Introduction to XML in Flash
by senocular
XML Basics
Before
using XML in Flash, lets first learn what XML
is, at least at its basic form. Entire books
have been written on XML and the use of XML
in Flash. Here, I intend to keep things simple
enough to get you started yet attempt to provide
you with enough information to at least make
you feel comfortable when working with XML in
Flash.
So, XML; what is it and why does it exist?
Basically, XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
is a tagged markup format
that was created to serve as an easily usable,
readable method to format information within
a basic text file. One of its primary advantages
is that it allows you to store this information
in a hierarchical manner. This means you can
store information within other chunks of information
much like a folder hierarchy on your computer.
In fact, you can think of XML just as that,
as a text write-out of a hierarchical file system
which stores textual information. XML is NOT
really a script and does NOT really "do"
anything; it's basically just a fancy text file
(though based on what you are using to interpret
the XML it could potentially be script-like).
Where you may normally use a text file, you
can instead use XML where XML will provide you
with greater structure and clarity for storing
the content within.
For more information on XML beyond laymen's terms, see:
http://www.xml.com/
http://www.w3.org/XML/
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