Extensible Markup Language
An activity of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) organized by Sun to put SGML on the World Wide Web
Will create new data-centric Web applications
Database exchange
Distribution of processing to clients
Client-side manipulation of views into the data
Customization of information by intelligent agents
Management of document collections
Will fundamentally change publishing on the web and then publishing in general
The XML specification was developed from 1996 through 1998 by a wide-ranging group of markup language experts from industry and academia.
It is now generally agreed that Web content will be managed using standards based on XML.
Key predictions for the future:
XML will certainly be the basis on which future Web standards are built.
XML will probably become the universal serial format for structured data.
XML will almost certainly become the basis for international publishing.
XML may replace all existing word processing and desktop publishing formats.
XML allows you to specify the content and structure of a document in a way that lets you generate particular presentations as needed.
(These are links in the online version.)
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Separating content and structure from presentation and behavior makes possible
Reusable information
Media-independent publishing
One-on-one marketing
Intelligent downstream document processing
Large-scale information management
XML has been based on Unicode from Day One
There is nothing in an XML file but Unicode characters
Unicode is used for both content and markup (can mix languages, even in tag names)
XML tools
The widespread adoption of XML for data management and electronic commerce will probably make Unicode support universal
(These are links in the online version.)
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The catalog example shows that the distinction between data exchange and publishing is ultimately an artificial one (the same source would also be used to create the printed catalog)
The rendition in each case occurs
The database owner can publish
Consider the alternative:
Generation of a different HTML output stream for
Much greater load on the server
No user autonomy
XML is a
Freely extensible
No tag name limitations
No language limitations
Human-readable
Can maintain data using basic text tools like sed, awk, perl, Word macros
Open standard
In theory, XML users can't be held hostage to vendor control
Easy to implement
There will be many powerful, cheap, off-the-shelf commercial XML tools
There is already an ever-growing set of free XML tools (almost all of them Java-based)
Work on the XML family of standards is taking place in six different W3C working groups:
XML is not just about exchanging data between machines
It's also about communication between humans
XML is not just about the web
It's about information in general
XML is not just about technology
It's also about the relationship between content creators and software vendors
The social agenda of SGML has always been about
Freedom from proprietary data formats
Vendor neutrality
Platform neutrality
Language neutrality
Its foundation on Unicode adds
Large-scale cross-platform XML publishing demands that XML deliver on the display-oriented promises:
User-configurable views
More powerful display-centric client-side applications
Media-independent publishing
In particular, printed and online deliverables from the same source
Asian-language rendering support
XSL is intended to complete the internationalized media-independent publishing story.
Properly done (like DSSSL), XSL enables XML to serve as an international publishing format
XML+XSL could allow the whole operation to be based end-to-end on a uniformly processible Unicode text stream
Data
Stylesheets
Formatting objects
Instructions to the formatter
A mass transition to XML+XSL will change the whole translation business
Data human-readable and freely interchangeable
Tools cheap and freely interoperable
Qualified personnel available everywhere
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The combination of XML and XSL can replace all existing word-processing and publishing formats.
A single format for both print and online publishing
A single format across different products
A single format for all languages
Users no longer tied to a proprietary format
A change in the relationship between software vendors and customers
An end to control of the market by a few big companies
An end to control of the market by a few big countries
The complete implementation of XML and XSL means an end to control of users through proprietary formats.
The most obvious ways to subvert the user-empowerment agenda of XML are:
Vendor control of standard schemas
Incomplete Unicode and XSL support
Beware of strategies that limit XML to the role of middleware; it's more than that
Support the vendor-independent development of standard schemas (DTDs) and namespaces
Beware of sleazy dodges: nonstandard extensions, incomplete UTF-8/UTF-16 support
Insist on real XSL support: the ability to render formatting objects, not just HTML tags
W3C members: work within W3C to make sure that the requirements for international publishing are met
Support platform-independent tools vendors
Support the only organization dedicated to
interoperable document standards in general:
Interoperability of both content and style
Freedom from vendor control of our data
Creator control of markup depth
User control of views into the data
A level playing field for independent software developers
A common infrastructure for translation
True international publishing across all media