Inside XML DTDs: Scientific and Technical - Softcover

Simon St. Laurent; Robert J. Biggar

Softcover

ISBN 10: 007134621X ISBN 13: 9780071346214

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media, 1999

Synopsis

A guide to creating, using, and updating document type definitions (DTDs), which provide a layer of additional power on top of the document structures built into XML and enable documents to share large chunks of information. Written by a consultant and a programmer, the guide covers both general DTDs and the technically specific MathML, Chemical Markup Language, and Bioinformatic Sequence Language. The CD-ROM contains DTDs discussed in the book, sample documents, and browsers. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

Review

The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is challenging to learn, in part because it embodies both a mechanism to build customized data-oriented Web solutions and a set of previously developed ones to be exploited. Inside XML DTDs comes at the subject from both sides to illustrate the possibilities, preparing readers to create their own XML dialects.

This book really centers on the technical and scientific fields, demonstrating the benefits XML offers those disciplines through established XML implementations. MathML--an XML dialect that displays mathematical equations--and the Chemical Markup Language (CML) are two examples of the languages presented in depth. Authors Simon St. Laurent and Robert Biggar begin the book by pointing out the huge strides XML makes to span the gap between the technology of the Web and the language of many technology fields.

An introduction to the fundamental structures and syntax of XML is presented, culminating in chapters that focus on document type definitions (DTDs)--the core of the book. Some readers may be surprised that the majority of the book is dedicated to existing XML applications, but if they read closely they'll glean much useful information. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: XML syntax, DTD document design, XLink and XPointer, MathML, RDF and Dublin Core, VHGTM, CML, BioML, BSML, Weather Observation Markup Format, AML, AIML, and Perl-based XML processing.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 007134621X
• ISBN 13: 9780071346214
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 466