>In this scenario Browser will process XML just like HTML to draw screens? Also what resources can I use to learn about what are saying in greater details?

No, the browser is a real client application that's written with client side scripting code. The client requests data from teh server over the Web via HTTP and XML. The data comes back and you do something with it. It's really no differnt than any client/server application. You make a COM method call and pass in some parameters and return a result. Except instead of making a method call you construct some XML (or use a wrapper function to do it for you). The result comes back anyway you choose or you can return XML, which is the preferred way for standardization. Mainly so you can pass error info etc. in a standard format. This is not very different from creating an object and making a method call in a plain VFP app.

The same applies to remote SQL commands. You send an XML strings that basically tells the server which query or SQL command/stored proceudre to run and the server returns the result to you in XML. You then use the XML via script code to create output.

You use DHTML to manipulate either the current page by embedding or updating data locally or creating new forms. Rather than the server providing everything the client interacts with the server and pulls the data then uses it and updates the local page itself. IOW, you only update a portion of the page with updated data not the entire page.


I think people need to get away from treating the browser like just a static display mechanism but as a real client in an application architecture. You can do a lot with scripting and DHTML.

But the reason this is really worth a damn is that if you build your application like this you can use a browser, a VFP app, a VB app, a Java Applet on Unix etc. to do the same thing with relatively little effort because the server is just that - a provider of data.


As to more info, go to my articles page and look at the XMLMessaging and Distributed HTTP Application articles.

http://www.west-wind.com/articles.asp