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And perhaps the biggest plus to using XML is that it's not
rocket science. The basic concept goes something like this:
take raw information in plain text format and sprinkle tags
into it that describe what the component pieces of the information
mean -- somewhat like HTML tags, only with meaningful names like < ItemNumber >,
< Invoice >, and so on.
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Because the exchange of
commercial data frequently happens among members of a specific
industry, such as office furniture, XML standards are being developed
on an industry-by-industry basis. OASIS (Organization for the
Advancement of Structured Information Standards) estimates that
so far, about 4,000 initiatives have been launched to create XML
standards. And even though the standards to be adopted are variations
suited to particular industries, the intent is the same: create a common
protocol so that business partners can easily share information and
conduct transactions online, driving down costs and reducing errors and lag-time.
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