Jonathan Robie

Despite a shortage of sophisticated XML query tools, Internet demands have forced companies to present their data in various formats. In one sense little has changed, as SQL queries have long been used to combine data for different purposes and audiences. Now however, the output is XML, and while the tools used to generate or consume XML may be different, the structure is similar to structures created by traditional report writers. Relational databases have neither hierarchy nor sequence, but XML uses both to structure data. This is a good match for the way XML data is used. Most Web sites use data from relational databases, though it rarely looks relational on a Web page. Nobody wants to present users with a series of two-dimensional tables, telling them how to join the tables in their minds to see the relationships. Instead, relational data is used to build hierarc... (more)

Complete Data Integration Through XQuery

Most businesses have an urgent need for up-to-date, accurate information based on data from multiple data sources. It would be much easier if all your data were stored in one database so it can be queried as a whole, but this is rarely practical. In the real world, data integration is required. You need a simple, efficient way to query data found in various data sources. Suppose you use information about customers in your Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Your company might use an external CRM system like salesforce.com for leads and customer data, an internal ERP system like ... (more)