4225. XML Programming Using Visual
Basic and .NET
Rev. 3.0
This comprehensive and practical four-day course builds skills in .NET’s
XML processing APIs—chiefly parsing using XmlReader and the Document Object
Model (DOM), writing XML streams using XmlWriter, transformations using XPath
and XSLT, and the new LINQ to XML, all using the .NET Framework XML classes and
the Visual Basic language. It also covers XML serialization according to XML
Schema and the tight coupling between XML and ADO.NET. The course is intended
for students with a working knowledge of XML who want to build XML applications
or components using .NET and the Visual Basic language. Everything in the
course adheres to W3C and .NET standards for highly portable code. Visual
Studio 2008 with .NET 3.5 is used as the development environment.
The course includes extensive programming examples, a progressively
developed case study, and several tools for manipulating XML documents. All
source code is in Visual Basic and is provided with the course. A separate Lab
Manual provides detailed instructions for laboratory exercises with console and
Windows Forms client programs.
Upon completion of this course the student will be equipped to
program XML applications in .NET and understand which XML and .NET technologies
to apply for the problem domain.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
·
Understand the purpose of the .NET Framework XML
classes
·
Parse XML data streams using XmlReader classes
·
Validate XML data streams that are described by
a DTD or an XML Schema
·
Use the XmlWriter class to create XML data
streams
·
Modify, create and delete information in an XML
document using the Document Object Model (DOM) .NET classes.
·
Use XML Serialization to persist XML data
·
Acquire a working knowledge of the use of ADO.NET
with XML
·
Use XPath to query for content in an XML
document
·
Use the XPathNavigator class to parse and edit XML
documents
·
Use XSLT to transform XML documents into text,
HTML or other XML
·
Use Language Integrated Query (LINQ) to
manipulate XML documents
Course Duration: 4
days
Prerequisites: Ability
to read and to write well-formed XML. A working knowledge of programming the
.NET Framework using Visual Basic. A working knowledge of ADO.NET is
recommended for the portion of the course dealing with ADO.NET and XML.
1.
.NET Framework XML Overview
XML in the .NET Framework
.NET XML Namespaces and Classes
.NET XmlReader and XmlWriter
.NET DOM Parser
XML Serialization
XML and ADO.NET
XPath and XSLT
Language Integrated Query and XML
XML and the Web
2.
Reading XML Streams in .NET
XML Document Streams
The XmlReader Class
XmlReaderSettings
Accessing Node Properties with the .NET XML Classes
Accessing Attribute Values
Traversing the XML Document
Catching XmlExceptions
3.
Validating XML Streams
Specifying Valid Documents with XML Schema and DTD
Using Visual Studio 2008 to Create Schemas
Validating XML with XmlReader
.NET Schema Object Model
4.
Writing XML Streams in .NET
The XmlWriter Class
XmlWriterSettings
WriteXXX Methods
XmlWriter States
Writing Elements
Writing Attributes
Writing Namespaces
5.
The Document Object Model in .NET
Origins of the DOM
DOM Levels
DOM2 Structure
The XmlDocument Class
DOM Tree Model
DOM Interfaces
XmlDocument, XmlNode and XmlNodeList Classes
XmlElement and XmlText Classes
Finding Elements by Name
Walking the Child List
The XmlAttribute Class
6.
Manipulating XML Information
with the DOM
Creating and Modifying Documents
Modifying Elements
Error Handling
Managing Children
Cloning
Splitting Text and Normalizing
Modifying Attributes
7.
XML Serialization
XmlSerializer
What Is Not Serialized
Writing and Reading XML
Customizing XML Serialization
XML Schema and XSD
Creating Classes from Schemas
XML Serialization and Web Services
8.
XML and ADO.NET
Strong Coupling Between ADO.NET and XML
Rendering XML from a
DataSet
Controlling XML Output
Reading XML into a
DataSet
XML Schema and DataSets
Typed DataSets
Synchronizing DataSets
and XML
9.
XPath
Addressing XML Content
XPath in XSLT
Tree Structure
XPath Expressions
Context
Axis, Node Test, and Predicate
Abbreviations
XPath Functions
XPath and .NET
XPathNavigator
Editing with XPathNavigator
10. Introduction
to XSLT
XSL and XSLT
Rule-Based Transformations
Templates
Producing Text, HTML, and XML
XslCompiledTransform
11. LINQ
to XML
Language Integrated Query
Manipulating XML Documents in Memory with LINQ
LINQ Queries
Filtering, Ordering and Aggregation
Inserts, Deletes and Updates
LINQ Transformations
Appendix A. Zenith Courseware Case Study
Appendix B. Learning Resources
System Requirements
Required software is Visual Studio 2008, Standard Edition or higher.
The recommended operating system is Windows XP with at least Service Pack 2. See
the course Setup Notes for details.
A good minimal hardware profile for this course would have a 2 GHz
or better CPU, 512 MB of RAM, and at least 4 GB of free disk space for tools
installation and courseware.
