1. “Patience, learn you must”
Tutorial Starts 7PM

2. Start recording!
Recordings in various formats will be available in a few days
Check out the Tutor Group Forums for:
Recording links
Copies of slides
Any follow questions and answers
Please use the “chat” box to chat!
Bad enough listening to me for 90 minutes
At least you can chat to the other students
Any subject you like, I will ignore box except for questions!

3. T320 Tutorial two
Protocols, XML & TMA02

4. Proposed agenda Where are we? Eclipse Protocols XML TMA Tips, Q & A
Data
Metadata
Tools
Schema Design
TMA Tips, Q & A
Any questions, please click the “raise your hand” icon Then type question in chat box Or use microphone!

5. Fun Quiz! Throughout this presentation there are some movie quotes!
Question 1 (easy)
Which movie are most of them from?
Question 2 (harder)
Which quote is the odd one out?
And which movie is it from?
There are NO prizes!
But please don’t spoil the fun for others…

6. Proposed Un-agenda(?) Security
This is well covered (for our purposes) in Block 2 Part 2
But be aware that this is a BIG subject
You are NOT an expert just having read Part 2!
Message Transport over HTTP
Also well covered, Block 2 part 3
But the protocol stuff here will be useful
The practical work
Thoroughly described in Block 2 parts 4-7
Excellent support from the appropriate national forums

7. “If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from.”
Where Are We?

8. Overview Block 1 – E-Business in context E M TMA01 A pt 2
You
Are Here
Block 2 – Protocols and Data
TMA02
Block 3 – Web Services
TMA03
Block 4 – Business Processes
EMA pt 1

9. Block 2
You need to read (and understand!) most of block 2 material before starting TMA02 You have 2 ½ weeks remaining Do not panic! If really pushed for time, Block 2 Part 3 is not immediately relevant to the TMA But you will struggle with Block 3 without it Contact your tutor if you have any questions or problems (More on the TMA later…)

10. “That’s no moon! That’s a space station”
Eclipse

11. Eclipse Tips Don’t Panic! Watch the video for an overview
From the T320 website
Or on the DVD
Watch the 9th April recording in the Module-Wide tutorial room
Introduction to Eclipse, XML and XML schema (Michelle and Mike) ~ 1hr 25mins

12. Eclipse Layout

13. My view of eclipse (YMMV)
For any given task, there is probably something better than Eclipse
PHP editing – PHPStorm
XML Editing – Oxygen
But for integration, flexibility and add-ons (of all types) there is little to beat it
Especially for large teams
As a developer, do I use it by choice?
I used to… (First large scale IDE I used)
Recently migrated to something less “heavy” - Jedit
And less “austere” (more colourful and fun!)

14. Protocols “I am C-3PO, human-Cyborg Relations...”
“Don’t need a protocol droid…”
Protocols

15. Block 2 Part 1 Good, interesting material And quite brief!
Don’t worry too much about EDI / EDIFACT
For historical interest only
Make sure you understand:
Structured and unstructured data
What a protocol is (next slide)

16. What Is a Protocol? 1 - The pattern of message exchange
How is an interaction started? Who can start it?
How do we take turns? Synchronous or asynchronous?
What is the procedure for handling errors?
How to manage acknowledgements?
How to end / complete the interaction
Interesting aside…
If we expect the other guy to acknowledge our message was received, should we acknowledge their acknowledgement?
Look up “The Two Generals’ Problem” on Wikipedia

17. What Is a Protocol? 2 – The format and semantics of messages
The arrangement of data
Where stuff starts and ends
What format the data is in
The difference between “protocol data” and “payload data”
What does the data mean?
Especially the “protocol data” e.g. flags, lengths, checksums
The “payload data” may just be “data” (i.e. treated as a single “chunk” of bytes

18. Example ProtocolS
“Good Evening” “Table for four please” “This way please” “Thank you” “Here are your menus, would you like to order your drinks now?”
GET /t320/index.cfm HTTP/1.1 Host: dell400.open.ac.uk HTTP/ OK Server: Microsoft-IIS/4.0 Date: Mon, 01 Jul :38:27 GMT Content-Length 2722

19. Layered PRotocols
Block 2 Part 3 – Message Exchange over HTTP Important to understand “Layered Protocols”

20. “What’s in there?”
“Only what you take with you…”
XML

21. XML terminology
<item about=“this”>A string of Characters</item>
Name Value
Attribute
Element Content
Start Tag
End Tag
Element

22. XML Data
Can be in the content… <h1>My Webpage</h1 Can be in an attribute value… <img src=“ Can be the presence of the element itself… <hr />

23. METAData
It is a useful distinction to talk about “data” and “metadata” “Metadata” is “data about the data” It is NOT the data itself, but is additional information that helps interpret or categorise the data Could also consider it “primary” vs. “secondary” data <fuel-load units=“litres”>10000</fuel-load> Or the MP3 “tags” that provide artist, album, & genre details

24. Creating XML By hand, in an editor
Not typical, except authoring of structured documents
Where there is much more content than structure
E.g. Oxygen XML/Author to create product manual
Programmatically (i.e. through a computer program)
By writing out XML as a text file
Need to know ALL the data beforehand
(Except in very trivial cases, like log files)
Need to know ALL the structure beforehand
Or use a DOM Interface…

