XML does not DO anything...what?

[velious]

http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_whatis.asp

----------------this is what the web site said----------
XML was not designed to DO anything.

Maybe it is a little hard to understand, but XML does not DO anything. XML is created to structure, store and to send information.
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Please tell me if i'm wrong but isn't storeing and sending info an act of DOING something... i'm a little lost here

[liorean]

Oh, by that they mean that XML in it self is not the language that provides the structure of the data contained. XML is really only a strict, general set of syntax rules and a set of technologies that links a document to other documents made by other technologies (may be XML, may be something else) that describes the actual grammar and vocabulary of the document. You see, XML is not the language that actually achieves anything. The language that actually achieves anything is the XML application (e.g. XHTML, RDF, SVG, MathML, Docbook). In short:

XML: Syntax - Well Formedness
Grammar - Validitation (DTD, XML Schema, Relax NG)
Association - DOCTYPE, PI, Namespaces; XLink, XInclude
Information Handling - SAX, DOM
Addressing - XPath, XPointer
Behavior - XEvents
and more...

XML Applications:
Vocabulary - Validity (Towards DTD, XML Schema or Relax NG applications)
Treatment - Namespaces, DOCTYPE (and native handling)
Semantics - Element and attribute naming choices
Structure - Builds the foundation for the document; containment of content.


In other words, except for the association and behavior, XML only works to describe an XML application. XML is a set of rules as to the handling, creating and parsing of an XML Application.

See the <http://codingforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11642#post137228> and the other stickies in this forum.

[me']

Basically, if you type some XML and read it in any program you like, it (shouldn't) make an attempt to format it, or do anything with it. You might want to build something in XSL to create a XHTML or similar page, or just use XML to hold info. See the sticky at the top of the thread.