Well, I'm not an expert on RNG by any means, so I won't get into a debate about which is better. I expect it depends on the task... SOME form of schema is very necessary however for many applications. When you say below "let the software figure out" the way the software figures out IS TO USE A SCHEMA!!! Thats what a schema is for, is to let a piece of software know how to tell if the document its validating is actually a valid instance or not. Data types in XML are just a part of that, a shorthand if you will, so that if you say "oh thats a date" then you don't have to spell out that its text with DD::MM::YYYY (or whatever) and deal with all the possibly acceptable minor subvariations thereof on your own. XML data types when used in things like XML Schema or RNG just moves a lot of definition to another level, and in the process insures that because that level is standardized its more likely to be adhered to in more places.
SQL and XML are meant to solve different problems. They can be complementary in some cases or alternatives in others, but mastering both the relational and tree/hedge/graph ways of representing data is necessary to have a complete basis in data processing theory and practice. Just as its necessary to understand both declarative and procedural/OO systems on the processing side. > One of my pet peeves is that I really despite SQL ... maybe it's silly > but I find working with XML much, much easier. Perhaps I just don't > like to have to worry about types. Right now I am very happy to say > that I think that <date></date> in an XML schema should have /no/ data > type built-in, and let the software at either end figure out what the > date says (or validate them) using whatever handy tools they want. > > simon > > On Wednesday, February 5, 2003, at 03:16 PM, Tod Harter wrote: > > 3) Some really decent open source tools for working with XML Schema. > > The tools > > that are at all good are now VERY expensive and still pretty limited. > > --- > anti-spam: do not post this address publicly > www.simonwoodside.com -- 99% Devil, 1% Angel > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Tod Harter Giant Electronic Brain --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
