This page contains documentation of the development of the xmal
XML schema.
Design considerations
The XML document may act as the primary database, with data
entered as XML text in a text editor. Therefore:
Tags should be named
so as to be easy to remember.
Tags should be short
enough so as to be quick to type
The fields should be equivalent where possible to data
entities defined by standard schemas (Dublin Core, Darwin
Core).
As few elements as possible should be used, and recycled for
alternative uses. For example, trees in ecological plots should
be assigned a tag code that incorporates the plot name in a
standard fashion. Their plot location and metadata should be
defined under locn.