16. A system for generating a document using data from a database, comprising: a processor and a computer-readable storage medium; an operating environment stored on the computer-readable medium and executing on the processor; a user interface that is configured to receive a selection for a section of the document to generate; a template that defines document settings and a structure for the document; a database having rows and columns; wherein the database includes a unique identifier that uniquely identifies a location for each piece of data that is included within the document and wherein the database includes the data used in generating the document; wherein the data within the database includes rich content but does not include all of the metadata used to generate the document; and a document generator that is configured to: retrieve data from the database in response to selections received through the user interface; apply the template to the retrieved data; and generating the document by placing the retrieved data within the document; wherein when a portion of the retrieved data within the document is edited, the corresponding data within the database is updated.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the rich content within the database is structured as well formed XML.