Originally XML provided only one mechanism for defining custom data model definitions, which used a specialized syntax defined in the XML specification. The resulting definitions called Markup Declarations are assembled with other modeling information in a Document Type Definition (DTD) and are very commonly used in content applications and other document processing environments. The XML specification includes a syntax for describing custom languages that in turn describe application-specific data structures. An organization, or group of organizations, defines these custom application data structures to serve as a vocabulary and grammar for classes of information that they depend upon to conduct their business.
The rules for creating DTDs were originally created for the ISO SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) metalanguage standard for defining SGML-based languages, such as XML and HTML.
