[Specifications, Discussion/Feedback, Implementations, Other]

XML Query

The mission of the XML Query working group is to provide flexible query facilities to extract data from real and virtual documents on the Web, therefore finally providing the needed interaction between the web world and the database world. Ultimately, collections of XML files will be accessed like databases.

Specifications

XML Query Specifications:

• XML Query Requirements, last release 16 February 2001
• XML Query Use Cases , last release 20 December 2001
• XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model (replaces the former XML Query Data Model), last release 20 December 2001
• XQuery 1.0 Formal Semantics (replaces the former The XML Query Algebra), last release 7 June 2001
• XQuery 1.0: An XML Query Language, last release 20 December 2001
• XML Syntax for XQuery 1.0 (XQueryX), first release 7 June 2001
• XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators Version 1.0, last release 20 December 2001
• NEW: XML Path Language (XPath) 2.0, first release 20 December 2001

Note that many of the powerful and structured facilities of XML Query have been recognized as so fundamental that they are going to be incorporated into the next version of XPath, namely XPath 2.0. The XML Query working group co-leads the XPath 2.0 effort, together with the XSL working group, and is co-author of the XPath 2.0 specifications:

XPath 2.0 Specifications:

• XPath Requirements Version 2.0, first release 15 February 2001
• XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model, last release 20 December 2001
• XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators Version 1.0, last release 20 December 2001
• NEW: XML Path Language (XPath) 2.0, first release 20 December 2001

Discussion/Feedback:

• W3C contact: Massimo Marchiori (massimo@w3.org)
• Mailing lists:

  www-ql@w3.org (434 subscribers on October 1, 2001)

  The public mailing list on query languages, including (but not limited to) discussion on the XML-Query project. This list originated from the QL'98 w3c-ql@w3.org mailing list, and has now become a public list (see the migration announcement). Only subscribed users can post to this list. Subscription is open to everybody: to subscribe or unsubscribe just send a message to www-ql-request@w3.org with your request. The list is publicly archived at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-ql/.

  www-xml-query-comments@w3.org

  The public mailing list for submitting comments on the publications of the XML Query wg. This is not a discussion list (use www-ql@w3.org instead), and so you can't subscribe: this list is just a way for people to provide their comments to the XML Query wg, and for the wg to reply. The list is publicly archived at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-xml-query-comments/.

Implementations

The following is a (non-comprehensive) list of implementations of the XML Query working drafts. The list includes partial implementations, prototype implementations, and products that include some support for XML Query. If you want to add an implementation, add more information about one of the implementations listed below, or give any other suggestion, please send an email to both massimo@w3.org and pcotton@microsoft.com.

• Enosys Markets: http://www.enosysmarkets.com/products/xq.html
• Fatdog: http://www.fatdog.com/
• Kawa-Query: http://www.gnu.org/software/kawa/xquery/
• IPSI-XQ: http://xml.ipsi.fhg.de/xquerydemo
• Lucent: http://db.bell-labs.com/galax/
• Microsoft: http://xqueryservices.com
• Software AG: http://www.softwareag.com/developer/downloads/default.htm
• Sourceforge's Kweelt: http://kweelt.sourceforge.net/
• SourceForge's XQuench: http://xquench.sourceforge.net/
• X-Hive: http://www.x-hive.com/xquery
• XML Global: http://www.xmlglobal.com

Other Pointers

• Presentation on XML-Query held at the 20^th Unicode Conference, Washington, January, 2002.
• Presentation on XML-Query held at the 10^th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW10), Hong Kong, May, 2001.
• Presentation on XML-Query held at the 9^th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW9), Amsterdam, May 19, 2000.
• The Query Languages'98 (QL'98) workshop, with its unique collection of contributed works.
• The XML Activity Statement also explains the W3C's work on query languages.
• The XML-Query Working Group page (W3C members ony)

Massimo Marchiori
First created April 2000.
Current: $Revision: 1.75 $ $Date: 2002/02/07 15:35:52 $

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