Re: PL/SQL for XML parser???

In article <GJfe6.2095$ln1.180027_at_newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net>,   "G" <gennt_at_hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
> can I use PL/SQL to write my own parser for XML. I m not think of
 using any
> other languages, just PL/SQL. Any opinions.
>
>
It is possible.

I would not suggest it. There are better ( read already written ) code for parsing XML files. They often start with a definition of the XML and it will do all the rest parsing. You need to only add in the code to decide where to put everything.

And after just developing a parser for a file format using flex/bison, I would suggest that C/C++ is a much better solution if you are going to start from scratch. It took 2 weeks to get re-aquainted with parsing technology, read and learn flex/bison, setup the development environment, and write and debug the code. Without flex/bison, I know I would still be building the parser part. And as a performance comparison, IMHO the flex programs code is faster than anything I would have developed and is more flexible to changes.

The power of these tools is flexibility. To add more file formats, or modify how the data is read is extremely simple.

On the other side, PL/SQL is considered a small language. It does not nor should it have all of the features of large language like C or java or COBOL. It has many purposes and uses. However, as a general purpose programming language, PL/SQL is a very poor contender.

--
Michael Krolewski
Rosetta Inpharmatics
mkrolewski_at_rii.com
              Usual disclaimers


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