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XML Student document and its DTD

Short answer

XML is a W3C markup language for exchanging structured data with user-defined tags. A well-formed student XML has root students, student elements containing name (firstname, lastname), address, phone, email. DTD: students (student+), student (name, address, phone, email), name (firstname, lastname), all #PCDATA.

Define XML? Design well formed XML document for "Student". Student should have data such as Name, Address, Phone and Email. Name should contain FirstName and LastName. Also write the DTD (Document Type Definition) for your XML document.

XML

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a W3C markup language for describing and exchanging structured data. Tags are defined by the user, it is self-descriptive, platform independent and strict about syntax. It stores data; it does not decide how data is displayed.

Well-formed XML document for "Student" (file student.xml)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE students SYSTEM "student.dtd">
<students>
  <student>
    <name>
      <firstname>Anil</firstname>
      <lastname>Thapa</lastname>
    </name>
    <address>Bhaktapur, Nepal</address>
    <phone>9801234567</phone>
    <email>anil.thapa@example.com</email>
  </student>
  <student>
    <name>
      <firstname>Mina</firstname>
      <lastname>Gurung</lastname>
    </name>
    <address>Pokhara, Nepal</address>
    <phone>9812345678</phone>
    <email>mina.gurung@example.com</email>
  </student>
</students>

DTD for the document (file student.dtd)

<!ELEMENT students  (student+)>
<!ELEMENT student   (name, address, phone, email)>
<!ELEMENT name      (firstname, lastname)>
<!ELEMENT firstname (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT lastname  (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT address   (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT phone     (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT email     (#PCDATA)>

Explanation

  • students is the root and must contain one or more student elements (+).
  • Each student must contain name, address, phone and email, in that order.
  • name must contain firstname followed by lastname.
  • (#PCDATA) means the element holds only text.
  • <!DOCTYPE students SYSTEM "student.dtd"> links the XML to its external DTD. The DTD can alternatively be placed inside the XML in square brackets [ ... ] as an internal subset.

The document is well-formed (one root, proper nesting and closing, case consistent) and valid (it follows the DTD).

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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