Create/Maintain an XML database

Question

Hello everybody,
In the scope of a training period, I have to create an online database of, let's say, music CDs. I want to be able to regularly update it through my internet browser. To be more precise, I want other people to be able to modify it without ever writing a single line of code.
Here is a typical scenario:
I open my browser, let's say IE, to see my whole list of CDs; I realise that "Stiff Upper Lip" was not made by the Rolling Stones but by ACDC, so I click on the "Band" field and enter ACDC. The background programs modifies the database file so that the modification is immediately taken into account.
From what I have read until now about XML, it seems to be just the right solution for me, but I still have not found how to modify live the database source files, and I want to be sure that XML can do that before I go head first deep into the project.
So my questions are:
1) Is it possible to modify an XML database so intuitively (through Internet Explorer) ?
2) If yes, which skills does it require ? I already know C, C++, Java, a bit of Visual Basic and HTML and I would like to learn XML, which one is the most appropriate tool ?
Thanks for your help,
Regis

Answer 1

Let me thank you for your quick and detailed answer Doc,
First you would have to decide what an XML database
is. There are several products that claim to be "XML
databases" and they fall into three categories:
1. Databases that hold scraps of XML, or collections
of XML files.
2. Very large XML documents that contain data.
3. More complex structures.I would say that my database falls in the first category, since I have to manage a simple and not too big list of different devices; if I continue to follow the comparison I established in my first post, let's say that I have to manage a database that consists in several lists: one of CDs, one DVDs and one of VHS.
Next, Internet Explorer is only a browser. You could
write a Java application that accesses a database,
but you wouldn't need IE. Or you could write a web
application (also in Java) that ran on a server, and
you could access that via IE.The thing is that I want other people to be able to use it easily, and the internet browser interface is easy of access.
What you are saying about the Java web application sounds good, but I have never used Java this way (I only created local applications). Are you thinking of JavaScript? If yes, I believe it is usable in coordination with XML, perhaps that this could lead me somewhere?
From the scenario you described, I would say that SQL
would be more suitable than XML. Why so? (I do not know SQL either, so that could also be interesting to learn.)
However if you want
to experiment with XML, by all means go ahead. Just
don't force Internet Explorer to be your preferred
tool.Unfortunately, this is a choice that I cannot make... Just for information, which browser would you recommend?
And also: I discovered after some research the XSLT language. Perhaps that could the right solution?
Regis