Database-Independent XQuery Mechanism for Relational Data Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is currently no mechanism that allows application developers to retrieve relational data as XML using both a standard query language and a standard API, forcing them to rely on vendor-specific solutions or home-grown approaches.
Innovation Solution
A method and system using an embedded serverless computer component that transforms relational data into XML data using XQuery queries, allowing for standard query language and API integration, with support for both relational and XML data sources, and optimizing performance through query pooling and value comparisons.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If vendor-specific XML extensions are used for querying relational databases, then XML data retrieval capability is improved, but application portability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal XQuery interface that can query both relational databases and XML data sources through a single standardized API. The XQuery processor translates XQuery expressions into appropriate queries for the underlying data source, whether relational (via SQL) or XML-native, eliminating the need for vendor-specific extensions and enabling applications to port across different database systems without modification.
2Ease of operation
If XML standards (DOM, SAX, StAX) are combined with database standards (ODBC, JDBC), then XML processing capability is improved, but code complexity and maintenance burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an XQuery processor as an intermediary layer between the application and the underlying data sources. This mediator handles the complexity of translating XQuery expressions into appropriate SQL queries for relational databases or native XML queries for XML data sources, and manages the integration of XML parsing standards (DOM, SAX, StAX) with database connectivity standards (ODBC, JDBC) without exposing this complexity to the application developer.
Solution Approach 2:
The XQuery interface provides a universal query mechanism that works with both relational and XML data sources through a single standardized API, eliminating the need for developers to write and maintain separate code paths for different data source types and XML processing approaches.
3Reliability
If separate query mechanisms are used for relational and XML data sources, then data source specificity is improved, but query integration capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a unified XQuery interface that can query both relational databases and XML data sources through a single standardized API. The system maintains data source specificity by translating XQuery expressions into appropriate queries for each data source type (SQL for relational, native XML queries for XML sources) while providing query integration capability through the universal XQuery language that can access heterogeneous data sources seamlessly.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are disclosed for retrieving both data stored in relational form and data stored in XML form responsive to a single XQuery query. The techniques allow applications to retrieve relational data residing in various relational database management systems by using XQuery and XQuery for Java. In one such embodiment, an embeddable serverless computer component implements the techniques, and includes a combination of one or more relational adaptors and a mediator to access relational data and transform it into appropriate XML. The techniques are embeddable, and can be standards-based, database-independent, and operating-system independent. Optimized performance and scalability from desktop to enterprise applications are enabled as the number of users and/or database size increases.