XML attribute vs XML element

Question

At work we are being asked to create XML files to pass data to another offline application that will then create a second XML file to pass back in order to update some of ou

Answer 1

It's largely a matter of preference. I use Elements for grouping and attributes for data where possible as I see this as more compact than the alternative.

For example I prefer.....

...Instead of....

    
        
            Rory
            Becker
            30
        
        
            Travis
            Illig
            32
        
        
            Scott
            Hanselman
            34
        
    

However if I have data which does not represent easily inside of say 20-30 characters or contains many quotes or other characters that need escaping then I'd say it's time to break out the elements... possibly with CData blocks.

    
        
            A programmer whose interested in all sorts of misc stuff. His Blog can be found at http://rorybecker.blogspot.com and he's on twitter as @RoryBecker
        
        
            A cool guy for who has helped me out with all sorts of SVn information
        
        
            Scott works for MS and has a great podcast available at http://www.hanselminutes.com