FAQ 2 of getting started with XML

PHP100 is the first professional website in China to share PHP resources. It also provides a PHP Chinese communication community. For PHP study researchers: The latest PHP information, original content, open source code and PHP video tutorials and other related content. [Guide] view XML directly. Microsoft XML allows users to view XML using XSL or Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in their Web browsers, just like viewing HTML documents. High performance, XML verification engine. Internet Explorer 4 0 developer

View XML directly. Microsoft XML allows users to view XML using XSL or Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in their Web browsers, just like viewing HTML documents.

High performance, XML verification engine. The XML engine familiar to Internet Explorer 4.0 developers has been greatly enhanced and fully supports W3C XML 1.0 and XML namespaces, in this way, developers can define element names on the Web to avoid conflicts between elements with the same name. The local XML Support in Windows means that when developers move data between applications and components, they can use the complete XML processing function to read and process data.

Supports extensible style conversion language (XSLT. Using the latest W3C Working Draft-based Microsoft XSLT processor, developers can apply style sheets to XML data and display data in a dynamic and flexible manner that is easy to customize. The query function of the Microsoft XSLT processor allows developers to search for and extract information within an XML dataset on a client or server.

XML architecture. The architecture (English) defines XML document rules, including element names and rich data types. Their elements can be expressed as combinations and each element's attributes are available. To enable multi-tier applications, Microsoft will publish a technical preview of the XML architecture based on the reduced XML data architecture (XDR) submitted to the W3C XML Working Group.

Server-side XML. Server-side XML processing allows the use of XML as the standard way to transmit data between multiple distributed application servers (or even cross operating system boundaries.

XML Document Object Model (DOM ). Xml dom is a standard object application programming interface that allows developers to use programs to control the content, structure, and format of XML documents. Microsoft XML provides full support for W3C xml dom recommendations and can be accessed using scripts, Visual Basic development systems, C ++, and other programming languages.

C ++ XML data source object. Xml dso allows you to bind HTML elements directly to the XML data Island. In addition, it improves performance, has powerful capabilities to bind to different XML nodes, and uses all the new data binding functions in Internet Explorer 5 beta.
What is the relationship between HTML, Dynamic HTML, and XML?

HTML and CSS can be used together to format and represent hyperlink pages. Dynamic HTML uses DOM to allow all elements in HTML to be accessed through language-independent scripts and other programming languages, thus greatly improving the client interaction capability, and there is no additional need for the server. The object model on the page allows you to dynamically change content in any aspect (including adding, deleting, and moving content ).

By adding XML to structured data, developers can build rich and flexible next-generation Web applications. Using XML, they can provide structured data for the desktop and use the XML object model to calculate data. Currently, developers can use scripts to display XML-based data in browsers (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5) or other applications. In addition, they can apply formatting rules to the data without using the complex scripts of the XSLT style sheet (actually converting XML-based data to display ). Both display methods based on XML data make it possible to generate multiple views of complex data.

Why is XML so important?

XML will become the future of the computing field. As a technology, its influence will penetrate into every aspect of programming, from embedded systems to graphical interfaces, to distributed systems and database management. In fact, it has become the standard of data communication between the software industry, and quickly replaced the EDI system as the main media for business exchange in almost all industries around the world. It is likely to become the language for creating and storing most documents, whether on the Internet or not, and may become the foundation of Internet application servers, some believe that it will replace many small-pack products currently produced.

What XML products does Microsoft provide?

Microsoft is developing XML resources for many fields:

Data access. The latest ActiveX? The data object (ADO) embodiment has supported XML generation and consumption for nearly a year, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 provides many interfaces for SQL-based information and XML mutual conversion.

Browser support. Microsoft is the first company to produce a commercial browser (Internet Explorer 5) that can read XML files, whether in the original structure or through XSL or CSS style sheets.

BizTalk Server 2000. Microsoft? BizTalk (TM) Server 2000 provides communication between a large number of different formats (including XML) to help promote business-to-business applications. BizTalk Server also includes many architecture generation and ing tools, which greatly simplifies the development of XML structures required by businesses or businesses.
Must XML be compressed for Web transmission?

In general, XML compression needs to be related to applications, and is largely a function for moving data volumes between servers and clients. It is used to describe the repeated characteristics of data structures, so that XML can compress data very well. It is worth noting that HTTP 1.1 server and client compression are both standard, and XML can automatically benefit from this.

How secure is XML as a data format? Is there a plan to increase XML security?

