Chapter: XML and Web Services : Building XML-Based Applications : Integrating XML with Databases
XML Database Solutions
XML Database Solutions
A large number of XML database
solutions are available, and they generally come in two flavors: database
mapping and native XML support.
XML Database Mapping
The first type of XML database
solution provides a mapping between the XML docu-ment and the database fields.
The system dynamically converts SQL result sets to XML documents. Depending on
the sophistication of the product, it may provide a graphical tool to map the
database fields to the desired XML elements. Other tools support a
con-figuration file that defines the mapping. These tools continue to store the
information in relational database management system (RDBMS) format. They
simply provide an XML conversion process that is normally implemented as a
server-side Web application. This solution is depicted in Figure 10.1.
Table 10.1 contains a list of products that provide XML database
mappings. Note that this list is not exhaustive. Additional product offerings
are available at www.xml.com.
TABLE 10.1 XML Database Mapping Products
Native XML Support
The second type of XML database
solution actually stores the XML data in the docu-ment in its native format.
Each product uses its own proprietary serialization technique to store the
data. However, when the data is retrieved, it represents an XML document. This
solution is depicted in Figure 10.2.
Table 10.2 lists some of the products that provide native XML document
support. See www.xml.com for additional products.
TABLE 10.2 Native XML Database Products
Noted XML author Ronald Bourret maintains a list of XML database
products that you can visit at www.rpbourret.com/xml.
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