pre-A

 ? 

a symbol in hierarchy charts or in Document Type Definitions that denotes the requirement for zero or one child elements. Compare to * and +

 * 

a symbol in hierarchy charts or in Document Type Definitions that denotes the requirement for zero or more child elements. Compare to ? and +

 + 

a symbol in hierarchy charts or in Document Type Definitions that denotes the requirement for one or more child elements. Compare to ? and *

1.0

The first–and so far, the only–recommended version of XML, released 1998. (fourth edition released August 2006)

A

application

an XML vocabulary

attribute

A definition of a property of an element. See Diagram B.

B

backslash

 \ 

1. Used to escape the character that follows. Compare to slash.

2. WINDOWS COMPUTERS ONLY: Used to seprate folder names in DOS or Windows.

body

the main portion of an XML file, between the prolog and the epilog

C

Cascading Style Sheets

A technology developed to allow HTML to follow its stated mission: to denote what an element IS, rather than how it looks. Works well with XML.

cdata

See character data.

character data

data that is not meant to be parsed; that should be presented, character by character, as it actually appears.
Compare to parsed character data.

character reference

ACCORDING TO THE BOOK, a "special character" generated by placing a hexadecimal numeral between  &  and  ; 
example: © displays as ©
Compare to entity reference.

child, child element

an element nested within another element

class (class=)

One of the four core attributes, class= allows an element to belong to one or more groups of elements that share formatting or other characteristics.

client

A program that requests information from a Server.

Client-Server

An architecture that found its pinnacle on the Internet, client-server technology is a design concept that allows two computers to share a task, relegating part of the job to a requesting computer (the "client") and designating the rest to a responding computer (the "server"). When browsing the Web, we our Web browser software acts as a client, requesting information from another computer on the Internet. If the other computer is running Web server software, it responds by gathering the required parts of the requested resource and sending them to the client. It is the client's responsibility to receive (and acknowledge receipt of) the resource and to "render" it for the computer user.

closing tag

The counterpart to an opening tag, the closing tag marks the end of an element.

conmpound document

An XML document that contains elements from more than one XML vocabulary.

container tag

A tag that's meant to contain content or other tags. Occasionally known as a "two-sided" tag.

CSS

See Cascading Style Sheets.

D

default namespace

the "main" namespace in a compound document. asdf

deprecated

The term applied to any tag, attribute, or value that has been marked for deletion from the language. According to the w3c, future versions of XHTML will not include tags that have been deprecated.

directory

The original name for a folder. This term is still in use by old-timers like me, and on most Unix systems.

Document Type Declaration

the first line in many XML documents, (normally) an XML element that declares the document to be a particular type of file, such as
<?xml ... ?>
Compare to XML declaration.

Document Type Definition.

The oldest of the XML schemata, a non-XML definition of the rules for validating a particular document. Every newer schema in common use is itself an XML document.

DTD

1. Document Type Declaration. (see)
2. Document Type Definition. (see)

E

element

Everything from the an opening tag to its closing mate, inclusive.
See Diagram A.
Note: in most situations, a tag and an element are NOT the same thing.
Exception: an empty tag IS identical to its element.

empty element, empty tag

One of 11 or 12 tags that have no closing mate. Also known as a "one-sided tag", "standalone tag", or "void tag". In the XHTML vocabulary, examples include <br />, <img />, and <hr />. Note the trailing slash and the space that precedes it.
Note also that this is the only instance where a tag is identical to its element.

entity reference

ACCORDING TO THE BOOK, a "special character" generated by placing a short code between  &  and  ; .
example: &gt; displays as >
Compare to character reference.

epilog

an OPTIONAL section of an XNL file that resides at the end of a document.

escape

To alter the meaning or effect of a select group of characters, normally by prepending a backslash.

extensible

the property of XML that allows users to enhance the language without rewriting it

F

FF, ff

Firefox: a Web browser quickly growing in popoularity

FTP

File Transfer Protocol.

folder

The Windows/MacIntosh name for a directory: a specialized type of computer file, designed to hold other files. As with a physical file folder, a computer folder can hold files and other folders.

G

Google

The only company, at present, that might be capable of wresting World Domination from Microsoft. ;-)

H

HTTP

Hypretext Transfer Protocol. The protocol, or "language", used to communicate between Web Servers and Web Clients.

