Community College of Rhode Island
Syllabus
XML Fundamentals (eXtensible Markup Language) – COMI-1755 - 3 credits
(3 Lecture hours, 1 Lab hour)
Semester and Year: Fall or Spring each year
Professor Donald Paquet
Instructor Contact Information:
Class location information - Online
Email: DPaquet@ccri.edu
Office: Warwick campus room 2150
Office Phone: 401-825-2161
Office Hours: 8 am to 9 am Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Departmental Administrative Assistant: Computers Studies, Donna Scattone 825-2155
Course Description
The newest language technique developing on the Web is the eXtensible Markup
Language. This course introduces fundamentals of XML languages to define and
validate Data, use schemas, transformations, linking, VML, SMIL and CSS. XML files
are used with different editing software. Assignments are used to demonstrate XML
activity at students’ Web sites.
Course delivery mode – Online
Course expectations – Students are responsible for following the policies set forth in the
Student Handbook (http://www.ccri.edu/advising/student_services/handbook.html)
and College Catalog (http://www.ccri.edu/catalog/)
Required textbooks and materials
XML - New Perspectives 3rd Edition
by Patrick Carey, Sasha Vodnik
Pub: Cengage Learning
ISBN 13: 978-1-285-07582-2 © 2015
Software: A current browser that supports the viewing of XML files and XML files transformed
using XSLT. Current versions of the major browsers support these features of XML with the exception
of Google Chrome, which does not support XML documents stored locally. Students who intend to
validate their XML documents in Tutorials 2 through 4 should have access to an XML validating
parser, such as Exchanger XML Editor, or to an online validation service. Students who intend to
transform XML documents using XSLT should have access to an XSLT processor such as Exchanger,
XMLSpy or Saxon. The transformations performed in Tutorials 5 through 8 were done using SaxonHE (home edition) available free for Java or .NET at http://saxon.sourceforge.net. Students who
perform XQuery data queries in Tutorial 9 should have access to an XQuery processor.
Grading Scale and policies
Readings and Labs from the XML text book are assigned weekly. If an assignment is not turned in on time, 10%
will be taken off each day late. Quizzes will be given often throughout the term to help keep
students on track. If a student must miss a Quiz, the instructor must be told in advance and
arrangements must be made to take the Quiz within the week .
QUIZZES WILL NOT BE REOPENED UNLESS A VALID EXCUSE IS GIVEN IN
ADVANCE.
Assignments: 65%
Quizzes 35%
The instructor reserves the right to raise or lower final grade due to attendance, class contribution and participation
Other Policies:
Plagiarism/Cheating – Although helping each other and discussing assignments is allowed and part of
the learning process, homework solutions must be worked out independently unless stated otherwise.
The web provides an amazing set of resources, which you are encouraged to use, but lifting these
resources without proper reference is a form of plagiarism. Any cheating/plagiarism will be reported to
the attention of the Dean for disciplinary action.
Debugging is a valuable skill. As a general rule, I will not debug student assignments
Calendar of weekly course topics
Schedule of course topics and assessments with due dates when possible.
Week
Topic
Material
Assignment
Creating an XML Document
1) Read through
Tutorial 1
Complete Tutorial 1 –
Case Problem 1 upload to
#
1
Aug 31
XML Validator at:
http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_validator.asp
2) Complete
Assignment 1
Assignment 1, Dropbox1.
3) Validate files
2
Creating an XML Document
1) Review Tutorial
1
XML Validator at:
2) Complete
Assignment 2 and
upload to Dropbox2
Sept 7
http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_validator.asp
Case Problem 3, upload
to Assignment 2,
Dropbox-2.
3) Do Quiz-1
3
Validating Documents with DTDs
Sept 14
Exchanger 30 day trial
4
Validating Documents with DTDs
Sept 21
5
Validating Documents with Schemas
Sept 28
Validate using Exchanger
6
Validating Documents with Schemas
Oct 12
8
Case Problem 1
Tutorial 2
Case Problems, 3
Quiz-2
Oct 5
7
Tutorial 2
Tutorial 3
Case Problem 1
Tutorial 3
Case Problem 3
Quiz-3
Working with Advanced Schemas
Tutorial 4
Case Problem 1
Quiz-4
Working with Advanced Schemas
Tutorial 5
Case Problem 1
9
Transforming XML with XSLT and XPath
Tutorial 5
Case Problem 3
Oct 26
Appendix -A Saxon-HE
Quiz-5
10
Transforming XML with XSLT and XPath
Tutorial 6
Case Problem 1
Functional Programming with XSLT and XPath
Tutorial 6
Case Problem 3
Oct 19
Nov 2
11
Nov 9
12
1.0
Quiz-6
Building an XSLT Application
Tutorial 7
Case Problem 1
Building Applications with XSLT 2.0
Tutorial 7
Case Problem 3
Nov 16
13
Nov 23
Quiz-7
14
Building Applications with XSLT 2.0
Nov 30
15
Case Problem 1
Quiz-8
Exploring Data with XQuery
Dec 7
16
Dec 14
Tutorial 8
Tutorial 9
Case Problem 1
Quizz-9
Week 15 Assignments Due
Last day for assignments is Dec 21st
Services for Students with Disabilities
Any student with a documented disability may arrange reasonable accommodations. As part of
this process, students are encouraged to contact the office of Disability Services for Students as
early in the semester as possible (http://www.ccri.edu/dss/index.shtml).
Student Learning Outcomes
Exploring the Concepts behind XML
Creating an XML Document, Working with Elements, Attributes
Understanding Text Characters and White Space
Processing an XML Document
Formatting XML Data
Combining XML Vocabularies
Working with Namespaces, Attributes
Combining XML and HTML
Creating a Valid Document
Working with Child Elements, Mixed Content
Working with Attribute Types, Attribute Defaults
Working with Namespaces and DTDs
Starting a Schema File
Working with Simple Type Elements
Referencing an Element or Attribute
Structuring and Applying a Schema
Understanding the history of CSS
Working with the display attribute and list-items
Working with color styles, borders, margins, and padding
This syllabus is subject to change at any time at the discretion of the instructor. Students are
responsible for keeping current with changes made to this syllabus.