Lesson 1: Anatomy of a CAP Alert Message

Introduction

Let us take a look at the components of a CAP alert message. Here is an example of an alert as it may look when posted to a web page or sent via email:

Recall from the CAP Basics course that CAP messages are prescribed through XML, a machine and human readable markup language easily distributed via the Internet. The information that is displayed in this sample alert is parsed from the XML source. In addition to the displayed information, there is other critical data in the source file that can be used to evaluate the urgency of the alert and to disseminate it through the appropriate channels.