RDO is the remote version of ADO, ala Remote Data Objects.
XML and ADO are not the same thing. XML is a HTML structured data format.
ADO is a data/record management tool. ADO is an OO way of transgressing a table, akin to SKIP or SEEK. Its the VB way. ADO is curd at best, but we all know that MS has a way of taking a crud VB tool and forcing it upon us VFPers. Therefore you should at least be familiar with it.
Software engineers are trained to read and understand code; they are not trained in mind reading. Document the purpose not just the functionality.