Handle xml data in an activerecord pattern way: Any way?

Question

I would like to handle xml data in an activerecord way, so 1 class for each xml structure (I will need an xsd obviusly) and the possibility to do operations like Users.FindAll() like castle activerecord do.

The problem is, obviusly, that those are xml file, not relational databases.

Are there any library to achieve this? If is MS library and not a third party library is better, obviusly.

To understand why I would like to achieve this, I'll explain the program I'm building so you can eventually give me some suggestions if a different approach is better:

The program "output" will be something like a long MS-Word (or pdf) document which will contains information about how a company handles the privacy of their customers, following the local legislation.

I will have, so, a "global" xml file which contains something like Jobs (as defined in law, but law can change so should be editable by the user) that each employee can have in it's company (there will be other data too, this is a generic example).

Then, I will have an xml file for each company the user would like to use this program for. This xml file will have a list of employees where each emplyee have a reference to the Job (chosen from the global xml file).

Obviusly the program will have much more data, but this explains how it works.

I'm still not sure if I must use a relational databse, what really frighten me in case I use one, is that I will have "troubles" in allowing the user to export/import data if he install the program on a new computer. Also I would like to avoid to force the user to install a database on his computer (well, an sqlite-like database could be ok because is on a file).

Any suggestion about this? Thanks to everyone

Answer 1

Although Linq-to-XML is pretty easy to use, there are many more things to do when it comes to reading and storing related data in a way a RDBMS does. An RDBMS is all about referential integrity, ACID transactions, concurrent users, performance enhancements, to name a few elements that spring to my mind now. Thinking of this daunting task, I think doing this all by yourself is more scary than deploying a database file.

There are some XML-based databases, but I don't know how mature and user friendly they are. I even remember having read of database systems based on plain text files.

I would go for the paved roads and use a relational database, possibly a local database, as you already suggested. Lots of support and tooling available.

Answer 2

How about to use Linq to Xml?