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The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) XML Core Working Group has published the W3C Recommendation of "Canonical XML Version 1.1." Canonical XML Version 1.1 is a revision to Canonical XML Version 1.0 to address issues related to inheritance of attributes in the XML namespace when canonicalizing document subsets, including the requirement not to inherit xml:id, and to treat xml:base URI path processing properly. Canonical XML Version 1.1 is applicable to XML 1.0 and defined in terms of the XPath 1.0 data model. It is not defined for XML 1.1. As a Recommendation, this is a stable document and may be used as reference material or cited from another document. http://www.w3.org/XML/

Posted by NewsShark at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: standards, W3C, XML
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The World WIde Web Consortium XML Query Working Group has published two First Public Working Drafts: "XQuery Scripting Extension 1.0" and "XQuery Scripting Extension 1.0 Use Cases." The former defines an extension to XQuery 1.0 and XQuery Update facility. Expressions can be evaluated in a specific order, with later expressions seeing the effects of the expressions that came before them. This specification introduces the concept of a block with local variable declarations, as well as several new kinds of expressions, including assignment, while, continue, break, and exit expressions. The latter specification includes the usage scenarios that motivate the changes in the former. http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-xquery-sx-10-20080328/. Also see http://gilbane.com/xml/2008/03/first-public-working-draft-of.html

Posted by NewsShark at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: W3C, XML, XQuery
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Oracle announced they have contributed the XQilla XQuery engine code, an embeddable XQuery engine for developers building XML-based applications, under the open source Apache 2.0 license. By making XQilla XQuery engine available to developers under the Apache license, Oracle is furthering the adoption of XQuery and XML for application areas including Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Enterprise Content Management. The XQilla XQuery engine, an implementation of the XQuery 1.0 standard published by the W3C, enables developers to query XML data, similar to SQL for relational data. Developers can use the XQilla XQuery engine in commercial and open source applications at no cost, modify and improve it, as well as distribute it in binary and source code form. The XQilla project is hosted on SourceForge, where an active community collaborates to further the technology. For applications requiring XQuery and an XML document repository, Oracle has also integrated XQilla XQuery engine within Oracle Berkeley DB XML, an embeddable, open source XML database. http://www.w3.org/XML/Query/, http://xqilla.sourceforge.net/, http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/berkeley-db/xml/index.html

Posted by NewsShark at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: open source, Oracle, XML, XQuery
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The XML Query Working Group has published the Candidate Recommendation of "XQuery Update Facility 1.0." This document defines an update facility that extends the "XML Query language, XQuery." The XQuery Update Facility provides expressions that can be used to make persistent changes (including node insertion, deletion, modification, and creation) to instances of the XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model. The Working Group also published two additional documents that will become Working Group notes: " XQuery Update Facility 1.0 Requirements" and "XQuery Update Facility 1.0 Use Cases." http://www.w3.org/XML/Query/

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and tagged: search, W3C, XML, XQuery
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) XML Core Working Group has published the Proposed Recommendation of "Canonical XML 1.1." The specification establishes a method for determining whether two documents are identical, or whether an application has not changed a document, except for transformations permitted by XML 1.0 and Namespaces in XML. Canonical XML 1.1 is a revision to "Canonical XML 1.0" designed to address issues related to inheritance of attributes in the XML namespace when canonicalizing document subsets, including the requirement not to inherit xml:id, and to treat xml:base URI path processing properly. Comments are welcome through 07 March. Learn more about W3C's XML Activity. http://www.w3.org/XML/Core/, http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/PR-xml-c14n11-20080129/

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and tagged: standards, W3C, XML
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W3C (The World Wide Web Consortium) announced the publication of SPARQL, the key standard for opening up data on the Semantic Web. With SPARQL query technology, pronounced "sparkle," people can focus on what they want to know rather than on the database technology or data format used behind the scenes to store the data. Because SPARQL queries express high-level goals, it is easier to extend them to unanticipated data sources, or even to port them to new applications. Many successful query languages exist, including standards such as SQL and XQuery. These were primarily designed for queries limited to a single product, format, type of information, or local data store. Traditionally, it has been necessary to formulate the same high-level query differently depending on application or the specific arrangement chosen for the relational database. And when querying multiple data sources it has been necessary to write logic to merge the results. These limitations have imposed higher developer costs and created barriers to incorporating new data sources. The goal of the Semantic Web is to enable people to share, merge, and reuse data globally. SPARQL is designed for use at the scale of the Web, and thus enables queries over distributed data sources, independent of format. Because SPARQL has no tie to a specific database format, it can be used to take advantage of "Web 2.0" data and mash it up with other Semantic Web resources. Furthermore, because disparate data sources may not have the same 'shape' or share the same properties, SPARQL is designed to query non-uniform data. The SPARQL specification defines a query language and a protocol and works with the other core Semantic Web technologies from W3C: Resource Description Framework (RDF) for representing data; RDF Schema; Web Ontology Language (OWL) for building vocabularies; and Gleaning Resource Descriptions from Dialects of Languages (GRDDL), for automatically extracting Semantic Web data from documents. SPARQL also makes use of other W3C standards found in Web services implementations, such as Web Services Description Language (WSDL). http://www.w3.org/

