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XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a markup language that enables you to label your content in such a way that anyone can use it. So why is this different to HTML? HTML is all about describing how content should be presented. In the following 2 lines of HTML code, the HTML tags specify that the first line of text should be displayed in bold and the second line in italics. <B>Star Wars: The Phantom Menace</B>
<I>George Lucas</I> If all we want to do is display information this will work just fine. However lets say you wanted to search a Website for all of the films that contain the words “Star Wars”. With HTML you would have to write a script to query a database and find all of the film titles that contain the words “Star Wars” in them. With XML we can handle this requirement in a far more flexible way negating the need for this scripting and a separate database as follows: <Film>Star Wars: The Phantom Menace </Film>
<Director>George Lucas</Director>
By matching the above XML with a style sheet, we can display the Film and Director in anyway we want. So we use one style sheet to display the content in a Web browser and another style sheet to display the content on a handheld device.
This is just one small example but it should be immediately obvious that XML it both considerably more powerful and flexible than HTML as a container for storing content.
Who owns XML?
The short answer is no one. XML is an open standard that is maintained by an independent standards body called the WC3 (World Wide Web Consortium). The WC3 was created in October 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. W3C has more than 400 Member organisations from around the world and has earned international recognition for its contributions to the growth of the Web. What this means for you is that your investment in XML will be safe because no one person owns the standard. XML and Publishing
As XML is so flexible, as long as a publication has some structure to it, no matter what type of publication you produce, you will be able to store it in XML. This flexibility is achieved through the use of a DTD (Document Type Definition).
A DTD is simply a definition of a certain type of XML document and provides a set of rules for the XML document with which it is associated. In many ways it describes the genetic makeup of your document.
You can either create your own DTD that is specific to the content you wish to store in XML or alternatively use one of thousands of industry specific DTDs already freely available on the Web. For further information on XML, please use our XML Resources page.
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