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The XML FAQ — Frequently-Asked Questions about the Extensible Markup Language

Section 3: Authors

(including writers of HTML and Web page owners)

  1. Do I have to know HTML or SGML before I learn XML?
  2. How does XML handle white-space in my documents?
  3. Which parts of an XML document are case-sensitive?
  4. How do I convert my information to XML format?
  5. How can I make my existing HTML files work in XML?
  6. How do I convert XML to other file formats?
  7. If XML is just a subset of SGML, can I use my existing SGML tools?
  8. I'm used to authoring and serving HTML. Can I learn XML easily?
  9. Can XML use non-Latin characters?
  10. What's a DTD and where do I get one?
  11. Does XML let me make up my own tags?
  12. How do I create my own document type?
  13. Can a root element type be explicitly declared in the DTD?
  14. I keep hearing about alternatives to DTDs. What's a Schema?
  15. How will XML affect my document links?
  16. Can I encode mathematics using XML?
  17. How does XML handle my metadata?
  18. How do I use graphics in XML?
  19. What is parsing and how do I do it in XML?
  20. How do I include one XML file in another?
  21. When should I use a CDATA Marked Section?
  22. How can I handle embedded HTML in my XML?
  23. What are the special characters in XML?
  24. What other markup systems are there?

  1. And tables, the only other block-level element in normal use. 

  2. Although if the XML document is well-formed (see question D.3 on ‘What are these terms DTDless, valid, and well-formed?’) and validation is not needed, it is possible to process XML documents without a DTD or Schema.