XML Summer School

Overview

The Hands-on Introduction to XML is designed to introduce you to the many and varied aspects of XML design, processing and delivery through practical, hands-on classes where you will create your own XML documents.
You will learn how to create data structures using an XML editor, create an XML schema model and parse/validate the document structure. You will also have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the latest XML tools and technologies in the marketplace, so that you can develop and implement your own XML solutions.

The details may change; this overview will give you an idea of what's planned. The final version will be posted shortly.
The three day course is based around the ‘real life’ scenario of Erasmus Swift, a new age philosopher who decides to build a web site using XML technology. It is designed to be practical, informative and fun! Included in the course is a practical workshop day where you can continue with the class-based exercises or ask our experts about your own XML applications, with full hands-on support.

Learning Objectives

After studying the Hands-on Introduction, beginners will know enough about XML to enjoy the more advanced courses at the Summer School. You will understand:

• How content is marked up in XML
• Validation using XML schemas
• Transformation with XSLT
• How to use XML tools for editing and transformation
• How standard Office applications can use XML
• The capabilities of native XML and relational databases
• Search with XPath and XQuery
• Paginated output with XSL-FO
• Service Oriented Architectures (web services)

Who should attend

The course is suitable for newcomers to XML or anyone wanting to gain a more practical grasp of the fundamental concepts of the XML family of standards. It is suitable for those who will be working ‘hands-on’ with XML technology in the future, but also for managers, designers and strategists who need to gain an appreciation of how XML works, and what it can be used to achieve.

To tackle the exercises you need to be computer literate and able to use Windows and basic office applications (word processor, spreadsheet, etc).
Novices may also benefit from the short XML Primer course, which takes a whistle-stop tour of the topics covered in practical detail on this Hands-on Introduction to XML.

Curriculum

Module 1 – The Wonderful World of XML

1.1 Magical Mystery Tour

Runs through the scenario (Use Case) that will be used throughout the course, showing XML technology in action. Once you’ve completed the course you will have gained enough knowledge to build the applications shown in this tour of XML technology.

• Content marked up in XML
• Validation using XML schemas
• Transformation with XSLT
• XML tools for editing and transformation
• Search with XPath and XQuery
• Paginated output with XSL-FO
• Service Oriented Architectures (web services)

This first class provides a helicopter view of the ‘real life’ scenario and a practical demonstration of the full range of XML technology you will encounter in the rest of the course.

1.2 First Close Encounter

Understand the fundamentals of XML as a mark-up language for structured information, including well-formed XML documents, elements and attributes.

You will learn how to:

• create simple XML documents using standard desktop tools
• use XML elements and attributes to structure the information in a document
• check that an XML document is ‘well-formed’

Covers the basic concepts of XML document mark-up.

1.3 Language, Truth and Logic

Create rules to govern the structure of XML documents, express these rules in a standard schema language and validate the documents you create.

You will learn how to:

• create a schema to define the rules governing the structure of documents
• define the allowable elements and attributes for your XML structures
• use standard tools to validate documents using the schema you create
• use different schema languages to meet different requirements

This class provides an introduction to XML document validation using a variety of standard schema languages.

1.4 Marking it Up as You Go Along

Use a variety of standard tools for creating, editing and viewing XML. The tools range from the simplest text editors, to sophisticated XML-aware editors that guide users based on the underlying XML schema.

You will learn how to:

• create and edit XML in standard text editors and transfer to XML-aware tools for validation
• use XML-aware editors in various modes – tagged views, styled views, grid views – and how to choose the best mode for the task at hand
• create and edit XML using standard office applications – for example a spreadsheet and a word processor.
• create and edit XML using application/schema specific tools – for example the Protégé ontology editor

Provides an understanding of the types of tools available for creating, editing and validating XML documents.

Module 2 – Making XML Work for You

2.1 Through the Looking Glass

Introduces the basic concepts of XSLT and gain an understanding of what more can be achieved (and how much more there is to learn!)

You will learn how to:

• use XSLT to transform source XML structures to produce XML and non-XML output
• use the XPath standard with XSLT to locate nodes in the XML source
• create XSLT stylesheets using ‘push’ and ‘pull’ approaches

Provides a brief overview of the third key component of XML technology (the other two being the XML Language itself and XML Schemas).

2.2 Keeping up Appearances

Use the XSL-FO standard to create paginated views of XML documents

You will learn how to:

• set up XSLT transformations to create XSL-FO documents
• run a Formatting Objects Processor to create a paginated view (in PDF)
• identify open source and commercial tools for processing XSL-FO

You will understand the flexibility and opportunity for creating paginated output in real time.

2.3 The Structure of Life

See how structured XML data can flow to and from the most common data processing applications – word processors, spreadsheets and databases

You will learn how to:

• extract structured data from databases in XML format
• exchange structured data between applications using XML
• apply structure to previously ‘unstructured’ word processing documents

Appreciate XML as a key technology for transferring structured information between integrated systems.

2.4 No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

Put together an e-commerce application using XML messaging in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), also known as Web Services.

You will learn how:

• Applications are designed with Service Oriented Architectures
• The role of XML messaging
• What XML messages look like
• The power of loosely coupled systems architectures, using XML

The last part of the jigsaw in putting together the Erasmus Swift web site that was demonstrated in the first class. After this final class, you will have gained the knowledge necessary to do it yourself!