XQuery from the Experts: A Guide to the W3C XML Query Language

XQuery from the Experts: A Guide to the W3C XML Query Language

by Howard Katz - Editor, Don Chamberlin, Denise Draper, Mary Fernández, Michael Kay, Jonathan Robie, Michael Rys, Jérôme Siméon, Jim Tivy, Philip Wadler
Released August 2003
Publisher(s): Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN: 0321180607

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Book description

"The individual perspectives on the concepts behind the XQuery language offered byXQuery from the Expertswill be of great value to those who are seeking to understand the implications, opportunities, and challenges of XQuery as they design future information systems based on XML."

—Michael Champion, Advisory Research and Development Specialist, Software AG

XQuery answers the growing need for a functional XML search and transformation standard. Backed by the full weight of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), XQuery is being extremely well received by the IT community worldwide. The first major XML language that takes advantage of the benefits of strong typing provided by XML Schema, XQuery has the versatility to manipulate both XML and non-XML data and provides a valuable connection between the world of XML and relational databases.

In XQuery from the Experts, select members of the W3C's XML Query working group come together to discuss every facet of XQuery. From Jonathan Robie's introductory "XQuery: A Guided Tour" to Mary Mary Fernández, Jérôme Siméon, and Philip Wadler's "Introduction to the Formal Semantics," XQuery is revealed in a way that both novice programmers and industry experts can appreciate.

Edited by long-time XML expert and programmer Howard Katz, coverage ranges from strictly technical chapters to comparative essays such as Michael Kay's "XQuery, XPath, and XSLT," which explores the common ancestry of all three languages, and Don Chamberlin's "Influences on the Design of XQuery," which details the process behind XQuery's design.

Key coverage includes:

  • Denise Draper on "Mapping Between XML and Relational Data"

  • Michael Rys exploring "Integrating XQuery and Relational Database Systems"

  • Jim Tivy's analysis of "A Native XML DBMS"

  • Mary Mary Fernández, Jérôme Siméon, and Philip Wadler, presenting "Static Typing in XQuery"

  • Information presented in both a tutorial and a reference framework for use by XML professionals of any level

For IT managers, professionals, programmers, or anyone involved with XML, XQuery from the Experts is an invaluable resource.



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Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Preface
  3. Contributors
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Basics
    1. XQuery: A Guided Tour
      1. Sample Data: A Bibliography
      2. Data Model
      3. Literals and Comments
      4. Input Functions
      5. Locating Nodes: Path Expressions
      6. Creating Nodes: Element, Attribute, and Document Constructors
      7. Combining and Restructuring Nodes
      8. Operators
      9. Built-in Functions
      10. User-Defined Functions
      11. Variable Definitions
      12. Library Modules
      13. External Functions and Variables
      14. Types in XQuery
      15. Summary
  6. Background
    1. Influences on the Design of XQuery
      1. The Need for an XML Query Language
      2. Basic Principles
      3. The Query Data Model
      4. Related Languages and Standards
      5. Watershed Issues
      6. Conclusion
    2. XQuery, XPath, and XSLT
      1. XSLT: A Quick Introduction
      2. XPath 1.0
      3. Why Was a New Query Language Needed?
      4. Convergence: XPath 2.0
      5. XSLT and XQuery Compared
      6. Optimization Techniques
      7. Conclusion
  7. Formal Underpinnings
    1. Static Typing in XQuery
      1. The Benefits of Static Typing
      2. An XQuery Programming Scenario
      3. Getting Started with Types
      4. Literals and Operators
      5. Variables
      6. Functions
      7. Conditionals
      8. Path Expressions
      9. Predicates
      10. FLWOR Expressions
      11. Element Construction
      12. Validation Context
      13. Validation Mode
      14. A Final Example: Grouping
      15. Conclusions
    2. Introduction to the Formal Semantics
      1. The Benefits of a Formal Semantics
      2. Getting Started with the Formal Semantics
      3. Learning More about XQuery
      4. The Forest through the Trees
  8. Databases
    1. Mapping between XML and Relational Data
      1. Framing the Problem
      2. LOB or Compose?
      3. Composition Techniques: Common Concepts
      4. Composition Techniques: Examples
      5. Shredding
      6. Implementation Concepts
      7. Conclusion
    2. Integrating XQuery and Relational Database Systems
      1. Getting Started
      2. Relational Storage of XML: The XML Type
      3. Integrating XQuery and SQL: Querying XML Datatypes
      4. Physical Mappings of XQuery
      5. Top-Level XQuery
      6. Conclusion and Issues
    3. A Native XML DBMS
      1. What Is XML Data?
      2. Interfaces to a Native XML Database
      3. Full-Text Search in a Native XML Database
      4. Sample Applications
      5. Conclusion
    4. References
    5. Glossary

Product information

  • Title: XQuery from the Experts: A Guide to the W3C XML Query Language
  • Author(s): Howard Katz - Editor, Don Chamberlin, Denise Draper, Mary Fernández, Michael Kay, Jonathan Robie, Michael Rys, Jérôme Siméon, Jim Tivy, Philip Wadler
  • Release date: August 2003
  • Publisher(s): Addison-Wesley Professional
  • ISBN: 0321180607