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How to make an XML file readable?

Started by barneysplash , May 22 2012 01:09 PM

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3 replies to this topic

#1 barneysplash

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9 posts

Posted 22 May 2012 - 01:09 PM

I have an xml file I would like to view as html.

The xml file is just symbols and letters, I know
this means something to programmers,
but I'm not a computer programmer!

I've looked around online, and from following some guides,
it says to open the file in a web browser.

I tried to open the file in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

I get this message:

"This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it.
The document tree is shown below."

I then looked around and tried to understand style information, but then
it got technical above a level I can comprehend.

I'm looking for a program that can
translate the file to something readable.

Is this possible?

Thanks,

Barney

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#2 Billy O'Neal

Bleepin Microsoftie Engineer

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Posted 22 May 2012 - 01:21 PM

An XML file is just a hierarchical listing of data. The specific meaning of things in the hierarchy is up to whatever program generates and reads the XML file. For instance, XHTML is an XML file, but has visual meaning because of HTML rules, not XML rules. (HTML is the "style information" for an XML file used on the general internet)

If you want to extract meaning from the XML file, you would have to know the specific schema the program used that created it.

Look buddy, I'm an Engineer, and that means I solve problems. Not problems like "What is beauty?" .. 'cause that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy....
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My statements do not establish the official position of Microsoft Corporation, and are my own personal opinion. (But you already knew that, right?)

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#3 Didier Stevens

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Posted 26 May 2012 - 05:19 PM

Can you share the file?

Didier Stevens
http://blog.DidierStevens.com
http://DidierStevensLabs.com
Microsoft MVP 2011-2013 Consumer Security
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#4 some1special

Member

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25 posts

Posted 22 July 2012 - 09:21 AM

An XML file is just a hierarchical listing of data. The specific meaning of things in the hierarchy is up to whatever program generates and reads the XML file. For instance, XHTML is an XML file, but has visual meaning because of HTML rules, not XML rules. (HTML is the "style information" for an XML file used on the general internet)

If you want to extract meaning from the XML file, you would have to know the specific schema the program used that created it.

Like he said, XML is a structured record of data, nothing more.
It's usually a representation of a list or smaller database