XML and Web Services

XML & WEB SERVICES

TOPIC : MICROFORMATS

CONTENTS

1. Abstract

2. Introduction

3. Background

4. Technical overview

4.1 Examples

5. Specific Micro formats

6. Uses of Micro formats

7. Evaluation of Micro formats

7.1 Design Principle

7.2 Accessibility

7.3 Comparison with alternative approaches

8. Conclusion

9. References

Abstract:

Microformats are adaptation of semantic XHTML which is easy to publish and extract information

Like tags, entries of Calendar, Contacts and reviews on web. Though it is sidestep of the existing

“Technology of RDF”, artificial intelligence-inspired processing tools, ontologies, different number of

Microformats have developed to achieve goals of well-known semantic projects of web. In this I would like

Share the ideas, aims in implementation development of microformats with examples.

Introduction:

Microformats is well-based implementation approach of the semantic markup which can be

Reused by the existing HTML, XHTML tags which converts into metadata and also uses

Different attributes in web pages also contexts which supports XHTML like RSS. This

Implementation allows to process the information related to the end-users (like calendar, events,

Contacts, geographic coordinates) automatically.

Even though the webpages are technically have the capability of “automated processing”

And due to the inception of the webs, this process is difficult because of the traditional markup

Tags which are used to show/display information on the web but do not explain/describe what

Exactly the information meant.

To overcome this difficulty, this can be done by attaching or implementing semantics,

process others, highly complicated different methods of automated processing like natural

language processing or screen scraping by using processing and adoption of microformats

displays or allows data items indexed, saved, searched and can also br re-used as references,

by this information can be combined and re-used.

From 2010, Microformats also allow the coding and extraction of social relationships,

Information details, events etc., development of such microformats i.e., hcard are published as

alternatives of web like RDFa and schema(microdata).

BACKGROUND:

Microformats are developed as a root movements to make data items recognizable (like

Geographical locations, events, contact information) which are capable of automated processing by

the use of software and can directly readable by the users. First link-based microformats are

developed. These also include vote links express opinions of linked page and the search engines

can compare them into instant polls.

Commerce net, a non profit organization which promotes electronic commerce on

Internet, which has helped sponsor and publish/promotes the technology and also supports the

Microformats in various ways.it also helped to co-found microformats.org community site.

Either of commerce net, microformats.org does not operates as a standards body

Microformats functions through open wiki, internet relay chat, mailing list channel. Most of the

Microformats originates at the microformats.org and the related mailing list by the process of

gathering all examples of web applications behaviour and codifying it.

Technical Overview:

XHTML and HTML standards allows for implementing, encoding and embedding of

The semantics within attributes of markup tags. Microformats takes advantage of XHTML and

HTML standards by directing the presence of metadata by using following attributes.

Class: classname.

Rel: relationship, explanation of the address in anchor-element.

<a href = …..rel = ……> …….</a>

Rev:

Reverse relationship explains about the referenced file/document.

For example: In a text “birds roosted at 50.23, -3.89” in which a pair of numbers may be

understood, from the context to set them in gepgraphic coordinates spans/tags with specific

class names (geo, latitude, longitude).

<span class=”geo”>

<span class=”latitude”>50.23</span>

<span class=”longitude”>-3.89</span>

</span>

Software developers can easily identify exactly what each attribute value indicates and the

performance of various types of tasks like locating a place by placing it on a map and exporting

it onto a GPS device.

3.1. Examples:

For example the contact information can be implemented as follows:

<ul>

<li>john</li>

<li>Infosys company</li>

<li>0482154891</li>

<li> < a href = “http://infosys.com”> http ://infoysys.com </a></li>

</ul>

In hcard the above can be written as

<ul class=”vcard”>

<li class=”fn”>john</li>

<li class=”org”>company</li>

<liclass=”tel”> 048631654</li>

<li class=”url“ href=”http://infoysys.com”> http ://infoysys.com </a></li>

</ul>

Where, Fn=formatted name

Org=organization

Tel=telephone number

Url=web address

Other classes also exists like browser plug-ins extract information and address book used for

transferring the information to other applications.

4. Specific Microformats:

There are several various microformats have been implemented to enable semantic

Markup of certain types of information. However hcard, hcalendar are ratified and others are

marked as drafts.

hAtom: used for atom feedback within HTML stamdards.

hCalendar: used for events.

hCard: used for contact information, which includes:

adr –address for postal addresses.

geo- geographical coordinates(longitude, latitude).

hMedia: udes for content of audio/video.

hAudio: used for content of audio.

hNews: used for content of news.

hProduct: used for the content of products

hRecipe: used for the content of recipes, foodstuffs.

hResume: used for the content of cvs/resumes.

hReview: used for the content of reviews.

