Re: XML vis-a-vis objects (was: <xsl:value-of select="/ROW[$row]/@$col"/>)

["Melvyn Rosengarden" <melrose at rochester dot rr dot com>]

My intention is certainly NOT to beat this horse to death but I am also
afraid of making a "newbie" architectural mistake. I fully agree with the
object model described in this post. I would also add that mapping a
normalized relational table (or view)  to an element and the corresponding
columns to the attributes makes perfect sense. I also believe it makes
writing the XSLT easier because there is less neavigation. Once a node
instantiates a template all it's attributes can easily be accessed without
further tree traversal. Again the recordset analogy holds true.

I have seen a lot of articles lately about XML enabled database that
natively convert SQL quesries into XML strings and vice-versa. While this
"generic" ability seems very inticing for storage and retrieval, it totally
ignores the existance of attributes. Is the WHOLE XML community moving in
this direction or just the Microsoft folks. I am afraid of going down the
attribute path only to find that they wither away from neglect in the
evolving tools..

Opinions are greatly appreciated.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eliot, Topher" <Christopher_Eliot@jdedwards.com>
To: <xsl-list@mulberrytech.com>
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2000 5:30 PM
Subject: XML vis-a-vis objects (was: <xsl:value-of
select="/ROW[$row]/@$col"/>)


> > I have always viewed my XML documents like Objects. An object
> > gets a tag of
> > its own, properties of the object are represented as
> > attributes unless they
> > are sub-objects in which case they get their own tag within
> > the parent.
> >
> > Perhaps there is a better conceptual model to use? I would
> > appreciate the
> > enlightenment.
>
> I, too, think of XML attributes like object attributes, and
> contained XML elements like sub-objects within an object.  So
> that turns "how do I decide what should be an attribute and
> what should be a sub-element" into "what should be an object
> attribute and what should be a sub-object".  While there is some
> comfort in knowing these two are the same question, I don't
> feel it really brings me any closer to an answer to either.
>
>
>  XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
>


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