Representing Procedural Logic in XML

Abstract

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a powerful tool used for describing structured documents and exchanging standardized data files over the Internet. This article describes how using XML in an unconventional way greatly improves the usability and effectiveness of an authoring system for generating computer-assisted interviewing (CAI) applications. In addition to specifying the content, structure, and format of a questionnaire, XML tags are used to specify the procedural elements (Boolean expressions and simple computations) that represent the dynamic aspects of a CAI questionnaire. These procedural elements are represented with the creation of a set of XML tags that embody a simple functional programming language.