Extensible Markup Language (XML)
CWRC-Writer allows users to markup their document with eXtensible Markup Language (XML). In this document, we provide an overall description of XML.
What is XML?
eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language similar to HTML and SGML. Created by the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), XML documents can be easily read by both humans and machines
(over the web). It allows you to markup your document with elements and the attribute that
follows a hierarchy of rules.
The rules can be set by both the structure of the document (depending on if it is a poem,
prose, etc.) and the schema used in the document. You can create your own schemas for your
document, allowing you to define your own rules and attributes of this markup. CWRC-Writer
allows you to upload your own schema to work with.
As noted above, XML consists of elements and attributes. Elements are the structure tags, they allow users to markup the hierarchy of the document. Attributes add supplemental information to the elements tagged in a document. For example, if you are tagging a person, you can add qualifying information to the tag, such as if that person is real or fictional and that persons occupation (if any).
CWRC-Writer allows users to add the elements using a tag drop down menu in the toolbar. When
you add the XML elements to your document, in the preloaded TEI XML tag, you are also
presented with a pop-up where you can add attributes specific to that tag. For the major
tags in CWRC-Writer (person, place, date, organization, citation, note, title, correction,
keyword, and link) they have their own toolbar icons. These toolbar buttons add an XML and
the corresponding RDF tag to the document, yet this depend on what method of overlap you are
in. Please see the RDF and Overlap concepts for more information.
Related Links:
Websites:
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). (Last modified 2014). Extensible Markup Language (XML). Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.w3.org/XML/
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Schools. (n.d.). XML tutorial. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.w3schools.com/xml/
- Walsh, Norman. (1998). O'Reilly: A technical introduction to XML. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://www.xml.com/pub/a/98/10/guide0.html
- Birnbaum, D.J. (n.d.). What is XML and why should humanists care? An even gentler introduction to XML. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://dh.obdurodon.org/what-is-xml.xhtml