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| syeshin | 17ed4a6 | 2005-07-25 17:10:24 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 17 | <title>Document type definition (DTD) - overview</title> |
| syeshin | 6607827 | 2005-09-20 16:53:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 18 | </head> |
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| 20 | |
| 21 | <h1 class="topictitle1">Document type definitions (DTDs) - overview</h1> |
| 22 | <div><p>A document type definition (DTD) provides you with the means to |
| 23 | validate XML files against a set of rules. When you create a DTD file, you |
| 24 | can specify rules that control the structure of any XML files that reference |
| 25 | the DTD file.</p><p>A DTD can contain declarations that define elements, attributes, notations, |
| 26 | and entities for any XML files that reference the DTD file. It also establishes |
| 27 | constraints for how each element, attribute, notation, and entity can be used |
| 28 | within any of the XML files that reference the DTD file.</p> |
| 29 | <p>To be considered a valid XML file, the document must be accompanied by |
| 30 | a DTD (or an XML schema), and conform to all of the declarations in the DTD |
| 31 | (or XML schema).</p> |
| 32 | <p>Certain XML parsers have the ability to read DTDs and check to see if the |
| 33 | XML file it is reading follows all of those rules. While the parser is reading |
| 34 | the XML file, it will check each line to be sure that it conforms |
| 35 | to the rules that are laid out in the DTD file. If there is a problem, the |
| 36 | parser generates an error and points to where the error occurs in the XML |
| 37 | file. This kind of parser is called a validating parser because it validates |
| 38 | the content of the XML file against the DTD.</p> |
| 39 | </div> |
| 40 | |
| 41 | <div> |
| 42 | <p> |
| 43 | <b class="parentlink">Parent topic:</b> <a href="../topics/tcretdtd.html" title="A document type definition (DTD) contains a set of rules that can be used to validate an XML file. After you have created a DTD, you can edit it, adding declarations that define elements, attributes, entities, and notations, and how they can be used for any XML files that reference the DTD file.">Creating DTDs</a><br /> |
| 44 | </p> |
| 45 | <p><b class="reltaskshd">Related tasks</b><br /> |
| 46 | <a href="../topics/tvaldtd.html" title="Validating a DTD file lets you verify that it is well formed and does not contain any errors.">Validating DTDs</a><br /> |
| 47 | </p> |
| 48 | </div> |
| 49 | <p> |
| 50 | (C) Copyright IBM Corporation 2000, 2005. All Rights Reserved. |
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