20.5. Discussion

Two approaches to modeling the columns in an RDBMS as an XML DTD structure are

  • Element approach: Define the table name as the root element. It is nested by its columns, which are also defined as elements. An example is

    <! ELEMENT Person (Name, Sex, Age)>
<! ELEMENT Name (#PCDATA)>
<! ELEMENT Sex (#PCDATA)>
<! ELEMENT Age (#PCDATA)>

  • Attribute approach: The columns are defined as attributes of the root element. The previous example becomes

    <! ELEMENT Person>
<! ATTLIST Person
Name CDATA #REQUIRED
Sex CDATA #REQUIRED
Age CDATA #REQUIRED>

In a relational database, data and structures are defined. Columns represent data. Tables and relationships form structure. This can be managed well in searching for data and for database navigation. ...

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