Tech 802: Data, Databases & XML

Data,
Databases
&
XML
A
Crash
Course.

Monique
Sherre8
monique@boxcarmarke>ng.com

3
Types
of
Data
Unstructured
Data
• eg.
Word
documents,
PDFs,
audio/video
ﬁles,
emails,

• No
search
• No
version
control
Structured
Data
• eg.
Inventory
management
database,
wordpress
• Searchable
• Version
and
user
control
(secure
access)
• Rela>onship
structures
(show
everything
tagged
“winter”)
• Import
/
Export
• Display
op>ons
• Machine
readable;
run
queries
against
the
data
Semi-‐Structured
Data
• eg.
xml
(html,
onix,
rss)

• formal/standardized
data

2

Structured
Data:
Wordpress
• Open
Source
content
management
system
based
on
PHP
and
MySQL
– Open
Source:
source
code
is
freely
available,
which
encourages
development

by
many
independent
programmers.

– CMS:
a
database
+
presenta>on
layer
(set
of
templates)
– MySQL:
a
type
of
database
– PHP:
a
scrip>ng
language
designed
to
produce
dynamic
web
pages
• Plugin
architecture
(Akismet
for
spam,
SEO
by
Yoast,
WP
to
Twi8er,
etc.)
• Pages
&
Posts
• Categories
&
Tags

3

Pages
vs
Posts
Page
(~unstructured)
• Sta>c
content,
won’t
change
frequently
• eg.
About
page
• Can
be
organized
manually
a
hierarchy.

Page
(parent)
and
subpages
(child)
– About
Us
>
Team;
About
Us
>
History
Post
(~structured)
• Frequently
updated
content
dynamically
organized
in
a
hierarchy
(chronological,

category),
plus
archive
– News
ar>cles,
Event
informa>on
– Frequently
published
in
an
RSS
feed
that
is
subscribed
to
by
users

4

Semi-‐Structured
Data:
RSS
• Real
Simple
Syndica>on
or
Rich
Site
Summary
• Publish
it.
Subscribe
to
it.
Pull
it
into
other
websites.

• RSS
is
a
standardized
XML
ﬁle
format.

5

WordPress
As
Database
• Instead
of
a
series
of
HTML
files,
WordPress
offers
a
system
that
allows
for
the

organiza>on
and
efficient
storage
&
retrieval
of
informa>on.
– Structured
data
can
be
exported
into
semi-‐structured
data
(RSS,
XML)

6

RSS
is
XML
• eXtensible
Markup
Language
(XML)
is
a
markup
language
that
deﬁnes
a
set
of
rules

for
encoding
documents
in
a
format
that
is
machine-‐
and
human-‐readable.
• RSS,
XHTML
(unzipped
EPUB)
and
ONIX
(ONline
Informa>on
eXchange—standard

for
sharing
bibliographic
data)
are
some
of
the
100s
of
XML-‐based
languages
that

have
been
developed.
• How
might
we
use
XML
for
the
Tech
Project?

7

Current db

Export
to XML

Rename /
Modify
XML
New db

Import
from XML

8

ONIX
is
XML
• Interna>onal
standard
for
represen>ng
and
communica>ng
book
and
product
info

in
electronic
form
– text-‐readable
(human
&
computer)
– tagged/markup
– transferred
by
email
or
rp
(ﬁle
transfer
protocol)
– More
info
Bisg.org

10

Publisher db
Export
to ONIX &
FTP ﬁle to
Server

Server

Bookseller db

Grab
ﬁle from
Server &
Import
from ONIX

11

Publisher db
Export
to ONIX &
FTP ﬁle to
Server

Server

Bookseller db

Grab
ﬁle from
Server &
Import
from ONIX

12

EDI:
Electronic
Data
Interchange
• structured
(db
to
db)
transmission
of
data
• Oren
XML
tagged
format

Source
13

Ques>ons
on
XML?
• Data,
database
ques>ons?
• Tech
project?

14

WEBCAST

A Roadmap to Efficiently Producing
Multi-Format/Multi-Screen eBooks

Lessons from Market Innovators

November 8, 2012

Speakers

§ Thad McIlroy
– Electronic publishing analyst and author
The Future of Publishing

§ Stephen Driver
– Vice President, Production Services
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group

XML
Workﬂows
for
eBooks

17

XML Adoption by Sector

STM Educational Trade

XML Defined
XML is:
n A device-independent, system-
independent method of storing and
processing electronic text
n Markup for form and/or meaning
n A data interchange format used by many
applications on the Web.

