XML Unleashed

Chapter 29. Generating DTDs with DDbE

In This Chapter

• Understanding DDbE

• Inside the DDbE Command-Line Tool

• Generating DTDs

• Using the DDbE Library

To create valid XML documents, you must begin by developing a DTD or XML Schema that establishes the structure of an XML vocabulary. This DTD or XML Schema is then used as the basis for both creating XML documents and validating them. By starting with the DTD or XML Schema, you give yourself the ground rules from which valid documents can be created. However, things don't necessarily have to proceed in this order.

The alphaWorks group at IBM has developed a technology called DDbE (Data Descriptors by Example) that allows you to infer a DTD from a well-formed XML document or document set. Using DDbE, you ...