Representing extensible markup language (XML) as an executable having conditional authentication or policy logic

A system, comprising:

• a processor configured to execute an extensible markup language (XML) compiler and an XML parser, wherein the XML parser is configured to:
• parse an XML document into one or more components that each are associated with content, and
• the XML compiler is configured to:
• translate each component and the content associated with the component into an executable that, when subsequently processed on a machine, reconstructs the one or more components and the content associated with the one or more components as a data structure within an environment of the machine, wherein the executable is provided in a format used by the machine of a recipient, and the executable is in a particular program code format that comprises a machine-specific program code format, a byte-code format, a machine-independent program code format, or a combination thereof,
• wherein at least a portion of the executable includes authentication logic, policy logic, and retrieval logic, the authentication logic provides authentication for the recipient that attempts to access the XML document via the executable, and the policy logic enforces policy restrictions,
• wherein the policy restrictions conditionally restrict how the one or more components and content associated with the one or more components of the XML document are subsequently populated to the data structure for the recipient, and the retrieval logic permits an embedded reference to an external document within the XML document to be appropriately retrieved by the recipient, and
• wherein the authentication logic, the policy logic, and the retrieval logic each include one or more instructions that are represented within the executable, such that when the authentication logic, the policy logic, and the retrieval logic are processed with the executable, the authentication logic enforces identity verification when the recipient attempts to access the XML document, and the authentication logic and the policy logic together with the retrieval logic enforce conditional restrictions that determine whether the external document is to be retrieved and populated to the data structure for the recipient.

A computer implemented method, comprising:

• processing, by a device, an executable to produce a loaded version of one or more components and content associated with the one or more components an extensible markup language (XML) document that is mapped to a data structure accessible from a memory of the device, wherein the executable is in a particular program code format, and said processing comprises:
• recognizing the executable as being in the particular program code format and selecting an interpreter or driver service to process the executable, wherein the particular program code format comprises a machine-specific program code format, a byte-code format, a machine-independent program code format, or a combination thereof;
• and
• processing, by the device, authentication logic, policy logic, and retrieval logic that are included within the executable, wherein:
• the authentication logic provides authentication for a recipient that attempts to access the data structure,
• the authentication logic provides the authentication based on the recipient, wherein selective portions of the content from the XML document are made available to the recipient based on the processing of the authentication logic, and
• the policy logic enforces policy restrictions,
• wherein the policy restrictions conditionally restrict how the one or more components and content associated with the one or more components of the XML document are subsequently populated to the data structure for the recipient, and the retrieval logic permits an embedded reference to an external document within the XML document to be appropriately retrieved by the recipient, and
• wherein the authentication logic, the policy logic, and the retrieval logic each include one or more instructions that are represented within the executable, such that when the authentication logic, the policy logic, and the retrieval logic are processed with the executable, the authentication logic enforces identity verification when the recipient attempts to access the XML document, and the authentication logic and the policy logic together with the retrieval logic enforce conditional restrictions that determine whether the external document is to be retrieved and populated to the data structure for the recipient.