Weekly XML News Archives - October 1998
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This page collects recent
XML developments from many
different sources. It is updated monthly.
Contributions
of newsworthy items will be considered.
Older news items are also archived.
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Weekly XML News: Week Ending Oct. 31
Rich Site Summary Generating Interest
Rich Site Summary (RSS)
is an XML-based channel description mechanism that has some
similarities to the old Microsoft CDF format.
Netscape developed RSS for the
My Netscape Network,
Netcenter's customizable start page service.
However, RSS is gaining more widespread use lately.
Webreview has two recent RSS articles:
RSS Delivers the XML Promise
and Why Would You Use RSS?
A tool called RSS Maker
is a Web-based approach to creating RSS files, written in perl.
Another tool, also called RSS Maker,
is available from Macrobytes Resources.
See also the software channel notifier,
XSA: XML Software Autoupdate.
SMIL Animation Working Draft Released
The W3C posted a Working Draft for
SMIL Animation on October 29th.
"This is a working draft of a specification of animation functionality for XML documents. It describes
an animation framework as well as a set of base XML animation elements suitable for integration
with XML documents. It is based upon the SMIL 1.0 timing model, with some extensions."
Simple API for CSS
A Java-based API
for Cascading Style Sheets called
SAC (Simple API for CSS)
has been released as a beta version from the W3 Style Working Group.
"SAC 1.0 is a standard interface for CSS parser and supposed to work
with CSS1, CSS2, CSS3 (currently under development) and others CSS derived languages."
A C language implementation is also available.
New SVG Viewer from IBM
IBM alphaWorks has updated its
SVGView freeware to version 0.3a,
which includes important new features such as networking support.
SVGView now matches the Aug. 18, 1999
SVG Working Draft.
ISO Releases HTML Draft International Standard
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
has released a
Draft International Standard HTML in XML syntax, based on
HTML 4.0, which
unfortunately has a number of key differences
from XHTML from the W3C.
Bean Scripting Framework from IBM
The IBM alphaWorks
folks have given developers yet another free technology
called Bean Scripting Framework (BSF).
BSF "is an architecture for incorporating scripting into Java
applications and applets. Scripting languages such as Netscape Rhino (Javascript), VBScript,
Perl, Tcl, Python, NetRexx and Rexx are commonly used to augment an application's function or
to script together a set of application components to form an application."
XML Server Mailing List Formed
An email list called
xml-server
was started by Eric van der Vlist for developers interested in an XML server platform.
See the
XML Server Dream thread.
Weekly XML News: Week Ending Oct. 22
SVG Presentation from XML World
XML Meets Graphics,
the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
Sept. 14, 1999 presentation
by Chris Lilley from
XML World has been posted.
IBM MQSeries to Support XML
IBM has
announced support for XML
has been added to its
MQSeries,
products that enable application programs to communicate with each other using messages
and queues (commercial messaging).
IBM says:
A message in XML syntax allows you to address any application listening
on an MQSeries queue, both synchronously (application has to return a
completion message) and asynchronously ("fire and forget"). The queue can
be input to MQSeries Integrator (facilitating message transformation) or any
other MQSeries application. Thus, XML serves as a means for external
program integration and "family interoperability".
WiredAnywhere and MoDAL from IBM alphaWorks
More exciting technology from IBM alphaWorks.
WiredAnywhere
is a "client/server demo based on WML [Wireless Markup Language]
Transcoding, which shows how a networked
Palm Pilot can browse information Live on the Internet."
(If you don't have a Palm Pilot, the WiredAnywhere links to an emulator.)
See also the W3C Note entitled
WAP [Wireless Application Protocol] Binary XML Content Format
and the WAP Forum Web site.
MoDAL is an XML-based
"language and interpreter for PDAs that allows you to define a user interface and control for
network services available on TSpaces."
Schematron: XML Structure Validation
The Schematron:
An XML Structure Validation Language using Patterns in Trees
is a novel approach to schemas by Rick Jeliffe that has been rapidly gaining popularity.
An initial
tutorial by Miloslav Nic
is available, for example. Schematron is an
XSL Transformation stylesheet
which generates a stylesheet that can then be used to validate XML documents.
Validation is a two step process.
RDF::Parser Module from Pro Solutions
Pro Solutions announced
a production quality parser for the
Resource Description Framework (RDF) Model & Syntax Specification (Feb. 1999).
