ABSTRACT
XML and relational databases store data, and both have established techniques for extracting the data they contain. Relational databases have mature management systems that can efficiently and reliably maintain large quantities of structured data, so they are better for handling large volumes of data within a multiuser system. This chapter examines how to create XML from a database and vice versa, and how to create AJAX-driven applications that generate reports from XML documents. It is relatively easy to extract XML from a database table because each row becomes a top-level node and individual fields in each row populate child elements. XML documents form a tree structure that starts at the root and extends through branches to the leaves. An inline frame is used to embed another document within the current HTML document. With iframe technology, the tree display can be kept inside the application. The XML documents used are 'customer. xml' and 'catalog. xml'.
