XML: FastTrack to Application Development

Course: XMLFT

Duration: 5 Days

Level: I

Course Summary

To be competitive today, it is no longer enough to just have a presence on the Web; you must also take advantage of the most efficient and effective technologies. XML has become an essential tool in an application developer's toolbox, allowing for easy interchange of pure data between disparate systems across the Internet. Integrating these systems involves transforming and styling XML data. XSL is the solution to these integration issues. Scripting languages can be used to automate tasks and even to write COM components.

XML stands poised to revolutionize the Internet, offering an easier way to conduct business-to-business transactions and a better means for searching and managing data.

This course provides extensive experience transforming and styling XML data. You learn how to exploit XSL components to manipulate and analyze XML data. You also learn how to generate HTML, WML, PDF, SVG and various EDI formats.

Because of its cross-platform capabilities and APIs for accessing backend resources, Java is rapidly gaining acceptance for server-side Web development. Servlets and Java Server Pages (JSP) allow you to create dynamic data-driven Web applications. In this course, you gain hands-on experience developing XML-based solutions. You also learn how to integrate XML with existing applications.

Students will learn how to use XML to transcend the limitations of HTML and deliver rich, structured data from any application as well as create well-formed and valid XML documents.

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Topics Covered In This Course

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

Origins of XML
- The Big Markup Picture
- What is XML?
- Origins of XML
- XML: The best of all worlds
- W3C Recommendations and Standards
XML compared to HTML
- Demystifying the myths
- Markup language vs. markup specification
XML in the real world
- The benefits of XML
- XML application deployment

WRITING XML DOCUMENTS

XML components
- XML structure and syntax
- Declaration
- Root
- Element
- Attribute
- Entity
The rules of well-formed documents
- Differentiating between well-formed and valid documents
Creating well formed XML documents
- XML document markup
- Creating an XML markup language: elements, attributes, and entities
- Creating an XML markup language: processing instructions, character data, and comments
- XML and HTML
- Using XML tools
The objectives of namespaces
- Benefits of namespaces
- Assigning Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) to namespaces
XLINK and XPOINTER
- Linking the "old fashion" way using HTML namespaces
- Xlink concepts
- XPointer concepts
XML in the enterprise
- Relating XML and metadata
- Positioning XML in a 3-tier architecture

VALIDATING XML WITH DTD

Creating valid XML documents
- Introduction to the Document Type Definition (DTD)
- Creating a DTD
Writing DTDs
- Embedding business rules into DTDs
- DTD syntax and components
- Validating elements and attributes
Validating documents with Document Type Definition (DTD)
- Validation requirements
- Validating XML against a DTD
- Defining your own markup language

DATA VALIDATION FOR XML WITH SCHEMAS

Information validation
- Comparing Document Type Definitions (DTDs) with XML Schema
- Limitations of DTDs
- Building XML Schema
- Moving DTDs to XML Schemas
- Working with namespaces in XML Schema
Advanced schema concepts
- Building new data types
- Controlling user-defined data types
- Defining substitution groups
- Combining multiple schemas
Schema applications
- Building new XML vocabularies
- Transforming database schema
- Modeling data with XML Schemas

APPLYING STYLE WITH CSS

Applying style to data
- How Style Really Works
- Design rules
- Style sheets and Cascading style sheets (CSS) – Embedded, Linked and Inline
- The building blocks of CSS
- Linking CSS into XML documents

APPLYING STYLE WITH EXTENSIBLE STYLESHEET LANGUAGE (XSL)

Benefits of XSL
- XSL vs. DOM and SAX processing
- Separating data and presentation layers
- Comparing and contrasting CSS with XSL/XSL-T
XSL components
- XSLT
- XPath
- XSL-FO
- Input and output trees
- XSL processors
- Strategies for client-side and server-side applications
XSLT building blocks
- Style sheet elements
- Template syntax
- Calling and applying templates
Applying style to data
- Design rules
- XSL elements
Exploiting the capabilities of XSL
- Processing documents with pattern matching and templates
- Programming with XSL functions
- Filtering and sorting data with XSL
Transforming XML
- Design and debug XSL documents
- Transform XML data using Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL)
- Build structured style sheets with Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSL-T) elements
- Search and filter XML documents using XPath
- Converting XML to HTML using XSL-T
- Applying style to XML with XSL-T
- Formatting XML using XSL-FO
- Generate PDF files with XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO)
- XML-to-XML transformation using XSL
- Effectively integrate XSL into your enterprise Web application
Displaying interactive graphics with SVG
- Incorporating Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) into Web design
- Creating visual presentations from XML data
- Customizing with geometric shapes and rastered images
Creating PDF files with XSL-FO
- Designing layout of master pages with region, block and flow elements
- Displaying data with lists and tables
- Translating XSL-FO to PDF with FOP

COMMUNICATING WITH DATABASES USING XML

Relational database technologies
- Options for storing XML in and retrieving XML from databases
- Accessing databases using middleware
XML in the enterprise
- XML data applications
- Maximizing the benefits of XML repositories

