Bob:

Some months ago I briefly explored the XML import feature in a _demo_
version Access XP, and was unimpressed. Alleged support for XML, at least
within its Office product suite, (usually) has meant a shift from

...blob of MS binary data...

to

<blob owner="Microsoft">
    ...blob of MS binary data...
</blob>

While Access XP was indeed able to load my XML file (not EAD, but for this
purpose irrelevant), it had trouble mapping the deep hierarchy to
relational tables. And this is not surprising, since it is a singularly
difficult thing to achieve, particularly at the level of resolving mixed
content models. If you try to import an EAD file, you will get something
like all your c02s in one table, all your c03s in another, and no linking
between the two.

Some of the issues involved with mapping XML to an RDBMS are explored at
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2001/05/09/dtdtodbs.html

If you need your instances in a db, you perhaps want to look at an object
or hierarchical database such as http://www.ozone-db.org/ozone_main.html.


regards,

St.

Stephen Yearl
Systems Archivist
Yale University Library::Manuscripts and Archives

At 08:54 AM 9/11/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>I just installed Microsoft's Office XP update. Both Excel and Access
>indicate that they can be used in conjunction with XML.
>
>Does any one have a clearer idea of what they can do and whether that might
>be useful for those of us inolved with EAD?
>
>Thanks for any responses.
>
>Bob Kosovsky, Librarian
>Music Division -- The New York Public Library
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>My opinions do not necessarily represent those of my institutions.