Re: What is the logic of storing XML in a Database?

On Mar 28, 4:11 am, "Cimode" <cim..._at_hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> What advantage of XML as a transport format do you see over let's say
> a CSV file with an integrated header?
>
To ask the question suggests that this really isn't your field :-), but that's okay. Have a look at some of the examples of FpML messages for ecommerce trades that you can find on the http://www.fpml.org/ site. I think you'll find it a little challenging to represent these in CSV files.

Generally speaking, messages require alternation and repetition of fields. If you spend some time with real life CSV files, you'll see things like subfields within fields, tag fields that distinguish rows of different types, rows with common fields duplicated on many rows, etc. The results are often not pleasant.

Also, as simple as the CSV file is, there is no standardized definition of what a CSV file is, only widely accepted conventions, but there are divergences. See, for eaxmple, http://www.creativyst.com/Doc/Articles/CSV/CSV01.htm.

And, as Bernard Peek notes, one of the big advantages of publishing a message in XML is a standard way of authoring a schema that the message must abide by, expressed declaratively, and the wide availability of tooling for validating the message against the schema.

Regards,
Daniel Parker Received on Wed Mar 28 2007 - 16:21:54 CEST