I

IE, ie

Internet Explorer

IE6

Internet Explorer, version 6 (outdated)

IE7

Internet Explorer, version 7 (outdated)

IE8

Internet Explorer, version 7 (the current version)

J

.

.

K

.

.

L

local part, local name

in a qualified name, the part of the name that comes after the : mark

M

markup language.

A less-than-complex computer language designed to allow the writer to impart structure, and sometimes layout, information to text. Compare to programming language.

N

name collision, naming collision

an error that arises in a compound document when two elements with the same name mean very different things, owing to their disparate origins

namespace

a disambiguation device meant to prevent name collision. asdf

namespace prefix

a prefix attached to an element name (or attribute name) to identify the namespace of the element, and thereby, to differentiate it from other elements with the same name. The prefix and a : mark precede the name.

nesting

the practice of housing one element inside another; this practice depends on closing each element in the proper order.

O

one-sided tag

See empty tag.

open element

See empty element.

P Q

parent, parent element

the "outer" element in which an "inner" element nests.

parse

to analyze a document (or part of a document) to determine its content. (normally performed by software)

parsed character data

data meant to be parsed by a user agent

parser

See XML parser.

pcdata

See parsed character data.

pixel

picture element: a "dot" on a computer monitor. An indivisible area of a computer screen. Most modern computer monitors are comprised of at least 786,432 (1024 columns x 768 rows of) pixels.

processing instruction

a command (embedded within an XML document) that directs the XML parser in processing the document. The most often used processing instruction is
<?xml-stylesheet ... ?>

programming language

A complex computer language designed to allow the writer to control the behavior of one or more computers. Modern programming languages contain constructs to allow for execution by case: Is it before or after 12? Is this the thousandth iteration? Has the user pressed the Q key yet? This decision-making capability is missing from markup languages.

prolog

the required "introduction" portion of every XML file; includes the DTD (if present), overall comments, and processing instructions.

publish

(as defined within this course) To place a resource on the class Web server in such a way that anyone with Web access can stumble onto it.

qualified name

for an element or attribute, a name that begins with a namespace prefix (and a : mark)

qname

See qualified name.

R

recommendation

The "final" publication of a specification from the W3C.

reference

a way to call a resource.
There are three types of reference: relative, absolute, and universal.

resource

Any file that can be retrieved from the Internet via a Web browser. Resources include Web pages, images, database records, etc.

relative (reference)

One of three ways to refer to a resource, a relative reference begins with  .  or  ..  or the name of a file or folder, so the resource is called from the same locatation as the present page.

render

To convert HTML tags into the visual result of those tags. The main job of a browser is to render an HTML file into a page.

root element

the single element that houses all other elements within a single xml file

RSS

Really Simple Syndication (or Rich Site Summary, or RDF Site Summary, or...), a VERY widely used XML application.

rule

1. A horizontal line on a page that serves to separate blocks of text

2. See Style Rule.

S

schema

a set of rules for validating an XML document

screen cursor

Also "insertion point". The intended destination of input from a keyboard. Compare to mouse cursor.

scripting language

a programming language characterized by several features:

• high-level language
• run-time (or "interpreted"), rather than compiled
• can be either a client-side language or a server-side language.
• use simple data structures (strings, arrays, etc.) and generally do not allow for user-created data structures

server

1. A software application that serves requests from appropriate clients.
By far, the most-used server applications in use today are WWW servers, which send resources, on demand, to Web clients (browsers).

2. (by extension, popular usage, laziness, and apathy) the host on which a server resides.

(Note that, stricly speaking, a server is not a computer. It's a softare application housed (hosted) on the the computer.)

