SQL/XML for Developers

Lewis Cunningham
Senior Solutions Architect
EnterpriseDB
Lewis.cunningham@enterprisedb.com
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 Postgres Rocks!
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Agenda

What is XML?

What is the XML data type?

What is SQL/XML?

What should(n’t) I do with XML?

What is XML?
3

<?XML?>
 What is XML?
4

Semi-Structured
 Hierarchical
 Not relational
 Not freeform

Markup “Language”
 Tags Identify Data
 <NAME>Lewis</NAME>

Human AND machine readable

 What is XML?
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Elements
 Root Element
 Child Elements

Elements are nodes

 Some nodes contain elements
 Some nodes contain character data
 A node can contain both

Namespaces
 What is XML?
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Well Formed XML

 Follows XML formatting rules
All open tags have closing tags
All attribute values are enclosed in quotes
 If a document is not well formed, it is not XML
 A well formed document may not be a VALID document

Valid XML
 Conforms to a specific specification (DTD, XSD, RNG)
 A valid document will always be a well formed document
 What is XML?
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Element/Tag
Simple Example Childnode1
Child to
rootnode

<rootnode>
<childnode1>Some Data</childnode1> Childnode1 is
Sibling to
<childnode2>Some more childnode2
<additional>data</additional></childnode2>
<emptytag />
Closing
</rootnode> Empty
Tag
Tag
 What is XML?
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Namespaces

A namespace prevents naming collisions

A namespace provides clarity

A namespace allows multiple documents to be

combined into a single document
 What is XML?
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Namespace Namespace Namespace

Simple Example Identifier Name URI

<rootnode xmlns:abc='http://abc.org/xml' >

<abc:xml:childnode1>Some Data</abc:childnode1>
<abc:childnode2>Some more
Namespace
<additional>data</additional> Usage

</abc:childnode2>
<emptytag /> Default
Usage
</rootnode>
 What is XML?
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Describing XML

DTD – Document Type Description

XSD – XML Schema

Relax NG – REgular LAnguage for Xml Next

Generation
 What is XML?
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DTD

A list of valid elements and attributes

May be inline or external
Original descriptive language
Limited and mostly obsolete
No data type definitions
No support for Namespaces
 DTD Example
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<!DOCTYPE note [ <

!ELEMENT note (to,from,heading,body)>
<!ELEMENT to (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT from (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT heading (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT body (#PCDATA)>
]>
 What is XML?
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XSD

The XML Schema is the W3C replacement to DTDs

XSD supports data types an namespaces
XML Schemas are defined as XML
Allows you to define ordering/number of elements
Allows you to define mandatory elements
XML Schemas are extensible
 XSD Example
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<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xsd:element name="product" type="ProductType"/>
<xsd:complexType name="ProductType">
<xsd:sequence>
<xsd:element name="number" type="xsd:integer"/>
<xsd:element name="size" type="SizeType"/>
</xsd:sequence>
<xsd:attribute name="effDate" type="xsd:date"/>
</xsd:complexType>
<xsd:simpleType name="SizeType">
<xsd:restriction base="xsd:integer"> <xsd:minInclusive value="2"/>

<xsd:maxInclusive value="18"/> </xsd:restriction>

</xsd:simpleType>
</xsd:schema>
 What is XML?
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RELAX NG

XML and non-XML formats

Simpler than XSD
More like a speaking dialect than an XML dialect
Supports data types and namespaces
Not as robust as XSD (fewer data types, not as many
rules (defaults and such)
Not as widely utilized as XSD
 RELAX NG (XML) Example
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<element name="patron"
xmnln="http://relaxng.org/ns/structure/1.0">
<interleave>
<element name="name"><text/></element>
<element name="id-num"><text/></element>
<zeroOrMore>
<element name="book">
<choice>
<attribute name="isbn"/>
<attribute name="title"/>
</choice>
</element>
</zeroOrMore>
</interleave>
</element>
 RELAX NG (Compact) Example
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element patron {
element name { text } &
element id-num { text } &
element book {
(attribute isbn { text } |
attribute title { text } )
}*
}
 What is the XML data type?
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Postgres 8.3 Data Type

Text based

Well formed check

Non-validating
 What is the XML data type?
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XML Document
<onlyoneroot>
data goes here
</onlyoneroot>

XML Content (fragment)

<name>Lewis</name><sex>yes</sex>
 What is the XML data type?
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Declare a column as XML

create table xml_tab (
id integer,
data XML );

Declare a variable as XML

DECLARE
v_xml XML;
BEGIN
……
What is SQL/XML?
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SQL/
XML
 What is SQL/XML?
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SQL/XML (or SQL/X) is standards based

