Sometimes you want to embed program specific commands to XML file. To allow this, processing instructions or PIs are for this purpose.
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<name nickname='Shiny John'>
<first>John</first>
<!--John lost his middle name in a fire-->
<middle/>
<?nameprocessor PRINT nickname?>
<last>Doe</last>
</name>
PIs are embed in <? followed by the application name to receive the PI and end with ?>
In the example abrove, the actural instruction is PRINT nickname
PIs are very rare.