XML, XQuery, Drupal, and OpenLazlo Widgets: Preserving the integrity of your vote

SESSION OVERVIEW
The integrity of the United States voting system concerns many people. In this session, I will demonstrate a working system that enables voters to submit contact information and issues to a central voter integrity organization in real time, using an Open Laszlo widget for the front end, a Drupal site for the back end, pipelining data between the widget and Drupal using XML, XQuery, and the REST API to the eXist XML database.

TRACK
Site building

AGENDA
I will demonstrate and step through the code for how the data that the voters submit is:

• Captured by the OpenLaszlo widget (itself XML with embedded JavaScript) on the client side
• XML-validated on the server
• Stored in the server’s XML database
• Retrieved from the XML database via XQuery through the REST API
• Loaded into the Drupal site using XML-RPC to autogenerate Drupal nodes

Once the data is on the site, staffers can use the contact information from the widget to resolve problems.

GOALS
I hope people will gain a strong sense of the power of XML, and with useful tools to begin building their own XML applications, from an OpenLaszlo front end, through XML middleware, to the Drupal backend. I also hope people gains a sense of the simplicity of the REST model.

RESOURCES
People can play with OpenLazlo widget demos here. XML.com is a fine gateway to all things XML, including the specifications and generic markup technologies.