Abstract: A system providing methods enabling data in Extensible Markup Language (“XML”) format to be extracted, transformed and stored in a database, file system or main memory is described. The extraction and transformation process is generalized and can be used on various types of XML data, enabling XML data to be stored and queried using standard database query methodologies. The system includes parse-time functionality to transform XML documents into a structure having an interface that enables efficient access to the underlying data. The system also includes query execution-time functionality providing greater efficiency by bringing only the relevant portions of transformed XML data into memory in response to a query. The system parses and translates queries into a structure that can be executed without the need to write custom application-specific navigation code to search XML data. The system also enables original XML documents (or portions thereof) to be recomposed when required.

Abstract: A system providing methods enabling data in Extensible Markup Language (“XML”) format to be extracted, transformed and stored in a database, file system or main memory is described. The extraction and transformation process is generalized and can be used on various types of XML data, enabling XML data to be stored and queried using standard database query methodologies. The system includes parse-time functionality to transform XML documents into a structure having an interface that enables efficient access to the underlying data. The system also includes query execution-time functionality providing greater efficiency by bringing only the relevant portions of transformed XML data into memory in response to a query. The system parses and translates queries into a structure that can be executed without the need to write custom application-specific navigation code to search XML data. The system also enables original XML documents (or portions thereof) to be recomposed when required.