>>>>Is anyone using XML for any specific application solution? How did it help and were the pros and cons? I'd also like to know how people think XML will help in their application development and architecture based on what the know or plan to use XML.
>>>
>>> We have not used XML yet, but I have proposed that we use XML as our data format for creating output files for clients that need to see blocks of data. We now have to make a separate program/text file with their format. Instead, I have suggested the use of the XML format... since XML documents can describe the data they contain.
>>> Most of these clients are mainframe shops, and should be somewhat familiar with the format. Besides, when you are talking 1500+ clients, this could be a very nice solution for a large client base.
>>>
>>> We also have a new system that will write data into their information systems, and have created the program with a screen scrape type interface. If instead we gave them the data in a format they could read... they could simply parse the information and update their systems accordingly.
>>>
>>>
>>>Wayne
>>
>>Question: what mainframes do you mean and kind of applications ? Why should this customers be familiar with the format of xml ? I am working a lot with mainframes (IBM S390) and nobody have heard here something of the new technologies, only PL1, ASM, Cobol, JCL and so on. Is it in the US different ?
>>
>>Thanks.
>
> My statements were based on what I have read about the birth of XML and HTML (SGML - Standard Generalized Markup Language). There is a good article at http://www.xml.com/xml/pub/98/10/guide1.html that discusses SGML as a 'standard vendor-independant way to maintain repositories of structured documentation for more than a decade'. You may want to take a look.
> When I first started my quest to understand XML, I had not seen and was not familiar with the XML format at all, but after reading these articles, and a few books, I have become familiar with the layout.
>
>
>Wayne

Thanks Wayne,

which books would you recommend ?