XML attribute vs XML element

Question

At work we are being asked to create XML files to pass data to another offline application that will then create a second XML file to pass back in order to update some of ou

Answer 1

This is very clear in HTML where the differences of attributes and markup can be clearly seen:

1. All data is between markup
2. Attributes are used to characterize this data (e.g. formats)

If you just have pure data as XML, there is a less clear difference. Data could stand between markup or as attributes.

=> Most data should stand between markup.

If you want to use attributes here: You could divide data into two categories: Data and "meta data", where meta data is not part of the record, you want to present, but things like "format version", "created date", etc.

     
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One could also say: "Use attributes to characterize the tag, use tags to provide data itself."