Combines XML and SQL

IBM, Oracle, Microsoft and Sybase all played a large

part in defining SQL/XML

Home on the web: www.sqlx.org

 What is SQL/XML?
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SQL/XML defines a set of mappings and a

set of functions

Based on XQuery and XPath

Postgres 8.3 implements the core functions

of SQL/XML

XQuery is not yet supported in Postgres

 What is SQL/XML?
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SQL/X Functions
 XMLParse
 XMLSerialize
 XMLElement
 XMLForest
 XMLAgg
 XMLAttributes
 XML Comment
 XMLConcat
 Xpath
 What is SQL/XML?
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Sample data

CREATE TABLE EMP

(
LAST_NAME text,
EMP_ID integer NOT NULL,
FIRST_NAME text,
DEPT_ID integer,
SALARY integer,
CONSTRAINT EMP_pkey PRIMARY KEY (EMP_ID)
)
WITH (OIDS=FALSE);
 What is SQL/XML?
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Sample table
INSERT INTO EMP(
LAST_NAME, EMP_ID, FIRST_NAME, DEPT_ID, SALARY)
VALUES
('Blow', 1, 'Joe', 1, 10000),
('Head', 2, 'Helmut', 1, 12000),
('Jack', 3, 'Noe', 1, 12000),
('Hard', 4, 'Blow', 2, 20000),
('First', 5, 'Hugo', 2, 21000),
('Spaem',6, 'Kingoof', 2, 20000),
('Ventura', 7, 'Ace', 3, 35000),
('Nickleby', 8, 'Nick', 3, 400000),
('Budd', 9, 'Billy', 4, 99000),
('Cleaver', 10, 'Wally', 4, 100000) ;
 What is SQL/XML? - XML Parse
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XMLParse turns text into XML

vXMLVar :=
XMLParse(CONTENT ‘<root>data</root>’);

vXMLVar :=
XMLParse(DOCUMENT ‘<root>data</root>’);
 What is SQL/XML? - XMLSerialize
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XMLSerialize turns XML into text

vString := XMLSerialize(
DOCUMENT v_xml AS TEXT);

vString := XMLSerialize(
CONTENT v_xml AS TEXT);
 What is SQL/XML? - XMLElement
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SELECT XMLElement(name main, last_name) from

emp;

<main>Blow</main>
<main>Head</main>
<main>Jack</main>
<main>Hard</main>
<main>First</main>
 What is SQL/XML? – XMLElement Cont’d
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SELECT XMLElement(name main, last_name),

XMLElement(name main, first_name)
FROM emp;

<main>Blow</main> | <main>Joe</main>
<main>Head</main> | <main>Helmut</main>
<main>Jack</main> | <main>Noe</main>
<main>Hard</main> | <main>Blow</main>
 What is SQL/XML? - XMLForest
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SELECT XMLForest(last_name, first_name)

FROM emp;

<last_name>Blow</last_name><first_name>Joe</f
irst_name>

<last_name>Head</last_name><first_name>Helmut
</first_name>
 What is SQL/XML? – XMLForest Cont’d
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SELECT XMLElement(name main,

XMLForest(last_name, first_name) )
FROM emp;
<main>
<last_name>Blow</last_name>
<first_name>Joe</first_name>
</main>
<main>
<last_name>Head</last_name>
<first_name>Helmut</first_name>
</main>
 What is SQL/XML? – XMLAgg
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SELECT XMLAgg(
XMLForest(last_name, first_name) )
FROM emp;
<last_name>Blow</last_name>
<first_name>Joe</first_name>
<last_name>Head</last_name>
<first_name>Helmut</first_name>
<last_name>Jack</last_name>
<first_name>Noe</first_name>…
 What is SQL/XML? – XMLAgg Cont'd
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SELECT XMLElement(name main,

XMLAgg(XMLForest(last_name, first_name) ))
FROM emp;
<main>
<last_name>Blow</last_name>
<first_name>Joe</first_name>
<last_name>Head</last_name>
<first_name>Helmut</first_name>
<last_name>Jack</last_name>
<first_name>Noe</first_name>…
 What is SQL/XML? - XMLAttributes
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SELECT XMLElement(name main,

XMLAttributes(nextval('t_seq') AS rownum) )
FROM emp;

<main rownum="1"/>
<main rownum="2"/>
<main rownum="3"/>
<main rownum="4"/>
 What is SQL/XML? – XMLAttributes Cont’d
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CREATE TEMP SEQUENCE t_seq;

SELECT XMLElement(name main,

XMLAttributes(nextval('t_seq') AS rownum),
XMLForest(last_name, first_name) )
FROM emp;

DROP SEQUENCE t_seq;

 What is SQL/XML? – XMLAttributes Cont’d
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<main rownum="1">
<last_name>Blow</last_name>
<first_name>Joe</first_name>
</main>
<main rownum="2">
<last_name>Head</last_name>
<first_name>Helmut</first_name>
</main>
 What is SQL/XML? – Concatenating Columns
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SELECT XMLElement(name main,

XMLForest(last_name || ',' || first_name
AS fullname, salary) ) FROM emp;
<main>
<fullname>Blow,Joe</fullname>
<salary>10000</salary>
</main>
<main>
<fullname>Head,Helmut</fullname>
<salary>12000</salary>
</main>
 What is SQL/XML? – Concat and Attributes
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SELECT XMLElement(name main,

