Fw: XML query language

[Oren Ben-Kiki]

Paul Janssens <paul.janssens at skynet.be> wrote:
>I think (iii)
(results should be XML)
>should not be a requirement of an XML query language. The
>result of a query  could be a vector of tuples of pointers to the
>individual matches. Whatever needs to be done with that output can be
>done in a layer above that.

I fail to see the benfit in inventing a new format for query results. First,
a set of tuples with pointers, or whatever else, can be easily expressed in
XML. Second, if one wants to obtain 'pointers to the output', then it should
be a simple matter of constructing in the result a pointer to the matched
tree (<A href="..."> or something) instead of the matched tree itself.

AFAIK all XML QL proposals produce XML as output.

>Just because SQL mixes content with style
>doesn't mean an XML query language should.

You lost me here; this is the first time I've heard that SQL has anything to
do with style. The result of an SQL query is a table and is typically
accessed via some programming API which has nothing to do with presentation.
I agree that an XML query should do the same thing - that is, create an XML
tree as a result without worrying about presentation. The fact that I think
that _the transformational part_ of XSL should do this is perfectly
consistent, since I see this part as being a general independent mechanism
and not just a "style" language.

Share & Enjoy,

    Oren Ben-Kiki



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