RDF::Parser is implemented as a Perl module and is available for
download.
XML Events Calendar
XML.org has what appears to be the most complete
internatioinal XML events calendar to date.
Check it out!
Two New XSL Sites
Two new Extensible Stylesheet Language sites went online in Oct. 1999.
The first is
XSLINFO by the prolific
James Tauber.
Among other things, XSLINFO will host
a library of stylesheets for a variety of both input and output vocabularies.
The other new XSL site,
XSLT.com,
is a portal site for the XSLT community
by XML Global.
"XSLT.com is a resource site for xslt, xsl, xml and other related
technologies. All the resources listed on the pages within are a
free service to users as well as those wanting to promote* a
product or service."
BizTalk Jumpstart Kit Updated
A new BizTalk jumpstart kit
is available.
Slippery SOAP
Tne CNET.com article,
SOAP could slip up Microsoft rivals,
makes the point that this new BizTalk-related
technology from Microsoft could pose a serious problem for
Java backers.
Microsoft has developed a new technology for exchanging
information over the Web that could give the software giant an
advantage over Sun Microsystems, IBM, and other competitors
if adopted by a standards body.
The new technology, called the
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)....
doesn't require any Microsoft software, is a
network protocol that lets software objects developed using different
languages communicate with each other. Microsoft sees it as
effectively leveling the playing field between Windows and
development strategies based on Java.
A related article is
Big Blue to counter BizTalk with XML schema initiative
by InfoWorld.
Weekly XML News: Week Ending Oct. 15
eCo Framework for e-Commerce
On Oct. 13, 1999, CommerceNet released the
eCo Specification.
eCo is a framework, rather than a replacement for existing standards.
The spec is the work of 35 companies and organizations, including American Express,
Cisco Systems, GEIS, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, and many others.
It provides a means for businesses to identify each other,
discover each others' product and service offerings, and quickly access a
description of the e-commerce standards and trading practices each potential
partner has adopted....
Unlike businesses mutually adopting a single
e-commerce standard for seamless integration, with the costs and delays this
implies, interoperability is not an all-or-nothing issue. The eCo Specification
elevates integration from the systems level to the business level by enabling a
business to present a clean and stable interface to its business partners despite
changes in its internal technology implementation, organization, or processes.
See the eCo Architecture diagram..
FOP 0.11.0 Released
On Oct. 11, 1999,
James Tauber released
version 0.11.0 of FOP, his Formatting Objects to PDF software
for XSL FO. FOP is an Open-Source XSL Formatter and Renderer.
OASIS Publishes XML Exchange Table Model DTD
In early October,
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards)
published the
XML Exchange Table Model Document Type Definition,
a subset of the CALS Table Model Document Type Definition.
This OASIS Technical Memorandum....is an
XML version of OASIS Technical Resolution 9503:1995, Exchange Table Model
Document Type Definition. The Exchange subset has been chosen as being a
useful subset of the complete CALS table model such that, if an application's
tables are tagged according to this subset, there is a high probability that the
table will be interoperable among the great majority of OASIS vendor products.
In the OASIS announcement, ArborText's Norman Walsh stated that:
"The benefit of the exchange subset is that, if an
application's tables are tagged according to this subset, there is a high probability
that the table will be interoperable among the great majority of OASIS vendor
products."
Two New XML Magazines to Debut
SYS-CON Publications announed a bi-monthly magazine:
XML-Journal
(www.XML-Journal.com) will provide detailed technical information and
instructions from the leading names in XML-based application development.
The journal will also feature interviews with industry leaders and experts in the
XML, Web and e-commerce development communities, as well as reviews of
software add-ons and plug-ins, companion tools, and analyses of successful
deployments of XML-based applications.
Another XML magazine, called
XML Magazine (catchy, eh?),
is due in November from Fawcette Technical Publications.
IBM XML4J Early Access 2
The Oct. 8, 1999
Early Access release 2 of IBM's xml4j XML parser
supports the second draft of XML Schema, DOM Level 2, and the SAX2 alpha version.
Weekly XML News: Week Ending Oct. 8th, 1999
Milestone 10 of Mozilla
(which will eventually become Netscape 5) was released Oct. 8, 1999. The
Available Gecko Functionality
section of the
Release Notes
refer to support for XML, CSS1 (and beyond), DOM1 (and beyond), basic XLinks and Namespaces.
