Hi List Firstly, thanks for the replies and mostly for the accommodating attitude to this, arguable non-PHP subject.
I don't want this thread to become a flame war on why one should use XML, or why not. I do have personal issues wrt XML and the way it works, and although I cannot *yet* see the need, it doesn't mean that there isn't one. My original post should have made this clear, but it seems it didn't. I have laid to rest my reservations wrt XML, and am more interested in understanding the entire process in the hope that 1) I will "see" the need, and 2) understand how all those XML jargon fits together ( XML, XSL, XSLT, DTD, DOMXML, phew...) That was why I gave a brief summary of where I am atm wrt understanding what it is. What I still don't know much about, and at last, this is where the PHP comes in, is once I have this XML file, whereto from here using PHP ( you see, it should be clear that I want to use PHP as my "one and only" trusty tool. As I stated, and correct me, the XML file contains the structured data, and the XSL file contains the "look and feel" and the XSL file is written in XSLT language. My understanding is further that, again focused only on web applications here, one would have an XML file in your web folder, along with it's XSL file. These files would be "linked" by means of calls or references to each other inside the files. Having these two files (oh, and the dtd which can be used to verify the XML, but doesn't seem necessary from what I can see), as I understand it, gives the basis from where one would then parse the XML into XHTML in order to actually "see" anything in a browser via one of two routes: 1) client side via the browser's built in XML parser -> arguably leaving the old Netscape/IE gap wrt compatibility, or 2) server side parsing with the built-in XML parser that comes with the webserver (IIS or Apache in my case) -> with this approach being in my mind the "best" if you want to make sure you don't run into browser issues. This is where my PHP question really starts: On apache.org they talk about the XML support of apache etc, and in the PHP documentation there are lots of XML functions and yet more jargon like DOMXML etc, which is not clear for me what to do now (should I elect to parse server side). If someone can just give me a quick and easy "tour" on what to do and what is needed from here to actually parse and display the contents correctly, I should have enough to keep me busy for a while, and hopefully help me to increase my knowledge and understanding so I won't ask stupid questions on this list ;) Thanks again for the input. On Wed, 2003-07-09 at 00:36, Ray Hunter wrote: > I see that not many sites require the use of xml/xsl(t). Many sites can > just use html and database to accomplish 99.9% of the work. > > I always suggest that when you have tons of data that you need to send > to the user that it is a good idea. Especially now that xslt is growing > up :) > > I like to use xml and xsl for various reasons, mainly i can really > separate the logic and presentation. All data is keep in the xml file > and presentation in the xsl file. So when i need to make changes in the > presentation then i only change the xsl file and never really have to > touch the logic (php) code. This is really, really great for some sights > that are extremely complex. > > Also in php i can create standards that my xml files will follow (dtds, > schema) and allowing me to create modules (functionality) very > efficiently and timely. > > Also as mentioned xml provides a format for transfering data. However, i > would not use it with databases unless it is large amounts of data. > However, i have used xml for creating sql queries and setting up > configureation files which are extremely reliabe. > > -- > BigDog > > > > On Tue, 2003-07-08 at 15:51, Jeff Harris wrote: > > |-----Original Message----- > > |From: Petre Agenbag [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > |Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 6:27 AM > > |To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > |Subject: [PHP] XML > > | > > | > > |Hi List > > | > > |Firstly, this question is arguable more about XML than PHP, but they are > > |interlinked, so I hope it is "topical" for this list. > > | > > |Firstly, Where I come from: > > | > > |I am VERY comfortable with PHP/MySQL on Linux and understand all those > > |concepts. > > | > > |Now I'm trying to see the benefits of XML, and quite frankly, I just > > |cannot see why one would want to use it... > > | > > [snip] > > > > On Jul 8, 2003, "Joe Harman" claimed that: > > > > |Okay Petre... You have asked the question that I always wanted to ask!!! > > |I can't wait to see peoples answer... I simply can't find a use for it > > |either.... > > | > > |Joe > > > > This probably should be on another list, but it might give someone an idea > > on how to create something in PHP. I've been trying to figure out if some > > of what I'm doing would be good for XML. The answer for that is "no, use a > > database." > > > > It seems to me, that XML is a way of encoding data for the transmission > > between two processors. For example, the database uses XML to transfer > > data to the PHP engine. The weather magnet uses XML to transmit > > information to your PHP script, which parses it and produces the HTML > > output. My page asks your script for some information, and it's returned > > as well-formed XML. > > > > As far as using an XML file to act as a database and your parser to create > > the HTML, it's probably better to use a database. > > > > Jeff > > (my $.015 [after taxes] ) > > -- > > Registered Linux user #304026. > > "lynx -source http://jharris.rallycentral.us/jharris.asc | gpg --import" > > Key fingerprint = 52FC 20BD 025A 8C13 5FC6 68C6 9CF9 46C2 B089 0FED > > Responses to this message should conform to RFC 1855. > > > > > -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
