One of the most common ways to use XML is as a data-transfer format within business-to-business (B2B) applications because such applications need to exchange collections of records shaped in many possible ways. For example, an application might need data in a tabular as well as a hierarchical format. XML is a great data-transfer format, but nothing more. XML simply provides a universal infrastructure to describe data in a way that applications can easily understand and process. Because data always comes from databases, any integration feature that glues together XML and data access technologies is most welcome.

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