Sometimes I get almost too excited about XML. Last month I was escorted out of our conference as I interrupted a session to proclaim my love of XML.Watch my rant.
XML.technology is something that we have worked tirelessly on for over 10 years, and we havegrowntoloveit.
那时候我们对它的感情发生了变化“Fear”（当我们了解到XML被用来代表信息的另一种方式时“Adoration”（当我们发现基于XML的新格式时）。
这就是为什么我喜欢XML和他的小弟弟JSON。After reading this I am sure that you will love them too!
1. XML is an Open Standard
XML.is an open standard maintained by the W3C (JSON is also an open standard ). This is important as it means that data is not locked into any proprietary format. It is thus available to be used by any application. This can be either directly if the application supports it, or via a tool likeFME。
Unfortunately, much of the world’s data remains locked in proprietary systems. If you are in this situation and you lose access to those systemsthen you have also lost access to your data。
2. XML is Easy to Read
FME中的37格式是基于XML的。单击以展开。
阅读XMLis easy, and many tools can do it. For FME, we use the open source Xerces-C++open source library。
Some say that XML is “human-readable” and that is true in that you can open your favorite editor and inspect it. The ability to visually inspect and understand the “raw” data is a boon to anyone who wants to develop tools to work with those documents.
明确我正在谈论阅读的简单任务。XML经常得到一个糟糕的RAP，因为人们可能会受到沮丧，即他们的工具无法使用或理解数据模型。To everyone out there building XML data models I strongly encourage you to “Keep it Simple!”
Remember that much of the reason you are putting data into XML is to make itOPEN。If you build an overly complex/rich data model, then you are also making your data more difficult to consume, which is much of the point of putting it in XML in the first place.
Indeed there are several XML-based formats supported by FME that we are so complex that no other software package is currently able to work with them. Of course, as the data is in XML anyone with enough motivation could work with the data.
3. XML is Easy to Validate
The XML Validator is one of 400+ transformers in FME.
Again great open source tools and libraries are the solution here. A web search reveals many online XML validation tools. A good online tool that I have used iswww.xmlvalidation.com.Xerces is what we use within FME, and it enables us to do two types of validation:
- Syntax Validation– The syntax of the XML is checked to ensure that it is well formed. You should make this a mandatory step whenever you are creating XML that has no schema. For JSON there is only syntax validation at this time although there are initiatives to add JSON schema.这是我在JSON验证上写道的前一个博客文章的链接。
- 语法和架构验证– If the XML is based on schema then you can validate both syntax and schema. Again you should always do this when you are creating XML, when possible. Any complex XML document type generally has associated schema. The combination of document and schema is critical to creation of complex document types.
While things are getting better我仍然让我感到惊讶的是，我们多久获得无效的XML文件。Please always ensure that the files that you are producing are valid. If you get a file that you are suspicious of, then use a tool such as the website above, or if you are an FME user then embed the validation at the start of your work flows. This could save you a bunch of time trying to work with an invalid file!
4. XML can Represent Any Kind of Data
XML., my precious.
When it comes to data, XML can be used to represent it all!One format to rule them all!
We have seen it used for many types of data from simple relational or tabular datasets, to complex data models such asAIXMwhich is designed to enable the management and distribution of Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) data. We work with many other complex data models including, but not limited to,激励（欧洲），和CityGML (Building and City Data)– here are links to FME webinars onCityGMLA.couple上启发。
Again when defining new XML data models a friendly reminder to keep it as simple as possible.
5. XML / JSON is the Language of the Web
Web服务和传感器的世界正在爆炸。在这个竞技场中，通信几乎完全由XML或他的小弟弟JSON完成。When building new web services today then I support JSON first and then XML.
I can’t think of a single web service that I can’t work with either of these formats. As a company that has spent a decade making industry leading XML and JSON technology this has made working with web services very simple.
6. XML Tools are Mature and Ready for Prime Time
简单的Web搜索“XML工具和库”，揭示了数百个工具和库。由于我们的引擎是在C ++中，我们已经大量使用了Xerces。无论您使用哪种编程语言，您都有许多图书馆可供选择。为您可能拥有的其他原因选择您的语言，您可以确定将有很好的图书馆供您使用。
7. XML Can Contain International Characters
戴尔喜欢XML！
即使是我的好朋友戴尔也喜欢XML。他喜欢它，因为它具有对国际角色的本土支持。
Long have we fought with international character sets at Safe, and with XML this is not a concern. It just works. Don’t believe me about Dale? Here is the proof!
XML有多真实？
When moving into new markets, or supporting new data sources, we almost immediately ask “Is this format XML-based?”
为什么？
XML.make it easier for us support more Japanese formats.
