As has been pointed out, the header and detail (assuming you have them as distinct elements) are both children of the document element, so you already have them as peers. I see no particular semantic clarity or processing efficiency to be gained by putting the detail as a child of the header. FYI - X12.59, which specifies the several aspects of the semantics of X12 EDI transaction sets, has the detail as a child of the header. I conceptually understand the rationale, but must confess I find little practical application.
Considering this idea in a broader context independent of "header" and "detail", some XML discussions cover this in a topic they refer to as "container" elements. Container elements can be helpful if you want to process a group of related elements in the same way. It is often dependent on the parsing model (DOM or XPATH, as opposed to say SAX), but putting the related elements as children of a parent "container" can facilitate this. An example would be a PO with several "LineItem" elements as children of a "Detail" element. Mike At 12:34 PM 1/26/2005 -0600, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >To all: > >Along the lines of the XML discussions, I was wondering what the group >thought..... > >Should you build an XML document with an implied hierarchy (i.e. detail >must be a child of header) or should you build it flat (i.e. detail and >header at the same level? Why would one method be better than the other? > --------------------------------------------------------------- Michael C. Rawlins, Rawlins EC Consulting www.rawlinsecconsulting.com Using XML with Legacy Business Applications (Addison-Wesley, 2003) www.awprofessional.com/titles/0321154940 . Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Access the list online at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
