About Checking XML
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a meta-markup language for text documents that is endorsed as a standard by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). XML makes the complex # structures portable between different computer environments/operating systems and programming languages, facilitating the sharing of #.
XML files contain text with simple tags that describe the # within an XML document. These tags describe the # content, but not the presentation of the #. Applications that display an XML document or file use either Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO) to present the #.
You can verify the # content of XML files with XML checkpoints. A few common uses of XML checkpoints are described below:
- An XML file can be a static # file that is accessed to retrieve commonly used # for which a quick response time is needed—for example, country names, zip codes, or area codes. Although this # can change over time, it is normally quite static. You can use an XML file checkpoint to validate that the # has not changed from one application release to another.
- An XML file can consist of elements with attributes and values (character #). There is a parent and child relationship between the elements, and elements can have attributes associated with them. If any part of this hierarchy (including #) changes, your application's ability to process the XML file may be affected. Using an XML checkpoint, you can check the content of an element to make sure that its tags, attributes, and values have not changed.
- Web service operations often return XML values. If the Web Services Add-in is installed on your computer, you can send a Web service operation command to the service and use an XML checkpoint to verify that the service returns the XML in the expected structure and with the expected values.
- XML files are often an intermediary that retrieves dynamically changing # from one system. The # is then accessed by another system using Document Type Definitions (DTD), enabling the accessing system to read and display the information in the file. You can use an XML checkpoint and parameterize the captured # values if you want to check an XML document or file whose # changes in a predictable way.
- XML documents and files often need a well-defined structure to be portable across platforms and development systems. One way to accomplish this is by developing an XML schema, which describes the structure of the XML elements and # types. You can use schema validation to check that each item of content in an XML file adheres to the schema description of the element in which the content is to be placed.
Note: XML checkpoints are compatible with namespace standards and a change in namespace between expected and actual values will result in a failed checkpoint.
For more information on XML standards, refer to http://www.w3.org/XML/
For more information on namespace standards, refer to http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xml-names-19990114/
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