E.1. Differences between XML and SGML

There are a few changes between DocBook XML and SGML. Handling these differences should be relatively easy for most small documents, and many authors will not need to make any changes to convert their documents other than the XML and DocBook declarations at the start of their document.

For others, here is a list of what you should keep in mind when converting your documents from SGML to XML.

NoteDifferences between XML and SGML elements
 

An XML element typically has three parts: the start tag, the content (your words) and the end tag. Qualifiers are added in the start tag and are known as attributes. They will always have a name and a quoted value.


<filename class="directory">/usr/local<filename>
	

The start tag contains one attribute (class) with a value of "directory". The end tag (also filename) must not contain any attributes.