XML in Meta Data Services
Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Meta Data Services supports Extensible Markup Language (XML) Encoding of
Meta Data Services encodes, exchanges, and decodes XML documents for you. This functionality is provided through dual interfaces so that you can manage these operations from code.
The XML format supported by Meta Data Services is defined by the Meta Data Coalition (MDC)
XML Encoding provided with this release of Meta Data Services supersedes the XML Interchange Format (XIF) that was part of previous versions of the software. For more information about backward compatibility, see Using XML Encoding. For more information about how to use XML Encoding, see Ways to Use XML in Meta Data Services.
About MDC OIM XML Encoding
Both the OIM and the MDC OIM XML Encoding format are defined by the MDC. To make best use of the XML Encoding functionality, your meta data should conform to the most recent version of the OIM. The MDC OIM XML Encoding format is optimized for the most recent version of the OIM. You can generate richer, more accurate XML if your information model is based on the version of OIM that best matches the XML Encoding format.
You can generate valid and well-formed XML for any information model, however, even if it is not based on OIM. If the information model is not based on the OIM, the MDC OIM XML Encoding rules still determine which XML tag elements are used to structure your repository data. To see which XML elements will be created for your information model, you can use the Meta Data Services Model Development Kit (MDK) to generate an XML Document Type Definition (DTD). XML DTDs are definitions of the structure that an XML document can assume.