User Guide

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Chapter 12: Creating XML Files
Opening, saving, and exporting XML files
About XML
XML is a language designed to mark content so it can be output in multiple ways. Like an HTML file, an XML file
includes tags that surround and organize content. However, unlike HTML, XML tags do not specify how the infor-
mation should be displayed or formatted. Instead, XML tags describe the content, identifying items such as book
title, author, or chapter name. Because the content is free from formatting information, you can use XML files to
generate many different documents. For example, you can use a single XML file to create a printed catalog, a website,
a price list, or a sales book. Designers commonly use XML content to create newspapers, magazines, books, and
catalogs.
InCopy document formatted with XML tags
Most documents conform to some sort of structure. In a book, for example, paragraphs are grouped into sections,
which in turn are grouped into chapters. XML files, which describe content, reflect that organization. The structure
of an XML file consists of the order and hierarchy of its elements. (Tags represent the element name.) Elements are
the building blocks of an XML file and form the various parts of the content. Elements are often grouped together
under a parent element (such as, cells within a table), producing a structure much like a multilevel family tree, with
parent, children, and sibling elements on different branches.
For more information about XML, visit the “In depth” page at
http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/indepth.html.
About XML and InCopy
XML is a text file format that lets you reuse content in a variety of applications and media. Using InCopy 2.0 or later,
you can add XML tags and easily export the contents of an InCopy document to an XML file, as well as open any
XML file in InCopy for editing.
If desired, you can import a DTD (Document Type Definition) file in InDesign, and then open the InDesign
document in InCopy to validate the XML tags.