25. Creating XML through a dom interface
Remember, XML has a hierarchical (tree like) structure
So we can create that tree by adding “branches” as required, where required (and then move them around!)
A typical DOM interface has functions like:
Document.CreateElement(ElementName)
Element.AddAttribute(Name,Value)
Element.AddChild(Element) / Element.RemoveChild()
Element.AddContent(CharacterData)
When complete, write out as an XML file
Document.CreateXMLFile(RootElement)

26. XML Hierarchy

27. Reading XML - DOM We can also use a DOM interface to read XML
Typical functions include:
Document.ReadXMLFile(Filename)
Element.GetAttribute(Name)
Element.GetContent()
Element.GetChildren()
In this way data can be read and used in a program
Points to note:
ALL the data is read in by the program
“Navigation” can be long-winded for “deep” trees

28. Reading XML – SAX An alternative approach is to use a SAX interface
XML is read element-by-element
You tell the interface which elements you want to work on
Typical interface might be:
Create a “call back” table of elements and function calls
(i.e. call function X when you find element E)
ParseFile(Filename, CallBackTable)
How do you specify the elements you need? X-PATH

29. X-PATH
Examples: /contact/name/familyname //town Others: //Element[name=“value”] These can get really long and complicated! (Debug tools available)

30. Converting XML What if want to reorganise XML to match another schema?
We already know one way:
Use DOM to read in “old” XML, rearrange as required, write out “new” XML
But this requires a program to be written
Alternative is an XSLT processor
Takes an existing XML file, and a specification of changes
Creates new XML file based on:
An specification of an element pattern (X-PATH!)
Some instructions as to what to output
All these instructions are written in XML!
But can be tricky – need to understand recursion
But for that, first you must understand recursion…

31. XSLT PROCESSOR Transform Specification (XML) Input Output XML XML File
(application)

32. Restricting XML With XML we can define elements and attributes at whim
It is useful to restrict XML to a specific “vocabulary”
So we can define it, share it, re-use it
Originally – Document Type Definitions ( DTD )
Kinda weird syntax – don’t worry about this
But note that XHTML is still defined by a DTD
Newer approach XML-SCHEMA
Uses XML to define other elements, attributes
How they can be arranged
What they can contain (e.g. facets)

33. XML SCHEMAS Best developed using a graphical tool E.g. Eclipse
But there are better (paid for) tools
Other tools may validate XML against a schema
E.g. DOM Interface usually has option to validate
Document.ReadXMLFile(FileName,Validate=true)
If you know (and trust) the source it may not always be necessary to validate files (does take time & resources)

34. Schema Design Karl’s Tips for Real Life Schema Design
(Not really necessary for the TMA – i.e. no extra marks!)
Always include a schema version no. in your XML
Helps to maintain backwards compatibility
Use element content for data, attributes for metadata
Makes difference clearer, easier to set defaults
Look for opportunities to re-use elements & data
But be aware, it is hard to enforce internal consistency in schema (e.g. unique IDs - YES, cross-references – NO?.)
Be careful placing mandatory elements (ideally, first)
Helps with forward compatibility (new elements)

35. "You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden..."
"Is this the test now?"
TMA02 Tips Q & A

36. TMA02 Q1
Based on example data gathering form, develop a schema and example XML data file
You are developing a data representation NOT trying to reproduce the form
The form is provided as an example of how the data is gathered at present
Remember, we want a format in which data can be used in for automation

37. Example of use Possible Destinations: Possible Sources: Other programs
Printouts
Different
XML file
Possible Sources:
Typed by
a person
Created
in another
program
Computer
Program
XML Document
Possible
Actions:
Use for database
lookup
Combine with other data
Store in a database
Database

38. The “right” answer? There isn’t one!
There is a wide range of answers because:
XML can be used in various ways
Elements vs. Attributes
Element organisation / hierarchy / optionality
Element & attribute naming
Strictness vs. flexibility
Hence Q1(c)
Explain, in your terms, why you made particular choices
Any, sensible justification is fine!

39. TMA01 Q2 (a) Tests your understanding of XML
Well covered in the course material
(b) Tests your understanding of Schemas
Also well covered in the course material
(c) Asks you to explain your choice of representation
Why did you decide to use <whatever>?
Don’t forget to mention alternatives considered
(d) Short note on using Eclipse
Make sure you say three things!
Can be positive or negative

40. TMA02 Q2 (a) Tests your understanding of namespaces
Well covered in the course material
(b) Comparing various XML tools in a specific scenario
Some in course material, but also this presentation
(c) Industry Standards vs bespoke development
Standards were covered in Block 1
Think about pros and cons
(d) Short report on using image metadata
See this presentation about “metadata”
Don’t worry about references

41. TMA02 Tips There are no tricks or traps! So don’t look for them…
Largely straight forward
But don’t leave it too late to start…
And maybe start with 1b, then do 1a…?
No word count limits
But longer is not always better!
Look at the marks breakdown
Use this to guide your time

42. Any Questions?
Please type below or in the chat box Click on the “Raise your hand” icon to use your microphone

43. “Difficult to see, always in motion is the future”
What Next?

44. Thank you for watching! TMA02 Submission date 8th May
Block 3 Material available 29th April
Any questions or problems
Check the Tutor Group Forum for slides & recordings
Next tutorial: 3rd June
Thank you for watching!