Oracle Database 10g XML & SQL: Design, Build, & Manage XML Applications in Java, C, C++, & PL/SQL

CHAPTER 11Searching XML Data

XML is a widely accepted standard for enterprise applications to exchange business data and publish data over the Internet. By storing XML data in Oracle Database 10g, you can create SQL indexes and enable users to efficiently search XML data. Oracle Database 10g provides two types of search on XML: the XPath-based search provided along with the XMLType functions, and the full text search using the Oracle database component, Oracle Text.

The XPath-based searches are queries that are based on XPath expressions, which narrow down the scope of the search through the XML hierarchical structure. Using XPath expressions, you can specify XML namespaces and leverage a wide range of datatype comparisons, such as string, number, ...