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What is XML Full Form? | XML VS HTML

What is XML Full Form? | XML VS HTML

  • XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a widely used language for structuring and storing data in a human-readable and machine-readable format.
  • It is similar to HTML, but while HTML is used for presenting information on the web, XML is used to describe data.

What is XML used For?

  • Self-Descriptive: XML documents are self-descriptive, meaning that they include information about the structure and content of the data they contain.
  • Hierarchical Structure: XML documents are organized hierarchically, with nested elements representing parent-child relationships.
  • Platform-Independent: XML is platform-independent, making it easy to share data between different systems.
  • Extensible: Users can define their tags and data structures, making XML highly extensible.
  • Text-Based: XML is human-readable and can be edited using a simple text editor.

XML Naming Rules

All XML elements and attributes must follow the naming rules:
  • Names must start with a letter or underscore.
  • Names can only contain letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, and periods.
  • Names are case-sensitive.

XML Document

An XML document consists of the following building blocks:
Elements
  • XML elements are the fundamental components of an XML document. They are enclosed within angle brackets and can have attributes.
  • Elements can be nested inside other elements.
Example:
1<person>
2  <name>John Doe</name>
3  <age>30</age>
4</person>
5
Attributes
  • Attributes provide additional information about an element. They are name-value pairs and are defined within the start tag of an element.
Example:
1<person id="123" gender="male">
2  <name>John Doe</name>
3</person>
4
Text Content
  • Text content is the data enclosed within an element. It can be any text or numeric value.
Example:
1description>This is some text content.</description>

XML VS HTML

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and XML serve different purposes:
  • HTML is used for creating the structure and presentation of web pages. It is not as strict as XML and is designed for rendering in web browsers.
  • XML is used for structuring and storing data. It is more rigid and focused on describing the content and relationships within the data.

XML Parser

  • XML parsers are software components that read and interpret XML documents. They help extract and manipulate data from XML.
  • Common XML parsers include DOM and SAX parsers in Java.

DTD (Document Type Definition)

  • A DTD is used to define the structure and the legal elements and attributes of an XML document.
  • It acts as a schema for validating XML documents.
Example of a DTD declaration within an XML document:
1<!DOCTYPE library [
2  <!ELEMENT library (book+)>
3  <!ELEMENT book (title, author, year)>
4  <!ELEMENT title (#PCDATA)>
5  <!ELEMENT author (#PCDATA)>
6  <!ELEMENT year (#PCDATA)>
7]>
8<library>
9  <book>
10    <title>Sample Book</title>
11    <author>John Doe</author>
12    <year>2022</year>
13  </book>
14</library>
15

XML with HTML

  • XML can be embedded within HTML using the <xml> tag. This allows XML data to be displayed within an HTML page.
1<html>
2  <body>
3    <xml id="myData" src="data.xml"></xml>
4    <div>
5      <h3>XML Data</h3>
6      <div id="xmlContent"></div>
7    </div>
8  </body>
9</html>
10

XML with CSS

  • CSS can be used to style XML data when it is integrated with HTML. Selectors can target specific XML elements for styling.
1#xmlContent h4 {
2  font-weight: bold;
3  color: #333;
4}
5
6#xmlContent p {
7  color: #666;
8}
9

XML with Javascript

1window.onload = function () {
2  var xmlData = document.getElementById("myData");
3  var xmlContent = document.getElementById("xmlContent");
4  var xmlDoc = xmlData.contentDocument;
5  
6  var name = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("name")[0].textContent;
7  var age = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("age")[0].textContent;
8  
9  xmlContent.innerHTML = "<h4>Name:</h4><p>" + name + "</p><h4>Age:</h4><p>" + age + "</p>";
10}
11

Conclusion

XML is a way to store and structure data, like a digital filing system. It helps computers understand and share information easily.