Rel-directory: used for the content of distributed director inclusion and creation.

Rel-enclosure: used for the content of the multimedia attachment to the web pages.

Rel-license: it is a specification of the copy right license.

Rel-nofollow: it is an attempt to disconnect/discourage third party spam to the content

(e.g.,spam in blogs).

Rel-tags: used for decentralized of tagging.

Xfolk: used for linking of tags.

Xoxo : used for outlines and lists.

Xhtml friends network(XFN): used for social relationships.

5. Uses of Microformats:

By using of microformats in HTML gives additional semantic and formatting data

Applications can be used like web crawlers which collects data of on-line resources, desktop

applications like scheduling software which can compile details/information or emails of clients.

“mash ups” are also facilitated by the use of micorformats like exporting/transferring all the

Geographical places/locations on a web page into visualizing them spatially i.e, google maps

There are many browser extensions, like for firefox it is operator and for internet

explorer its oomph, which provides the ability to find/detect micrformats in an HTML

document.

When the useage of hcard, hcalendar are implemented, then browser extensions allows to

transport the data into formats compatibility with the content management and also with the

calendar utilities like Ms outlook(Microsoft outlook). On the other hand geographical

coordinates which allows to find and send the location/places to map them like google maps

to extract these microformats from the webpages a language called “Yahoo! Query” is used.

12^th may 2009 google declared that they will be parsied hcard, hproduct, hreview micorformats

and using them to be more populated in search of result pages. Since then they have extended the

use of hrecipe for cookery, hcalendar for events. Similarly these microformats are also used

by Yahoo!, bing, overall these are the main three search engines of the world.

There are few arguments for implementing these responsibilities in the

Microformats of the users interfaces in web browser nothing than making of HTML code more

Complicated.

• Only web browser can know which/what applications can be accessible by

the user and what its preferences are

• It narrows the entry for a website developer if they need only to deal with

the markup but cannot handle action, appearance issues.

• Microformats do not support retain of backward compatibility with the web

browser.

• In order to simplify security issues, web browser presents only a single point

to entry the web to the user computer.

6. Evaluation of Microformats:

There were many discussions and reviews are offered by various commentators on design

principle of microformats and practical work/aspects. Upon this microformats arencompared with other

approaches which seek to use of same purpose.they are also document efforts to examine both publicity

and use of these microformats which are to exist.

CSS creator Mr.hakon wium lie and CTO of opera software in 2005 said that they also see

a group of microformats which are being developed, this will lead to developing of a semantic web he

believe.

However, the author of “swignition” toby Inkster, microformats parsing services pointed in

august 2008, that no new specifications of microformats are published since from 2005.

6.1 Design Principles:

To design any application is that reuse, reduce, recycle are “shorthand for many design

principles” which are motivated in the development practices of microformats i.e.,

Reuse : the information or formats can be reused i.e, they can be reviewed and can be used

whenever needed.

Reduce : this gives focus attention and simple solutions on particular problems.

Recycle : this can be used to modify,implemented and validating of XHTML can be

Used when needed in RSS feeds, blog post, anywhere where web can be accessed.

6.2 Accessibility:

Some of these microformats uses title attributes of HTML elements like “abbr” in converting

machine-readable data in a different design pattern called “abbr-design pattern”. The content of plaintext

these element is inaccessible to screen readers which expandsabbreviations. In 2008, June, the BBC

declared that it is the drawback of microformats for using this abbr design pattern because of the

accessibility is concerned.

6.3 Comparison with Alternative Approaches:

Microformats not only provide solutions for the data to be more intelligent, on the

Web but there are also alternative approaches which are still being developed.

For example: the use of standards of semantic web, XML markup language are known as

Alternatives.

There are also some contrast with these micorformats in which they do not coincide necessarily

with design principles of reuse, reduce, recycle.

Tankek celik discovered a problem of alternative approaches of microformats…

“To learn new language, and to see the output of these additional documents/filters on your server. ”

It is a hassle, narrow barrier to entry. There are few applications which can use other approaches may

valid i.e, if one wants to make use of microformats-style but the data type to be implemented if it does not

match to an microfromat which is existing, to overcome this one can use RDFa to implement arbitrary

vocabularies in HTML.

Ryan king an advocate of microformats gives the compatibility of these microformats with the

other approaches as “microformats give an easy way for users to implement/contributr semantic data to

the web by using GRDDL all data can be made available for RDF tools ” to buil a good web GRDDL,

microfromats can be used.

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