Texcel International Partners With Microsoft and webMethods to Submit XQL Proposal to the World Wide Web Consortium
Leading Vendors Collaborate to Create Powerful Tool for Conducting Queries on XML Information
CAMBRIDGE, MA. November 17, 1998. XML '98 Conference.
Texcel International has partnered with Microsoft and webMethods to submit a position paper to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) proposing the use of XML Query Language (XQL). Texcel created the initial draft of XQL and has been working closely with Microsoft and webMethods to bring the language to its current state. Texcel provides an XML content management system for authoring, updating, and assembling complex document information. XQL is a query language for XML document data that lets you search and retrieve information from a document in much the same way as querying a database.
"XML provides a rich description of the structure of documents. XQL turns your documents into a database by allowing powerful queries that use the XML structure to extract the information they contain," according to Jonathan Robie, co-author of the proposal.
XQL is a query language that is quite similar to the pattern language used in XSL (eXtensible Style Language), with extensions for powerful general-purpose queries. As XML becomes widely adopted for documents and for exchanging data on the Web, the ability to query XML becomes increasingly vital.
XQL can be optimized so that queries against large databases can run quickly. XQL can be placed in URLs, which can be executed against XML document databases to select and display just the information you are interested in. XQL can also be used in programs or scripts, for example, Internet Explorer 5.0's programming API. This greatly simplifies programming for Web pages or XML documents.
"Texcel uses a proprietary query language like XQL in the Texcel Information Manager content management system. We wanted customers to be able to do similar queries for other sources of information, and the only way to do that was to promote a standard query language," added Robie. "That's why we chose to work with Microsoft and webMethods, and have submitted the XQL proposal to the W3C Query Language Workshop, which is meeting in early December.
Texcel's flagship software system, Texcel Information Manager, is an XML and SGML content management system that provides workflow, version management, queries, electronic review and dynamic document assembly for multi-user authoring and editing environments. Customers use the system to create intelligent content-driven applications such as interactive electronic technical manuals, Web- and CD-ROM-based reference materials, and on-demand research reports, as well as printed product and maintenance documentation.
About Texcel International
Founded in 1991, Texcel International has offices throughout Europe and the United States. NTT DATA represents Texcel in Japan. Among its customers are Deere and Company, Diebold Incorporated, Ericsson Telecom, Boeing Helicopter Systems, Philips Corporation, Thomson Corporation, Wolters Kluwer, and the U.S. Navy and Departments of Defense and Commerce.
Texcel can be contacted at its U.S. offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts by calling 617-621-7004. The Texcel Web site is located at http://www.texcel.no.
Contact:
Texcel International, Inc.
Amy Krane
Tel: +1 617 621-7004
or
Sterling Hager, Inc.
Beth Bryant
Tel: +1 617-926-6665
[Note: see also the text of the announcement on the Texcel web site. QL '98: The W3C Query Languages Workshop will be held December 3-4, 1998. See also the document XML and Query Languages.
