development
· Applications for XML - who is using it?


XML Documents


· Elements
· Attributes
· Creating simple XML documents
· Complex, well-formed documents


XML Schemas


· DTD Syntax
· Why Schemas
· Building and using DTDs


Displaying XML on the web


· Cascading Style Sheets
· Limitations of CSS
· Extensible Style Sheet Language






XSL Transformation


· The XSL Model (XML Stylesheet Language)
· Stylesheet element
· Template elements
· Paths


Namespaces


· Why use Namespaces?
· Applications of Namespaces


Hands on session


· Practical exercises including the creation of a simple XML document, a DTD, a simple XML Schema and a CSS file