In article <gbzcfgargnh.jt8z9b1.pminews@news.st.net.au>, "Tom Perrett" <tomp@st.net.au> wrote: > On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:01:21 GMT, JDverizon.net> wrote: > > >Having written the diatribe about XML > > I suppose I should dig around, but > perhaps something might be clarified for > me. > > I thought that XML was a proprietary > standard (ie Microsoft), rather than > a proper standard for all such as > GEDCOM. > > So should not we avoid a proprietary > standard? > > > > Cheers, > > Tom [Tom Perrett] <tomp@st.net.au> GEDCOM is a "standard" to the extent that it's been accepted widely as a common format for data storage. When all is said and done, however, it is only a text file whose contents must adhere to a specific set of rules in order to be properly understood by those who read it. XML is a language -- eXtensible Markup Language -- much the same way as HTML is a language. It has a defined set of rules for its use, and it's established by a governing body...not by Microsoft, thanks. If you look at many web pages, your browser will let you view the "source" and see how it's built. XML, like HTML, has a series of "tags" and those tags can include "attributes" with values. Unlike HTML, XML is required to close every tag and case does matter. Essentially, though, it's just a "markup language" which one can use any way they see fit in order to carry information. In my day job, I've been developing and maintaining an application for over seven years now that uses XML for its data storage -- and what's inside those XML tags, attributes, etc., is unique to our application and therefore "proprietary" in a sense. But a whole range of readily available software could readily open and parse the files we create -- they just wouldn't know what it's all supposed to mean the way our app does. So what the OP seeks is a genealogy/family history program that uses XML as the basis for its information content. I know that there was supposed to be an effort underway to promote a new GEDCOM standard (6.0, whereas the current one is 5.5) that uses XML, but I'm not aware of its current status. Nor am I aware of any software to date that uses XML for its own "proprietary" data format. But I will agree with the OP that using XML as the basis for the data managed by any app (whether or not it's genealogy-related) greatly improves the ability of third parties to see what's contained therein, and perhaps even to offer some extensibility for many software packages as a result. After more than seven years as a user of XML, I too have become an advocate. = Steve = -- Steve W. Jackson Montgomery, Alabama

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:07:28 -0600, Steve W. Jackson wrote: >XML is a language -- eXtensible Markup Language -- much the same way as >HTML is a language. It has a defined set of rules for its use, and it's >established by a governing body...not by Microsoft, thanks Thanks Ian and Steve for the clarification for "lazy bones". Comforting to know it is a language in its own right. Cheers, Tom [Tom Perrett] <tomp@st.net.au>