e-docs: Getting Cozy with XML

What many probably don’t understand is just how an XML document is created. To take a hands-on look at the language and its functionality, I checked out one of the latest XML editors, Adept Editor 8.0. Just as there are tools that help authors create HTML pages without knowing how to code HTML (MS Front Page, Adobe Page Mill, etc.), Adept Editor from Arbortext (www.arbortext.com) provides a WYSIWYG environment that lets authors create XML documents without requiring a programming course.

All XML documents contain elements (e.g., headlines, tables, paragraphs, hyperlinks, graphics, etc.) and rules about those elements explaining their placement within the document and their proper use. Elements also have attributes, which further describe their content as well as interrelationships between elements. Together these elements, rules and attributes make up a DTD (Document Type Definition). Whether it’s a contract, invoice or shipping form, the DTD is your personal or corporate rulebook for what that document will contain and the form it will follow.

Using Adept Editor, you create DTDs within the Document Architect. This, in turn, automatically creates an associated template that you can edit to present more or less structure to users. The template supplies tags that are used to identify the elements of a document as defined in the DTD.

Adept 8.0 also supplies many standard DTDs that are industry based (manufacturing, automotive, government). These DTD’s are accompanied by predefined templates that can be customized by the user.

To create a new document in Adept, you first open one of the predefined templates. The template places tag prompts in the document that identify where each element should be. You simply place the cursor on the tag prompts (title, author, chapter, paragraph, etc.) and begin typing in the missing element.

Adept presents two views of an open document. On the left is the Document Map, which presents a tree structure of all the elements within the document and their attributes. The Edit window is on the right, where text is entered. For convenience, the Document Map and Edit window are fully interactive. Information that is altered in the Document Map is reflected in the Edit window or vice versa.

If DTDs let organizations create standards for documents such as contracts, manuals and even memos, then Adept’s templates go even further by walking the author through a creation process that conforms to that DTD. The template prevents users from creating invalid documents — that is, documents that do not conform to the DTD. It ensures that all of the vital information is there in the prescribed format.

To add additional elements or alter their attributes, Adept provides pop-up windows that list the valid elements and attributes that can be used within that template.

The goal of XML is to create a document that has the intelligence it needs for whatever its particular use will be (publishing, searching, exchanging, etc.). Tools like Adept Editor help companies take advantage of XML’s functionality by enforcing standards for their vital documents. It also keeps the authoring process in the hands of the subject- matter experts.

Resource Locator

• MSDN Online hosts Extreme XML, a site that is totally dedicated to answering developer’s XML questions. Visit the site at: msdn.microsoft.com/voices/xml.asp

• Eve’s Advisory column provides free insights on XML as well as links to other XML-related resources. This doyen of XML can be reached at: www.arbortext.com/Think_Tank/think_tank.html

• The XML language was developed and approved by the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3c.org/XML). The site has links to XML specifications, discussion groups and software.

• XML FAQ (www.ucc.ie/xml/) answers the most frequently asked questions about XML.

Info Bytes

• The current web browsers that support XML are: Internet Explorer 5.0 and Netscape Communicator 4.6

Metadata

Arbortext
Waltham, MA, 781-529-1000

Tool:

Adept Editor 8.0

Requirements:

Windows 9X/NT 4.0, Unix

Features:

Supports XML and SGML. Provides a helpful side-by-side view with a Document Map. Tags highlight any empty elements in your document, “prompting” you to fill in the missing information. A Quick Tag menu lists the valid elements that can be inserted at your cursor’s current position.

Comment:

The Document Map feature is ideal for handling very large and complex documents.

ProductInfo no. 203