An XML parser is a processor that reads and interprets the contents of an XML document and determines the structure and properties of the data. Both AcuXML and C$XML are XML parsers. AcuXML automatically reads and interprets XML data based on XFDs created at compile time. C$XML parses XML data based on operation codes passed to the library call. The term "parse" is used throughout the following sections to mean "read" or "decode." ACUCOBOL-GT's XML parsers read and decode XML data so that it can be processed by your COBOL program.