Can XML, XSLT and XSD do the following:

Hi,

Context : We must send data extracted from a database so that it may updated. Once updated the data is sent back so that we can update the database. One of the requirements (constraints) is that Excel be used for the data update.

Problem : Currently the solution is to generate an Excel file from the data extract and another Excel file that is used as a "template". The generated Excel file is the one that that will be sent out. Although this works this process takes approximately 7 ~ 8 minutes for each data extract and is extremely resource intensive which is unacceptable. The current solution also requires that Excel be present on the processing server.

Question : The solution I would like to propose is to extract the data into an XML file use XSL file for the transformation and an XSD file to hold the XML schema (Can I use an in-line schema instead? I understand that the xml schema is mandatory if I want to use Excel to open the XML file). The transformation in this case would replace the need for an Excel "template" and would be responsible for formatting the document and creating the controls (textboxes, dropdowns, checkboxes etc...). Once the XML document is updated via Excel, the updates are to be available in the "saved" xml document which is the only thing sent back for the db update.

Is this feasible or I'm I barking up the wrong tree? (I read that Office 2003 recognizes XML as a native document format and therefore what I exposed above should work)

My XML background is somewhat limited and I've never used XSLT but my research into the matter points to XML/XSLT/XSD as the perfect solution to my problem. I understand that the challenge will be in developing the XSL templates needed and that this may be long and complicated but I'm willing to give it a go...

Thanks
Gabriel