XML - i have no idea

[The Posting One]

I am having a heck of time figuring out how to use XML, where it's
applicable, why we should use it, etc... I mean say I get data from a
database, so I just send back an XML file to the browser? How does it get
rendered in any intelligible format? Do I create a file on the server, and
then have an html file access that XML file? What about when 10k people
access the site, do I have 10k XML files on my server all being accessed, or
just one (what if they are different types of requests). Or does it get
downloaded to the client (and then again, how does it display?)

I'm just really curious, it's all eluded me so far... I find it far easier
to just use databases and be done with it, is it a portability issue? Can I
create relationships between XML files (like an order table, which has links
to a customer table?)

I just want to know, I've always avoided XML in my solutions planning citing
it as a buzzword, but it's getting to be a rather big buzzword now, and
maybe I've been completely wrong, enlighten me please!

C

[Anon]

Read some articles/books and then come back with some intelligent questions.
There are enough resources out there.

"The Posting One" <cdasilva@earthlink.net> wrote:
>I am having a heck of time figuring out how to use XML, where it's
>applicable, why we should use it, etc... I mean say I get data from a
>database, so I just send back an XML file to the browser? How does it get
>rendered in any intelligible format? Do I create a file on the server, and
>then have an html file access that XML file? What about when 10k people
>access the site, do I have 10k XML files on my server all being accessed,
or
>just one (what if they are different types of requests). Or does it get
>downloaded to the client (and then again, how does it display?)
>
>I'm just really curious, it's all eluded me so far... I find it far easier
>to just use databases and be done with it, is it a portability issue? Can
I
>create relationships between XML files (like an order table, which has links
>to a customer table?)
>
>I just want to know, I've always avoided XML in my solutions planning citing
>it as a buzzword, but it's getting to be a rather big buzzword now, and
>maybe I've been completely wrong, enlighten me please!
>
>C
>
>

[Chris]

Here's how we are using XML for a client's web site:
We've created a customer object that reads the data from a database. Since
the data needs to be persisted from one page to the next, we included an
XML property. When writting an HTML page, the XML is outputted into a hidden
textbox. Then when the user hits a button, this XML is POSTed to the next
page. The object is instanciated and fed the XML string, which then populates
the entire object model (anywhere from 2 to 7 levels deep). The appropriate
action is then taken on the object (updates, adds, deletes) and the XML is
written back into a hidden text box again. When it comes time to save the
data back to the database, the object model is populated using the XML, and
its save method(s) are invoked and the data is sent to the database. The
time saver really came in the screens themselves. By using XML we were able
to use XSL to translate the raw XML data of the object into HTML that any
browser can read. This was a lot faster and easier to write, than writting
a routine that looped through the object, finding the correct sub-object
and iterating through it, producing the "nice" tables. Why was it better?
Because it won't take a programmer to modify it down the road. Any web developer
can read the relatively simple XML code there, since most of it is HTML.


"The Posting One" <cdasilva@earthlink.net> wrote:
>I am having a heck of time figuring out how to use XML, where it's
>applicable, why we should use it, etc... I mean say I get data from a
>database, so I just send back an XML file to the browser? How does it get
>rendered in any intelligible format? Do I create a file on the server, and
>then have an html file access that XML file? What about when 10k people
>access the site, do I have 10k XML files on my server all being accessed,
or
>just one (what if they are different types of requests). Or does it get
>downloaded to the client (and then again, how does it display?)
>
>I'm just really curious, it's all eluded me so far... I find it far easier
>to just use databases and be done with it, is it a portability issue? Can
I
>create relationships between XML files (like an order table, which has links
>to a customer table?)
>
>I just want to know, I've always avoided XML in my solutions planning citing
>it as a buzzword, but it's getting to be a rather big buzzword now, and
>maybe I've been completely wrong, enlighten me please!
>
>C
>
>

[The Posting One]

And **** you very much sir

"Anon" <anon@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:398681c8$1@news.devx.com...
>
> Read some articles/books and then come back with some intelligent
questions.
> There are enough resources out there.
>
> "The Posting One" <cdasilva@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >I am having a heck of time figuring out how to use XML, where it's
> >applicable, why we should use it, etc... I mean say I get data from a
> >database, so I just send back an XML file to the browser? How does it get
> >rendered in any intelligible format? Do I create a file on the server,
and
> >then have an html file access that XML file? What about when 10k people
> >access the site, do I have 10k XML files on my server all being accessed,
> or
> >just one (what if they are different types of requests). Or does it get
> >downloaded to the client (and then again, how does it display?)
> >
> >I'm just really curious, it's all eluded me so far... I find it far
easier
> >to just use databases and be done with it, is it a portability issue? Can
> I
> >create relationships between XML files (like an order table, which has
links
> >to a customer table?)
> >
> >I just want to know, I've always avoided XML in my solutions planning
citing
> >it as a buzzword, but it's getting to be a rather big buzzword now, and
> >maybe I've been completely wrong, enlighten me please!
> >
> >C
> >
> >
>

[Jude]

Hi,

I'm just beginning to find out what XML is all about and where it is applicable.
From what I've been reading, XML is not only for the web, it can be used
in a lot of other applications.

One book that I'm reading now (Alex Homer's Professional ASP 3.0 Web Techniques
by Wrox) covers one chapter on XML. If you're a web developer, I think this
is an excellent book to start off with. The chapter concerned covers the
techniques on implementing XML in a web site. From here you should be able
to tell if XML is for your web site and how to make use of it.

Happy XML searching.


"The Posting One" <cdasilva@earthlink.net> wrote:
>I am having a heck of time figuring out how to use XML, where it's
>applicable, why we should use it, etc... I mean say I get data from a
>database, so I just send back an XML file to the browser? How does it get
>rendered in any intelligible format? Do I create a file on the server, and
>then have an html file access that XML file? What about when 10k people
>access the site, do I have 10k XML files on my server all being accessed,
or
>just one (what if they are different types of requests). Or does it get
>downloaded to the client (and then again, how does it display?)
>
>I'm just really curious, it's all eluded me so far... I find it far easier
>to just use databases and be done with it, is it a portability issue? Can
I
>create relationships between XML files (like an order table, which has links
>to a customer table?)
>
>I just want to know, I've always avoided XML in my solutions planning citing
>it as a buzzword, but it's getting to be a rather big buzzword now, and
>maybe I've been completely wrong, enlighten me please!
>
>C
>
>