Jon Bosak:
--XML, Java, and the Future of the Web, March 10, 1997The ability to capture and transmit semantic and structural data made possible by XML greatly expands the range of possibilities for client-side manipulation of the way data appears to the user. For example:
A technical manual that covers both the Sparc and x86 versions of the Solaris operating system can be made to appear like a manual for Sparc only, or a manual for x86 only, just by clicking a preferences switch.
An installation sheet that carries warnings in multiple languages can be made to show just the ones in the language selected by the user.
A document containing many annotations can be switched from a mode that shows only the text, to a mode that shows only the annotations, to a mode that shows both, just by making a menu selection.
A phone book sorted by last name can instantly be changed into a phone book sorted by first name.
This list only hints at the possible uses that creative Web designers will find for richly structured data delivered in a standardized way to Web clients.