Posted by NewsShark at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: search, semantic web, SPARQL, W3C
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) XML Processing Model Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of "XProc: An XML Pipeline Language." Comments are welcome through 24 October. Used to control and organize the flow of documents, the XProc language standardizes interactions, inputs and outputs for transformations for the large group of specifications such as XSLT, XML Schema, XInclude and Canonical XML that operate on and produce XML documents. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity. http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-xproc-20070920/

Posted by NewsShark at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: standards, W3C, XML
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The World Wide Web Consortium is connecting the Semantic Web and microformats communities. With "Gleaning Resource Descriptions from Dialects of Languages", or GRDDL (pronounced "griddle"), software can automatically extract information from structured Web pages to make it part of the Semantic Web. Those accustomed to expressing structured data with microformats in XHTML can thus port their existing data to the Semantic Web. Microformats refer to sets of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted standards, including HTML, CSS and XML. The Semantic Web-based communities have pursued ways to improve the quality and availability of data on the Web, making it possible for more intensive data-integration and more diverse applications that can scale to the size of the Web and allow more powerful mash-ups. The Web-based set of standards that supports this work is known as the Semantic Web stack. "Each approach to "getting your data out there" has its place. But why limit yourself to just one approach if you can benefit, at low cost, from more than one?" GRDDL is the bridge for turning data expressed in an XML format (such as XHTML) into Semantic Web data. With GRDDL, authors transform the data they wish to share into a format that can be used and transformed again for more rigorous applications. GRDDL Use Cases provides insight into why this is useful through a number of scenarios, including scheduling a meeting, comparing information from various retailers before making a purchase, and extracting information from wikis to facilitate e-learning. http://www.w3.org/

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and tagged: GRDDL, microformats, semantic web, standards, W3C, XML
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The W3C's (World Wide Web Consortium) most popular service just got better, prettier, faster, and smarter. The W3C Markup Validator has a new user interface and a validation engine with improved accuracy and performance. Among new features are an automatic cleanup option using HTML Tidy, and checking of HTML fragments. Driven by W3C as an open-source software project, the markup validator is made by Web professionals for Web professionals, and aims to be a major step in any Web development quality process. Read the change log for a list of all changes and new features. http://validator.w3.org/, http://validator.w3.org/whatsnew.html

Posted by NewsShark at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: authoring, markup, validator. HTML, W3C, WCM
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the advancement of "Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 2.1" to Candidate Recommendation. Implementation feedback is welcome through 20 December. CSS is one of the Web's most widely implemented languages. By separating the presentation of style from the content of documents, CSS simplifies Web authoring and site maintenance. CSS 2.1 is derived from and is intended to replace CSS Level 2. A snapshot of usage, the specification brings the language in line with implementations, fixes errata and adds a few highly requested features including the inline-block value for the display property, the color orange and the values pre-wrap and pre-line for the white-space property. http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/CR-CSS21-20070719/, http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

Posted by NewsShark at 7:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: CSS, style sheets, W3C, XML
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the advancement of "XHTML Basic 1.1" to Candidate Recommendation. The specification adds four new features for small devices which are the language's primary users. Version 1.1 is intended to be the convergence of the "XHTML Basic 1.0" W3C Recommendation for mobile devices, released in coordination with the WAP Forum in 2000, and the Open Mobile Alliance ( OMA ) XHTML Mobile profile. Implementation feedback is welcome through 31 August. http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/CR-xhtml-basic-20070713/

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and tagged: mobile, standards, W3C, XHTML, XML
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the advancement of the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) Version 2.0 to Proposed Recommendation in three parts: "Part 0: Primer," "Part 1: Core Language" and "Part 2: Adjuncts." Comments are welcome through 20 June. WSDL models and describes modular Web services and is used to document distributed systems and to automate communication between applications. WSDL "Additional MEPs," "RDF Mapping" and "SOAP 1.1 Binding" are updated Working Drafts. http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/PR-wsdl20-20070523/

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and tagged: standards, W3C, web services, WSDL
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) CSS Working Group has released an updated Working Draft for Cascading Style Sheets Level 3 (CSS3). Generated Content for Paged Media describes features such as cross-references, footnotes, headers and footers often used in printed publications. CSS is the Web's most widely-implemented language for style, used to render structured documents like HTML and XML on screen, on paper and in speech. Visit the CSS home page at: http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

Posted by NewsShark at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: CSS, publishing, standards, style sheets, W3C, XML
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Services Description Working Group released three Last Call Working Drafts for the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) Version 2.0: "Part 0: Primer," Part 1: Core Language" and "Part 2: Adjuncts." Comments are welcome through 15 April on this brief Last Call for changes since Candidate Recommendation review. WSDL "RDF Mapping" and "SOAP 1.1 Binding" are updated Working Drafts. WSDL 2.0 models and describes modular Web services and is used to document distributed systems and to automate communication between applications. Read about Web services. http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-wsdl20-20070326/

