I’m trying to write a web application sort of like mapquest, except for on a much much smaller scale, which will only have 100-150 locations, and, there will not be a search function. More like “Click on this link to find the location”. The first thing I’m trying to do is write a web application that will allow me to add the information I need, which entails submitting information through a form. Since my data is relatively small and static, I thought that it made sense to have the data source for ADO.NET be an XML file instead of a database. Since this information will only need to be added once, and changed infrequently, I envision one person sitting down and entering the information in 1 or 2 sittings.

So my question is, what’s the best way? Do I need to open the xml file, read it into the dataset, add a new location, and rewrite the entire file each time I add a location? It seems like a lot of excess accessing, and not efficient at all. Is it possible to keep adding to the dataset and then write the file all at once? I know there are risks involved with that too, though, like what if the program crashes before the data is written to the XML file. Or am I wrong altogether, and would it just be better to use a database instead?

Thoughts? Ideas? I’ve never written a significant web app before, so I am not sure of all the rules and conventions.

Thanks.