Office 2003 and XML Data

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is fast becoming the standard for data exchange on the World Wide Web. In Office 2003, instead of saving documents in their default formats, you can save Office documents as XML documents.

XML or Extensible Markup Language is a markup language (HTML being an example of another markup language) that can be used to tag data so that it can be transferred between applications and also interpreted and validated . XML is rapidly becoming an important format for moving data between servers on the Web.

Saving in XML format is particularly useful in situations where you want to convert Excel or Access data to an XML format for use on the Web. Although using XML data on the Web is beyond the scope of this book, you will find that if required, you can quickly save data in an Office application such as Excel in the XML format.

Follow these steps:

1. Select File , then Save As . The Save As dialog box will open .

2. In the Save As dialog box, select the Save as Type drop-down box and select XML Data (see Figure 1.5). You can also change the filename if you want.

   Figure 1.5. Office data can be saved in the XML format.

   

3. When you have made the necessary changes in the Save As dialog box, click Save .