XQuery: Search Across a Variety of XML Data, 2nd Edition

With XQuery, you finally have a tool that will make it much easier to search, extract and manipulate information from XML content stored in databases. Updated for XQuery 3.0, this in-depth tutorial not only walks you through the XQuery specification, but also teaches you how to program with this highly practical 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 second edition provides:

• A high-level overview and quick tour of XQuery
• New chapters on switch expressions, dynamic function calls, and other features
• 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’ll 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. 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.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction to XQuery
Chapter 2. XQuery Foundations
Chapter 3. Expressions: XQuery Building Blocks
Chapter 4. Navigating XML Using Paths
Chapter 5. Adding Elements and Attributes to Results
Chapter 6. Selecting and Joining Using FLWORs
Chapter 7. Sorting and Grouping
Chapter 8. Functions
Chapter 9. Advanced Queries
Chapter 10. Namespaces and XQuery
Chapter 11. A Closer Look at Types
Chapter 12. Prologs, Modules and Variables
Chapter 13. Inputs and Outputs
Chapter 14. Using Schemas with XQuery
Chapter 15. Static Typing
Chapter 16. Writing Better Queries
Chapter 17. Working with Numbers
Chapter 18. Working with Strings
Chapter 19. Regular Expressions
Chapter 20. Working with Dates, Times, and Durations
Chapter 21. Working with Qualified Names, URIs, and IDs
Chapter 22. Working with Other XML Constructs
Chapter 23. Function Items and Higher-Order Functions
Chapter 24. Maps, Arrays and JSON
Chapter 25. Additional XQuery-Related Standards
Chapter 26. Implementation-Specific Features
Chapter 27. XQuery for SQL Users
Chapter 28. XQuery for XSLT Users
Appendix A. Built-in Function Reference
Appendix B. Built-in Types
Appendix C. Error Summary