Understand the benefits of using a native XML database

Native XML databases have grown in popularity along with XML, because data is stored as native XML, rather than through tables in a traditional database. Using a native XML database means that a change to the schema requires minimal changes to your code and no change to the database. PHP and Java™ developers can benefit greatly from using native XML databases. In this tutorial, you will get quickly up to speed using a native XML database and see how to use it to benefit XML development.

This tutorial shows you how to reduce development time with a native XML database. As an illustration, you will change an existing XML schema, and see these changes in the code also. Developers will learn the common necessities for working with a native XML database in both PHP and Java technologies.

Save PHP POST Data as XML

One of my main goals when creating PHP web forms is to keep them secure and protected from spammers and automated bots. With the amount of spam that Akismet catches every day, I don't need to be reminded of the importance of securing forms. Since 90+% of my forms are POST transmissions, I've taken a lot of time to develop POST debugging and listening code.

One function I use to keep track of POST submissions is my custom print_r_xml() function. The function takes a given array (in my case, $_POST), cycles through each key, and places each key=>value into XML format. From there, I can save the XML to a file or place the XML into a database.

The function can be used on any array ($_SESSION and $_GET would be good options too!).

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