XML for cross-application portability

[FieryPantone]

A naïve question, I suspect, but on the one hand we have FrameMaker with a "save as XML" option, on the other hand we have InDesign with an "Import XML" option. Are these two visions of XML on speaking terms?

[frameexpert]

Not necessarily because XML is just a way of defining markup for content. As a simple example, consider these two XML snippets:

<book>
  <title>War and Peace</title>
  <author>The Guy that Wrote It</author>
</book>
<contact>
  <title>Mr.</title>
  <firstName>Frank</firstName>
  <lastName>Jones</lastName>
</contact>

Both of them have a <title> element, but they mean two different things, depending on how the structure was designed. The structure of an XML document is usually specified in a DTD or schema.

[FieryPantone]

Good! that actually confirms my suspicions, as well as making perfect sense.