Dictionary for XML related technical terms

Author: Razvan MIHAIU
razvan_rem@rem_mihaiu.name (please remove '_rem' and 'rem_')

From: www.mihaiu.name
Date: 24/04/2005

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