When a conversation turns to analytics or big data, the terms structured, semi-structured and unstructured ... in an Excel spreadsheet and you have an example of structured data.

The most unstructured data you can think of – image and sound files, for example ... Some forms of semi-structured data have been around for some time, such as CSV and XML.

XML is one example: It is considered by many to be an excellent way of holding classic semi-structured data. Most common document formats are, or can be, rendered into XML, and almost all ...