Mailing-List: contact cocoon-users-help@xml.apache.org; run by ezmlm
Sender: ulim
Message-ID: <38DF8D0D.12298E32@denic.de>
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 18:32:13 +0200
From: Ulrich Mayring <ulim@denic.de>
Organization: DENIC eG
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: cocoon-users@xml.apache.org
Subject: Re: Announce: XML::EP
References: <01BF97CD.C46C3960.bloritsch@infoplanning.com>
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Berin Loritsch wrote:

> XML databases are in my view pointless.  We can use any number of tools
> to generate XML from database records.  Using text files to store database
> information is slow at best, and unusable at worst.

XML databases are only useless if they are slow, unreliable or otherwise
dysfunctional. Apart from that their usefulness depends on your
philosophy (and need) for EAI (Enterprise Application Integration). With
XML databases a fifth way of doing EAI was introduced. For those
interested, here are (very, very brief) the five current options (with
examples):

1) internal integration (API to API)
2) ERP integration (SAP to Oracle)
3) Middleware integration (Middleware to other/same Middleware)
4) Web integration (cocoon to other_web_technology)
5) Database integration (XML database to XML database)

The last two options (but increasingly the first three as well) use XML
as data interchange format and don't care much about the transport
layer, using the Web or whatever else is handy.

Ulrich

-- 
Ulrich Mayring
DENIC eG, Softwareentwicklung