Data overview
Microsoft Expression Web allows you to integrate data from databases, or XML data, through ASP.NET 2.0 technology. You can also integrate data from XML files on your HTML pages with Data Views.
With data views you can create read-only views of XML files or URLs built using XSLT, with full WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing, rendered with your choice of either JavaScript in HTML pages or ASP.NET 2.0 on Internet Information Servers (IIS).
Expression Web supports the full ASP.NET 2.0 design-time experience for no-code databinding to data source controls. You can work on an ASP.NET website with Expression Web at the same time that a developer is working on the coding for the site in Microsoft Visual Studio.
XML integration with Data Views
For HTML pages, use the Data View feature. Insert a Data View by dragging-and-dropping an XML file onto the design surface, or use the menu command and point the Data View at an XML file or URL. The Data View will generate both the XSLT and the JavaScript necessary to render in the browser. You can filter and sort the data, change the view style, and use conditional formatting to vary the HTML styling depending on data values. As you use the normal HTML formatting commands (such as editing table properties) the Data View translates them into the underlying XSLT code.
Database integration with ASP.NET 2.0
For ASP.NET pages, you can drop data-bound controls, such as the GridView Control, Repeater Control, or FormView Control, on a page and use the Data Source Configuration Wizard to bind the control to a SQL Server, Access, Oracle or other database. You can also use Data views in ASP.NET pages with an XML data source; think of it as a powerful design tool for the <asp:xml> control, which renders XML data from an XML file or URL using XSLT.