Difference and usage best practice of XML node value and XML node attribute

Question

I see the following simple XML.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<customers>
   <customer ID="C001">
      <name>Acme Inc.</name>
      <phone>12345</phone>
   </customer>
   <customer ID="C002">
      <name>Star Wars Inc.</name>
      <phone>23456</phone>
   </customer>
</customers>

I am wondering why the ID is stored as an attribute instead of another internal node?

Is there any best pratice or conventions for this?

What's the difference between a node value and a node attribute?

Thanks.

Actually this should probably be a dupe of stackoverflow.com/questions/33746/xml-attribute-vs-xml-element — Matthew Gertner
– Matthew Gertner, Commented Sep 2, 2011 at 21:18

Matthew Gertner · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-02 15:25:52Z

1

There are no hard-and-fast rules for this, and it is a matter of taste as much as anything. http://www.w3schools.com/dtd/dtd_el_vs_attr.asp has a nice overview. Note that there are quite a few drawbacks to using attributes so child elements are probably preferable in most cases. However, there is a strong convention for making ID an attribute (this is mentioned in the referenced text as well).

answered Sep 2, 2011 at 15:25

Matthew Gertner

4,5473 gold badges36 silver badges54 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Difference and usage best practice of XML node value and XML node attribute

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related