Word and XML Documents

XML or eXtensible Markup Language is a markup language that allows you to tag the contents of a document; the tags not only define the tagged contents of the document (as HTML codes do) but also allow for the validation and transmission of data in the document. Although XML is beyond the scope of this book, the ability for a user to create XML documents directly in Word is an important advance to the Word environment (as was the addition of Web site creation tools to earlier versions of Word).

Not only does Word provide a platform for the creation of XML documents, but it also provides for user-defined schemas for the XML codes. A schema defines what the actual XML codes do in the document when the XML code is read (by an application that is versed in XML such as a Web browser like Internet Explorer).