Konferenzbeitrag
Between the idea: Quo Vadis XML?
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Datum
2005
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Masaryk University Brno
Zusammenfassung
Meanwhile, the term XML has become established as a standard for the application of new IT technologies not only for environmental matters. Actually, XML only means Extended Markup Language. Originally, it was "only" a formalized readable language from the publishing and printing industry for the standardized description of documents (SGML). In that function it is used again today, at least to the extent of XML, in office word processing (MS Office, Open Office, etc.).
In the environmental sector, XML is currently mainly used in the description of subject-related interfaces for an exchange of technical, scientific and meta data. Data processing and storage as such is generally performed according to the so-called "best practice" by means of a process of transformation into the table structure of relational databases. Object-relational XML databases (equivalent to sql databases) have not been used so far. Best practice, however, does not always prove to be a pioneer paving the way for progress. Up to now, a paradigmatic change has not taken place in the database sector. The argument that XML data can be stored just as well in relational database is only valid to a certain extent. It is correct that XML databases still are leading a niche life. The niche, however, is not determined by an exotic, little usable functionality, but by the dominant market position of relational databases defining themselves as self-fulfilling best practice.
So what are the advantages of XML databases and how can they be delimited from sql data-bases as to quality? Quality does not refer to the question of performance, but to the question under what distinguishing criteria data models can be better represented in XML-defined models H or in relational ones (R). What can be better done by XML-defined data models and what by sql-oriented ones? Do the associative law, i.e. ((H*R)*H)=(H*R*H) and the commutative law H*R=R*H apply in retrieval and data modelling? If that is not the case, the data models cannot be fully converted into and replaced by one another.
The intended article looks into this question and shows further user applications.