The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) issued XML Schema as a W3C Recommendation. XML Schemas define shared markup vocabularies, the structure of XML documents that use those vocabularies, and provide hooks to associate semantics with them. By bringing datatypes to XML, XML Schema increases XML’s power and utility to the developers of electronic commerce systems, database authors and anyone interested in using and manipulating large volumes of data on the Web. By providing better integration with XML Namespaces, it makes it easier than it has ever been to define the elements and attributes in a namespace, and to validate documents that use multiple namespaces defined by different schemas. The XML Schema specification consists of three parts. One part defines a set of simple datatypes, which can be associated with XML element types and attributes; this allows XML software to do a better job of managing dates, numbers, and other special forms of information. The second part of the specification proposes methods for describing the structure and constraining the contents of XML documents, and defines the rules governing schema-validation of documents. The third part is a primer, which explains what schemas are, how they differ from DTDs, and how someone builds a schema. XML Schema are XML documents themselves, they may be managed by XML authoring tools, or through XSLT. XML Schema Tools Include Validator and Test Suite Collection W3C, with the University of Edinburgh has co-developed XSV, the XML Schema Validator. The validator has been revised at each stage of XML Schema development and now provides validation against the XML Schema Recommendation. In addition, W3C invites developers to send in sample schemas for a test suite library, to be reviewed and managed by the W3C XML Schema Working Group. www.w3.org
Day: May 1, 2001
Eprise Corporation announced that it has formed a technology alliance with Art Technology Group, Inc. Eprise has integrated its Eprise Participant Server with the ATG Dynamo e-Business Platform to enable customers to streamline entire Web content and customer management lifecycles into a single, managed solution. Combining Strategic Content Management solutions from Eprise with ATG’s customer management and e-commerce platform helps organizations manage content creation, customization, asset management, deployment and delivery. In addition, Eprise and ATG will embark upon cooperative selling and marketing activities. www.eprise.com, www.atg.com
Vignette Corp. announced new versions of the Vignette Content Syndication Server (VCSS) and the Vignette Content Aggregation Server (VCAS). The Vignette Content Syndication Server enables companies to distribute Web-based content or comprehensive information such as catalogs and other information directly from an e-business application over HTTP and FTP. This syndication can be scheduled, on-demand or driven by events such as price, availability or any change in content, and VCSS automatically tailors the content to the format capabilities of each recipient, whether it’s XML, multimedia or raw text. The Vignette Content Syndication Server can be used as a stand-alone application, or integrated with other Vignette integration applications. The new version of VCAS provides additional features, including the Vignette Agent Library Manager, an add-on tool that enables companies to easily manage the agent applications that collect and monitor their functionality. The Vignette Agent Library Manager provides a convenient way to manage and test all deployed agents on a predetermined schedule, which lowers the cost of managing any number of agents. The Vignette Agent Library Manager also provides an early warning function that helps companies avoid disruption in aggregating content. The Vignette Content Syndication Server and the Vignette Content Aggregation Server are currently available and shipping to customers. www.vignette.com
