Purposes of this assignment:

• To familiarize you with XML, DTDs, and CSS for XML.

General idea of the assignment:

Create an XML page describing a collection of things. Supply both a DTD and a (separate) CSS file for this XML page. Post it and send us the URL.

Details:

• Choose some collection of similiar things.
  • This could be a collection of physical objects (for example, your Computer Science textbooks), or some more abstract collection (for example, theories of personality).
    
• Write a DTD describing the information about this collection that you will put into your XML page. This DTD should describe:
  • Header information, giving at least:
    • Your name,
    • A brief description of the collection (think of it as a "title"), and
    • A more detailed text description of the kinds of information you are representing
  • The items in the collection. Allow any number of items, and provide:
    • Several kinds of information about each item.
• Write an XML page, describing a dozen or so objects in your collection.
  • The XML page should be well-structured and valid (according to your DTD).
    
• Write a CSS stylesheet to go along with your XML page.
  • Your goal should be to present the information in a neat, attractive format.
  • Be sure to test your results on both Firefox and Internet Explorer (and possibly others).

Notes:

• Try to choose some kind of collection that is different from what other students are doing. In particular, do not create an address book, or a listing of your CD collection--those are hackneyed and boring.
  
• I think tags are preferable to attributes for practically all purposes. However, as this is a learning experience, use at least one or two attributes in your DTD and XML.
  
• CSS for XML is somewhat used somewhat differently than CSS for HTML. If we have not yet discussed CSS for XML in class, you can still get started on the XML and DTD parts; the CSS won't affect how you do those.

Due date:

Monday, September 25, before midnight. As before, post your efforts (including all relevant files) and send the URL to both the TA and myself.