Re: Use of XML ?

[Alireza Kheyrollahi <aliostad@kavosh.net>]

Dear Caroline,

 

Well, you could have used other technologies as well. Is it the first time a system is able to send data over the cables? Off course not. XML is just a new means. How about uploading a text file? For sure it is not easy then but it could have worked.

But:

 

1. Have you ever converted a large database to an XML file? The file will be quite small considering volume of data you have converted.

 

2. What if the system receiving those data should respond smartly back by serialising data that is needed in the sender?

Actually I was working on a solution for a company that had installed a software earlier and they had same databases on the web and on the client machine. Data entry was both in the desktop application and on the web and these should have synchronized. I logged all the transactions in XML format (perhaps you would have preferred Java) and send it over. But the problem was that ID was autonumber and IDs of the same records were different in these two databases. So web application had to send back all the new IDs and I stored them in the database and when there was an update or delete then the WebIDs were sent instead of local IDs. It was quite an easy task in XML but what about Java?

 

3. There are always conventions for doing things. I believe these conventions are actually the result of subconscious knowledge of the IT community working on something. You can easily disregard all these conventions and choose your own way, but I believe you will reach to these conventions after sometime.

 

4. Sometimes disregarding conventions seems harmless. For example you save your XML Schema file with .xsd extension. You might as well have saved it in other extensions. But even .Net saves XML Schema files with xsd extension, despite the fact Microsoft always tries to label every technology with its own stamp.

 

 

Yours Alireza

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Caroline Clewlow" <cclewlow@eris.dera.gov.uk>

To: <xml-dev@lists.xml.org>

Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 5:57 PM

Subject: Use of XML ?

> Hi all
> 
> I'm involved in a project to exchange data 
between two seperate
> databases ...... and, in an attempt to use XML for 
data exchange we
> developed a schema, and parsed the data into XML before 
transporting it
> over to the receiving system - which in turn 'deparsed' 
the data into
> its own format.
> 
> Whilst we were developing 
the system we came to the startling
> realisation that everything we were 
doing via XML could actually be done
> by simply making each side aware of 
the 'class' (using Java) of the
> object that the data is read into - in 
the same way that both sides
> would need to be aware of the schema. So 
rather than transporting the
> XML doc we could just send that 
object.
> 
> We know we must be missing some fundamental point here 
- but if someone
> could just help by explaining why XML is so important 
as a data exchange
> format it would be very appreciated
> 
> 
Many Thanks
> 
> Caroline
> 
> QinetiQ