Thanks for the beginner's guide, Rob - very much needed in my case! I have one question on this. Are elements and attributes functionally equivalent? For example, does this:

<People>

<Person id="1234">

<FirstName>John</FirstName>

<LastName>Doe</LastName>

</Person>

<Person id="5678">

<FirstName>Jane</FirstName>

<LastName>Doe</LastName>

</Person>

</People>

do the same as this?

<People>

<Person>

<id>1234</id>

<FirstName>John</FirstName>

<LastName>Doe</LastName>

</Person>

<Person>

<id>5678</id>

<FirstName>Jane</FirstName>

<LastName>Doe</LastName>

</Person>

</People>

Thanks

John

Edit: changed closing tags for id so they had a "/" in.