Abstract: A method and system for associating information related to a component of a structured document that is stored in its native format in a database system includes generating a hierarchical node tree comprising a plurality of nodes, where each node represents a component in the structured document, and generating a path associated with each node, where the path follows the hierarchical structure of the structured document from a root node to the node. In each node, an identifier associated with the path is stored. A table is provided that correlates the identifier with information related to the associated path. The information applies to the component represented by the node.

Abstract: An improved method and system for performing path-level access control evaluation for a structured document in a collection, where the structured document includes a plurality of nodes and each of the nodes is described by a path, is disclosed. The method comprises providing a cache for temporarily storing a cache entry for a path associated with a node of the plurality of nodes, receiving a query that includes a request to access the node, checking the cache entry for the path associated with the node, and determining whether to grant access to the node based on the cache entry.