A tree read as a tree,
and cited by its path.
Web and interchange formats carry their meaning in their structure. The handler reads the tree, keeps attributes and identifiers, and cites a passage by the path that locates it.
LLX-HANDLER-XML · R2 · 6 formats
Three things a flattened string loses.
The node tree
Nesting is what gives a value its meaning: the same number means different things in two branches.
Attributes and identifiers
Ids, refs and types are read as fields, so a clause or record can be addressed exactly.
Namespaces and schemas
Where a schema is declared it is read, so a document can be checked against the shape it claims.
The questions structured files usually decide.
Which clause an id refers to
A reference is resolved to the node it points at, rather than searched for as free text.
ResolutionWhat an export actually contained
A data interchange file is read field by field, so what was transmitted is established.
TransmissionWhether two exports agree
Two files of one schema are compared node by node, with differences located by path.
ReconciliationRead in place, in the format it arrived in.
The file is never converted or re-saved. It is read where it lies, and the handler records a SHA-512 of the bytes it read — so a passage cited today can be replayed against the same file years from now.