Storing XML in a Database for Flexible Content

Question

I'm working on building a system that aggregates content from several different RSS feeds and API's, stores it, and then outputs it with unique formatting based on the source of the content. My current plan is to create an XML structure for each unique type, storing each record using that structure in a MySQL database, and then retrieving it and parsing it appropriately for display.

Are there any significant issues to using this approach, or are there better ways to achieve the same goal?

Answer 1

XML in a database is about as flexible as an iron girder. It becomes practically unqueryable without database support, and even then it isn't particularly fast. Break it down, normalize it, and store it as conventionally as possible.