A means of transmitting
XML data as a continuous stream over a network connection, used by the
Jabber open-source
instant messaging system. What others might think of as an "
XML document" represents an entire "side" of an XML Stream conversation, from start to finish.
XML Streams always begin with a <stream:stream> tag, identifying the stream namespace and the default namespace of the stream's contents. They end with a </stream:stream> tag, which tells the process on the other end of the connection that it's now OK to close the stream connection. All streamed XML data is logically contained within the <stream:stream/> element.
The <stream:stream> tag may also contain a session ID, which may be used by the client to perform digest authentication.