Oracle Web Applications: PL/SQL Developer's Introduction

Oracle Web Applications: PL/SQL Developer's IntroductionSearch this book
Previous: 9.1 Motivations for XMLChapter 9
XML
Next: 9.3 The Document Type Definition (DTD)
 

9.2 XML Syntax

XML achieves its flexibility by allowing you to extend a base markup language (the XML specification itself) with tags of your own design. You create tags to structure the text within a document so that its underlying meaning is clearly presented. For example, to denote an item on an invoice, you could use an <ITEM> tag.

While XML and HTML documents look a lot alike, there are several important syntactical differences. HTML is fairly flexible. You can omit end tags from many of an HTML document's most important structures, such as list items, and most browsers will happily display the document as best they can. XML documents, however, must meet a more rigid set of requirements:

A document that follows all these rules is called well-formed, which means that it is syntactically correct. Even more so than with HTML, XML requires a precise syntax to make sure the documents follow a predictable structure. Fortunately, there are several commercially available tools that help you create well-formed XML documents. Figure 9.1 shows Vervet Logic's XML Pro (http://www.vervet.com).

Figure 9.1: XML Pro by Vervet Logic

Figure 9.1

In the next section we'll look at how you can define strict rules the tags in your documents must follow.


Previous: 9.1 Motivations for XMLOracle Web Applications: PL/SQL Developer's IntroductionNext: 9.3 The Document Type Definition (DTD)
9.1 Motivations for XMLBook Index9.3 The Document Type Definition (DTD)

The Oracle Library Navigation

Copyright (c) 2000 O'Reilly & Associates. All rights reserved.

Library Home Oracle PL/SQL Programming, 2nd. Ed. Guide to Oracle 8i Features Oracle Built-in Packages Advanced PL/SQL Programming with Packages Oracle Web Applications Oracle PL/SQL Language Pocket Reference Oracle PL/SQL Built-ins Pocket Reference