424.  XML Programming Using VB.NET

Rev. 2.0

 

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, and transformations using XPath and XSLT, all using the .NET Framework XML classes and the VB.NET 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—and possibly DTDs or XML Schema—who want to build XML applications or components using .NET and the VB.NET language. Everything in the course adheres to W3C and .NET standards for highly portable code. The course includes a practical discussion of performance tradeoffs using various XML technology alternatives.

 

The course includes extensive programming examples, a case study, and several tools for manipulating XML documents. All source code is in VB.NET and is provided with the course.

 

Upon completion of this course the student will easily program XML application 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 XMLTextWriter 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 Schema to express precise type information for an XML document and the .NET Schema Object Model classes to read and write schema information.

·         Use XML Serialization to persist XML data.

·         Acquire a working knowledge of the tight coupling of XML with ADO.NET

·         Use XPath to query for content in an XML document and the .NET XPathNavigator class to parse XML documents.

·         Use XSLT to transform XML documents into text, HTML or other XML.

·         Evaluate performance tradeoffs in alternative XML technologies.

 

Course Duration:  4 days

 

Prerequisites:  Ability to read and to write well-formed XML. Ability to read a DTD not strictly required, but preferred. A working knowledge of programming the .NET Framework using VB.NET. 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

How Does the MSXML Fit in .NET

What Does the W3C Say

What Does the W3C Not Say

.NET XmlReader and XmlWriter

.NET DOM Parser

XML Serialization

XML and ADO.NET

XPath and XSLT

XML and the Web

 

2.      Reading XML Streams in .NET

XML Document Streams

The XmlTextReader Class

Accessing Node Properties with the .NET XML Classes

Accessing Attribute Values

Traversing the XML Document

Catching XmlExceptions

The XmlNodeReader Class

 

3.      Validating XML Streams

Specifying Valid Documents with DTD

Validating XML with XmlValidatingReader

Specifying Valid Documents with XML Schema

 

4.      Writing XML Streams in .NET

The XmlWriter Class

The XmlTextWriter WriteXXX Methods

XmlTextWriter 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

Namespaces and the DOM

Error Handling

 

6.      Manipulating XML Information with the DOM

Modifying Documents

Modifying Elements

Modifying Attributes

Managing Children

Cloning

Splitting Text and Normalizing

Creating New Documents

 

7.      Using XML Schema

What is an XML schema?

Schemas vs. DTDs

Structure of a Schema

Schema vs. Instance Document

Associating Schemas with Documents

Testing, Validating and Displaying Schemas and Documents

.NET Schema Object Model

 

8.      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

 

9.      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

 

10. XPath

Addressing XML Content

XPath in XSLT

Tree Structure

XPath Expressions

Type Model

Context

Axis, Node Test, and Predicate

Abbreviations

Proximity Position

XPath Functions

Comparisons Between Various Types

XPathNavigator

11.  Introduction to XSLT

XSL and XSLT

Rule-Based Transformations

Templates

Producing Text, HTML, and XML

XslTransform

 

12. XML Performance Tradeoffs

DOM versus XmlReader/XmlWriter

Validating versus Non-Validating Parser

XPathDocument versus XmlDocument in XSLT

Benchmarking XML Performance

 

Appendix A. Zenith Courseware Case Study

 

Appendix B. Quick Reference – XML and DTD Grammar

 

Appendix C. Developing Web Services Using Visual Studio

 

Appendix D. Learning Resources

 

 

System Requirements

 

Course exercises require Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 on Windows 2000 or XP.

 

A good minimal hardware profile for this course would have a Pentium 500-MHz or equivalent CPU, 256 MB of RAM, and at least 3 GB of free disk space for tools installation and courseware.