# help viewing .xml



## bobbysgirlon (Dec 23, 2004)

i was sent an attachment and it is a .xml

when i try to view it, it just looks like a bunch of html or codes. is there anyway i can view this normally?

thanks.


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## obyapka (Jan 5, 2005)

Do you have Microsoft Excel installed on your PC? You can now import an XML file directly into Excel (XML will be listed in the Files of Type drop down box). If you have MS Works, there may be an option within the spreadsheet to do the same. 

Brian


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## bobbysgirlon (Dec 23, 2004)

thanks for replying. 

i don't have excel, just the viewer. i tried that and it didn't work. 

i do have ms works, i tried teh spreadsheet, but didn't quite know what i was doing, but everything i did try didn't work either.


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## obyapka (Jan 5, 2005)

visit http://www.download3000.com/article-5276-19333.html

I've just tried this and it works okay-ish


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## bearqst (May 21, 2004)

Have you tried browsing to it ?

using your browser, go to something like

C:\Documents and Settings\bearqst\Desktop\yourfile.xml


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## bobbysgirlon (Dec 23, 2004)

maybe i just don't know what an .xml document is supposed to look like. i did download a viewer like the one you mentioned obyapka, and all it showed was the tree thing, but nothing that looks as i expect the document should look. to be more specific, there is an event coming to my area, and i emailed the promoter for a list of the performers, and that is what he sent. just a bunch of codes stuff.

bearqst, when i open the attachment it automatically opens up in a browser window. i even downloades some sml, parse thing or something for windows and i see no difference. like i said maybe what i see is what an .xml document looks like. i am clueless!

thanks both of you.


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## bobbysgirlon (Dec 23, 2004)

can you view .xml documents?? could i send it to you, and you see what happens.

maybe you could give me the cliff note version! haha!!


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

An xml is not really a document file. It is "Extended Markup Language". I wonder why he would send something like that. Xml can be viewed in any number of ways---there is no real "default" method. It really depends on what format is the most convenient for your purposes. I find this format the easiest to edit and manipulate:


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## angel (Dec 2, 1998)

If you would like to post the file as an attachment here, I'm sure one of us can use Excel's import feature to parse the data for you.


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Xml's are not Excel files, but it would be interesting to see what happened.


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## angel (Dec 2, 1998)

No, but Excel has an Import XML option that looks at the data and can guess at the schema if that info isn't present. I tried it with a rather large XML file and it imported it pretty nicely into labeled columns (based on the tags in the XML file).


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## bobbysgirlon (Dec 23, 2004)

what you posted is what it sort of looks like, so maybe i am viewing it the right way, but like you said i don't know why he would send me the info that way.

if that is what it looks like, what is the purpose of .xml anyways.

well i attached the file here. i'm interested to see what any of you come up with.

thanks again for the help

***well i couldn't attach it, it said file too large. i'm gonna try and paste it to word to see if that does anything.


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## angel (Dec 2, 1998)

Go ahead and email it to me. I just PMd you with my email address.


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## angel (Dec 2, 1998)

It appears as though this file was created in Word and then saved as an XML file. I got it open in Word semi correctly and it looks like a one page flyer/poster with all sorts of images and stuff. I will save that and email it back to you. The images don't look like they line up exactly right but they are all separate elements and can be moved.


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

bobbysgirlon said:


> what is the purpose of .xml anyways.


XML is fantastic, combining a lot of things into one easy-to-use protocol. You'll be seeing it everywhere soon (almost already everywhere).

*What is XML?*


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

angel said:


> No, but Excel has an Import XML option that looks at the data and can guess at the schema if that info isn't present. I tried it with a rather large XML file and it imported it pretty nicely into labeled columns (based on the tags in the XML file).


I didn't realize that, so thanks for that piece of information.


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## bearqst (May 21, 2004)

FYI.

.xml is used a lot for new readers. For example, I use Sage with my FireFox browser, enter the url with the xml extension info i.e.

http://technology.updates.com/rss/anti-hacking_rss.xml

and get the news from Anti-Hacking Technology

As Elvandil said, you'll be seeing more of xml as time passes. I know it does a lot more than just parse rss news readers.

There's more info on it at http://www.w3.org/XML/


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## bobbysgirlon (Dec 23, 2004)

thanks so much to you all for the help!

seemed like a lot of work, just for that one stupid poster, that basically told me nothing. oh well, at least i can save $50 now!

i thought what i was seeing was all that the ,xml was, so that is why i wondered why anyone would use it. now that i see it can actually make actual sense, that is cool.

i still know nothing about .html, so i am sure i'll be in the dark about .xml as well.

as long as you all are here, i know my questions will have answers! thanks again for everything!!


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## Heatsink (Dec 7, 2004)

The critical thing to understand about XML is that it is not intended to be read by humans. It is meant to be parsed by an application, then the application is responsible for using that data in whatever way it was programmed to do so.

XML 'eXtensible Markup Language' is used to transfer data between applications, usually over a network (but not always. MS Office either currently, or soon will, employs XML for clipboard functions between Office applications). XML is ideal for this because it is easily serialized (turned into binary and back again) and transported over the standard http protocol.

Having said that - it's meant to be transported between applications, not displayed to a human.

So..the million dollar question is - why did someone send you an XML document? Seems like a bizarre thing to send a human.

When you double click it, it probably opens in Internet Explorer which is a valid XML parser. IE is displaying the XML correctly to you - there's nothing wrong with the file. It's just not in a format that's easily readable by humans.

Importing it into Excel, although I've never tried it, probably just parses it differently by putting the hierarchical tree into cells rather than displaying it as an XML tree.

So..well...there you have my 2 cents on XML


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