[CQ-Contest] XML File conversion for Contest Software

[k1ttt at arrl.net]

xml would be my preference for all log data.  it has the advantages of
being a world wide supported data transfer method.  it has built in
parsing, searching, import/export and all sorts of other tools for modern
development languages and databases.  it has data integrity and definition
capabilities way beyond adif or cabrillo.  it has flexibility way, way,
beyond either adif or cabrillo or any other popular log format.  it can be
used on virtually any modern operating system and some browsers actually
will display it directly, though not always in the most friendly way.  the
advantages today way overshadow the one disadvantage that i can see of the
files being a bit larger than other formats that are hard coded into
software or defined by punch card style columnar formats.

>
>> Has anyone developed a program that converts current log format to XML?
 I am trying to develop at MySQL database and would like to work in XML
>
> What benefit would XML give you? Cabrillo already delineates the field
data in a simple format that doesn't require the overhead of an XML
parser. Are you planning to store XML in the SQL database? If you are,
can you explain how you plan to do this? To create searchable fields
you're just going to have to parse the XML back into the original data
fields anyway, so what's the point?
>
> I confess I'm confused about what you're trying to accomplish. Can you
elaborate?
>