Posted by NewsShark at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: standards, W3C, web services, WSDL
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced that because of requests from Working Group participants and the wider community, the XML Query Working Group released two First Public Working Drafts. "XQuery Scripting Extension 1.0 Requirements" describes goals and requirements for making XQuery 1.0 functional as a scripting language. "XML Query (XQuery) 1.1 Requirements" describes compatibility and functionality requirements for extending XML Query 1.0. http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-xquery-sx-10-requirements-20070323/

Posted by NewsShark at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: W3C, XML, XQuery
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) HTML Working Group released the second edition of "XHTML 1.1 - Module-based XHTML" as a Working Draft in preparation for Proposed Edited Recommendation. XHTML 1.1 is a reformulation of XHTML 1.0 Strict based on XHTML modules. Not a new version, the second edition incorporates all known corrections and adds a new description in XML schemas. http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/

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and tagged: standards, W3C, XHTML, XML
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Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) announced support for the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) XQuery 1.0, a standard for accessing XML data. A query language for XML data, XQuery enables the data mining of structured and unstructured data sources ranging from emails, photos and Web pages to multi-terabyte relational databases. The integration of XQuery with Oracle Databases broadens Oracle's ability to manage all types of data with a database-native XQuery engine. Oracle has continued to enhance its XML-support through Oracle Database 10g with XQuery specification support and XML DB. Additionally, Oracle will continue to actively participate in the W3C XML XQuery Working Group. Oracle XQuery is included in Oracle Database 10g Release 2 Enterprise Edition and Oracle Database 10g Release 2 Standard Edition at no additional cost.
http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/xml/xquery/index.html

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and tagged: Oracle, search, W3C, XQuery
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The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) CSS Working Group has released two updated Working Drafts for Cascading Style Sheets Level 3 (CSS3). "Generated Content for Paged Media" describes features such as cross-references, footnotes, headers and footers often used in printed publications. "Behavioral Extensions to CSS" allow bindings like XBL to be linked from CSS style sheets, so bindings can be used with user and alternate style sheets and media selection. http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

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and tagged: CSS, style sheets, W3C
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Altova announced compliance with the new Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) standards specifying Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT), the XML Path Language (XPath), and the XML Query Language (XQuery). Support for the official W3C versions of XSLT 2.0, XPath 2.0, and XQuery 1.0 will provide advanced capabilities to users of Altova XMLSpy 2007, MapForce 2007, StyleVision 2007, and the AltovaXML processor and enable them to transform, access, and query XML data in a standardized and interoperable manner. Altova previously supported draft versions of the specifications. Altova has released Software Version 2007 Service Pack 2 (v2007 SP2) with up to date, compliant support for these standards. Altova XMLSpy 2007, MapForce 2007, and StyleVision 2007 are all immediately available for download and purchase with the (USD) list price for single-user licenses starting at $499.00, $249.00, and $499.00 respectively. All three products are also included in the new Altova MissionKit 2007, which bundles Altova’s intelligent application development, data management, and modeling tools at 50% off their regular prices. The Altova MissionKit is available in a variety of configurations tailored to the needs of XML developers and software architects with (USD) list prices for single-user licenses starting at $740.00. The software may be downloaded and tried free for 30 days. http://www.altova.com

Posted by NewsShark at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
and tagged: Altova, XML, XPath, XQuery, XSLT
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W3C and OASIS have published WebCGM 2.0, a new industry standard for technical illustrations in electronic documents. WebCGM, which is widely deployed in the defense, aviation, architecture, and transportation industries, has reached new levels of interoperability thanks to this joint effort between OASIS and W3C. Computer Graphics Metafile, or CGM, is an ISO standard for a tree-structured, binary graphics format that has been adopted especially by the technical industries (defense, aviation, transportation, etc) for technical illustration in electronic documents. As the Web emerged as the environment for sharing and creating documents, it became apparent that the best way to use CGM on the Web needed to be clarified, particularly for interactivity such as hyperlinks and hotspots. WebCGM 2.0 adds a DOM (API) specification for programmatic access to WebCGM objects, and a specification of an XML Companion File (XCF) architecture, for externalization of non-graphical metadata. WebCGM 2.0 also builds upon and extends the graphical and intelligent content of WebCGM 1.0. The design criteria for WebCGM aim at a balance between graphical expressive power on the one hand, and simplicity and implementability on the other. A small but powerful set of standardized metadata elements supports the functionalities of hyperlinking and document navigation, picture structuring and layering, and enabling search and query of WebCGM picture content. http://www.oasis-open.org, http://www.w3.org/

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and tagged: CGM, OASIS, standards, techdoc, W3C, WebCGM
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