Navigating XML in LiveCode

[Mark Wieder]

Graham-

Sunday, January 22, 2012, 6:45:40 AM, you wrote:

> For no special reason I have never used XML, either in LiveCode
> or anywhere else. Now I'm scripting an app that calls for a tiny
> database containing a number of similarly structured records
> (probably not more than 50), with all the values essentially text or
> numbers easily expressible as text. XML seems a good fit for this,
> but there are some odd bits I can't understand despite reading Sarah
> Reichelt's useful tutorial and looking at the LiveCode dictionary
> and the User Guide.

Let me take a step back and look at this from a different angle (hey-
the mixed metaphor worked!)...

>From what you're describing, I'd say that XML is *not* a good fit for
this. XML is a good medium for transporting data from one format to
another, or from one application to another. I wouldn't describe it as
a good way to store data internally: it's slow and bulky and has some
of the problems you're starting to deal with. A database might be a
good choice here (depends on what "similarly" structured means) or an
internal array structure might meet your needs. If you need to export
the data to something else then maybe XML would be something worth
discussing.

-- 
-Mark Wieder
 mwieder at ahsoftware.net