XML is as secure as HTML. Because secure HTTP (HTTPS) can be used to add a password to HTTP to protect HTML, it can also be used to protect XML. XML indicates the text format of structured data. This maximizes data simplicity and interoperability. Many steps can be taken to add security and verification capabilities to the XML format. First, XML can be encrypted on the server before it is transmitted to the customer, and then decrypted on the client. The digital signature applied to the data itself can also verify XML.

Confirm

What is DTD and its purpose?

Document Type Definition (DTD) defines the correct syntax for a class of XML documents. That is to say, it lists many element names, which elements can be displayed together with other elements, and what attributes can be used for each element type. DTD uses different syntax forms used by XML documents.

Do Web developers need to include DTD when using XML to describe data?

No. XML can be used to describe data with or without a DTD. The term "valid" XML refers to the XML data that references the DTD, while "well-formed" XML refers to the XML without the DTD. In addition, the well-formed XML is one of the basic differences between XML and the standard unified Markup Language (SGML. Obviously, in both cases, XML itself must comply with language standards (for example, all tags must be closed and cannot overlap ).

What is XML architecture? What is the difference between them and DTD?

Although XML 1.0 provides a mechanism for defining the content model of an XML document-DTD-it is obvious that a more comprehensive and effective method for defining the content model is also required. XML architecture is the definition of a special XML structure (in terms of its organization and data type ). The XML architecture uses the XML schema language to specify how each type of element is defined in the schema and the data types associated with the element. Compared with DTD, the most distinctive feature of the architecture is that the architecture itself is an XML document. This means that the tool for reading the XML described by it can also read it.

Microsoft's XML service currently supports the XML data architecture, which represents a snapshot of the W3C Architecture activity during Internet Explorer 5 shipping on January 1, March 1999. XML data architecture allows developers to add data types to their XML documents and define open content models. This extension of the DTD function is critical to XML programming.

However, W3C is preparing "XML Schema Definition (XSD)", which will become "XML schema standard ". Microsoft plans to make support for XML Schema Definition (XSD) a part of its core XML service immediately after this specification becomes a recommendation.

What are namespaces and why are they important?

The namespace is another advanced feature of XML and is outlined in W3C notes as part of the XML 1.0 specification. They allow developers to limit element names and relationships. Namespace makes the element names unique and identifiable, thus avoiding name conflicts between elements defined in different dictionaries. They allow mixing of tags from different namespaces, which is important for data from multiple sources.

Example? Why?

Namespaces help to clearly define this difference.

XSLT and XPATH

What is XSLT?

XSLT (English), or the extensible style sheet language for conversion, is a W3C recommendation approved in November 6, 1999. In terms of tag and programming, this language provides a mechanism to convert XML structures to other XML structures, HTML, or any number of other text formats (such as SQL. Although it can be used to create the display output of Web pages, the actual function of XSLT is to change the underlying structure, rather than simply changing the media representation of these structures, just like in a stacked style sheet (CSS.

What are the differences between XSL, XQL, and XSL patterns and XSLT?

XSLT originated from the limitations of CSS in modifying the structure of XML documents. at that time, the reason for creating XML was more inclined to replace HTML rather than providing a general data description language. Therefore, the extensible style sheet language (XSL) has become the result of constructing a new method for formatting XML.

However, members of the W3C Style work group and early XML writers quickly discovered that the ability to convert XML from one format to another can greatly simplify the generation of a large amount of code. Microsoft submitted a suggestion to W3C named XML query language (or XQL), which was then adopted by W3C as the XSL mode language. Most functions of the language are eventually incorporated into the XSLT specification.

The final standard combines the XSLT parameters modified for different initial conditions, creates a naming template for the code functional block, and a large number of enhancements for numerical and string processing. XSLT also provides convenience for adding built-in functions to the language. Microsoft can add many extremely useful functions (including accessing COM objects and scripts) in its own implementations.

What is XPath?

XPath is a query language defined for XML. It provides a simple syntax for selecting a node subset in the document. You can use XPath to retrieve element sets by specifying a directory-like path (name) and a condition in the path. XPath is important to XSLT and xml dom and is associated with the XPointer specification (which allows you to select document fragments based on the combination of the unified resource locator [URL] and XPath expressions.

Why is XSLT important to XML?

XSLT converts an XML document to another language. This means that it provides a single-source XML data mechanism. you can create a rich view dynamically changed by the user on the Web page to filter data for the target communication. XSLT is powerful enough for business rule encoding. It can generate graphs from data (not just Web pages ). It can even process communication with other servers-especially collaboration with script modules that can be integrated into XSLT-and generate appropriate messages within XSLT itself. Although it cannot replace most interactions in the desktop system (for performance and convenience reasons), in the next few years, XSLT may eventually become the main "programming" language for communication between systems.

