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XML for powering business on the Web

Sharpe, Bruce J
 
 Bruce J  Sharpe
 Chief Technology Officer
  British Columbia 
 Canada 
 SoftQuad Software Inc.  
 Surrey 
SoftQuad Software Inc.,   V3T 2W4 10070 King George Highway
Suite 208
Surrey  British Columbia Canada
Phone: 604-585-8394 Fax: 604-585-1926 email: bsharpe@softquad.com web site: www.softquad.com
 Biography
 Bruce Sharpe — Bruce Sharpe, Chief Technology Officer of SoftQuad Software Inc., holds a Ph.D. in the area of mathematical physics (quantum field theory). He is grateful that the advent of the IBM PC in the early 1980's provided an opportunity to leave this absurdly difficult field and take refuge in software development. He immediately embarked on a series of leadership roles in software development that has been going on for the last 16 years. His areas of interest have included text processing, database programming, algorithms for digital image processing, music applications, the Internet and document authoring. He has been at SoftQuad since 1996, where he has led the teams that created the most recent versions of HoTMetaL, XMetaL and XML content solutions for B2B e-commerce.
 

Introduction

 XML promises to dramatically change the way businesses interact with customers, with partners, and with suppliers. In this paper, we discuss the impact it is having in three areas: e-commerce, e-publishing and knowledge management for conducting business on the Web.
 It's no secret that most commercial Web sites are driven from databases these days. What is less well known is that increasingly the databases are holding not just fielded data, but content as well. This enables sites to provide rapidly updated and personalized content, whether it is the latest news headlines, the results of a catalog search, or information about related products on a shopping site.
 Many Web sites have recognized the fact that XML is the ideal format in which to store and manage this kind of content. And there are vast amounts of content to deal with. The ability of XML to separate presentation from content is just what is needed, because the content changes more rapidly than the layout. For example, a Web designer creates the site architecture and layout and several, perhaps hundreds, of contributing writers churn content through it.
 The XML content is stored in a database or document management system and then assembled on the fly by a publishing application that puts together the elements of relational data, multimedia and XML content.
 How do you get content from those who create it into the databases that power today's e-businesses and Web sites? Content contributors are often writers who do not know, and do not want to know, the details of the publishing system in general or XML in particular. So a publications group designs a complete architecture for publishing. The DTDs for XML content and the schemas for fielded data are part of that architecture.
 What is required is an authoring tool that hides the technology, but ensures that the created content has the required structure and validity to flow into the application, without conversion. The tool must be easy to use for the authors and must have a minimal learning curve. It must be easy to configure for any DTD and have a low overall cost of integration and setup. Finally it must be affordable, to enable widespread adoption by the content contributors.
 This paper discusses several case studies of e-business applications that have been built around XML content stored in databases, content that has been created with XMetaL, SoftQuad Software's authoring tool that lets non-technical writers create valid XML content without having to know XML.
 

The benefits of XML

 One of the key benefits of XML is that it enables content updates, which otherwise would have to be done manually, to be automated. Regardless of whether you are talking about updating a Web site or a product catalog, the requirements are similar:
 
  • rapid updates
    •  
  • accuracy
    •  
  • scalability
    •  Because XML provides a consistent, expressive, and standard format, it enables the automated processing, delivery and updating of information.
     

    XMetaL

     In the following sections, we present an amalgamation of case studies of the use of XML for e-publishing, e-commerce and knowledge management. Because each is centered around the use of XMetaL, we introduce that first.
     XMetaL is a comprehensive XML content creation tool from SoftQuad Software that is designed to be used effectively even by non-experts. Without knowing anything about XML, authors and contributing content creators are able to create valid XML documents. XMetaL is designed to be easy to learn, use, customize and deploy. It offers rich customization capabilities (via a COM-based interface) that include an extensible interface, customizable dialogs, programming scripts and more.
     XMetaL can create documents that conform to arbitrary DTDs, both plain text and compiled, and provides real time validation during the authoring process. It has three editing views, as shown in the figure below. In Normal view, authors are presented with a familiar word processor-like interface. In Plain Text, experienced users operate in a detailed text oriented view, complete with in-line tags and attributes. And in Tags On view, authors have an intermediate view: a word processor-like view with collapsible tags for immediate access to all elements. XMetaL uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for styling the display and includes a comprehensive CSS editor to create and modify formatting options
     
    Three editing views
     The context-sensitive Attribute Inspector and Element List (see figure below) are available in all views to show valid markup options at the current point in the document. All attribute values can be viewed and set in the Attribute Inspector. The Element List lets authors insert or change elements and is fully context-sensitive.
     
