XML was not designed to be used as a format for transient data that is en
route from the database to the browser. People are using it for that task,
and once you're sold on XML you will probably want to use it for that task,
but that's not the job it was designed for.
XML is capable of holding information that is far richer in structure than
the rows and columns of a relational database. If you don't feel that
rows-and-columns are constraining you then either you don't really need XML
at all, or you've become locked into a way of thinking that because tables
are the only thing you can store, tables must be what users want.
Situations that need this richness include:
- storing documents, including highly-structured documents such as job
application forms
- exchanging messages between heterogeneous applications
- modelling data that is intrinsically complex such as geographic
information
Michael Kay
-----Original Message-----
From: Jarrell Dunson [mailto:Jarrell_Dunson(_at_)asburyseminary(_dot_)edu]
Sent: 19 May 2004 13:16
To: xsl-list(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com
Subject: [xsl] Help: Reasons to use XML/XSL ?
Hey,
Thanks ahead of time to each of you for reading this.
I'm an XSD, XML, XSLT Newbie....and am trying to learn the process.
However, I really need some input - not from a programming
perspective,
but from a philosophy and usage perspective.
For instance, I'm a current user and programmer of
Perl...using SQL, CGI,
and Perl DBI for pulling information from an Informix
Relational Database.
I'm able to pull data out of a database quite easily...via Perl
DBI/SQL...and format it with Perl into quality HTML pages. ..and the
process is rather efficient.
For HTML, I can build the pages via wriing the code myself,
or using Perl
script, etc, I can also, at times, use a text editor (or text editor
assistant / html formatter) to build basic html and modify it
as needed.
[Instead of coding a table by hand, for example, I'll use an editor
assistant (such as Dreamweaver, or Notetab) to create all the
code for a
3x4 table...and then modify and/or populate the HTML as needed].
So for this process, I'm going from database ...via Perl
script...to HTML.
In learning XSD, XML, XSLT, however, I just don't see the
advantage of it?
What more does XSD, XML, XSLT give me as a programmer?
For me to do the same steps....to go from a database to web
page, it seems
to me that I have to take three [or four] more major steps...each
involving a more complicated process. From my beginner
perspective, I have
to build a XSD...and then a matching XML - based upon the XSD
(validating,
etc.). For output, I have build the output leg, XSLT
(transforming the
XML, etc)....to get the same results. I just don't see the advantage.
In my current programming, I'm using one scripting process
DATABASE --> [1] Perl/DBI (using SQL) --> To HTML/Web Page
In using XML, I need three (or four) processes:
[1] Build XSD first. Then: DATABASE --> [2] Perl/DBI
(using SQL) --> To
XML. Then,
[3] Build an XSLT --> [4] Transform the XML via XSLT
--> HTML/Web page
Isn't this far more complicated?
Granted, I could see advantages if I were outputting my data
in different
ways...say, one of my outputs was for the Internet, another for a PDA,
another for an RSS feed....etc.
OR, I could possibly see advantages [per the claims I've
heard from big
corporations] if I were a great business enterprise...and all my data
needed to be standard...and I needed to use my own mark-up language -
though I'm not fully convinced of this.
But for simple processes....from database to web, I just
don't get it It
seems far more complicated, and [other than buiiding my resume skills]
raises the question if it's worth...
So, for an uneducated newbie, can you help? I've learned XSD...and
XML...and am working on the XSLT, but I haven't seen enough
to "buy into
it". What's the real benefit of learning and using XSD, XML,
AND XSLT? -
especially over a simple process like Perl/DBI....and why ?
THANK YOU ahead of time,
Jarrell
Jarrell R. Dunson, III
Asbury Theological Seminary
Administrative Computing Coordinator
Jarrell_Dunson(_at_)asburyseminary(_dot_)edu
(859) 858-2379 (direct)
(859) 858-2330 (fax)
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