Dr. Alexandra I. Cristea CS 253: Topics in Database Systems: C2

2 Previously we looked at: –XML –XSL –XSLT Next: –XPath –XQuery

3 XPath

4 XPath is a syntax for defining parts of an XML document XPath uses path expressions to navigate in XML documents XPath contains a library of standard functions XPath is a major element in XSLT XPath is a W3C recommendation, thus a Standard (16. November 1999 )

5 XPath Path Expressions Uses path expressions to select nodes or node-sets in an XML document. –These path expressions look very much like the expressions you see when you work with a traditional computer file system.

6 XPath Standard Functions over 100 built-in functions. –string values, –numeric values, –date and time comparison, –node and QName manipulation, –sequence manipulation, –Boolean values, –and more.

7 XPath Terminology Nodes Atomic values Items (atomic values or nodes) Relationships of nodes –Parent –Children –Siblings –Ancestors –Descendants

8 XPath Nodes 7 kinds of nodes: 1.element, 2.attribute, 3.text, 4.namespace, 5.processing-instruction, 6.comment, and 7.document (root) nodes. XML documents are treated as trees of nodes. The root of the tree is called the document node (or root node).

9 Nodes Examples Harry Potter J K. Rowling Document (root) nodeElement node Attribute node

10 Atomic values Examples* Harry Potter J K. Rowling *nodes with no children or parent

11 Selecting nodes ExpressionDescription nodenameSelects all child nodes of the node / Selects from the root node // Selects nodes in the document from the current node down that match the selection no matter where they are. Selects the current node.. Selects the parent of the current Selects attributes

12 Examples of selecting nodes Path ExpressionResult bookstoreSelects all the child nodes of the bookstore element /bookstoreSelects the root element bookstore Note: If the path starts with a slash ( / ) it always represents an absolute path to an element! bookstore/bookSelects all book elements that are children of bookstore //bookSelects all book elements no matter where they are in the document bookstore//bookSelects all book elements that are descendant of the bookstore element, no matter where they are under the bookstore element all attributes that are named lang

13 Predicates Predicates are used to find a specific node or a node that contains a specific value. Predicates are always embedded in square brackets.

14 Example predicates Path ExpressionResult /bookstore/book[1]Selects the first book element that is the child of the bookstore element /bookstore/book[last()]Selects the last book element that is the child of the bookstore element /bookstore/book[last()-1]Selects the last but one book element that is the child of the bookstore element /bookstore/book[position()<3]Selects the first two book elements that are children of the bookstore element

15 Example predicates – cont. Path ExpressionResult all the title elements that have an attribute named lang all the title elements that have an attribute named lang with a value of 'eng' /bookstore/book[price>35.00] /bookstore/book[price>35.00]/title Selects all the book elements of the bookstore element that have a price element with a value greater than Selects all the title elements of the book elements of the bookstore element that have a price element with a value greater than 35.00

16 Selecting Unknown Nodes WildcardDescription *Matches any element any attribute node node()Matches any node of any kind

17 Example: selecting several paths Path ExpressionResult //book/title | //book/priceSelects all the title AND price elements of all book elements //title | //price /bookstore/book/title | //price Selects all the title AND price elements in the document Selects all the title elements of the book element of the bookstore element AND all the price elements in the document

18 Location Path Expression A location path can be absolute or relative. An absolute location path: /step/step/... A relative location path: step/step/... Location step: axisname::nodetest[predicate]

19 XPath Axes self childparent ancestordescendant ancestor-or-selfdescendant-or- self preceding-siblingfollowing-sibling precedingfollowing attribute namespace

20 AxisNameResult ancestorSelects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node ancestor-or-selfSelects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself attributeSelects all attributes of the current node childSelects all children of the current node descendantSelects all descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node descendant-or- self Selects all descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself followingSelects everything in the document after the closing tag of the current node following-siblingSelects all siblings after the current node namespaceSelects all namespace nodes of the current node parentSelects the parent of the current node precedingSelects everything in the document that is before the start tag of the current node preceding- sibling Selects all siblings before the current node selfSelects the current node

21 axisname::nodetest[predicate] //DDD/parent::*

22 axisname::nodetest[predicate] //BBB/child::* Note: /AAA is equivalent to /child::AAA

23 More examples l/examples.htmlhttp:// l/examples.html –Check basics, //, *, predicates, attributes, functions (new ones: count, name, normalize-space, starts- with, contains, string-length, floor, ceiling), axes, operators (mod) –Note: The ancestor, descendant, following, preceding and self axes partition a document (ignoring attribute and namespace nodes): they do not overlap and together they contain all the nodes in the document. (see example)example

24 XPath Conclusion We have learned: –XPath definition –Path expressions –Standard functions –Terminology –Predicates –Location paths –Axes –Some operators

25 Before we go on, one more thing about XML: XML Namespaces

26 Naming ambiguity

27 The Idea to Solve it Assign a URI (~ URL) to every sub- language: –E.g., for XHTML 1.0: Qualify element names with URIs: –{ Web Naming and Addressing Overview (URIs, URLs,...)

