Expression web xml tutorial
This is an introduction to the very basics of using XML data in
Expression web.
To actually replicate this page, is not difficult.
XML is a structured language much like XHTML without any set tags: Example
<Regions>
<id>6</id>
<Region>North</Region>
<Team>1</Team>
<ContactName>Jill</ContactName>
<Address>The edge</Address>
<Address2>Old Road</Address2>
<Address3>Warrington</Address3>
<County>Cheshire</County>
<PostCode>CH10 5KJ</PostCode>
<Telephone>0101 254563</Telephone>
<Fax>01012 3654778</Fax>
<EMailAddress>Jackandjill@upthehill.com</EMailAddress>
</Regions>
The above is some sample XML data it is very much like (x)html in that you
have opening and closing tags but these tags can be called what ever you
want them to be called.
It is possible that you might want to type all this information by
hand! However, this is not really required. Using Microsoft access with
expression web does away with all the repetitive hand typing.
You can create a very simple or very complex access database (example
of how to do this is included with the tutorial) which is
then exported from access to expression web as an xml file. Simple. Then
all you do it fiddle about with the displayed code until it is formatted
in the way that you want it to be.
We have created an
XML in Expression Web tutorial
How to insert XML data in Expression Web
The tutorial, shows you how to build a simple database, how to export
the data as xml, we then discuss how to format the xml data and finally
how to filter the xml to only show certain data.
Whilst the xml display results look very impressive, we are only
actually scratching the surface with this very simple tutorial. It is
possible to extend this so much more from just our simple database
example. For instance, lets assume that we want a display icon for the
north and south regions. We could use conditional formatting to display
a graphic when the condition has been met.
How simple is xml in expression web?
Hopefully you can now start to see just how simple creating
dynamic expression web, web sites can be. It is entirely possible to have a single
xml file that drives the content of your web site. Alternatively,
you can have multiple xml files.
Further more, it is very simple to display pictures with your xml
data too but I will save that topic for another day.