Jim,

>My issue was two-fold: first I wondered if "in XML" was thought to NOT be a 'local data store'. Seems to me it is one.

I prefer to think of XML as a self-describing data container that may or may not be a "local data store". Most often, if the XML is used to pass data from one system to another or one component to another, it may be considered "local" or "transient" or "remote" data, depending on where it is in the transfer process.

However, in some cases, I like to use XML for config files, in which case it could be properly considered a "local data store".