28 The actual solution Namespace declarations bind URIs to prefixes: Default namespace (no prefix) declared with: xmlns=“…” Lexical Scope Attribute names can also be prefixed

29 Applying namespaces

30 Next we look at how to query XML This can be done, to some extent, as we have seen, within XSLT, but the main language developed for this purpose is …

31 XQuery

32 What is XQuery? XQuery is the language for querying XML data XQuery for XML is like SQL for databases XQuery is built on XPath expressions XQuery is defined by the W3C XQuery is supported by all the major database engines (IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, etc.) XQuery is a W3C recommendation (Jan 2007) thus a standard

33 Maturity Levels Towards W3C Recommendation Working Draft (WD) Candidate Recommendation (CR) Proposed Recommendation (PR) W3C Recommendation (REC)

34 XQuery and XPath XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 share the same data model and support the same functions and operators.

35 XQuery - Examples of Use Extract information to use in a Web Service Generate summary reports Transform XML data to XHTML Search Web documents for relevant information

36 Usage Scenario: Document-Oriented Queries could be used –To retrieve parts of documents –To provide dynamic indexes –To perform context-sensitive searching –To generate new documents as combinations of existing ones

37 Usage Scenario: Programming Queries could be used to automatically generate documentation

38 Usage Scenario: Hybrid Queries could be used to data mine hybrid data, such as patient records

39 XQuery compared to XPath XQuery 1.0 is a strict superset of XPath 2.0  XPath 2.0 expression is directly an XQuery 1.0 expression (a query) The extra expressive power is the ability to: –Join information from different sources and –Generate new XML fragments

40 Relationship to XSLT XQuery, XSLT: both domain-specific languages for combining and transforming data from multiple sources different in design - historical reasons –XQuery: designed from scratch –XSLT: intellectual descendant of CSS technically, they may emulate each other

41 XQuery query makeup Prolog –Like XPath, XQuery expressions are evaluated relatively to a context –explicitly provided by a prolog (header) ~ header with definitions Body –The actual query

42 XQuery Ex.: Prolog + Query

43 XQuery Prolog (i.e., header(s)) Settings define various parameters for the XQuery processor language, such as: xquery version "1.0"; module namespace math = " functions"; declare base-uri " declare default element namespace " declare namespace xs= " import module " functions" at "logo.xq“; declare variable $x as xs:integer := 7; declare function addLogo($root as node()) as node()*{ }; (: etc :)

44 XQuery body: XQuery capabilities Generate Join Select

45 Generate: constructors XQuery expressions may compute new XML nodes Expressions may denote: –element, character data, comment and processing instruction nodes  node is created with a unique node identity Constructors may be either –direct or –computed

46 Direct constructors in XQuery my fragment Evaluates to the given XML fragment Try out at*:

47 Explicit, computed constructors

48 Variable bindings (implicit constructors) {$name} {$job} {$deptno} {$SGMLspecialist }

49 How to Select Nodes with XQuery? Functions –XQuery uses functions to extract data from XML documents. (X)Path Expressions –XQuery uses path expressions to navigate through elements in an XML document. Predicates –XQuery uses predicates to limit the extracted data from XML documents.

50 Functions doc() –function to open a file Example: –doc("books.xml") Note: A call to a function can appear where an expression may appear.

51 Path Expressions Example: select all the title elements in the "books.xml" file: doc("books.xml")/bookstore/book/title

52 Predicates Example: select all the book elements under the bookstore element that have a price element with a value that is less than 30 : doc("books.xml")/bookstore/book[price<30]

53 At a glance: function, path, predicate

54 FLWOR For, Let, Where, Order by, Return = main engine ~ SQL syntax (SFWH) ~ programs and function calls

55 FLWOR by comparison with Path expressions select all the title elements under the book elements that are under the bookstore element that have a price element with a value that is higher than 30. Path expression : doc("books.xml")/bookstore/book[price>30]/title FLWOR expression : for $x in doc("books.xml")/bookstore/book where $x/price>30 return $x/title

56 Sorting in FLWOR for $x in doc("books.xml")/bookstore/book where $x/price>30 order by $x/title return $x/title

57 Present the Result In an HTML List { for $x in doc("books.xml")/bookstore/book/title order by $x return {$x} }

58 Result HTML List Everyday Italian Harry Potter Learning XML XQuery Kick Start

59 Eliminate element (here: title) { for $x in doc("books.xml")/bookstore/book/title order by $x return {data($x)} (: also text() :) }

60 New result HTML List Everyday Italian Harry Potter Learning XML XQuery Kick Start

61 Another FLWOR Expression

62 The Difference between for and let

63 The Difference between for and let := in

64 The Difference between for and let

65 The Difference between for and let

66 FLWOR Basic Building Blocks

67 General rules for and let may be used many times in any order only one where is allowed many different sorting criteria can be specified (descending, ascending, etc.)

