XML and "Federated" Data

[Chris Maden]

[John Martin]
>    Thanks for your response.  Just to steer this discussion (if
> there is one) in the right direction, I am not interested in
> debating all the element considerations to make (we've discussed ad
> nauseam things like zip code vs. postal code, should it consider
> international, what if the USPS standard changes, shouldn't it be
> alphanumeric instead of numeric since we're not calculating on it,
> etc.).  What I'm really trying to find out is if XML might enable us
> to totally avoid doing this work at all, and isn't the idea of
> "federating" XML tags unnecessary?

Ah.  No, XML does not relieve you of analyzing your data.  You may be
able to benefit from an analysis that someone else has done by
borrowing their "zipcode" element type and some sample code for
handling it, but really you're going to need to do the same analysis
and develop a full or partial document type for your data.

XML gives you the power to describe your own data; it doesn't help you
to describe it more than you understand it, though.

-Chris
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