NYCPHP Meetup

[Brian D.]

Tim, I don't think I was clear.

We're differing on semantics here, but by "structure" I mean set
fields, e.g., an "employees" table would have:

first name
last name
hired date
etc.

An XML document doesn't have a field definition (unless you tell it
to, of course, using any of the methods you described).

I'm aware that XML has "structure" (in the sense it is well-formed).

A flat text file paired with grep doesn't have the same power because
fields would not be defined. XML, at least, conveys information about
the data contained in the field, whereas a completely unstructured
text document lacks that.

- Brian Dailey

-- 
realm3 web applications [realm3.com]
freelance consulting, application development
(423) 506-0349

On 10/30/07, Tim Gales <tgales at tgaconnect.com> wrote:
> Brian D. wrote:
> [snip]
>
> > That made me wonder if most people completely missed the point. The
> > application of XML databases is, I think, in situations where
> > structure is either not applicable or not possible...
>
> XML documents are structured.
> Look up well-formed XML and valid XML.
>
> ..Trying to stamp a
> > structure on an XML database (from what I can gather) destroys one of
> > the primary reasons for employing the technology. XML is flexible.
> > That's what makes it different...
> No need to 'stamp' a structure on XML records --
> they've already got one (see above)
>
>   ... If you shoehorn an XML database into
> > what Rusty called a "rectangular" format, why not just continue using
> > relational databases?
> >
>
> XML documents (and hence XML Databases) are not inherently
> less structured or more capable of handling unstructured
> data than a relational data model.
> (Consider, for example, a database with a text field which
> can be text-indexed like you can create in MySQL.
> That sort of a text field doesn't impose much structure
> on the data.)
>
> A relational schema can be as structured or unstructured
> as you create it to be -- same goes for DTD's and XSD's.
> What degree of structure you need, I would venture to say,
> is determined by your retrieval needs.
>
> If you really want even less structure -- throw all
> your data into text files and 'grep' for your
> information.
>
> --
>
> T. Gales & Associates
> 'Helping People Connect with Technology'
>
> http://www.tgaconnect.com
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