Thanks for your prompt response, Simon,
I would be very interested in using your customized XML module. I wrote you an email a few minutes ago, but thought that perhaps I should leave a post on here as well.
On the topic of modules communicating with the host page and with each other: doesn't DNN have any mechanism for such communication? I was expecting some kind of access to/from the browser variables, including the post or query strings or by context setting by means of session variables. I am used to doing that on the old classic .ASP pages.