RE: [xml-dev] XML Database Decision Tree?

[Leigh Dodds <ldodds@ingenta.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bullard, Claude L (Len) [mailto:clbullar@ingr.com]
> Sent: 18 October 2001 16:57
> To: Leigh Dodds; Champion, Mike; xml-dev@lists.xml.org
> Subject: RE: [xml-dev] XML Database Decision Tree?
> 
> 
> Quantify that some...

Yep I should have been clearer. When I should have written 
if your 'XML schema is in a constant state of change... or 
yet to be finalised'.

IOW, jumping into an industry standardisation effort, and a 
native XML database to store that fledgling 'standard' at the same 
time, might be particularly risky.

Stated like that I suppose it's a bit obvious.

As you say, database schemas tend to solidify quite quickly. 
While xml schemas have the potential to be more fluid: we're 
still learning how to structure them efficiently, there's a lot 
of experience gained from SGML, but from what I've seen 
of recent W3C XML Schema discussions there are a lot of 
ways of achieving the same ends. It might be too early to 
start feeding some of these schemas into native repositories.

>Given that an XML system may be comprised of multiple schemas, 
>it should be reasonable to isolate high rate of change data 
>definitions from the stable ones.   So a question then is how 
>well does the database handle multiple schemas?

In the circumstance where you're supporting multiple 
overlapping xml schemas (i.e. some commonality of data), 
the best data repository might not be organised as a simple 
union of those schemas. Or to put it another way: xml schema != 
database schema; don't throw away the value of database modelling 
because of the draw of being able to automagically feed your 
XML into a DBMS.

(I think I'm starting to get out of my depth here, my hands 
are waving and it's difficult to stay afloat. :)

L.

-- 
Leigh Dodds, Research Group, Ingenta | "Pluralitas non est ponenda
http://weblogs.userland.com/eclectic |    sine necessitate"
http://www.xml.com/pub/xmldeviant    |     -- William of Ockham