Developing XML-Based Applications

Prerequisites:

- Designers, architects, developers and administrators who need to implement or support the use of XML in their systems.

- Delegates should have some exposure to XML concepts. The practical exercises will use JavaScript and Java

- experience in these or similar languages is required. In addition, an understanding of the Internet and eCommerce concepts is a distinct advantage. Those with little or no knowledge of XML should consider attending the one day Understanding XML course.

Course Description:

In a very short time, XML has been recognised as key to the provision of flexible solutions in a complex and fast-moving world. Nowadays XML is widely used as an underlying technology in most, if not all, eCommerce solutions in both Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) environments. As understanding grows of the situations in which XML can be applied, more and more people are building XML into their enterprise applications.

This course describes how to use XML for data modelling and in all facets of application development and integration. Delegates will learn how to use XML to model business data effectively, and use XML to create web-based solutions and e-commerce systems

Since XML is supported by a variety of tools and platforms, this course aims to provide insight into how XML can be used in the major current environments. Examples illustrate Microsoft solutions, Java 2 Enterprise Edition solutions and other commercial platforms and product suites.

This comprehensive course will help you understand how best to apply XML in your data modelling and application development projects. The hands-on practice will deliver the confidence for its use.

This course has been extended to four days to provide more information on data modelling and web applications, as well as to include modules on SAX (Simple API for XML), EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and using XML in a B2B environment.

The course will have a high practical content. Extensive hands-on programming will be conducted during the course.

This course includes the following modules:

Creating and Using XML

• XML document structure; Elements and attributes; Text nodes, processing instructions and comments; Namespaces; Unicode and character encoding

Defining XML Grammars with DTDs

• What is a grammar? What is a DTD? Defining an XML grammar using a DTD; Writing and applying a DTD; Defining allowable elements and attributes; Entities; Example DTDs in industry e.g. XHTML, WML and FixML; Using a DTD to validate an XML document

Defining XML Grammars with Schema

• What is an XML Schema? Defining a grammar using an XML Schema; W3C XML Schema Definition (XSD); Support for XSD from current XML parsers; Writing and applying an XML Schema; Defining allowable elements and attributes; Element groups; Data types and structures; Example XML Schema in industry; Using an XML Schema to validate an XML document

Designing Effective XML Grammars

• Using namespaces effectively; Hierarchical vs. regular document design; Using elements vs. attributes; Levels of nesting; General document design considerations

Transforming XML using XSLT Style Sheets

• CSS style sheets; Benefits of XSLT style sheets; Style sheet examples; Obtaining node values; Applying and matching template rules; Processing selective nodes; XSLT programming with loops and if statements; Creating content; XML grammar transformation

Accessing and Creating XML Data using DOM

• Introduction to DOM; DOM levels 1, 2, and 3; DOM trees; DOM interfaces; Loading an XML document into a DOM parser; Navigating a tree; Accessing elements and attributes; Creating new content using DOM; Removing/replacing/rearranging content; Using the JAXP wrapper for the DOM parser

Accessing and Creating XML Data using SAX

• Introduction to SAX; SAX 1 and SAX 2; SAX vs DOM; SAX callback model; Handing content callbacks; Handling errors; Creating new content using SAX2; Using the JAXP wrapper for the SAX parser

Generating XML Dynamically from Relational Data

• Why generate XML dynamically? Design issues - XML data vs. relational data; Complex database issues, such as joins, many-to-many relationships; Creating XML data using JDBC in Java; Creating XML data using ADO; Automated tool support from commercial RDBMSs such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and others

Using XML at the Web Server

• Generating XML at the Web server; Using a servlet/JSP/ASP to generate XML dynamically; Attaching a style sheet for client-side execution and for server-side execution; WML conversion principles

Embedding XML in HTML Pages

• XML data islands; Data binding; Master-detail result sets; Current-record binding; Accessing a data island programmatically at the client using DOM or SAX; Browser support for data islands

Using XML at the Web Browser

• Gathering user input; Building XML data at the client using DOM or SAX; Posting XML data to the Web server; Applying a schema/DTD dynamically at the Web server; Using XML data to update a database

Using XML for Enterprise Application Integration

• Asynchronous vs. synchronous communications; Synchronous options using RPCs, such as CORBA or RMI; Asynchronous options using messages or email; SOAP; Web Services; UDDI

Using XML in B2B E-Commerce

• Business integration issues; Standard XML grammars for business documents; Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) limitations; Overview of BizTalk; RosettaNet; OBI; CBL; ebXML; Using XMI for XML Metadata Interchange; Commercial support for XML