Overview

XQuery provides complete coverage of the W3C XQuery 3.1 standard. In addition, it provides the background knowledge in namespaces, schemas, built-in types and regular expressions that is relevant to writing XML queries.

The book is designed for query writers who have some knowledge of XML basics, but not necessarily advanced knowledge of XML-related technologies. It can be used both as a tutorial, by reading cover to cover, and as a reference, by using the appendices to locate specific functions and types.

The book is organized into six parts:

Chapters 1 and 2 provide a high-level overview and quick tour of XQuery.
Chapters 3-9 provide enough information to write sophisticated queries, without being bogged down by the details of types, namespaces, and schemas.
Chapters 10-16 introduce some advanced concepts for users who want to take advantage of modularity, namespaces, typing, and schemas.
Chapters 17-24 provide guidelines for working with specific types of data, such as numbers, strings, dates, URIs, and processing instructions and maps.
Chapter 25-28 describe XQuery's implementation-specific features and its relationship to other standards including SQL and XSLT.
Appendixes A, B and C provide a complete alphabetical reference to the built-in functions, types and error messages.

About the author

Priscilla Walmsley has been working closely with XQuery, XSLT and XML Schema for years. She was a member of the W3C XML Schema Working Group from 1999 to 2004, and wrote the respected book Definitive XML Schema (Prentice Hall). Currently, Priscilla serves as Managing Director of Datypic (Datypic), where she provides development services related to electronic publishing, data architecture and information exchange.