XMLElement(name fullname,
XMLAttributes(dept_id), last_name || ',' || first_name ),
XMLForest(salary) ) FROM emp;

<main>
<fullname dept_id="1">
Blow,Joe</fullname>
<salary>10000</salary>
</main>
 What is SQL/XML? - XMLComment
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SELECT XMLElement(name main,

XMLComment('Comment goes here'),
XMLForest(last_name, first_name))
FROM emp;
<main>
<!—Comment goes here-->
<last_name>Blow</last_name>
<first_name>Joe</first_name>
</main>
 What is SQL/XML? - XMLConcat
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SELECT XMLElement(name lastname,

last_name),
XMLElement(name firstname, first_name)
FROM emp;

<lastname>Blow</lastname> |
<firstname>Joe</firstname>
<lastname>Head</lastname> |
<firstname>Helmut</firstname>
What is SQL/XML? – XMLConcat Cont'd
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SELECT XMLConcat(
XMLElement(name lastname, last_name),
XMLElement(name firstname, first_name) )
FROM emp;

<lastname>Blow</lastname><firstname>Joe</firs
tname>

<lastname>Head</lastname><firstname>Helmut</f
irstname>
 What is SQL/XML? – XMLConcat Cont'd
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SELECT XMLElement(name main,

XMLConcat(
XMLElement(name lastname, last_name),
XMLElement(name firstname, first_name) ) )
FROM emp;
<main>
<lastname>Blow</lastname>
<firstname>Joe</firstname>
</main>
 What is SQL/XML? – XML Tables
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CREATE TABLE xmltab (col1 XML);

INSERT INTO xmltab (

SELECT XMLElement(name main, XMLConcat(
XMLElement(name lastname, last_name),
XMLElement(name firstname, first_name) ) )
FROM emp);
 What is SQL/XML? – XML Table
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SELECT * FROM xmltab;

<main><lastname>Blow</lastname><firstname>Joe
</firstname></main>
<main><lastname>Head</lastname><firstname>Hel
mut</firstname></main>
<main><lastname>Jack</lastname><firstname>Noe
</firstname></main>
<main><lastname>Hard</lastname><firstname>Blo
w</firstname></main>
 What is SQL/XML? - XPath
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XPath is a language for navigating through nodes in

an XML document
XPath is hierarchical
Think of XPath like navigating directories in a file
system
An XPath expression may point to
 A Node (like a directory)
 Data (like a file)
 Functions (like file properties or file values)
 What is SQL/XML? – Xpath Cont'd
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SELECT Xpath('/main/firstname/text()', col1)

FROM xmltab;

xpath
-----------
{Joe}
{Helmut}
{Noe}
{Blow}
{Hugo}
 What is SQL/XML? – Xpath Cont'd
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SELECT textcol[1] FROM (

SELECT xpath('/main/firstname/text()', col1) AS
textcol FROM xmltab ) AS xmlsource;

textcol
---------
Joe
Helmut
Noe
Blow
Hugo
 What is SQL/XML? – XML from a Query
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select query_to_xml('select * from emp', TRUE,

TRUE, '');
<row xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<last_name>Blow</last_name>
<emp_id>1</emp_id>
<first_name>Joe</first_name>
<dept_id>1</dept_id>
<salary>10000</salary>
</row>
 What is SQL/XML? – XML from a Table
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select table_to_xml('emp', TRUE, TRUE, '');

<emp xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<last_name>Blow</last_name>
<emp_id>1</emp_id>
<first_name>Joe</first_name>
<dept_id>1</dept_id>
<salary>10000</salary>
</emp>
What should(n’t) I do with XML?
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XML
 What should(n’t) I do with XML?
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PostgreSQL is a RELATIONAL database

Store your data relationally, unless

 Your XML is read only
 Your XML is transient
 Your XML is fairly static
 Your XML is very small
 You have a discrete key external to the XML
 Preserved white space is critical
 What should(n’t) I do with XML? Cont'd
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Convert your XML to Relations by Shredding

 Map your relational schema to the XML by its Schema or DTD
 Use XPath to extract columnar data

Use SQL/XML to recreate the original XML

document
 What should(n’t) I do with XML? Cont'd
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Relational data is much easier to

 Index
 Update
 Manipulate

XML data is better for

 Use by some programming languages
 CMS systems
 Very unstructured data
 For reporting
 What should(n’t) I do with XML? Cont'd
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XML is great for

 Public stored procedure interfaces
Publish the XML spec
Include a version element or attribute
Change parameters and let users adapt over time
 Web based processing
Many web apps support XML
XML + XSLT = Web Happiness
 Data interfaces
Platform independent
Current parsers are fast
Validation and versioning built-in
Public Specifications
 SQL/XML for Developers

Lewis Cunningham
Senior Solutions Architect
EnterpriseDB
Lewis.cunningham@enterprisedb.com
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