Introduction to DTD

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Table of contents

DTD Tutorial
DTD HOME
DTD Introduction
DTD Building Blocks
DTD Elements
DTD Attributes
DTD Elements vs Attr
DTD Entities
DTD Validation
DTD Examples
DTD Summary

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# Introduction to DTD

A Document Type Definition (DTD) defines the legal building blocks of an XML document. It defines the document structure with a list of legal elements and attributes.

A DTD can be declared inline inside an XML document, or as an external reference.

## Internal DTD Declaration

If the DTD is declared inside the XML file, it should be wrapped in a DOCTYPE definition with the following syntax:

    <!DOCTYPE root-element [element-declarations]>

Example XML document with an internal DTD:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <!DOCTYPE note [
      <!ELEMENT note (to,from,heading,body)>
      <!ELEMENT to      (#PCDATA)>
      <!ELEMENT from    (#PCDATA)>
      <!ELEMENT heading (#PCDATA)>
      <!ELEMENT body    (#PCDATA)>
    ]>
    <note>
      <to>Tove</to>
      <from>Jani</from>
      <heading>Reminder</heading>
      <body>Don't forget me this weekend</body>
    </note>

Open the XML file above in your browser, and select view source or view page source to view the DTD.

The DTD above is interpreted like this:
!DOCTYPE note defines that the root element of this document is note.
!ELEMENT note defines that the note element contains four elements: "to,from,heading,body".
!ELEMENT to defines the to element to be of the type "#PCDATA".
!ELEMENT from defines the from element to be of the type "#PCDATA".
!ELEMENT heading defines the heading element to be of the type "#PCDATA".
!ELEMENT body defines the body element to be of the type "#PCDATA".

## External DTD Declaration

If the DTD is declared in an external file, it should be wrapped in a DOCTYPE definition with the following syntax:

    <!DOCTYPE root-element SYSTEM "filename">

This is the same XML document as above, but with an external DTD (Open it, and select view source):

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <!DOCTYPE note SYSTEM "note.dtd">
    <note>
    <to>Tove</to>
    <from>Jani</from>
    <heading>Reminder</heading>
    <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
    </note>

And this is the file "note.dtd" which contains the DTD:

    <!ELEMENT note (to,from,heading,body)>
    <!ELEMENT to (#PCDATA)>
    <!ELEMENT from (#PCDATA)>
    <!ELEMENT heading (#PCDATA)>
    <!ELEMENT body (#PCDATA)>

## Why Use a DTD?

With a DTD, each of your XML files can carry a description of its own format.

With a DTD, independent groups of people can agree to use a standard DTD for interchanging data.

Your application can use a standard DTD to verify that the data you receive from the outside world is valid.

You can also use a DTD to verify your own data.

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