[sf-perl] Some well-formed XML?

[Josh Berkus]

Andrew,

> Example:
> ColumnB is not null and not empty:
> <ColumnA>123</ColumnA><ColumnB>MyString</ColumnB><ColumnC>456</ColumnC>
> 
> ColumnB is not null, but is an empty string:
> <ColumnA>123</ColumnA><ColumnB></ColumnB><ColumnC>456</ColumnC>
> 
> ColumnB is null:
> <ColumnA>123</ColumnA><ColumnC>456</ColumnC>

Are XML parsers going to treat (2) any differently from (3), though? 
That is, if I hand an XML application (2), might it return (3) instead 
or vice-versa?

Also, what about data types which don't support zero-length-strings 
(ZLS), like dates?

My general inclination would be to treat all ZLS as NULLs in the 
database, unless I have a specific reason to do otherwise or unless the 
value is defined as "required" in the DTD.

Anyway, this is *terrific* food for thought.  BTW, what was the name of 
the CPAN module for SQL-->XML conversion which was demoed at SFPerl 
abotu 6months ago?

--Josh