cbisson

Hello everyone,

I've been working with PHP and mySQL for years, and now, I'm about to start a CMS project using a lot of XML.

Since it is a big projecct, I do not want to blindly start programming, gotta plan ahead right?

So I've been questionning myself on what is the best way to manage the XML files to make it optimized and easy to use.

First, is it better to use many small files, or fewer but larger files?

Second, is it better to split as much information as possible. For exemple, I'd have an XML file for my menu sections and attributes, another XML for the content, and read the right XML file when I need it. Or is it better to regroup both into one bigger XML file?

Third, let's say I have a lot of HTML content blocs, which are connected to sections for display. Is it better to put that content inside XML files, and parse them? Or would it be a good idea to simply put the content inside simple HTML files which I "require" using PHP to display it.

Last, is it a good idea to put everything inside XML files leaving the database free of many reading queries? Or is it at some point better to mix reading from the XML files and the database?

I know there must be many different opinions on different solutions, but having the opinion of people used to working with XML would give me a good starting point )

Thank you for your help!

Chris

Aso

First off, I'll admit I haven't yet started working with XML

However, I have been reading up on it quite considerably (in particular, using OO PHP and it's sexy DOM capabilities) and have come away with mixed opinions.

If you're going to be frequently opening and closing XML files (and parsing them too of course!) then the speed of your application might become significantly slower the greater the file size (unless your streaming the XML, the data is loaded into memory).

So if you decide to break them up, your next hurdle will be trying to efficiently manage data in more than one place.

However, don't let that you put you off. XML seems like it can be used to great effect, and since I'm no expert in the field, take these words with a pinch of salt!

Some excellent resources I've been reading;

• Ditching the database - XML and PHP (also discusses XML interaction layers)
• Building an XML CMS (really good tut on getting started with XML and content management)
• Brief overview of XML vs (My)SQL