Book Review: The Art of XSD - SQL Server XML schemas. Are you interested in developing XML Web Services as an integral part of your enterprise applications? Are you thinking of publishing your website or company news in the form of XML feeds? Are you planning to develop an application that consumes XML web services from third party providers such as Google, Amazon or Energy star? If you’re about to embark on any of these projects, then The Art of XSD will be an indispensable resource to you. The goal of the book is simple; to teach you everything you need to know to design and create an XML schema, which is naturally an essential component of any XML- based service. With this in hand, SQL Server developers with no prior knowledge of XSD can build powerful XML Schema Collections to create XSDs for Web Applications and Web services. Of course, if you’re new to using XML, the obvious first question is: Why Use an XML Schema? An XML Schema is itself an XML document, but what makes it special is that it describes or validates another XML document, defining the latter’s structure. If you’re wondering why you should use XML at all, it’s because XML has grown and matured over the past decade into a potentially powerful method for exchanging data, to the extent that Intel actually designed hardware with the primary intent of pushing the language’s adoption. Download your free eBook. SQL Server stores XML schemas as . The Art of XSD SQL Server XML Schema Collections Jacob Sebastian High Performance SQL Server ISBN. The Art of XSD – SQL Server XML schemas; 10 June 2010. Book Review: The Art of XSD – SQL Server XML schemas. Alternatively, if you’d like download a PDF version of the book, or read more of the details about the. Pro SQL Server 2008 XML is your key to unlocking the powerful XML feature set first introduced in SQL Server 2005 and since refined in SQL. The Art of XSD - SQL Server XML schemas Jacob Sebastian. 5.0 out of 5 stars 3. Download Free eBook:The Art of XSD - SQL Server XML schemas - Free chm, pdf ebooks download. Free 493 page eBook The Art of XSD: SQL Server XML Schema. No documentation how to create XML schema collections. Server there is some information about what applies to XML schemas in SQL Server. SQL Server implements XSD as XML Schema Collections. PDF Downloads SQL Coding Standards SQL FAQ Download Download SQL SERVER 2016. More to the point, XML schemas support various datatypes, help in the understanding of secure data communications, are highly extensible, and are particularly well- suited to data representation. By using an XSD (XML Schema Documents) to define the nature and structure of data which is to be shared between any number of services, it is possible to create dynamic, data- driven web applications for situations where information is changing rapidly. In addition, strong typing, standardized null representation, and XML- based language support make XSD more powerful than DTD (Document Type Definition, which is the alternative & older method of document structure definition). XSD becomes significantly more important when frequently- updated data needs to be exchanged in XML format with other internet- based applications, or when your application needs to consume published data sources such as weather- reports, stock exchange movements or currency conversion date, all of which are updated very frequently, sometimes several times a second. This is partly because the Schema (and an understanding of Schema) will make both incoming and outgoing feeds easy to interpret, and partly because you will be able to define and know (respectively) how rapidly the data feeds are changing. XSD plays a vital role in data exchange, describing information about data types, as well as the rules and the constraints that are being used to validate the values of elements and attributes. What the Book Covers. Author Jacob Sebastian assumes no prior knowledge of XML on the part of the reader, and writes in simple English, using intuitive step- by- step examples. Jacob strives to explain the Art of XSD from its most basic principles so as to ensure his readers know everything they need to at every step. While the images and screenshots were not always legible (and admittedly it is a challenge to squeeze screenshots from modern monitors into compact books), his exhaustive and methodical approach makes the book thorough yet accessible, and well suited to an XSD beginner. After reading the book, you will have an excellent understanding of what XML and XSD are and why they’re relevant, as well as all the ins and outs of XML Schema components and designs. The importance of XML in real- time live applications is made clear throughout the book, and with Jacob’s guidance you’ll be an XSD artist in no time. XML Schema Design. The book starts with the basics, covering “When do we need an XML Schema”, “Why do we need XSD?” and “How to write a document to define the basic structure of an XML document?” quickly and clearly. The XML Schema languages such as DTD and XDR are explained to some extent, and comparisons between them and XML are clearly made. Next up, to make sure you’re prepared to start writing XML Schemas immediately, Jacob describeds XML Schema support in SQL Server 2. For the record, that includes support for XML, Open. XML, SQLXML, Querying Data over HTTP, XML Views ,For XML, XML Data Type, XQuery Support and Lax Validation Support. The Schema Validation enhancements in SQL Server 2. When it comes to actually writing an XML Schema, Namespaces are as essential as aliases are in T- SQL, and are clearly necessary when you need to avoid ambiguity and differentiate between similarly named classes. While there is a distinction between Default Namespaces and XSD Namespaces (which Jacob illuminates), it suffices to say for now that they give the document structure and add contextual meaning to the elements of the schema. Once you’ve wrapped you head around that, you need to start adding elements to your schema; and after you’ve structured and populated your schemas, the next step will be to use a SQL Server XML Schema Collection to store the definition of your documents so that you can perform Validations on them. That sounds simple enough, yet it turns out that SQL Server does not allow for easy alteration of Schema Collections, so dropping and recreating collections is recommended if you need to make any adjustments. Given how essential Schema Collections are throughout the rest of the book, Jacob takes care to provide a very clear explanation on how to use the SQL Server Management Studio XML/XSD editor for designing XML Schema quickly and painlessly. With the essential steps XML Schema creation covered, it’s time to test your knowledge. At this point, and then again throughout the book, Jacob presents practical exercises