Re: XML Database

Jonathan Robie (jonathan@texcel.no)
Wed, 23 Sep 1998 09:27:42 -0400

At 12:47 PM 9/23/98 +0900, Kenji Chichii wrote:
>Hi to all.
>
>We sometimes encounter a client who belives that making XML(SGML)Documents
>means making Database. What they believe is if they make their document in
>XML they will easily be able to find information in it, and to manage it.
>
>We are having hard time to make them understand if they need data base,
>they have to develop a data base system.
>Then, they loose interest in XML(SGML). What they want is easy and versitle
>data base system.

There are, in fact, document management products that allow you to do
queries on document data, reuse components from one document in another,
provide a programming interface to the data, etc.

I would distinguish carefully between two approaches to XML databases. If
what you have is fundamentally objects, relational data, or other
traditional "database" data, then you are best off using a relational or
object database, and exposing it as XML for the purpose of data exchange.
If what you have is fundamentally document data, then a document management
system is probably what you want.

>Do you have any good ideas to show the advantage of XML as the data base
>format to this kind of people?
>Are there any experienc or information regarding XML(SGML) data base?
>Are there any good XML data base in commercial basis?
>If there is such Database, how much will it cost?

What kind of data do they have? What do they want to do with it?

Jonathan

jonathan@texcel.no
Texcel Research
http://www.texcel.no