Testing, testing...

>>>I know I'm going to need XML, too, but I'm having the hardest time
figuring out why. Does anyone have any advice for how to dip one's toe in
the water and experiment? In spite of reading articles, listening to smart
people lecture at conferences, and such, I confess to being totally
lost.<<<<

One thought:

Think of the data as having a need to be universal.

Data?  The information used to provide the structure and content of your web
pages, online forms, etc.

Universal?  The ability to be displayed in any required format by
referencing only one version of the document/data.

For instance, I am now using XML to define the structure of my online forms.
I wrote a Perl parser as an excercise that uses the XML data file to
construct the form, and then the same XML data file after submission to
format the submitted information.

Theoretically, this same data file couls be used by WAP applications,
physical printing applications, etc.

The bottom line is that you naw have to write a new copy of a document for
every different application.  You should write ONE copy of a given document,
and every application known to man should be able to reference that copy in
order to format and deliver their own version of it.

For that to happen, the "master" document would need to be in a format they
all understood....

D

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