    Attribute inspector and element list
     XMetaL's Asset Manager is an extensible, drag-and-drop object management system that allows users to easily manage boilerplate text, images, document fragments, logos, macros and more, whether they're on a local disk, a network or the Internet.
     
    Attribute inspector
     

    Customizing XMetaL

     Authors who are knowledgeable about XML can use the out-of-the-box editing features described above, but typically there are many content contributors in an organization who do not know much about XML, and don't need to know. You can customize XMetaL for them to create an interface that is precisely matched to the nature of the content being created and their level of experience. Customizers can create templates with replaceable text and custom dialogs for inserting required information. Word processor style drop down lists can be created. Macros can be developed to automate repetitive tasks. Various features and capabilities can be exposed or hidden based on a user's level of experience. XMetaL also has several built-in heuristics and editing behaviors that give the customizer a head start
     

    Integrating XMetaL with document management systems

     XMetaL also offers complete control over file events, which enables integration with databases and document and content management systems. One way to do this is to add a repository browser to the Asset Manager (see figure below).
     
    Integration with document management systems
     The figure above shows how the POET CMS 2.0 content repository might be viewed from the Asset Manager. From this view, documents can be checked in or out, dropped into XMetaL for editing, and composed from components in the repository.
     XMetaL has been successfully integrated in a similar fashion with Object Design's eXcelon, Chrystal's Astoria, POET CMS 2.0, Vignette V/5 and Documentum (including the new 4i document management system). Development with other integration partners is ongoing.
     

    XML in action

     Businesses are already using XML content in a wide variety of applications in e-publishing, e-commerce and knowledge management. But to deploy an effective XML solution, you need to provide your users with the ability create XML content directly and work with that content within a real world, production environment. This involves providing your entire user base, regardless of their familiarity with XML, an editing environment that both matches their level of experience and is easy to use. It also requires the tight integration with your content management system and other back end systems, to support both document creation, and workflow.
     The following case studies will outline how XML is being used today in real world business environments
     

    Case study 1: customer support system

     Our first case study will examine a vendor that wanted to improve its Web-based customer support system to reduce costs, and improve customer service. Their existing process was very labor intensive and ad hoc. Since people in the organization with the product knowledge to feed their customer support system were not Web knowledgeable, transferring their information to a web deliverable format was time consuming and subject to error. Knowledge workers would create documents in an office productivity program like Word and send it off for approval to their supervisors via e-mail. Once the copy was approved, it would be sent to their overloaded Web team for transformation to HTML. The process was slow, and inefficient. And in general, maintaining accurate and up to date information, was a nightmare.
     They decided that to improve this essential service delivery channel, using XML with a content management system was the answer. Their the motivation for using XML in this type of application is obvious:
     
     
  • XML makes it easier to manage, update and keep current a large volume of corporate information
    •  
  • XML enables the automatic delivery of targeted knowledge over the Web, an intranet or a knowledge management system
    •  
  • XML allows more effective searches of your knowledge base so both internal and external users can find the right information the first time
    •  
  • XML lets you create knowledge once, and deliver it accurately, and automatically over all your service delivery channels
    •  To create XML content, they gave their knowledge workers, tech support staff in this case, XMetaL, customized for their customer support DTD. The customization included templates with replaceable text, custom dialog boxes to help fill in required information and metadata, and word-processor style drop down lists. By providing this word-processor style interface for XML content creation, the tech support staff were able to create content directly in XML.
     The validated XML content was then routed to a Documentum content management system, for workflow and subsequent publishing to the Web.
     By working directly with XML, but without having to know XML, content experts were able to provide their information in a way that flowed smoothly through the rest of the content system and allowed for a highly automated delivery mechanism. The cost savings were realized almost immediately.
     

    Case study 2: e-Publishing (news)

     TipWorld publishes advice, news and learning by e-mail. Each business day, TipWorld delivers over 3.5 million newsletters to subscribers in 170 countries around the globe. TipWorld is developed and produced by the Online Services Group of PC World Communications, Inc.
     When TipWorld wanted to streamline their production process and enable it to scale up, they turned to XML for the following reasons:
     
     
  • XML increases publishing efficiency by allowing authors and editors to concentrate on writing and approving content, not presentation
    •  
  • XML allows automatic custom formatting through stylesheets for different delivery channels
    •  
  • XML lets you streamline the dynamic delivery of content from internal contributors and external content partners
    •  
  • XML lets you easily package information for distribution
    •  Content is produced in XMetaL and stored in Vignette's StoryServer from which it is published via e-mail in either plain text or HTML format, depending on user preference.
     Again, a customized version of XMetaL for TipWorld's DTD was developed to make it easy for editors to create content in a word processor like environment. Also, a tight integration with StoryServer made working with the XML content throughout the review and approval process highly productive.
     Documents could be checked in and checked out of StoryServer's workflow using XMetaL's HTTP capabilities. Editors, working at remote locations, could use StoryServer's browser based workflow to select the tip they wished to work on. By clicking on a link, XMetaL is invoked and the article, along with any updates to the DTD and customization files are downloaded via HTTP. When the editing work is complete, an XMetaL command is invoked to submit the article back to the Vignette server using an HTTP POST command..
     

