XQuery Training Course

Introduction to XQuery

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

Fundamentals of XQuery

• Design Principles of XQuery
• Contextualizing XQuery
• Query Processing Mechanisms
• The XQuery Data Model
• Types
• Namespaces

Expressions

• Classification of Expressions
• Keywords and Identifiers
• Handling Whitespace in Queries
• Literals
• Variables
• Invoking Functions
• Comments
• Evaluation Sequence
• Comparison Expressions
• Conditional 'if-then-else' Expressions
• Logical 'and/or' Expressions

Paths

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

Constructors

• Incorporating Elements and Attributes from Input Documents
• Direct Constructors
• Computed Constructors

Selection and Joining Using FLWORs

• Selecting Data via Path Expressions
• FLWOR Expressions in Detail
• Quantified Expressions
• Retrieving Distinct Values
• Joins

Sorting and Grouping

• Sorting Data in XQuery
• Grouping Techniques
• Aggregating Values

Functions

• Built-in Functions
• Custom User-Defined Functions

Advanced Query Techniques

• Modifying and Copying Input Elements
• Managing Positions and Sequence Numbers
• Merging Results
• Leveraging Intermediate XML Documents

XML Namespaces

• XQuery in Relation to Namespaces
• Declaring Namespaces

Types

• Overview of the XQuery Type System
• Predefined Built-in Types
• Interplay Between Types, Nodes, and Atomic Values
• Type Checking in XQuery
• Automatic Type Conversion
• Sequence Types
• Constructors and Casting Techniques

Prolog and Module Structure

• Query Anatomy: Prolog and Body Sections
• Assembling Queries from Multiple Modules
• Declaring Variables
• Declaring External Functions

Working with Schemas

• Definition of a Schema
• Benefits of Using Schemas with Queries
• Brief Overview of W3C XML Schema
• Managing In-Scope Schema Definitions
• Schema Validation and Type Assignment
• Sequence Types in Relation to Schemas

Static Typing

• Understanding Static Typing
• The 'typeswitch' Expression
• The 'treat' Expression
• Type Declarations
• Functions for zero-or-one, one-or-more, and exactly-one Constraints

Principles of Query Design

• Key Aspects of Query Design:
  • Clarity
  • Modularity
  • Robustness
• Error Handling Strategies
• Performance Optimization

Numeric Data Types

• Creating and Comparing Numeric Values
• Arithmetic Operations
• Functions for Numeric Data

String Data Types

• The xs:string Type
• Constructing, Comparing, and Manipulating Strings
• Extracting Substrings and Determining Length
• Concatenating and Splitting Strings
• Managing Whitespace
• Internationalization Support

Regular Expressions

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

Date and Time Types

• Extracting Components from Dates, Times, and Durations
• Applying Arithmetic Operators to Dates, Times, and Durations
• Components of Date 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 Versioning
• Configuring the Query Context
• Option Declarations and Extension Expressions
• Serialization Parameters

XQuery vs. SQL

• XML Data Compared to Relational Data
• SQL Syntax Versus XQuery Syntax
• Integration of SQL and XQuery

XQuery vs. XSLT

• Relationship Between XQuery and XPath
• XQuery Versus XSLT