XQuery Training Course

Introduction to XQuery

• Understanding XQuery
• Path Expressions
• FLWOR Expressions (for, let, where, order by, return)
• Functions
• Joins

Fundamentals of XQuery

• The Architecture of XQuery
• Contextualizing XQuery
• Query Processing
• The XQuery Data Model
• Data Types
• Namespaces

Expressions

• Categories of Expressions
• Keywords and Identifiers
• Whitespace Handling
• Literals
• Variables
• Invoking Functions
• Comments
• Evaluation Sequence
• Comparison Operators
• Conditional "if-then-else" Expressions
• Logical "and/or" Expressions

Paths

• Path Expressions
• Predicates
• Dynamic Paths
• Source Documents
• Context Nodes

Constructors

• Incorporating Elements and Attributes from Source Documents
• Literal Result Constructors
• Computed Constructors

Selection and Joins via FLWORs

• Selection Using Path Expressions
• FLWOR Expressions in Detail
• Quantified Expressions
• Retrieving Distinct Values
• Join Operations

Sorting and Grouping

• Sorting Data in XQuery
• Grouping Operations
• Aggregating Values

Functions

• Built-in Functions
• User-Defined Functions

Advanced Query Techniques

• Modifying and Copying Input Elements
• Manipulating Positions and Sequence Numbers
• Merging Results
• Utilizing Intermediate XML Documents

XML Namespace Management

• Namespaces in XQuery
• Namespace Declarations

Types and Typing

• The XQuery Type System
• Built-in Types
• Types, Nodes, and Atomic Values
• Type Checking in XQuery
• Automatic Type Conversions
• Sequence Types
• Constructors and Type Casting

Prolog and Module Structure

• Query Structure: Prolog and Body
• Assembling Queries from Multiple Modules
• Variable Declarations
• Declaring External Functions

Working with Schemas

• Understanding Schemas
• Benefits of Using Schemas with Queries
• W3C XML Schema: Overview
• Schema Definitions in Scope
• Schema Validation and Type Assignment
• Sequence Types and Schemas

Static Typing

• Concept of Static Typing
• The Typeswitch Expression
• The Treat Expression
• Type Declarations
• The zero-or-one, one-or-more, and exactly-one Functions

Principles of Query Design

• Key Design Principles:
  • Clarity
  • Modularity
  • Robustness
• Error Handling Strategies
• Performance Optimization

Numeric Types

• Constructing and Comparing Numeric Values
• Arithmetic Operations
• Numeric Functions

String Handling

• The xs:string Type
• Constructing, Comparing, and Manipulating Strings
• Substrings and Length
• Concatenation and Splitting Strings
• Whitespace Management
• Internationalization Support

Regular Expressions

• Structure of Regular Expressions
• Matching Individual Characters
• Matching Any Character
• Matching Groups of Characters
• Character Classes
• Reluctant Quantifiers
• Anchors
• Back-References
• Using Flags
• Using Sub-Expressions with Replacement Variables

Date and Time Types

• Extracting Components of Dates, Times, and Durations
• Performing Arithmetic on Dates, Times, and Durations
• Date Component Types

Qualified Names

• Working with Qualified Names
• URIs and IDs

Other XML Components

• Documents
• Text Nodes
• Comments
• PI (Processing Instructions)
• XML Entities
• CDATA Sections

XQuery-Related Standards

• XML Serialization
• XQueryX
• XQuery Update Facility
• Full-Text Search
• XQJ - XQuery API for Java

Implementation-Specific Features

• XML Version Support
• Setting the Query Context
• Option Declarations and Extension Expressions
• Serialization Parameters

XQuery vs. SQL

• XML Data vs. Relational Data
• SQL Syntax vs. XQuery Syntax
• Integrating SQL and XQuery

XQuery vs. XSLT

• XQuery and XPath Relationship