SGML

Standard Generalized Markup Language. the "parent" or "source" language for both XML and (X)HTML asdf

siblings, sibling elements

two elements with the same parent

sig, signature

A <!-- comment --> that contains your name, the date, and the purpose of the page.

slash  / 

1. Used to designate folder names on a Web server. Compare to backslash.

2. Used at the beginning of a closing tag to mark it as such.

3. Used at the end of an empty tag to make the tag "self-closing".

SOAP

Simple Object Access Protocol. An XML vocabulary (application) developed specifically to allow language-independent, platform-independent, language-independent communication via HTTP.

special character

ACCORDING TO THE BOOK, either a character reference or an entity reference.

standalone tag

See Empty Tag

style (style=)

One of the four core attributes, style= allows the formatting, via CSS, of any element of the body of a Web page.

style declaration

a single CSS property and CSS value, separated by a colon, and ending with a semicolon. See Diagram C.

style definition

Also "declaration block". See Diagram C.

style rule

A CSS definition, including a selector one or more declarations. See Diagram C.

T

tag

A device that marks the beginning or end of an element. The "code" that allows an XML parser to render an XML file. XML uses  <  and  >  marks to denote a tag: <tagName>

two-sided tag.

See Container Tag

U

UDDI

Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration. A directory service for registering Web services, so others can find them.

universal (reference)

My name for a truly absolute reference, a universal reference always begins with http:// so the resource is always called from the Internet.

URI

Uniform Resource Indicator. (sometimes, Uniform Resource Identifier). Includes URLs and URNs.

URL

Uniform (not universal!) Resource Locator

URN

Uniform Resource Name. a unique identifier, often used to differential a specific namespace. Most URNs look like URLs, but they don't necessarily lead to an existing resource.

user agent

a Web client, such as a browser, mobile phone, etc

V

valid

the property of an XML document that adheres to the "rules" of its DTD or schema. Compare to well-formed.

validation

the process of checking whether an XML document adheres to its DTD or schema

value

The "answer" to the question posed by an attribute. See diagram B.

vocabulary

See XML vocabulary.

void tag

See empty tag.

W

W3C

The World Wide Web Consortium. The international agency responsible for the growth and development of Web based languages such as HTML, XHTML, CSS, etc.

WSDL

Web Services Description Language. An XML vocabulary designed to describe and locate Web services.

Web, WWW

the World Wide Web, an application (a set of programs: clients and servers) that run on the Internet.

Web browser

For our purposes, a program that contains an XML parser, so it can renders resources from the World Wide Web.
Note that, in this class, I will probably, unintentionally, use the terms "Web browser" and "XML parser" insterchangeably.

Web client

Web Browser

Web server

SOFTWARE that resides on a host on the World Wide Web and responds to requests from Web clients (browsers).

Web service

a set of components that communicate via HTTP or another open protocol to allow one computer application to retrive data from another, regardless of the applications, and regardless of the platforms running on those two computers.

Most folks will agree that a "true" Web service uses SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL.

well-formed

the property of an XML document that adheres to the most basic rules (independent of DTDs or schemas). A document can be well-formed and still not be valid, but no document can be valid without first being well-formed.

white space

the space, in content, between any two otherwise adjacent characters of the content of a document. This space may comprise one or more carriage returns, tabs, or spaces.

white space, stripping

the process of collapsing white space so all white space between two characters is rendered as a single space. XML does not strip white space.

Windows Explorer

NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT THE INTERNET EXPLORER. This program helps you find and manipulate files and folders on YOUR computer—not on the Internet.

X Y Z

XHTML

eXtensible HTML.

XML

eXtensible Markup Language.

XML application

an XML vocabulary. a language built from the XML language

XML declaration

the document type declaration at the beginning of every XML file, which tells the user agent what type, version, and encoding scheme the document contains.

XML parser

a subroutine included in most modern Web browsers, that evaluates (or "parses") the contents of an XML document.
Note that, without meaning to, I will probably use the terms "Web browser" and XML parser interchangeably.

XML processor

asdf

XML vocabulary

an application (markup language) created using XML. Some widely used examples include XHTML, MathML, and RSS.

XSL

eXtensible Stylesheet Language; an XML compliant stylesheet language. Compare to CSS.

Diagrams, etc.

Maybe some of this stuff will make more sense if presented visually?

Diagram A: HTML content, tags, and elements

<p>	This is a paragraph.	</p>		<br />
opening tag	content	closing tag		tag
element				element
				(no content)

 

Diagram B:tag, attribute, value:

<

p

id

=

"

firstCar

"

>

<

/

p

>

tag name

attribute

value

tag

Diagram C:CSS syntax, example, terms, and punctuation: