XML full form: The Future of Information Management

Introduction: XML full form

XML full form is eXtensible Markup Language, which is used for storing and transferring data. Unlike HTML, XML tags are customizable and user-defined. The World Wide Online Consortium (W3C) developed an XML application in 1996 to enable data interchange across programs, particularly online applications. Using plain text files, makes data sharing across computers straightforward. XML has many advantages. You can specify your tags for flexibility and extension. XML separates data from display, enabling data reuse. It reduces data codependency by simplifying system and application data interchange. In this article, we will explore XML full forms and in-depth analysis of XML.

Understanding XML Syntax

How to Create XML File

You can create an XML file by using the .xml file extension and adding tags within <></> brackets with attributes within [] brackets. A basic XML file structure is:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?> <root>   <child1>     <grandchild1>Some text</grandchild1>     <grandchild2>Some more text</grandchild2>   </child1>   <child2>     <grandchild3>Even more text</grandchild3>   </child2> </root>

Tags, Elements, and Attributes

Tags define XML elements which consist of a start tag (<tag>) and end tag (</tag>). XML elements can have attributes to provide more information. Attributes are defined in start tags as:

<elem attr=”value”/>

Opening and Closing Tags

All XML elements must have a closing tag with the same name as the opening tag but with a forward slash (/).

<name>John</name>

Nesting and Hierarchy

XML elements can be nested to show hierarchy and relationship:

<person> <name>John</name> </person>

Self-Closing Tags

Single tags can be self-closed using a slash at the end:

<br/>

Comments and Processing Instructions

Comments and processing instructions start with <! and end with >:

<!– This is a comment –> <?xml-stylesheet href=”stylesheet.css”?>

XML Applications

XML is used to store and transport data between various applications. It is widely used to transfer data between systems and store data in a database-independent format. XML provides a standard way of representing data that can be used across different enterprise applications.

XML Document Structure

Root Element

Every XML document has a root element that contains all other elements. The root element name depends on the context and purpose of the document. It has a singular tag name, like <document> or <items>.

XML Declaration

The XML declaration specifies information like the version of XML used. It uses the syntax <?xml version=”1.0″?>

Document Type Definition (DTD)

A DTD defines the legal building blocks of an XML document using elements, attributes and entities. It constrains the structure and content of XML documents. It is specified within the XML declaration:

<?xml version=”1.0″ <!DOCTYPE rootelement SYSTEM “filename.dtd”>

XML Schema Definition (XSD)

An XSD uses elements from the XML Schema language to define the elements, attributes and datatypes allowed in the XML document. It provides more flexibility and power than a DTD. It is specified within the XML declaration: <?xml version=”1.0″ <xsd:schema> <!– schema definitions –> </xsd:schema>

Namespaces

Namespaces are used to avoid element name conflicts. A namespace uniquely identifies elements and attributes from different sources but with the same name. They are defined using a URL within start tags:

<item xmlns=”http://www.example.com/namespace”>

XML Data Representation

XML has many forms of data representation. Some of them are as follows

• Textual data is the most basic and common form of data represented in XML. It consists of elements that contain text:

<greeting>Hello!</greeting>

• Numeric data can be represented either as text within elements:

<age>25</age>

Or natively using XML data type attributes:

<age xsi:type=”integer”>25</age>

• Date and time data can be defined using XML Schema datatypes:

<dob xsi:type=”date”>1990-10-10</dob>

<eventTime xsi:type=”dateTime”>2018-05-20T16:00:00</eventTime>

• Boolean data is represented using the XML Schema boolean datatype:

<isAvailable xsi:type=”boolean”>true</isAvailable>

• Binary data cannot be stored directly within XML but instead is referenced using a URL:

<image> <url>sample.jpg</url> </image>

XML Document Processing

XML documents store data in a structured format. Processing XML involves parsing the document into a suitable data structure. There are two main ways to parse XML:

SAX (Simple API for XML) Parsing

SAX parsing reads the XML sequentially and reports events when XML elements are encountered. It is a fast event-based method but does not allow random access to the XML data.  

DOM (Document Object Model) Parsing

DOM parsing reads the entire XML document and builds an in-memory tree representation of the XML. The tree can then be navigated and manipulated. DOM parsing is memory intensive but allows random access to any part of the XML data. It is suitable when the entire XML document needs to be processed or modified.  

XPath and XQuery

XPath and XQuery provide languages to navigate and extract data from XML documents. XPath allows selecting nodes in an XML document based on path expressions. XQuery is a more powerful query language for XML.

Transforming XML

Transforming XML involves changing it into other formats. XSLT style sheets convert XML into HTML, PDFs, Excel sheets, Word documents, and more.XML data binding transforms XML into objects your programs can understand. This maps XML elements and attributes to classes and properties, making XML data easy for your applications to consume.

XML in Data Exchange and Interchange

XML is widely used in exchanging data between systems and applications. In e-commerce, XML stores product catalogues, maintains orders, processes payments, and exchanges data between businesses and online shops. XML is also used in Electronic Data Interchange to facilitate communication between businesses and their trading partners. XML enables data integration between heterogeneous databases and applications. XML helps integrate legacy systems with newer ones.

Future of XML

Considering XML full form, it has many features. Some of them are as follows.

XML and the Semantic Web

XML will continue to play an important role in developing the Semantic Web – a linked data web with well-defined meaning. Semantic Web technologies built upon XML standards like RDF and OWL allow data to be shared and reused across applications.

XML and Linked Data

XML’s self-describing nature and ability to tag data makes it well-suited to build linked data sets. XML data may be integrated with other data through shared URIs, enabling the publishing and connection of open data on the web.

XML in IoT (Internet of Things)

The future Internet of Things consisting of billions of connected devices, will generate massive amounts of data. With its simplicity and versatility, XML provides a standard way to represent, transmit and store data from IoT sensors, devices and applications.

Conclusion

In summary, the XML full form is eXtensible Markup Language, which defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a human-readable and machine-readable format. Key features of XML include – self-descriptiveness, simplicity, flexibility, extensibility and reusability. XML enables data sharing across different systems on the Web and has various applications like document storage, data interchange and mobile apps. The difference between HTML and XML is straightforward. HTML uses predefined tags to display web pages, while XML uses user-defined tags for data storage.

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XML Full Form: FAQs