Re: From TODO, XML?

"Frank Ch. Eigler" wrote:
>
> markw wrote:
>
> : [...] Actually I have been thinking about a couple projects I have
> : done. Vendors like to think XML is a way to distribute databases.
>
> I would find it very helpful to see a table of what sorts of XML
> functionality each major vendor supports.

Actually I was thinking of databases of data, not database systems.

>
> : So a parser that can scan a DTD and make a usable create table (...)
> : line would be very helpful. [...]
>
> Hmm, but hierarchically structured documents such as XML don't map
> well to a relational model. The former tend to be recursive (e.g.,
> have more levels of containment than the one or two that might be
> mappable to tables and columns.)

Yes!!! Exactly, being able to understand the recursive nature of XML and create
relations on the fly would be a very cool feature.

>
> : During a database export, a SQL table could be used to create a DTD.
> : [...]
>
> This mapping (relational model -> XML) is more straightforward.

Totally.