I dare say that I will soon have to pass the XML output

XML? Did you choose that format? Looking at the help from my copy of sqllite3 XML isn't even an option:

.mode MODE ?TABLE?     Set output mode where MODE is one of:
                         csv      Comma-separated values
                         column   Left-aligned columns.  (See .width)
                         html     HTML <table> code
                         insert   SQL insert statements for TABLE
                         line     One value per line
                         list     Values delimited by .separator strin
+g
                         tabs     Tab-separated values
                         tcl      TCL list elements

[download]

Unless you chose HTML? Or did they add an XML option recently?

Choosing XML over the ,dump SQL format (IMO) is a big mistake. The SQL format is so simple to manipulate and compare:

sqlite> .dump onegb
PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TABLE onegb ( alpha varchar, no varchar, hex varchar, bin varch
+ar );
INSERT INTO "onegb" VALUES('nvbqurkn','05812224','42295f70','"Mƒp®Iÿ&#
+9618;SpæÕ¦&#9500;ƒ±¦c²NB͹sÙ-¼&#9488;ºâ5ó<Ú="');
INSERT INTO "onegb" VALUES('xzpviekv','72456229','fd245120','"ª¿.&#957
+1;¡ù©=àô²Ð&#9571;j&#8215;Èl&#9565;°¾©&#9619;º§~zo=¬fIí&#9516;Z"');
INSERT INTO "onegb" VALUES('qrkhwqwl','43135665','316f7a36','"æe&#9559
+;´Í&#9492;&#9580;&#9524;&#9562;&#9556;¸Éwf±Û6lòêqc¸&#9604;iZñƒ&#9508;
+}E&#8962;¤&#9508;"');
...

[download]

(Okay. That's not the most complex schema in the world; but one advantage of sqlite for this kind of thing is that it actually uses very few different datatypes.)

Whereas comparing XML is a nightmare. Less so I suppose if you don't have to worry about the attributes/nested sub-items equivalence -- I assume that however you are generating the XML, it at least produce consistent XML.

I think you are making hard work for yourself using XML, but as I said above somewhere, it is your choice. Good luck :)

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

The start of some sanity?

In reply to Re^3: Testing database updates. by BrowserUk
in thread Testing database updates. by chrestomanci

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