SimpleXML PHP help needed

[MrRay]

Hey everybody :), not sure if you still remember me, but I need help again for the new revision.

I wanna parse xml w/ php and use that to generate pages. As for actually doing that part, it has not happened yet, for now I am simply preparing.

The XML document I plan to have set up like this:

[code]<inventory>
              <item>
                        <number></number>
                        <century></century>
                        <dimensions></dimensions>
                        <value></value>
                        <sold></sold>
                        <category></category>
                        <artist></artist>
                        <name></name>
                        <description></description>
                        <images></images>
                        <listed></listed>
              </item>
</inventory[/code]

Was my original idea, but I got a different idea involving having the xml be used to point at folders containing other data, which would decrease the parsing time.

Does it sound practical? I am aware that the downside would be that extraction of data for other applications would not be as convenient... But would the performance increases be worth it? Also: is this method faster than using MySQL? What I was shooting for was a site that could do rss, wml, have the abilility to work with another cms if the need were ever present, and be able to be easily integratable with things. I'm just not sure enough though...I'm far to new to the xml thing.

What is the best method??

As always, thank you for aiding me.
Ray