XML Training: Concepts

Introduction to Reading and
Evaluating a DTD

(1-day lecture, with exercises)

Document Type Definitions are the heart of many XML applications. If the DTD you are using is inappropriate to your data or your needs, everything else you do will be harder than it needs to be.

Can you tell – before using a given DTD – how well it will work for you? How close does the match between your document and the DTD need to be? What is an “extensible” DTD? What kinds of DTD changes are trivial, and what are significant? How do you explain problems to your manager or to technical staff?

This course shows you how to read a DTD and understand how it compares with your content, surveys the fundamental issues that DTD developers address, helps you set expectations for DTD evolution, and examines some common problems and approaches to solving them.

Prerequisites: None.