Markup Languages

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is used in the Active Server Pages (ASP) pages of the Corporate Media Library (CML) application. HTML provides formatting specifications that tell the browser how to display the page or pages included in the document. For examples of HTML in the CML application ASP pages, see Implementation and CML ASP Source Files.

DHTML

Dynamic HTML (DHTML) is an extension of HTML supported in Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0. It exposes a Web page and all the elements on it as scriptable objects. DHTML allows you to dynamically change the appearance, content, and behavior of a Web page directly in client script. Roundtrips to the server are no longer necessary when a modification to the display of the Web page is required. The CML application makes extensive use of DHTML. For examples of DHTML in the CML application ASP pages, see Implementation and CML ASP Source Files.

DHTML technologies include:

• Changing text on the fly; dynamic styles change the color, size, or style of the text on a page without waiting for the screen to refresh.
• Changing pages on the fly; dynamic content changes the words, pictures, or multimedia on a page without another trip to the Web server.
• Positioning allows you to animate any element on a Web page, including moving pictures, text, and objects.
• Data binding allows you to embed a data source on a page, which means users can then sort and filter a database without contacting the database server.

XML

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a tag language that defines data layout, not display characteristics, for a document. XML is based on Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).

XML enables you to:

• Describe complex data structures.
• Share this information across a variety of applications, clients, and servers. You can create ASP applications using the new Microsoft XML Parser, included with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later.
• Create applications that enable your Web server to exchange XML-formatted data with the Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later Web browser, or with any server having XML parsing capabilities.

XML is an emerging technology and there are not many tools available that work with XML. The CML application does not use XML. However, the results of the CML application's database search and the display of detail information about library titles could be returned to the client as XML.

Using RDS ActiveX Controls describes how the CML application uses the alternative approach of using an RDS ActiveX® control with data binding.