function of XML

[sakurasyi]

Hi there...

i'm quite new in XML... I have read some tutorial about XML, but i still confused about XML..
Can anyone tell me,
1. why we need xml?
2. when we need to use xml?
3. what are the differences when we used xml and not use xml?

thats all

thank you.

[Banfa]

I think you may find the answers to some/all of your questions at

http://www.oreillynet.com/faqs/list.csp?id_subject=23

[sun99]

this is one more good one

http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_whatis.asp

[sakurasyi]

i have view the websites that you give. But, i still confused. Now i'm developing content management system (CMS). This system will have many data.
1. Am i supposed to use database to store all the data or use xml?
2. We already have database, then why we need xml?

can anyone tell me the reason?

[Banfa]

No you use a database to hold your data, XML is a protocol for transfering data between systems.

In theory you could put an entire database into an XML file (or more than 1 if you wish) but I think it would be a bit bulky.

[sakurasyi]

what are the differences if i use xml for my system? i have read some articles that mention, xml is used to transform content into a variety of formats on demand. But, it not suitable if the data too many. Is it true?

besides that, is there any problem or limitation if i don't use xml for my cms?

[Banfa]

No XML just contains the data, XSL/XSLT is used to transform the data into the required format. See

http://www.w3schools.com/xsl/xsl_languages.asp

The reason that XML is not suitable for a large database application is that it is a data format not a database engine, a database engine holds quite a lot of meta-data (data about the data) which enables it to efficiently search and retrieve the data. XML is just a text encoded file and is not so easy to index and search.

Because of this if you have too much data the process of searching for data in an XML based database would very long and time consuming which is why XML is not suited to being used as a database if there is a lot of data involved.

[sakurasyi]

Did you know about xml translator? I'm trying to find xml translator tools, but until now i fail to find it. Can anyone tell me where to download xml translator?

[Mason]

Did you know about xml translator? I'm trying to find xml translator tools, but until now i fail to find it. Can anyone tell me where to download xml translator?

By XML translator do you mean a tool that allows you to convert XML to OO languages like C++? If so, I have used Liquid XML for a few years and it makes the whole XML experience a simple one :)

[sakurasyi]

Mason,

i think it is not what i mean.
Actually, i search for a tool that allow me to create data once and publish it at multi channels or multi devices, such as PDA, web browser and e-mail.

i have found one, FOA from HP. But, still don't understand how to use it, and the flow.