Simple XML is a variation of XML containing only elements. All attributes are converted into elements. Not having attributes or other xml elements such as the XML declaration / DTDs allows the use of simple and fast parsers. This format is also compatible with mainstream XML parsers.
For example:
would represent:
Simple XML uses a simple XPath list for validation. The XML snippet above for example, would be represented by: /Agenda/type|(Activity/type|(*/time))
or a bit more human readable as: /Agenda/type /Agenda/Activity/type /Agenda/Activity/*/time
This allows the XML to be processed as a stream (without creating an object model in memory) with fast validation.
