With the XQuery 1.0 standard, you finally have a tool that will make it much easier to search, extract and manipulate information from XML content stored in databases. This in-depth tutorial not only walks you through the XQuery specification, but also teaches you how to program with this widely anticipated query language. XQuery is for query writers who have some knowledge of XML basics, but not necessarily advanced knowledge of XML-related technologies. It can be used both as a tutorial, by reading cover to cover, and as a reference, by using the comprehensive index and appendixes. Either way, you will find the background knowledge in namespaces, schemas, built-in types and regular expressions that is relevant to writing XML queries. This book provides: A high-level overview and quick tour of XQuery Information to write sophisticated queries, without being bogged down by the details of types, namespaces, and schemas Advanced concepts for users who want to take advantage of modularity, namespaces, typing and schemas Guidelines for working with specific types of data, such as numbers, strings, dates, URIs and processing instructions A complete alphabetical reference to the built-in functions and types You will also learn about XQuery's support for filtering, sorting, and grouping data, as well as how to use FLWOR expressions, XPath, and XQuery tools for extracting and combining information. With this book, you will discover how to apply all of these tools to a wide variety of data sources, and how to recombine information from multiple sources into a single final output result. Whether you're coming from SQL, XSLT, or starting from scratch, this carefully paced tutorial takes you through the final 1.0 standard in detail.

Table of Contents:
Preface 1. Introduction to XQuery What Is XQuery? Easing into XQuery Path Expressions FLWORs Adding XML Elements and Attributes Functions Joins Aggregating and Grouping Values 2. XQuery Foundations The Design of the XQuery Language XQuery in Context Processing Queries The XQuery Data Model Types Namespaces 3. Expressions: XQuery Building Blocks Categories of Expressions Keywords and Names Whitespace in Queries Literals Variables Function Calls Comments Evaluation Order and Parentheses Comparison Expressions Conditional (if-then-else) Expressions Logical (and/or) Expressions 4. Navigating Input Documents Using Paths Path Expressions Predicates Dynamic Paths Input Documents A Closer Look at Context 5. Adding Elements and Attributes to Results Including Elements and Attributes from the Input Document Direct Element Constructors Computed Constructors 6. Selecting and Joining Using FLWORs Selecting with Path Expressions FLWOR Expressions Quantified Expressions Selecting Distinct Values Joins 7. Sorting and Grouping Sorting in XQuery Grouping Aggregating Values 8. Functions Built-in Versus User-Def ined Functions Calling Functions User-Defined Functions 9. Advanced Queries Copying Input Elements with Modifications Working with Positions and Sequence Numbers Combining Results Using Intermediate XML Documents 10. Namespaces and XQuery XML Namespaces Namespaces and XQuery Namespace Declarations in Queries Controlling Namespace Declarations in Your Results 11. A Closer Look at Types The XQuery Type System The Built-in Types Types, Nodes, and Atomic Values Type Checking in XQuery Automatic Type Conversions Sequence Types Constructors and Casting 12. Queries, Prologs, and Modules Structure of a Query: Prolog and Body Assembling Queries from Multiple Modules Variable Declarations Declaring External Functions 13. Using Schemas with XQuery What Is a Schema? Why Use Schemas with Queries? W3C XML Schema: A Brief Overview In-Scope Schema Definitions Schema Validation and Type Assignment Sequence Types and Schemas 14. Static Typing What Is Static Typing? The Typeswitch Expression The Treat Expression Type Declarations The zero-or-one, one-or-more, and exactly-one Functions 15. Principles of Query Design Query Design Goals Clarity Modularity Robustness Error Handling Performance 16. Working with Numbers The Numeric Types Constructing Numeric Values Comparing Numeric Values Arithmetic Operations Functions on Numbers 17. Working with Strings The xs:string Type Constructing Strings Comparing Strings Substrings Finding the Length of a String Concatenating and Splitting Strings Manipulating Strings Whitespace and Strings Internationalization Considerations 18. Regular Expressions The Structure of a Regular Expression Representing Individual Characters Representing Any Character Representing Groups of Characters Character Class Expressions Reluctant Quantifiers Anchors Back-References Using Flags Using Sub-Expressions with Replacement Variables 19. Working with Dates, Times, and Durations The Date and Time Types The Duration Types Extracting Components of Dates, Times, and Durations Using Arithmetic Operators on Dates, Times, and Durations The Date Component Types 20. Working with Qualified Names, URIs, and IDs Working with Qualified Names Working with URIs Working with IDs 21. Working with Other XML Components XML Comments Processing Instructions Documents Text Nodes XML Entity and Character References CDATA Sections 22. Additional XQuery-Related Standards Serialization XQueryX XQuery Update Facility Full-Text Search XQuery API for Java (XQJ) 23. Implementation-Specific Features Conformance XML Version Support Setting the Query Context Option Declarations and Extension Expressions Specifying Serialization Parameters 24. XQuery for SQL Users Relational Versus XML Data Models Comparing SQL Syntax with XQuery Syntax Combining SQL and XQuery SQL/XML 25. XQuery for XSLT Users XQuery and XPath XQuery Versus XSLT Differences Between XQuery 1.0/XPath 2.0 and XPath 1.0 A. Built-in Function Reference B. Built-in Types C. Error Summary Index