XSLT and XPath Become Proposed Recommendations
Two XSL-related specs were announced as Proposed Recommendations on Oct. 8th:
Our guess is that XSLT and XPath will become full W3C Recommendations in November 1999.
The Cambridge Communique is
"a report of the results of a meeting of a group
of W3C Members involved in XML and
RDF to advance the general
understanding of a unified approach to the expression of Web data
models. This document is one response to the Web data architecture
discussed in
Web Architecture: Describing and Exchanging Data. "
Zvon XSL Tutorial by Miloslav Nic
Miloslav Nic has a very useful XSL tutorial available
with frames or
without frames.
The tutorial is also
downloadable.
RenderX XSL Formatting Objects
RenderX offers a rendering engine for
XSL Formatting Objects. See their Web site for useful examples, such as
XSL FO Parade and
XSL FO How To.
For other XSL-FO implementations, see
Transforming XML to print-ready format.
XML Articles in Network Magazine
The Oct. 1999 issue of Network Magazine
features several XML articles from Network Administrator's perspective, such as
XML: HTML Extreme: What is XML & why should you care?
and
Network and Systems Management with XML.
BizConnect
"is the first easy-to-use infrastructure
for creating XML-based business-to-business applications. BizConnect
allows you to quickly automate a variety of business-to-business
interactions such as information sharing, syndication, and supply-chain
automation."
XML Schema Article by IBM
IBM has added a short, straight-forward article called
The XML Schema standard:
A way to make XML datatype definitions more specific and flexible.
VoiceXML
is for distributed voice applications.
It is designed for creating audio dialogs
that feature synthesized speech, digitized audio, recognition of spoken
and DTMF key input, recording of spoken input, telephony, and
mixed-initiative conversations.
The goal is to provide voice access and interactive voice response
(e.g. by telephone, PDA, or desktop) to web-based content and applications.
VoiceXML is being defined by an industry forum,
VoiceXML Forum,
founded by AT&T, IBM, Lucent and Motorola.
Week Ending October 1, 1999
A great new XML Web site,
xmlhack: developer news from the XML community,
was launched September 30, 1999.
xmlhack is a
"news site for XML
developers. Our aim is to distill the
essential news, opinions, tips and issues
concerning XML development from the
growing number of high-quality online
information sources."
This promises to be a major XML resource by
editor/publisher Edd Dumbill
and contributing editors Gabe Beged-Dov, Simon St.Laurent, and James Tauber.
David Brownell released
three Open Source XML packages with support for
SAX2 and DOM2.
"The first package is a set of SAX2 utilities, including a
relatively conformant version of the AElfred XML parser as well as interfaces to HTML and XML parsers
from Sun (Swing HTML parser, Java Project X) and Oracle. The second package is an early version of
DOM Level 2 support, including events. The third package is a driver which can be used to perform XML
conformance tests, using databases such as the
OASIS/NIST XML Conformance Test Suite."
Dongwook Shin announced the release of
XRS: XML Retrieval System.
XRS is a search engine that can be constrained on the element level,
rather than returning entire documents. A Java componet renders the search
result as HTML, so an XML-enabled browser is not needed.
W3C Update
Two new Working Drafts from W3C appeared on September 28, 1999:
- Paged Media Properties for CSS3
a proposed "extension to CSS to permit finer control over the paged
presentation, both printed and online, of Web pages ....[such as]
properties for describing headers, footers, footnotes and endnotes."
- Unicode in XML and other Markup Languages
- provides guidelines on the use of the Unicode Standard in conjunction
with markup languages such as XML.
Tim Bray's succinct posting entitled
Related-Resource Discovery for XML
underscores the need for a unified approach (that currently does not exist)
to the retrieval of XML resources such as DTDs, stylesheets, RDF metadata,
human-readable documentation, executable code, etc.
XML Solutions offers free
compression software, XMLZip.
"XML files can be compressed based on the node level in the XML document.
On the client side the XML file can be selected & uncompressed according
to the specific node the user is referencing, rather than uncompressing
the entire document. Data can be exchanged at a much faster transmission
rate and application processing time is decreased."
Elliotte Rusty Harold posted a useful introduction to
Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT)
from a September 1999 presentation to JAOO.
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