TransQuery - XSLT as Query Language

Date:      Mon, 29 Oct 2001 10:18:36 -0800
From:      Evan Lenz <elenz@xyzfind.com>
To:        xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject:   TransQuery - XSLT as Query Language

TransQuery comprises a small, flexible set of XSLT conventions and processing model constraints that enable the use of XSLT as a query language over multiple XML documents. It is an interoperability specification for XML databases, allowing them to use a standard XML query language today -- the W3C-recommended XSLT. To learn more, see:

http://transquery.org.

Related resources:

The TransQuery Specification. Excerpt: "Though XSLT is principally oriented toward transformation of a single source document, it has built-in mechanisms for accessing multiple source documents. It is the purpose of TransQuery to reconcile and harmonize the single-source view with a multiple-source view, using existing standard constructs in XSLT 1.0."

http://www.xmlportfolio.com/transquery/specification

The TransQuery FAQ provides an informal introduction to TransQuery and its reasons for being, answering questions such as "Is TransQuery meant to replace XQuery?" See:

http://transquery.org/faq

The TransQuery Demo, hosted by XYZFind Corp., includes XSLT solutions to the W3C XML Query Use Cases. This demo is powered by software developed as a part of the TransQuery SourceForge Project (see below), which currently uses the XSLT processor Saxon. It is meant to demonstrate the usefulness of XSLT as a query language, particularly when coupled with the conventions specified by TransQuery. The demo includes 90 sample queries, which provide solutions and alternate solutions to 76 of the 78 use cases in the W3C XML Query Use Cases document [1]. An optional query-by-query commentary is included, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of XSLT as a query language, as well as how those weaknesses might be addressed in a future version of XSLT:

http://www.xyzfind.com/transquery

The TransQuery SourceForge project hosts a prototype server implementation of the TransQuery processing model, using the Saxon XSLT processor:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/transquery

Questions? Comments?

Evan Lenz
XYZFind Corp.
http://www.xyzfind.com

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-xmlquery-use-cases-20010608

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See the news item and "XML and Query Languages."

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