XML database

An XML database is a data persistence software system that allows data to be specified, and stored, in XML format. This data can be queried, transformed, exported and returned to a calling system. XML databases are a flavor of document-oriented databases which are in turn a category of NoSQL database.

Rationale for XML as a database format

Reasons to store data in XML format as an XML database include:^{[1] [2]}

• An enterprise may have numerous XML documents with similar data, but dispersed in different XML formats. Conglomerating this data into a singular, standardized XML database structure will avoid compatibility issues
• Data may need to be exposed or ingested as XML, so using another format such as relational forces double-modeling of the data
• XML is very well suited to parse data, deeply nested data and mixed content (such as text with embedded markup tags)
• XML is human readable whereas relational tables require expertise to access
• Metadata is often available as XML
• Semantic web data is available as RDF/XML
• Provides a solution for Object-relational impedance mismatch^[3]

Steve O'Connell gives one reason for the use of XML in databases: the increasingly common use of XML for data transport, which has meant that "data is extracted from databases and put into XML documents and vice-versa".^{[4][needs update]} It may prove more efficient in terms of conversion costs,^{[citation needed]} and easier to store the data in XML format. In content-based applications, the ability of the native XML database also minimizes the need for extraction or entry of metadata to support searching and navigation.

XML-enabled databases

XML-enabled databases typically offer one or more of the following approaches to storing XML within the traditional relational structure:

1. XML is stored into a CLOB (Character large object)
2. XML is `shredded` into a series of Tables based on a Schema^[5]
3. XML is stored into a native XML Type as defined by ISO Standard 9075-14^[6]

RDBMS that support the ISO XML Type are:

1. IBM DB2 (pureXML^[7])
2. Microsoft SQL Server^[8]
3. Oracle Database^[9]
4. PostgreSQL^[10]

Typically an XML-enabled database is best suited where the majority of data are non-XML. For datasets where the majority of data are XML, a native XML database is better suited.

Example of XML Type Query in IBM DB2 SQL

select
   id, vol, xmlquery('$j/name', passing journal as "j") as name 
from
   journals
where 
   xmlexists('$j[licence="CreativeCommons"]', passing journal as "j")

Integration with Relational Databases

XML databases are often used in combination with relational databases to manage and store hierarchical data. A significant challenge in such integrations is extracting XML documents from relational databases, which requires specialized techniques and tools. These techniques often include:

1. Mapping Relational Data to XML: Schema mapping is a critical process that defines how relational tables correspond to XML elements and attributes.
2. XQuery Processing: Querying XML data extracted from relational databases may involve XQuery, a language designed for querying and transforming XML.

One of the most common scenario involves converting relational data into XML documents^[11] to facilitate standards with systems relying on XML-based standards, such as web services or APIs. This process is important in applications where structured and semi-structured data co-exist and must be integrated perfectly.

For example, extracting hierarchical data from relational databases and converting it into XML is a common approach when generating XML feeds, exchanging data between systems, or implementing XML-based configurations.

Native XML databases

Native XML databases are especially tailored for working with XML data. As managing XML as large strings would be inefficient, and due to the hierarchical nature of XML, custom optimized data structures are used for storage and querying. This usually increases performance both in terms of read-only queries and updates.^[12] XML nodes and documents are the fundamental unit of (logical) storage, just as a relational database has fields and rows.

The standard for querying XML data per W3C recommendation is XQuery; the latest version is XQuery 3.1.^[13] XQuery includes XPath as a sub-language and XML itself is a valid sub-syntax of XQuery. In addition to XPath, some XML databases support XSLT as a method of transforming documents or query results retrieved from the database.

Language features

Name	License	Native Language	XQuery 3.1	XQuery 3.0	XQuery 1.0	XQuery Update	XQuery Full Text	EXPath Extensions	EXQuery Extensions	XSLT 2.0	XForms 1.1	XProc 1.0
BaseX	BSD	Java	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
eXist	GNU LGPL	Java	Partial	Partial	Yes	Proprietary	Proprietary	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MarkLogic Server	Commercial	C++	No	Partial	Yes	Proprietary	Proprietary	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
OpenText xDB	Commercial	Java	Partial	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Oracle Berkeley DB XML	Commercial	C/C++
Qizx	Commercial	Java	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No
Sedna	Apache License 2.0	C/C++

Supported APIs

Name	XQJ	XML:DB	RESTful	RESTXQ	WebDAV
BaseX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
eXist	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MarkLogic Server	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Qizx	No	No	Yes	No	No
Sedna	Yes	Yes	No	No	No

Data-centric XML datasets

For data-centric XML datasets, the unique and distinct keyword search method, namely, XDMA^[14] for XML databases is designed and developed based on dual indexing and mutual summation.

References

1. Nicola, Matthias (28 September 2010). "5 Reasons for Storing XML in a Database". Native XML Database. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
2. Feldman, Damon (11 April 2013). Moving from Relational Modeling to XML and MarkLogic Data Models. MarkLogic World. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
3. [NoSQL Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Emerging World of Polyglot Persistence. Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2009] ISBN 978-0321826626
4. O'Connell, Steve (2005). Section 9.2. Advanced Databases Course Notes (Syllabus). Southampton, England: University of Southampton.
5. "XML Schema Storage and Query: Basic". Oracle XML DB Developer's Guide, 10g Release 2. Oracle Corporation. August 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2015.. Section Creating XMLType Tables and Columns Based on XML Schema
6. "ISO/IEC 9075-14:2011: Information technology -- Database languages -- SQL -- Part 14: XML-Related Specifications (SQL/XML)". International Organization for Standardization. 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
7. "pureXML overview -- DB2 as an XML database". IBM Knowledge Center. IBM. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
8. "Using XML in SQL Server". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
9. "XMLType Operations". Oracle XML DB Developer's Guide, 10g Release 2. Oracle Corporation. August 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
10. "8.13. XML Type". PostgreSQL 9.6 Documentation. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
11. "Extracting XML Documents from Relational Databases - 7 Tips". Vivid Origins. 2025-01-01. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
12. Matthias, Nicola (22 August 2010). "XML versus Relational Database Performance". Native XML Database. Retrieved 28 Jun 2017.
13. "XQuery 3.1 Recommendation". 2017-03-21.
14. Selvaganesan, S.; Haw, Su-Cheng; Soon, Lay-Ki (2014). "XDMA: A Dual Indexing and Mutual Summation Based Keyword Search Algorithm for XML Databases". International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering. 24 (4): 591–615. doi:10.1142/s0218194014500223.

External links

• Ranking of Native XML DBMS by popularity, updated monthly, from DB-Engines
• XML Databases - The Business Case, Charles Foster, June 2008 (broken link) - Talks about the current state of Databases and data persistence, how the current Relational Database model is starting to crack at the seams and gives an insight into a strong alternative for today's requirements.
• An XML-based Database of Molecular Pathways (2005-06-02) Speed / Performance comparisons of eXist, X-Hive, Sedna and Qizx/open
• XML Native Database Systems: Review of Sedna, Ozone, NeoCoreXMS 2006
• XML Data Stores: Emerging Practices
• Bhargava, P.; Rajamani, H.; Thaker, S.; Agarwal, A. (2005) XML Enabled Relational Databases, Texas, The University of Texas at Austin.
• Initiative for XML Databases
• XML and Databases, Ronald Bourret, September 2005
• The State of Native XML Databases, Elliotte Rusty Harold, August 13, 2007