Publishing XML in Java

Creating USS Code 128 in Java Publishing XML

The output of XML documents is not limited to an XML client viewed via a computer screen As with SGML, HTML, and other document formats and specifications, you can publish XML data to a number of venues Output of XML data can include XML-compatible Web browsers XML-aware databases Printed publications, including Newspapers Newsletters Brochures and advertising materials Magazines Books

Reference materials Custom and personal publications Computer help files Software products, including Multimedia products Programming scripts that interpret XML data CD-ROMs Newsfeeds You can probably think of other ways to use XML in addition to the ideas on this list Theoretically, you can use XML in any form of data transfer or document exchange, which is a great reason to learn about and use it For cuttingedge information about how other folks are publishing XML, check out a good XML portal such as wwwxmlorg (XMLorg) or wwwxmlcom (XML From the Inside Out)

One of the main purposes of using XML is to create documents and data that conform to a technical standard so that you can share your documents with others and you can read their documents in the same format Thus, when you work with XML, you probably want to set up a system that stores, manages, and shares XML DTDs and documents for more than one person A system that works best is usually a client-server system, usually modeled after typical file-sharing servers and Internet servers An ideal solution is a client-server system running over a TCP/IP-based network (that is, a network that uses standard Internet protocols) that includes both server and client XML-aware software

Clients (and client-side includes)

Because XML is a specification that you can use on any platform and over a network, most developers of XML products focus on creating platformindependent, fully networkable, XML-savvy systems So, at this point, most XML clients are emerging in the form of Web browsers or Java applications, including Web browser plug-ins and products for Java-enabled Web browsers If you manage a Web site or an intranet that includes XML documents or you develop the technical aspects of the content for your organization, you may be interested in using client-side includes A client-side include is an instruction or set of instructions embedded within a document that processes some type of data on or within the client

You can use client-side includes in XML as long as any embedded code passed to a third-party engine or interface doesn t contain any characters that can be misinterpreted as XML markup Third-party engines and interfaces include Structured Document Query Language (SDQL) inquiries Java input Netscape LiveWire requests Streamed data content To prevent characters from being misinterpreted as XML markup, you have two options: Use CDATA sections to hold XML-specific code CDATA sections provide a safe zone for XML code by telling the XML application to avoid parsing it (You can find out more about CDATA sections in Book IX, 3) Use character and entity references instead of markup characters For example, substitute < for the left-angle bracket (<) As long as you take these precautions, you can configure a powerful system that integrates XML with other types of data and data-processing engines Visit wwwoasis-openorg/cover/xmlSupporthtml to find a list of currently available and new XML-aware products, including clients

Servers (and server-side includes)

After you have a number of XML files, you need a way to share them with others An efficient way to share XML files is to store, organize, and serve them from a server on a network In fact, an organization of people who need to effectively share XML files with each other must have access to one or more XML-enabled servers If you want to set up a system to host and serve XML documents, you may not have to purchase additional equipment and software if you already have an Internet or intranet server in place You can serve XML files fairly easily by making a few changes to the server software settings To serve XML documents, which are usually identified as files with an xml or XML extension, you must add the correct Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type to the MIME-types configuration file or list