What is the difference between XSLT and CSS? Are they style sheets?

The task of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is to specify a set of display attributes for HTML elements. CSS determines the visual appearance of the page, but does not change the structure of the source document.

On the other hand, XSLT is also known as a template-based language. it allows you to map a certain pattern to the source document. the output of this source document is written in XML, HTML, or plain text. Using XSLT, you can convert the structure of an XML document into different XML documents. For example, you can change the sequence of an XML document, add or delete elements, perform a conditional test, or use a set of elements for iteration.

XSLT and CSS are not compatible standards. A useful technique for creating Web pages in XML is to use XSLT to convert XML into structures such as lists or tables, and then apply CSS to the results, controls the display of these structures in the appropriate media. You can even create CSS from XSLT.

Standard

How does Microsoft be compatible with XML standards?

Microsoft has been at the forefront of XML since the emergence of the XML language, and it is worth noting that most of the XML recommendations and work drafts generated by W3C over the past few years, all include input and participation from at least one (in some cases, several) Microsoft employee. Microsoft has been entrusted with many important tasks to work with W3C standards to ensure that XML development can benefit all users and has made significant contributions to development in many different fields, includes XML specifications, DOM, XSLT, and architecture definition language. Microsoft promises to be consistent with the latest specifications and standards.

What is the relationship between XML and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C?

W3C has an active XML Working Group. Microsoft was one of the co-initiators of the organization since June 1996, and since then many industry companies have joined, including Netscape Communications Corp., IBM, and Oracle. For more information about the XML standard process, visit the W3C Web site ).

What is the status relationship between XML and W3C?

XML 1.0 was officially approved in December 1998 and is still a stable standard. For more information about the current XML specification and the W3C internal submission and review process, see the W3C Web site ).

What is DOM's position in W3C?

The W3C document status of DOM Level 1 is "recommended ". This indicates that W3C is currently proposing to use it as a standard on the World Wide Web. For more information about DOM and the submission and review process within W3C, see DOM specifications ).

Tool Support

Does SQL Server and ADO support XML?

Microsoft ActiveX Data Object (ADO) technology provides many methods to convert a database record set (data record set) to an XML format, A tool that retrieves XML from a given structure and converts it back to the database supported by ADO (including SQL Server and Oracle databases. In addition, you can use the XML data source objects in MSXML2 and MSXML3 to load arbitrary XML directly to ADO to generate a record set.

SQL Server 2000 also allows you to directly set and retrieve XML through URLs in a similar way as calling Web pages. This is a powerful data processing mechanism, because it basically means that SQL Server data can be directly integrated into XML filters and Web pages, basically, SQL Server data can be integrated wherever XML documents are available. In addition, you can set custom templates to control how to generate XML from SQL Server data and make the database a powerful tool for generating XHTML pages.

Finally, applications such as BizTalk Server can be stored in any number of different data sources (from XML documents to databases to Excel and Word documents) ing between them, creating complex data pipelines for the Web architecture, and constructing an effective architecture based on the XML database requirements.

Is there a Microsoft tool that can help me quickly follow XML?

Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000 is an XML-based Server for data exchange. It provides the basic structure and tools to enable the e-commerce business community. BizTalk Server is based on the basic structure of business document routing, conversion and tracking based on rules. This basic structure allows companies to integrate, manage, and automate business processes by exchanging business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices, within or between application boundaries. For more information, see Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000 ).

What is SOAP?

SOAP is a Simple Object Access Protocol and a tool for creating a large-scale distributed and complex computing environment. the computing environment can run on the Internet using the existing basic structure of the Internet. SOAP allows applications to communicate with each other directly on the Internet in many ways. For more information about SOAP, see SOAP specifications ).

How does XML apply to Microsoft Windows? How does Distributed InterNet applications (Windows DNA) policy construct a layer-3 Web-enabled application?

XML is quickly becoming a tool for transferring structured data from the middle layer to the desktop. XML-based data can be integrated with multiple backend (database) sources through the middle layer proxy. The architecture (see the "XML data" section) can improve the process, and developers can more accurately describe and exchange data.

Problems and Solutions

Why is my document object still empty after the Load () method is called?

By default, operations are asynchronously loaded. This means that if an http URL address is provided, the load () method will return directly, and the document object is still empty because the data has not been returned from the server. To correct this problem, add the following line in the code:

Xmldoc. async = false;

At the same time, if the http XML document is loaded from an independent C ++ application, you must query the message queue to continue loading.

The above is the details of FAQ 2 for getting started with XML. For more information, see other related articles in the first PHP community!