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XML Tutorial

XML HOME XML Introduction XML How to use XML Tree XML Syntax XML Elements XML Attributes XML Namespaces XML Display XML HttpRequest XML Parser XML DOM XML XPath XML XSLT XML XQuery XML XLink XML Validator XML DTD XML Schema XML Server XML Examples XML Quiz XML Certificate

XML AJAX

AJAX Introduction AJAX XMLHttp AJAX Request AJAX Response AJAX XML File AJAX PHP AJAX ASP AJAX Database AJAX Applications AJAX Examples

XML DOM

DOM Introduction DOM Nodes DOM Accessing DOM Node Info DOM Node List DOM Traversing DOM Navigating DOM Get Values DOM Change Nodes DOM Remove Nodes DOM Replace Nodes DOM Create Nodes DOM Add Nodes DOM Clone Nodes DOM Examples

XPath Tutorial

XPath Introduction XPath Nodes XPath Syntax XPath Axes XPath Operators XPath Examples

XSLT Tutorial

XSLT Introduction XSL Languages XSLT Transform XSLT <template> XSLT <value-of> XSLT <for-each> XSLT <sort> XSLT <if> XSLT <choose> XSLT Apply XSLT on the Client XSLT on the Server XSLT Edit XML XSLT Examples

XQuery Tutorial

XQuery Introduction XQuery Example XQuery FLWOR XQuery HTML XQuery Terms XQuery Syntax XQuery Add XQuery Select XQuery Functions

XML DTD

DTD Introduction DTD Building Blocks DTD Elements DTD Attributes DTD Elements vs Attr DTD Entities DTD Examples

XSD Schema

XSD Introduction XSD How To XSD <schema> XSD Elements XSD Attributes XSD Restrictions

XSD Complex

XSD Elements XSD Empty XSD Elements Only XSD Text Only XSD Mixed XSD Indicators XSD <any> XSD <anyAttribute> XSD Substitution XSD Example

XSD Data

XSD String XSD Date XSD Numeric XSD Misc XSD Reference

Web Services

XML Services XML WSDL XML SOAP XML RDF XML RSS

References

DOM Node Types DOM Node DOM NodeList DOM NamedNodeMap DOM Document DOM Element DOM Attribute DOM Text DOM CDATA DOM Comment DOM XMLHttpRequest DOM Parser XSLT Elements XSLT/XPath Functions

Displaying XML


Raw XML files can be viewed in all major browsers.

Don't expect XML files to be displayed as HTML pages.


Viewing XML Files

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 - <note>
       <to>Tove</to>
       <from>Jani</from>
       <heading>Reminder</heading>
       <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
   </note>

Look at the XML file above in your browser: note.xml

Most browsers will display an XML document with color-coded elements.

Often a plus (+) or minus sign (-) to the left of the elements can be clicked to expand or collapse the element structure.

To view raw XML source, try to select "View Page Source" or "View Source" from the browser menu.

Note: In Safari 5 (and earlier), only the element text will be displayed. To view the raw XML, you must right click the page and select "View Source".


Viewing an Invalid XML File

If an erroneous XML file is opened, some browsers will report the error, and some will display it, or display it incorrectly.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 - <note>
       <to>Tove</to>
       <from>Jani</Ffrom>
       <heading>Reminder</heading>
       <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
   </note>

Try to open the following XML file: note_error.xml


Other XML Examples

Viewing some XML documents will help you get the XML feeling:

An XML breakfast menu
This is a breakfast food menu from a restaurant, stored as XML.

An XML CD catalog
This is a CD collection, stored as XML.

An XML plant catalog
This is a plant catalog from a plant shop, stored as XML.

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Header



Why Does XML Display Like This?

XML documents do not carry information about how to display the data.

Since XML tags are "invented" by the author of the XML document, browsers do not know if a tag like <table> describes an HTML table or a dining table.

Without any information about how to display the data, the browsers can just display the XML document as it is.

Tip: If you want to style an XML document, use XSLT.