    Case study 3: portals, e-Zines

     Creating and managing an e-zine does not have to be the labor-intensive nightmare it used to be. The Auto Publishing Engine (APE), a content management tool recently developed by Communicate.com combines a smart file management system with XML content that can be converted to HTML for Web site construction. Used together these tools create a structure for formatting and organizing documents, creating links to other sites and printing or emailing documents to potential customers.
     Two separate tools are used together in the Auto Publishing Engine: XMetaL, for XML content creation, and Communicate.com's Perl-based Content Management System, which parses XML into HTML for the Web site.
     Most e-zines, regardless of their content, have two characteristics in common. They are a combination of raw content and organizing principles. They contain documents (which may also contain pictures, graphics, or, on a Web site, even video and sound) and they are organized according to a few basic categories. These are often subject, author and title, but any of these categories could be replaced with others, such as date, product, price range or even color.
     Communicate.com's XML Parsing and Publishing Engine takes advantage of the structure and component labelling embedded in the XML document, to manage the appearance and presentation of the magazine in a consistent way. This is done by using an intelligent file management system and Perl scripts.
     To facilitate XML content creation, XMetaL was customized to work with Communicate.com's system. Because most of their content was created first in Microsoft Word, they required a way to transform the content from the Word document into valid XML. Automatic conversion, based on Word style information, was considered too unreliable and would require an inordinate amount of manual correction. The solution was bring the content into an XMetaL template as flat text, with the different Word sections imported as paragraphs. The process of adding structure to the document--by identifying summary and conclusion sections, or adding a section and subsection structure to the content--is accomplished in XMetaL using a point and click method. For example, a section of text identified as a Headline is selected, and using XMetaL's context sensitive Element List, the user double clicks on the appropriate element to insert the appropriate tag.
     

    Case study 4: retail e-Commerce

     On-line retailers have complex content requirements. Large volumes of information must be must managed. Rich content must be added to raw product information to provide a good customer experience. Multiple sources of content, some from suppliers, some from syndicators, must be transformed into a consistent format. And product catalogs must be rapidly updated to reflect the addition of new products, and pricing changes.
     For one on-line retailer, XML was the perfect solution for managing their on-line catalog information.
     
     
  • XML makes it easier to manage, update and keep current a large volume of product information
    •  
  • XML enables the automatic assembly and formatting of custom product literature.
    •  
  • XML lets you combine rich content with transactional data to provide an enhanced customer experience.
    •  
  • XML lets you easily collect and deliver highly targeted product packages to customers
    •  Their solution was to develop original content in XML and coerce supplied content into XML. The content is then stored in an Oracle database, and Perl, along with various parsers and validators is used to transform their XML into HTML.
     Although they were originally using Notepad to write their markup by hand, a lot of time was spent debugging the documents. A more effective solution was found using XMetaL.
     The company uses a simple set of DTDs, that combine relational data about products, unique product identifiers that are used to link to a product database, as well as graphics, product descriptions and specifications, and price. To coerced supplied content into XML, they employ the same point and click methodology used in our previous example. Original content creation is facilitated by using templates with replaceable text. Graphics are dragged and dropped into the document using XMetaL's reusable object repository, the Resource Manager. Relational data stored in their Oracle database is searched and accessed using XMetaL's Database Import Wizard.
     The final XML content is also stored in Oracle and templates and Perl scripts do the work of assembling product data and content, and formatting it for the Web.
     

    Conclusion

     There are several lessons to be learned from these brief descriptions. First, it is possible to create effective XML based applications for content, not just data. And, because the DTDs used in most of these applications are simple, it is possible to create an effective, easy to use editing environment for users of a wide variety of skill levels.
     Also, we can learn that authoring valid XML documents is only one step in the process of developing an effective content solution. You must also make it easy to for your users to access different sources of information, from different locations, whether this information is relational data that resides in one of your legacy databases, graphics residing in a local or networked file system, reusable content residing in a content management system, or content created in other formats. And you must be able to support the entire production process, from creating the original content, to approvals, to delivery to a file system, a database or full fledged content management system for final publication.
     When it comes to conducting business on the Web, in all its facets, you can do it with XML today. The XML standards are there to be used and the tools and applications are readily available. And it seems certain that you will be doing it with XML tomorrow.
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