xml Getting started with xml The basic building blocks

Example

XML is made of basic building blocks, which are:

• element
• text
• attributes
• comments
• processing instructions

An element has angle brackets:

<element/>

<element>some content</element>

An attribute appears in an opening element tag:

<element
  attribute-name="attribute value"
  other-attribute='single-quoted value'>
  ...
</element>

Text can appear anywhere within or between elements:

<element>some more <b>bold</b> text</element>

Comments use the following syntax. It is important to know that XML comments, unlike in programming languages, are part of the model, and will be visible to the application above the parser.

<!-- this is a comment -->

Processing instructions allow passing messages to the consuming application (e.g., how to display, or a stylesheet, etc). XML does not restrict the format of processing instructions.

<?target-application these are some instructions?>

More details on building blocks can be found in this topic