TieML
Where Business truly meets XML
The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a general-purpose “specification” for creating custom markup languages. It is often said to be a markup language itself, which is incorrect. It is classified as an extensible language because it allows its users to define their own elements. Its primary purpose is to help information systems share structured data, particularly via the Internet. XML has been widely adopted in the business world, for example XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) based on XML is widely used in financial world. The “standard” described here will – tadaa! – close eventual gaps in making XML the primary choice for all business needs: It’s time for the Tie Markup Language! For instance, the XML below describes the “Four in Hand”:
< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?> < !DOCTYPE tieml SYSTEM "tie-ml.dtd">Four-in-hand
The following Document Type Definition (DTD) describes a TieML document:
< !ENTITY % data.boolean "(false|true)">
< !ENTITY % data.integer "CDATA">
< !ENTITY % data.string "CDATA">
< !ELEMENT tieml (tie)>
< !ELEMENT tie (name,description,sequence)>
< !ELEMENT name (#PCDATA)>
< !ELEMENT description (#PCDATA)>
< !ELEMENT sequence (entry)*>
< !ATTLIST sequence
dimension %data.integer; #REQUIRED
centercount %data.integer; #REQUIRED
symmetry %data.integer; #REQUIRED
balance %data.integer; #REQUIRED
state %data.string; #REQUIRED
>
< !ELEMENT entry (#PCDATA)>
< !ATTLIST entry
direction (L|R|Z|T) #REQUIRED
seam (inwards|outwards) #IMPLIED
>