An improved method and system for storing a structured document in its native format in a database is disclosed. The method includes receiving the structured document, generating a hierarchical node tree comprising a plurality of nodes, where the node tree represents the structured document, and storing the plurality of nodes in at least one record in the database. Through the aspects of the present invention, a structured document is parsed and a hierarchical node tree comprising a plurality of nodes is generated from the parsed data. The plurality of nodes is stored in one or more records. Each node points to its parent, to its attributes, and to its child-elements. By storing the structured document as a plurality of nodes forming a node tree, the document's structure is preserved and navigation up and down the tree is simplified. Moreover, by storing the nodes of the tree in standard database records, the existing infrastructure for fixed page buffer management, utilities, and operations, e.g., logging, locking and replication, can be utilized.