XML Provides Real Solutions
n But it is a big, ugly, unwieldy bear
n And its conceptual metaphors bear little
resemblance for book publishers
n It’s based on 25-year-old thinking about
technical documents and ecommerce
n Yet it’s the only real game in town
n ONIX book metadata is enabled by XML

The Importance of XML
n XML enables content management
n Separates form from content
n Combines of style sheets with the power
of databases in an extensible language
n Its long-term killer feature is semantic
markup – marking up meaning, making
text discoverable
n Future-proofing content

XML Tagging
Semantic tagging requires human judgment
but offers the benefit of meaning
<book price=“49.95" ISBN="string" publicationdate="2012-12-09">
<title>string</title>
<author>
<first-name>string</first-name>
<last-name>string</last-name>
</author>
<genre>string</genre>
</book>

Structured Tagging
by Authors?

24 Typéfi sample approach

If you show this to editors...
“They’re going to start
drinking at their desks”

Templated Designs
How much book content fits
into automatic composition?

The Human Factor
New Internal Skills & Positions
n The production skill set changes
substantially
n Much of the existing knowledge base
changes or obsoletes
n The move from design & composition &
production management to content &
product architecting and engineering
n There is an enormous training challenge
ahead

Key Takeaways
n XML is complex, but packed with value
n XML is not an all-or-nothing deal
n Your should start with small steps
n XML’s complexity demands outside help
n Services, consultants, trainers, associations
n The rapid proliferation of output formats
can only be mastered with a structured
approach like XML

Obstacles
to
using
XML

• XML
is
in>mida>ng,
full
of
jargon

• We’re
editors,
not
programmers

• And
what
about
the
authors?

• You
mean
I
can’t
move
that
line
of
text
half
a
pica?!
And

other
design
concerns

• Editorial,
or
“my
book’s
too
good
for
a
template”

So
how’d
we
solve
it?

• We
manipulated
XML
to
our
uses,
not
the
other
way
around

• We
s>ll
used
authors’
Word
documents
as
the
source

• Template
interiors
were
something
we
had
already
been
doing

for
years

• XML
coding
was
translated
into
a
coding
structure
virtually
all

produc>on
people
know:

typeseung
short
tags

• We
adapted
exis>ng
XML
approaches
to
our
speciﬁc
needs
by

discarding
coding
that
didn’t
ﬁt
our
content

But
weren’t
there
problems?

A
Mul>-‐Channel

Workﬂow
Example

1.
Word
document
received
from
author

2.
Word
ﬁle
coded
for
XML
conversion

(resembles
standard
typeseung
short
tags)

3.

Typeseung
short
tags
replaced
with
XML
via

conversion
process
(some
ﬁle
edi>ng
required.)

4.
Final
PDF
generated

arer
style
template

applied
to
XML
ﬁle.

EPUB,
.mobi
and

WebPDF
generated.

Insider
Tips
• Know
your
staﬀ
Who
can
adjust
and
how
will
you
address
those
who
can’t?

• Know
your
content
Using
the
right
tool
for
the
job
is
cri>cal,
not
all
content
is
suitable
for

XML
composi>on

• Be
realisCc
about
the
learning
curve
If
you’re
s>ll
paper
edi>ng,
making
the
leap
straight
to
XML
may
be

too
great,
so
start
small

• Be
ﬂexible
You’ll
likely
revisit
several
core
values
of
your
publishing
program,

iden>fy
the
most
important
things
and
be
honest
about
the
less

important
ones

Insider
Tips,
cont.

• XML
need
not
be
an
oﬀ-‐the-‐shelf
product
You
can
and
should
work
to
customize
it
to
your
own
produc>on

needs

• See
it
through
It’s
taken
us
two
years
to
arrive
at
a
point
where
we’re
comfortable,

and
we’re
s>ll
making
changes

• Partner
with
the
right
vendors
Find
someone
willing
and
capable
of
adap>ng
to
your
publishing
needs

• When
you
need
a
hammer,
use
a
hammer
Remember
XML
is
just
another
tool,
it
shouldn’t
be
your
only
tool.

What’s
Next
Tech
Course
802
1. Chris>ne
on
Tues
15th:
coming
in
to
talk
templates
and
wordpress
2. Next
Tues
22nd:
Chloe
and
Stacey
coming
in
to
talk
about
ebooks,
and
xml
3. Following
Mon
28
and
Tues
29:
Brenda
J
Walker
and
Haig
Armen
on
apps

Tech
Project
607
1. This
Wed
16th:
Content
to
present
assignment
to
Design
&
Tech
so
we
can
all
be
on

the
same
page
and
on
Thurs
carry
on
with
wireframes/design
mockups
(Design),

plaworm
set
up
(Tech)
and
discoverability/ed
calendar
(Content)
2. Following
Wed
23rd:
Present
to
Alan
and
David
designs
and
ideas
so
far.

Tech 802: Data, Databases & XML

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