XML and XML-RPC

Abstract

The Internet haslong been used to transfer documents from one machine to another. These documents maybe anything from plain text to HTML, Microsoft Word, or PDF files. It’s difficult for a machine to extract data from documents written in a human language. Sometimes it’s useful to be able to extract information from documents and use it in new ways. Other times, it may simply be useful to keep the content the same, but adjust the layout—perhaps to permit the incorporation of a document into a larger compilation. For example, consider a large family-history book. You may wish to generate a list of all known addresses of people mentioned in the book, but they’re not listed in any standard way. Your program may have trouble retrieving two addresses from text such as the following:

Jeff Washington grew up in Chicago, IL at 132 S. Lake Shore Dr. After graduating from high school, he met Mary Davis of 300 E. Main St, Dallas, TX.