在安全亚搏在线的技术中，我们构建的技术使得支持新的XML / JSON数据源的努力比其他格式更容易一个数量级。在大多数情况下，它只是有效。没有努力。
当我们最近讨论如何扩展我们对日本格式的支持时，这很明显。If the formats were XML then we knew that we could easily add them.If they weren’t, then the task for each format was much larger,if it was even possible at all。
请记住，即使在今天，那里还有二进制格式no spec。在其他情况下，规范由供应商密封，作为持有客户人质的手段。
Maybe someday all data will be in XML or JSON… (Silver bullet?)
The XML Challenge
让我知道你对XML和JSON的看法。如果您有一些数据，您正在努力，请将其发送给我xml@safe.com。
At Safe we believe thatdata should be free for you to use however, whenever, and wherever you want.
I am confident that we can help you with it. We look forward to the challenge of helping you.
At Safe we love XML and are sure you will too!
Don Murray
唐是安全软件的联合创始人和总统。亚搏在线亚搏在线安全软件最初是在与林业行业共享空间数据的项目中为BC政府做的工作。在该项目期间，Don等联合创始人Dale Lutz实现了像FME这样的数据集成平台。当Don没有引诱他有多喜欢XML时，你可以找到唐在安全的时候，安全地将FME产品带到一个下一级。亚搏在线您还将在道路上找到他与客户和合作伙伴谈话，以了解他们希望看到的新FME功能的更多信息。
Interesting. Curious whether that order of magnitude benchmark holds up against formats such as GeoPackage which are SQLite-based and have an open schema. Is there something other than tooling (you already have a SQLite reader) that contributes to this ease of use? Fewer requirements for validation? ORM later easier to work with?
Jason,
很棒的评论和点。事实上，我们欢迎建立在任何现有技术的新格式，因为它使得添加新读者和作家更简单的任务。SQLite是另一个开放技术是与专有二进制格式相比的新格式的好选择。我们还看到使用ODBC技术的供应商的重新兴趣，作为为数据提供开放网关的方式。
I think it is also important to note that SQLite and odbc are “live” systems in which applications can directly run whereas XML is more of a data exchange system or stream for small pieces of data. Indeed I can imagine a system in which SQLite is the back end of a web service that uses XML or json to stream data between components.
This is all good and shows the shackles of data being loosened. One comment in favor of XML is that the data is stand-alone and not dependent on any technology making it also perfect for archival purposes. I think I could easily write another blog on this!
Hope you are doing well.
Don
Spot on article and i couldnt agree more about xml, altouh it can be more verbose than JSON both xml and jason are great for data exchange and web services. Although I do use an xml editor for parsing xml its still a joy to write xml form scrtach in something as simple as notepad.
http://www.xml-editor.info
马丁，
Glad to meet another XML enthusiast. Another great thing about XML (other than its sheer beauty) is you can view it and create it with bare bones tools. Of course an editor with “xml” in its name sounds like a great thing too. The ability to be sure right in the editor that you are creating something valid is just one valuable use case.
Thanks for your comments.
I love XML and I love people like you who are so passionate about Global Technology and are not afraid to point out the short comings of those that think they know the Industry.
I LOVE PICK Man…!! Yeh, PICK the 50 year old this year, Multi-Value based Data and Applications Platform, “oh, you never heard of it”.
They think your insane, try a sales pitch like that…
然而现代多值系统像自己的MVS.. have one of the highest MIP’s Hardware to Processing output ratings of any Vendor Platform. Multi-User and Multi-Tasking they defined N0-SQL, SaaS, PaaS and IaaS solutions delivery for over 30 years. Then came XML.
But when you take a look at the ‘modern’ XML methodology, you notice that it simply contains tags to describe the content in terms of what data is being described, just like our own Multi-Value DBMS.
几年前创建了一种动态XML集线器，以实时地在不同的数据存储之间交换数据，从英国法律制度中的不同机构提供“案例文件”的可见性。工作稍微很好，向法院提供信息，以毫秒为单位的律师。你不能取悦每个人。
OK, MVS can fully capitalise on XML as a textual Data format across the internet. And as an open standard this makes MV DBMS’s compatible with office productivity tools MS Office, Open Office, Libre and Apples iWork. And XMPP is also pretty nice but the icing (frosting) on the cake, the chocolate sprinkles and dollop of fresh cream.
XML帮助我们将合作/银行级大型机终端接口嵌入到HTML中。我们编写一个与几乎所有其他应用程序兼容的应用程序......您可以通过任何设备上的浏览器使用它，而不管操作系统或类型如何。
我们杀了这个应用程序。我们也喜欢XML。