>Hi Ed.
>
>>I think that the need to use XML here is poorly thought out; while the use of XML is appropriate to passing data between tiers, it's unnecessary when the tiers are coresident in a common file system.
>
>There might be another issue besides a common file system: a common file structure. For example, while VFP code can create a DBF file and pass the name of the file to some other VFP code that then processes it, VB and other languages can't easily create such a file. That's why I've been playing with XML, because there are a ton of ways for a non-VFP client to create it. Unfortunately, the data set might be large, so I'm looking at alternatives to XMLTOCURSOR(). As Erik suggested, even STREXTRACT() might be one way if you know the structure of the XML in advance (as I do in my case).

OK, but if data volume is an issue, XML is -not- the way to go - everything is rather bulky, although universally translatable. If she's talking about CURSORTOXML() - pass to other tier - XMLTOCURSOR(), and the file system can be used as a transport mechanism, you can save a lot of time and resources by passing a common file reference, as explained in my message.

I agree, that if we were not talking about identical data representation formats, or different file systems, XML becomes attractive in terms of being a universal marshalling mechanism, but here, passing a ref is -much- cheaper.

>
>Doug