EXPLORATION OF XML PARSER TECHNOLOGY

Parsing fundamentals
- Event vs. Tree-oriented Parsers
- Validating vs. non-validating Parsers
- Incorporating Parsers into your application
- Document Object Model (DOM)
- Simple API for XML (SAX)

TRANSFORMING XML DATA BETWEEN SERVERS

Synchronous transfers
- Transfer options
- Implementing XML data transfer using URL forwarding
Asynchronous transfers
- Benefits of asynchronous transfers
- Building XML data transfer using Oracle Advanced Queue (AQ)
Communicating between data repositories
- Identifying the relationship between XML and databases
- Integrating data servers in a B2B framework

PROCESSING XML DATA

Processing XML with the DOM
- DOM architecture
- Addressing practical issues in the DOM
Parsing XML data with the Simple API for XML (SAX)
- Event-driven SAX model
- Accessing elements, attributes and error handling in SAX
- Integrating SAX with the DOM
Processing XML with JDOM
- Motivation for JDOM
- Creating documents using JDOM
- Manipulating documents with JDOM

PROCESSING INFORMATION WITH THE DOCUMENT OBJECT MODEL (DOM)

DOM fundamentals
- The role of the DOM
- Object-oriented concepts
- Taking advantage of the DOM
- DOM components
- The DOM as an object hierarchical structure
Processing the DOM
- Navigating XML documents
- Modifying XML with the DOM
- Creating new XML documents using the DOM
Manipulating XML with the DOM
- Combining XML documents
- Converting XML to HTML using the DOM
- Processing XML with the DOM
- Processing XML with event handlers
Scripting XML
- A scripting refresher
- The XML Processor
- XML and JavaScript fundamentals
- From XML to HTML
SIMPLE API FOR XML (SAX)
- SAX vs. DOM
- Using XML pages to store and retrieve structured data

DEVELOPING SERVER-SIDE APPLICATIONS WITH XML

Integrating ASP, JSP And XML
- Options in transferring XML documents
- The role of Active Server Pages (ASP) and JavaServer Pages (JSP)
- XML processing with ASP and JSP
- Sending XML between ASP and JSP applications
- Introduction to Web services
The basics of XML
- Creating well-formed XML documents
- Generating XML with JSP
- Converting result sets to XML
Manipulating XML with XSL
- Converting XML to HTML using XSL
- Analyzing JSP and XSL design patterns

XML DATA SOURCE OBJECTS (DSO) AND XML DATA ISLANDS
- Integrating XML document with Data Source Objects and Data Binding
- Creating and accessing XML Data Islands using DSO
- Applying Data Source Objects to XML and XSL files

SOAP FOR B2B COMMUNICATION

Fundamentals of SOAP
- SOAP structure
- Representing data in SOAP
- Interpreting SOAP bindings
Communicating with SOAP
- Invoking remote functionality with SOAP RPC
- Passing messages with SOAP
USING XML TOOLS TO CONSTRUCT
- XML Documents
- DTDs
- Schemas
- XSL Stylesheets
- XML Spy

XML RESOURCES ON THE WEB

REVIEW OF CURRENT XML NEWS ARTICLES AND WHITE PAPERS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES

What You Can Expect

Learn how XML relates to other common markup languages
Understand the basics of XML well-formed structure and syntax
Write well-formed XML documents
Learn the rules that define Document Type Definition (DTD)
Validate XML documents using Document Type Definition (DTD)
Create XML Schemas for data definition and validation
Utilize XML through scripting (JavaScript or VBScript)
Style XML data using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Examine how XML works and create style sheets using XSL-T (Extensible Style Language) based on template formatting rules
Render XML as HTML using Extensible Style Language (XSL)
Generate XML from databases
Use an XML document with Data Source Objects and Data Binding
Create XML Data Islands using DSO
Understand how to apply Data Source Objects to XML and XSL files
Integrating XML, XSL and the Document Object Model (DOM) to enhance your Web applications and implement personalization
Extract and process information from documents using the Document Object Model (DOM)
Use the Simple API for XML (SAX)
Generate dynamic Web pages with Active Server Pages (ASP) and Java Server Pages (JSP)
Use ASP and JSP to apply XSL style sheets to convert XML data to HTML
Leverage the power of Java and XML to build enterprise applications
Parse XML using DOM and Java
Process XML sequentially with the event-driven SAX
Generate and modify XML documents programmatically with DOM and JDBC
Discuss SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
Discuss the development of enterprise Web applications using Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Find out about current XML developments and what the future holds for XML
Explore XML reference sites and materials
Read and discuss a series of white papers and articles regarding XML
Examine tools currently available to develop XML components
Research the XML technology paths of Microsoft, IBM, Sun, Oracle, etc.

Who Should Take This Course

This course is valuable for those involved in building Web applications or developing enterprise solutions, including developers, analysts and managers. It assumes little or no knowledge of XML.

Recommended Prerequisites

Some HTML experience is assumed. Programming, Java programming or scripting (JavaScript - IE Browser) experience is recommended.

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Related Courses

Code	Course Title	Duration	Level
XMLHTML	Creating HTML from XML	3 Days	I	Details
XMLADV	Advanced XML: Transformations and Schema Design	2 Days	II	Details

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Schedule For This Course
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