not too bright question

[KenC.J]

OK, this may sound funny. But what can XML actually do?
Need to know this, and I'm actually deciding if I should take it up.
thanks guys

[PunkRockNeil]

It's not really what XML can do, it's what you can do with XML. XML is a means of standardizing how data is stored/transferred. You can create your own tags, etc. Here's an example...

<VEHICLE>
<TYPE>Car</TYPE>
<MAKE>Chevy</MAKE>
<COLOUR>Blue</COLOUR>
</VEHICLE>

It sort of works like a DB...You simply need to write a program to parse the XML file to get the data you want...It's a very good idea and worth taking up.

Neil

[sail3005]

Yes, many things are based and age going to based on XML. XML is the future of the web. Not only for the web, but for programming. A common example is that programs that use skins often use XML. Such as Netscape 6.

[sail3005]

i think that this was supposed to go here?

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...threadid=75590

[KenC.J]

Thanks guys for all ur replies.
Just need to ask, I'm sort of a half-knowledged programmer for VB & Java and I guess XML would be a whole different thing and doesn't really have the same concepts right? So, should I start with a book or the Internet?

[Cander]

A book would be helpful. Get an XML book from Wrox http://www.wrox.com They are the best.

There are also plenty of online resources to teach you.
http://www.xml.com
http://www.xml101.com
http://www.vbxml.com

Attached is a small web example of using XML and XSL together to make a web page. It includes 3 files. the XML dock which holds some some news information to be displayed on the page, the XSL doc which turns it into a web page, and a CSS file which isnt really necessary, but it is also the future of web pages to keep all formatting, data, and mark up seperate. Just unzip the 3 files into a directory, then view the test1.xml file in Internet Explorer 5 or higher(doesnt work in an other browser becuase no other browser supports XSL yet. You cna also look at the source code for those files by opening them in any text editor. Actually there are 4 files, unzip the 4th one also, but dont concern yourself with. It is also not necessary. It is called a Schema file which is used to define the data in the XML. Its extension is XSD.