00b301c87603$96ae6490$6401a8c0@turtle" type="cite">

A corollar of having multiple roots in one document is to 
define a syntax for naming multiple father-children relations.

As with a database, each element should be accessible 
directly (efficient use of '//element') while oriented 
relations (child to father or father to children) are used to 
access other elements.

With XML 1.0, we have to add id attributes to implement this 
and there is no specific syntax. XML 2.0 should develop a 
richer syntax for axes.
    

Sounds like you're reinventing the network (Codasyl) model. It's about time
it had a revival. I think you're right - the strict hierarchical approach of
XML is fine for messages and for documents, but it really isn't ideal for
persistent data. The poor handling of relationships outside the hierarchy
has always been a weakness.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/


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