68 Reversing order Reverses the order of a sequence, for nodes or atomic values reverse (( 1, 2, 3)) -> 321

69 Joining documents for $p in doc(" for $n in doc("neighbors.xml")//neighbor[ssn = $p/ssn] return { $p/ssn } { $n/name } { $p/income }

70 Two-way join in a where Clause for $item in doc(“ord.xml”)//item, $product in doc(“cat.xml”)//product where = $product/number return <item name=“{$product/name}” />

71 Aggregating Make summary calculations on grouped data Functions: –sum, avg, max, min, count

72 Conditionals for $b in doc(“bib.xml”)/book return {$b/title} {if ( count($b/author) and others ) }

73 Nesting Conditional Expressions Conditional expressions can be nested ‘else if’ functionality is provided if ( count($b/author) = 1 ) then $b/author else if (count($b/author) = 2 )then (:.. ;) else ( $b/author[1], and others )

74 Logical Expressions and, or operators: –and has precedence over or –Parentheses can change precedence if ($isDiscounted and ($discount > 5 or $discount < 0 ) ) then 5 else $discount not function for negations: if (not($isDiscounted)) then 0 else $discount

75 XQuery Built-in Functions XQuery function namespace URI is: default prefix: fn:. E.g.: fn:string(). fn: is the default prefix of the namespace, the function names does not need to be prefixed when called.

76 Built-in Functions String-related –substring, contains, matches, concat, normalize- space, tokenize Date-related –current-date, month-from-date, adjust-time-to- timezone Number-related –round, avg, sum, ceiling Sequence-related –index-of, insert-before, reverse, subsequence, distinct-values

77 Built-in Functions (2) Node-related –data, empty, exists, id, idref Name-related –local-name, in-scope-prefixes, QName, resolve- QName Error handling and trapping –error, trace, exactly-one Document and URI-related –collection, doc, root, base-uri

78 Function calls doc("books.xml")//book[substring(title,1,5)='Harry'] let $name := (substring($booktitle,1,4)) {uppercase($booktitle)}

79 doc(" stea/courses/CS253/books.xml")//book[ substring(title,1,5)='Harry']

80 for $x in doc(" stea/courses/CS253/books.xml")//book/t itle for $y in data($x) for $name in (substring($y,1,4)) return $name

81 User Defined Functions declare function prefix:function_name($parameter AS datatype) AS returnDatatype { (:...function code here... :) };

82 User-defined Functions (Ex. 1) declare function depth($e) AS xsd:integer { if (empty($e/*) then 1 else max(for $c in $e/* return depth($c)) ) +1 }; for $b in doc(“bib.xml”)/book return depth($b)

83 User Defined Functions (ex. 2) declare function local:minPrice( $price as xs:decimal?, $discount as xs:decimal?) AS xs:decimal? { let $disc := ($price * $discount) div 100 return ($price - $disc) }; (: example of how to call the function above:) {local:minPrice($book/price,$book/discount)}

84 Existential and Universal Quantifiers for $b in doc(“bib.xml”)/book where some $author in $b/author satisfies $author/text() = “Ullman” return $b for $b in doc(“bib.xml”)/book where every $author in $b/author satisfies $author/text() = “Ullman” return $b Return books where all authors are “Ullman” Return books where at least one author is “Ullman”

85 for $b in doc(" stea/courses/CS253/books.xml ")//book where some $author in $b/author satisfies $author/text() = "Kurt Cagle" return $b

86 Comments

87 Comparisons Value comparisons Eq, ne, lt, le, gt, ge Used to compare individual values Each operand must be a single atomic value (or a node containing a single atomic value) General comparisons =, !=,, >= Can be used with sequences of multiple items

88 Example

89 XQuery on Distributed Sources

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95 XQuery Syntax Declarative, functional language ~ SQL Nested expressions Case sensitive White spaces: –Tabs, space, CR, LF –Ignored between language constructs –Significant in quoted strings No special EOL character

96 Keywords and names Keywords and operators –Case-sensitive, generally lower case –May have several meanings depending on the context E.g. “*” or “in” –No reserved words All names must be valid XML names –For variables, functions, elements, attributes –Can be associated with a namespace

97 XQuery gives you a choice: Path Expressions: –If you just want to copy certain elements and attributes as is FLWOR Expressions: –Allow sorting –Allow adding elements/attributes –Verbose, but can be clearer

98 XQuery tools XStylus Studio oad.html (free trial version) oad.html –See also short XQuery intro at:

99 XML and programming XSLT, XPath and XQuery provide tools for specialized tasks. But many applications are not covered: –domain-specific tools for concrete XML languages –general tools that nobody has thought of yet

100 XML in general-purpose programming languages parse XML documents into XML trees navigate through XML trees construct XML trees output XML trees as XML documents DOM and SAX are corresponding APIs that are language independent and supported by numerous languages. JDOM is an API that is tailored to Java.DOMSAXJDOM

101 XQuery Conclusion We have learned: –XQuery definition –Usage scenarios –Comparison w. XSLT and XPath –Capabilities –Functions, path expressions and predicates –FLWOR –Extensions for generic programming with XML