Dictionary for XML related technical terms
The following terms should be understood/known by anyone working with XML. If you do not agree with any affirmation or if you want to add more definitions feel free to drop me a line.
- DTD = Data Type Definition; is in fact a set of rules that defines the structures if the data;
- DOCTYPE = Document Type Declaration; this element is used inside an XML document in order to pinpoint to the location of a DTD;
- XML Schema
- XSL = Extensible Style Language
- XSLT = Extensible Style Sheet Transformations
- SAX = Simple API for XML
- ECMA = European Computer Manufacturers Association
- XSD = XML Schema Definitions
- XML = is a specification for a markup language that can be used to represent almost any concept.
- Tag set = another name for an XML element;
- External identifier = An external identifier refers to an external parsed entity.
- UTF = Universal Character Set Transformation Format
- Document = The data contained in an entire XML file
- Document element = The root element (the root is unique)
- Text node = Free standing text between a start tag and an end tag.
- Element = The entity defined by a start tag and end tag, but not the entities contained between the start and end tags.
- Attribute = The name/value pairs enumerated in an element's start tag.
- Well formed XML = XML that respects the syntactic rules
- Valid XML = XML that respects the syntactic rules and that is conforming to the rules specified in its own DTD or Schema;
- DOM = Document Object Model. A method of placing an entire XML file's hierarchy, with all its elements, in an object in memory. This object is built for quick lookup, traversal and modification.
- BOM = Browser Object Model;
- Namespace = A method of uniquely identifying tag names from various XML files.
- Rendering = formatting the XML document according to certain rules;
- Document type = a group of XML documents that share the same XML vocabulary;
- Document instance = an individual document that conforms to a document type;
- Well-formed XML data = data that conforms to the XML syntax;
- Valid XML data = data that conforms to the XML syntax and to a DTD definition;
- Sequence list = method used to specify the exact order for the children of an ELEMENT node:
<!ELEMENT name (child1, child2)>
- Choice list = method used to specify the possible children of an ELEMENT node (the order of appearance is not important):
<!ELEMENT name (child1 | child2)>
- XHTML 1.0 = HTML version 4.01 expressed using well-formed XML syntax; HTML is case-insensitive, but XML is not; the result of this is
that XHTML 1.0 *is* case-sensitive => all tags must be written in lower case !
Valid HTML 4.01:<BR><IMG src="someImage.jpg">
Valid XHTML 1.0:<br/><img src="someImage.jpg"/>
- RDF = is a protocol used for the automated exchange of metadata; example of metadata is the META tag used in HTML pages; RDF statements are just another form of XML but they should always be interpreted as metadata;
- Namespace = a collection of names that are grouped under a name;
- XML vocabulary = a description of the XML data shared between applications;
- document type = a group of XML documents that share the same vocabulary;
- document instance = an individual XML document that conforms to a document type;
- Lax validation = the schema validator skips over undeclared elements;
- Strict validation = the schema validator requires validation of every element;
- EDI = Electronic Data Interchange
Best regards,
Razvan MIHAIU