[...] you should name it "-.xml", but this is not a valid filename AFAIK.
sure it is ... you just have to make sure you escape the filename so that the leading '-' is not taken as a commandline option specifier
$ touch -- -.xml
$ ls -l -- -.xml -rw-rw-r-- 1 hartmut users 0 2003-10-17 14:02 -.xml
-- Hartmut Holzgraefe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>