relating to the fictional “North Pole Corporation”, walking you through how to build XSD schemas for a . This would have been an elegant supplement to Jacob’s concise summaries at the end of each chapter. XML Schema Components. Getting to grips with the components of XML Schemas is, at a primitive level, about understanding that the basic building blocks of a schema are elements and attributes, which need to be declared, and can be grouped or structurally controlled with Occurrence and Order Indicators. Elements & Attributes are the essential pillars for the construction of XML Schemas, and so it is good to see that Global & Local Element Declarations, the 1. Element Declaration Parameters , as well as mandatory & optional attributes are thoroughly explained. They can also be associated with certain XML Data- types, which allows for effective validation of your XML Schema documents. Jacob breaks down all of these definitions and permutations, explaining how they provide reusability and their role in defining XSD, as well as providing code samples to clearly demonstrate how these all fit together. The question about whether information should be placed in an Element or an Attributes is one that keeps coming up. Occasionally there IS no question – only an element will do – and yet often there simply is no right answer, as they both perform much the same way. That being said, there are some restrictions on Attributes which may push you towards using Elements. Thankfully, entire chapters are dedicated to stepping through the internal structures of Element and Attribute Declarations, complete with descriptions of various parameters, and pointing out the difference between Global and Local Declarations (the former is, unsurprisingly, top- level; the latter is declared within the deeper structure of the document and has a more limited scope)XML supports almost 5. Value Space and Lexical Space characteristic. These data- types can be broken down into Primitive (i. Jacob describes the properties of all 1. XML’s Primitive Data- types, as well as the 2. Derived Data Types, complete with demonstration snippets and enhancements to the data- types in SQL Server 2. Given that, by this point, a lot of new ground has been covered, this chapter then finishes off with a case- study and guidelines, with the help of lab to cement understanding. In addition to Attribute groups & Element groups, Order & Occurrence indicators, Local & Global Attribute declarations, the book also gives detailed breakdowns and explanations on Simple & Complex types. Simple Type Attributes (which can be derived from List, Union, Restriction actions) consist of Global (named) and Local (anonymous) content, whereas Complex Types are categorized as simple content, element only content, mixed content and empty content. Jacob focuses on deriving complex type from simple types, including examples and all the possible ways of doing it – crystal clear. Of course, if this all sounds like a bit of a confusing mess (and it can, when boiled down like this), then don’t worry; as you get deeper into the book, Jacob visualizes the relationships between components to make understanding easier. I found the explanations of the attributes and their usage in creating XSD to be detailed and useful, and this part of the book certainly serves as an excellent reference guide for learning about the various components of XSD. XSD Validation. XML Schemas are fundamentally quite simple documents, so the key to making the most of them is in having a deep understanding of the various XML Schema components. As you may have gathered by now, Jacob makes sure that the book is able to provide that level of understanding. Now that you’ve been introduced to the menagerie of XML Schema components, you need to start thinking about validating the format your Schemas. Although XSD validation is touched upon at several points, it’s only now that you have a complete understanding (or at any rate, complete reference) of XSD that you’re in a position to really dig deeply into the topic. The pattern restrictions used to validate values in XML uses Regular Expression (Regex) patterns to do so. The Art of XSD - Redgate Softwareby Jacob Sebastian. Buy from Amazon. com. Buy from Amazon. co. Free PDF download. Today, a lot of applications exchange information in XML format. As such, there needs to be an agreement between the sender and receiver about the structure and content of the XML document. An XSD (XML Schema Definition Language) Schema can be used to enforce this contract and validate the XML data being exchanged. With SQL Server 2. XML data type, and with it support for a subset of XSD. SQL Server stores XML schemas as . Based on an XSD schema, you can create an XML Schema Collection that can be used to validate an XML data type, variable or column. An XML variable or column that is associated with an XML Schema Collection is known as TYPED XML. SQL Server validates a TYPED XML value against the rules defined in the schema collection. INSERT or UPDATE operations will succeed only if the value being inserted or updated is valid as per the rules defined in the Schema Collection. This book will help you learn and use XML Schema collections in SQL Server. Prior knowledge of XSD is not required to start with this book, although any experience with XSD will make your learning process easier. This book starts with the basics of XML schemas and then walks you through everything you need to know, with examples and labs, in order to build powerful XML schemas in SQL Server. If you have any question on the topics discussed in this book or on XSD in general, feel free to write to me at jacob@beyondrelational. About the author. Jacob Sebastian is co- founder and CTO of Excellence Infonet (http: //www. Ahmedabad, an Indian unit of a US based software firm. Being the CTO of the company, Jacob contributes as Solution Architect and spends most of his time with SQL Server. Jacob is a Microsoft MVP (SQL Server) and a Moderator at MSDN and Technet Forums. He volunteers for the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS: http: //www. Chapter Lead. He is a regular columnist at SQLServer. Central (http: //www. SQL Server and XML related topics. Jacob is Founder and President of Ahmedabad SQL Server User Group, a PASS chapter (http: //ahmedabad. User groups in India. Jacob started his database career in the mid nineties with Dbase, Foxbase, Clipper and Foxpro. He then moved to SQL Server 6. VC++/MFC/ATL/COM/VB. When not working, Jacob would like to spend time with family and friends and watch movies; but often gets engaged with helping someone in the SQL Server forums, writing articles, blogs or a book, learning SQL Server or creating a presentation for the next UG meeting.
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