Welcome to Class

Hello RISD XML class students. I welcome you to our class together. The next twelve weeks should provide a fantastic ride for you as you learn the big picture of how dynamic organizational data is maintained and presented on the Web for the benefit of those who care about the organization or use data in their day-to-day occupation. The Web can become a conduit of important information the world can use to make a better quality of life. We'll be getting our hands active with XML, XSLT, and the validating languages DTD and XML Schema (which is itself an XML-based language).

eXist-db

If you would like to get a jump on installing useful software we'll be using in class, you can install the eXist-db software we'll be using together in class to understand the concept of an XML database. To run the eXist-db client and server, you need a valid Java Development Kit on the machine you plan on which you will installing the eXist-db software. If you have a 'javac' or 'javac.exe' file on your system, you likely have a JDK installed. You can download the latest JDK from Sun microsystems here:

http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp

and can download the eXist-db software here:

http://exist.sourceforge.net/download.html

The .jar file works similarly to a .exe file on Windows (you just click on it to install it once you've downloaded it). Install both the JDK and the eXist-db software downloads and be sure to note where you install your JDK so you can let the eXist-db installer know where it is when it asks.

Once you've installed both pieces of software, you can start-up the core services for eXist-db. Launch the server software first (you'll see a control panel appear in a command prompt (aka terminal) window). Server boot commands will appear without error. After the server is running, you can launch the client and play with the commands (although we'll be doing that together in class). We'll be going over the Quick Start document together but you can play around with the query examples in the sandbox tool (whenever the server is running successfully). To get started with the sandbox quickly, try any of the example queries available from the Paste example drop-down menu at the top of the interface.

PHP XML interface

I have given the class read/write permissions to the /var/www/html/risd/xmlfun directory on the server from last night's discussion. You can use the mysqlfun userid to connect to www.oworld.org (and the password we used last night) to access that directory (just change your current directory to it). Once you are in there, you'll see that both the text.php and text_newfile.php files work to perform tasks we set up in class together. You can see the results of running both files via any Web browser at:

http://www.oworld.org/risd/xmlfun/test.php and
http://www.oworld.org/risd/xmlfun/test_newfile.php (which creates the newfile.xml on the server).

Also with a Web browser you can confirm that the text_newfile.php statements actually create the http://www.oworld.org/risd/xmlfun/newfile.xml with the new item element appended to the end!

JavaScript XML interface

The JavaScript exampes are just another reason for you to use the read/write permissions to the /var/www/html/risd/xmlfun directory on the server for your XML interaction attempts. You can use the mysqlfun userid to connect to www.oworld.org (and the password we used last night) to access that directory (just change your current directory to it). Once you are in there, you'll see that both the javascript_ff.html (using sample.xml for Firefox and Opera) and javascript_ie.html (using ticker_items.xml for Internet Explorer) files work to perform tasks we reiewed in class together. You can see the results of running both files via any Web browser at:

http://www.oworld.org/risd/xmlfun/javascript_ff.html and
http://www.oworld.org/risd/xmlfun/javascript_ie.html (which creates the newfile.xml on the server).

If you want to an exercise to verify you understand the JavaScript process well, take the javascript_ff.html file and change it to work in Internet Explorer using the syntax to connect to and work with an XML file through Microsoft's built-in ActiveX-based XML processing program. Change the text that gets output to the browser page so that it makes better sense in the context of the data provided in the sample.xml file. That latter step requires adding (X)HTML formatting to the output page (something the other Microsoft example shows clearly). We'll do it together in class next week!