XML for Not Yet Techies 3

XML will utilize a DTD. This pre-defined file of commonly used tags is called a Document Type Definition (DTD). These already exist in the offline world. Many industries have set standards for their industry documents, using SGML. Right now, many industry groups are working on setting up similar online standards. There is already a CHEMXML for the chemical industry. As XML spreads more DTDs will emerge.

That’s what I already illustrated. But let’s try a business example.

You’re a small author and self-publisher. You’ve just published your book, "How to Grow Hair on Artichokes." You want Amazon to sell it, and they agree, and ask for all the information they need to put it into their database. You send it to them using standard ASCII email. Somebody at Amazon must then read the information and enter it into their database. Reading ASCII is all you can do with it.

However, by 2003 you send them the following email in ASCII but tagged according to Amazon’s standard required XML style sheet:

<title>HOW TO GROW HAIR ON ARTICHOKES</title>

<author>Rachel Dogooder</author>

<publisher>Beyond the Fringe Press</publisher>

<copydate>2003</copydate>

<retailprice>$1,000,000</retailprice>

<ISBN>12345</ISBN>

<publisherdescription>This is the best book written since Shakespere. You must buy it or else.</publisherdescription>

Amazon’s computer reads it and automatically sends all this XML information to the database, assigns the Amazon title number, even corrects the misspelling of Shakespeare’s name and automatically submits it to the search engines. The book’s page comes up at the top of Alta Vista when Rachel’s mother requests it.

Not only that, since Rachel produced the entire book HOW TO GROW HAIR ON ARTICHOKES with it rather than paper, she can send a free copy to every member of her high school graduating class and they can all read it no matter whether they use a cell phone, a Web TV box or any kind of computer, desk top, portable or palm flip top.

It’s important to stress here that it is just beginning. Hardly any web sites are making use of it, for the simple reason that hardly any browsers support it.

Netscape says it will support metadata in Communicator/Navigator 5.0. It will be a section code-named Aurora. They will use the now-developing standard of RDF (Resource Description Format) to present what Netscape calls "full information integration on the desktop."