xml-dev - XML/XLink/XSL fundamentals

["Raheja, Dhruv (TRANS)" <Dhruv.Raheja@Trans.ge.com>]

hello everybody,

                         I had some basic questions on XML in general and I
would be grateful if somebody could help me with them:

1.) i am confused between "XML parser" and "XML processor".  I know that the
processor is part of an application (browser) and that the XML parser checks
the well-formedness/validity of the XML document. What is the role of the
processor and what it the difference between the two?

2.) I am using an XML editor called XML Writer. It supports the working
draft of the XSL recommendation. When I give the following namespace
declaration:

<xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">, the parser returns an
error message. 

In addition to that, when I try and use <xsl:number/> I get an error message
from the browser. Which parser/editor will allow me to alliviate these
problems?
Basically I need an application that will allow me to fully exploit XSL
(including formatting objects) and XLink/XPointer etc.

3.) The error message related to <xsl:number> is displayed by the browser
and not by the editor. Is there some way to get rid of this problem? Is
there a Microsoft parser that supports the latest XSL recommendations?

4.) I need to be conversant with XLink/XPointer because I need to link
various XML documents together. I also need to learn Formatting Objects in
order to display my documents in a non-HTML format. Are there any
books/tutorials on these subjects?

5.) In the XML documents that I plan to prepare (I have a protoype at
present), there will be elements that are common to some of the documents. I
want to be able to make changes to the element content in one document and
have it reflect in all the other documents that have the same element so
that I can avoid making changes to each individual document. Is that
possible?

I know I have asked a LOT of questions but these are issues that I am
struggling with right now and I would really appreciate somebody's input and
expert opinion.

Thanks a lot,
Dhruv


Dhruv Raheja
Summer Intern (Documentation Center)
GE Transportation Systems
2901 East Lake Road
Erie, PA 16531
Ph : (814) 875 - 2529 (O)
       (814) 824 - 2888 (R)