Changing application's behavior without recompiling

[lancer6238]

Hi,

I've read of people writing applications that use data "stored" in a
XML file, and when they update the XML file, the application is aware
of it and behave accordingly, without the need to recompile. I'm new
to XML, and this feature seems really interesting and useful to me,
but I can't wrap my head around how this is done. Can someone either
explain or point me somewhere where I can find out more about this,
especially when writing C applications?

Thank you.

Regards,
Rayne

 

[Guest]

I've read of people writing applications that use data "stored" in a
XML file, and when they update the XML file, the application is aware
of it and behave accordingly, without the need to recompile. I'm new
to XML, and this feature seems really interesting and useful to me,
but I can't wrap my head around how this is done. Can someone either
explain or point me somewhere where I can find out more about this,
especially when writing C applications?

XML is just a detail. The program simply reads a configuration file
and modifies its behaviour accordingly. You could use a simple ini
file format or, at the other end of the spectrum, an RDBMS.

XML files are often used for persistence. The program saves data
while it's running and reloads it when it restarts.

 

[Chris Dollin]

I've read of people writing applications that use data "stored" in a
XML file, and when they update the XML file, the application is aware
of it and behave accordingly, without the need to recompile. I'm new
to XML, and this feature seems really interesting and useful to me,
but I can't wrap my head around how this is done. Can someone either
explain or point me somewhere where I can find out more about this,
especially when writing C applications?

There's nothing special about it at all; the program reads from the
XML and configures itself accordingly, just as it could if it were
reading a text file with a specialised syntax. You, the programmer,
have to put in all the work required to turn the meaning of the XML
into program operations. (There are libraries for doing the syntax,
so at least you don't have to drown in those details.)