collecting data using xml/xsl - xml database?

I may have asked a version of this question...sorry if this is a repeat...or
if I'm in the wrong list.

Say you have several <action_item> elements in an xml form with @s of
Start_Time and End_Time.

How would one (generally speaking) go about collecting this xml data...when
you run the event code (such as a checkbox on an <action_item> Start_Time
attribute) how would you IDENTIFY the <action_item> within a database
WITHOUT manually applying an ID number during authoring? Any given xml
instance/form could have 10, 20, 30 <action_items>...

Would someone please point me in the right direction?

TIA, Kathy


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