Webpoint has been providing training services to the University of British Columbia since 2002. We also provide training to companies and can customise training courses to meet your requirements. Our subjects are based on open source technologies and we provide training in:

XML technologies - DTD, XML-Schema, XSLT
PHP - Server Side Scripting
Perl
MySQL with PHP
MySQL with Perl
Cascading Style Sheets
Web Services with PHP
Web Services with Perl
XML with PHP
XML with Perl

Descriptions of our most recent courses are listed below.

Introduction to XML

The extensible markup language (XML) standard and its component technologies are used to facilitate the transfer of information across different systems on the Internet. This hands-on course provides an overview of these technologies, focusing on documentation type definitions (DTDs), XML Schemas, XML parsers/processors and the extensible stylesheet language (XSL). [show detail] [hide detail]

Course Materials

"Course Outline" handout
"XML Technologies" handout(s)

Participant Materials

Bring diskettes and/or zip drives to save files created in class.

Instructional Methods

Lecture, hands-on.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be expected to be able, at a minimum to

Theoretical/Conceptual:

Describe which common XML technologies are used for

Validating XML document content
Formatting XML document content
Describe well formed XML documents
Describe valid XML documents

Technical or Software Skills:

Create an XML document
Create a simple Document Type Definition (DTD) for an XML document
Create a simple XSL stylesheet for an XML document

Tangible and/or Portfolio Outcomes

Examples of XML documents and Document Type Definitions.
Quick Reference for DTD syntax
Quick Reference for XSL syntax
Quick Reference for XML documentation rules
References to resources on the internet.

Practical XML: Working with Databases

Databases represent an integral and vital part of most business systems. A traditional approach to database data processing has limitations, and to overcome them, a new approach based on XML as a universal standard for data interchange has recently been developed. In this hands-on course you learn essential techniques for working with relational databases and XML using the most popular Open Source standard-based tools; Perl, Apache and one of the RDBMs (e.g., MySQL or Postgres). [show detail] [hide detail]

Course Materials

"Course Outline" handout
"Practical XML:Working with Databases" handout.

Participant Materials

Bring diskettes and/or zip drives to save files created in class.

Instructional Methods

Lecture, hands-on.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be expected to be able, at a minimum to

Theoretical/Conceptual:

Describe XML Data Exchange applications that can be written using Perl, MySQL,Apache
Describe how XML data can be generated using Perl Modules and MySQL
Describe how XML data can be inserted into a MySQL database using Perl Modules

Technical or Software Skills:

Create basic Perl scripts to retrieve XML data using HTTP
Create basic Perl scripts to parse XML data and insert it into a database (MySQL)

Tangible and/or Portfolio Outcomes

Examples of Perl programs for XML data exchange.

Intermediate Programming with PHP

PHP is a server side scripting language and is used to extend your web site to include interactive processes. This course covers the basic PHP syntax, separating HTML and PHP using the Smarty templating engine (PEAR module), session handling, database interaction and processing data from on-line forms. During this hands on course students will build an Internet application and cover important aspects of building an interactive site using PHP and other open-source technologies, MySQL and the Smarty templating engine.
Prerequisites: Basic Programming, SQL and HTML experience. [show detail] [hide detail]

Course Materials

"Course Outline" handout
"PHP - Server Side Scripting" handouts.

Participant Materials

Bring diskettes and/or zip drives to save files created in class.

Instructional Methods

Lecture, hands-on.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be expected to be able, at a minimum to

Theoretical/Conceptual:

Describe applications that can be written using PHP
Describe how to process data from on-line forms
Describe how to seperate content from programming logic
Describe how to interface PHP with MySQL

Technical or Software Skills:

Create PHP scripts to process on-line form data
Create PHP scripts to interact with a database (MySQL)
Create PHP scripts to generate dynamic content using MySQL, on-line form content and the Smarty templating engine.

Tangible and/or Portfolio Outcomes

Examples of PHP Scripts.

Applying Cascading Style Sheets

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) have become an essential component in the development and management of web sites, and CSS editors are now incorporated into many web development products. CSS is used for the presentational aspects of a web site, leaving HTML to handle the content (text) separately, and can create effects that cannot be achieved in HTML alone. With CSS, a single style sheet can be applied to all pages on a web site or even multiple sites, dramatically reducing the workload when changing the design. CSS also enables web sites to load faster through reduced file sizes. This course explains how to take an existing HTML web site and redevelop it as HTML+CSS.
Prerequisite: HTML experience. [show detail] [hide detail]

Course Materials

Course Outline handout
CSS notes handout

Participant Materials

Bring diskettes and/or zip drives to save files created in class

Instructional Methods

Lecture, presentations, hands-on.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course students will be expected to be able, at a minimum , to:

Theoretical/Conceptual:

Understand how to organise content and presentation using CSS with HTML
Understand the rules for applying style sheets.
Be aware of the implications of different browser restrictions

Technical or Software Skills:

Create Cascading Style Sheets using the CSS functionality covered in this course
Take existing HTML rendered documents and create a compatible cascading style sheet from them

Tangible and/or Portfolio Outcomes

Working examples of CSS for HTML documents
References to CSS resources on the internet

Introduction to Perl Programming

Perl is a popular object-based language for server-side programming and is used for system administration tasks, Internet programming, connecting to databases, and more. During this hands-on course, participants learn how to write Internet applications using Perl and the available Perl modules from CPAN (the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network).
Prerequisites: basic HTML and solid programming experience. [show detail] [hide detail]

Course Materials

"Course Outline" handout
Perl Syntax, CGI handouts.

Participant Materials

Bring diskettes and/or zip drives to save files created in class.

Instructional Methods

Lecture, hands-on.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be expected to be able, at a minimum to

Theoretical/Conceptual:

Describe the scope of applications that can be written in Perl.
Describe the Perl interpreter .
Describe basic syntax of the Perl programming language
Describe what Perl Modules are.
Describe how the CGI module works.
Describe how to run a Perl script as a CGI application.

Technical or Software Skills:

Create a simple Perl program
Create a simple Perl program using the CGI module
Call a Perl script from a web form

Tangible and/or Portfolio Outcomes

Examples of Perl programs
Quick Reference for integrating Perl scripts in an Internet environment.
Quick Reference of basic Perl syntax
References to resources on the internet.