Midterm Project 1
Create Your Own Language

For this project, you are to:

• Create a custom XML-based markup language.
• Write the description of the language in English (this will be documentation for people who will write documents in your new language).
• Create a grammar for the language in Relax NG.
• Provide a sample file or files that shows the aspects of your language.

The markup language should be realistic; the following is unacceptably trivial:

On the other hand, you should not bite off more than you can chew. Examples of something that might be too complicated would be markup languages for:

• A complete airline reservation system
• A full representation of all the aspects of organic chemistry compounds

No address books, please! Here are some suggestions for you:

• A bus schedule
• A simplified version of the De Anza course catalog
• A family tree (genealogy)
• A gradebook

The language you design should be on the same order of complexity as the catalog or club database languages that have been used in the exercises and the lecture notes.

Your markup language grammar must use at least:

• two different data types
• one regular expression
• two <define>s and at least two <ref>s (no monolithic grammars!)
• one element that contains mixed content (elements and text)
• one required element and one optional element
• one required attribute and one optional attribute
• one <choice> for attribute values

You are not required to use namespaces or the <group> element, but you may if you wish.

Please send three files:

• The description of your language, either as RTF (Rich Text Format) or plain text. If RTF, name it as lastname_initial_mid.rtf. If it's text, name it lastname_initial_mid.txt.
• The RNG file for your language. Name it lastname_initial_mid.rng.
• The sample XML file for your language. Name it lastname_initial_mid.xml.

Thus, someone named Moishe Pipik would send files pipik_m_mid.rtf, pipik_m_mid.rng, and pipik_m_mid.xml.