News Release: W3C XQuery 1.0 and XSLT 2.0 Become Standards

Resend, including testimonial from BEA Systems

Today, W3C announces the approval of standards that bring the best of  
Database technologies and XML together, as well as tools that will  
expand the power of developers creating enterprise-grade XML  
applications. XQuery, XSLT 2.0 and XPath 2.0 already enjoy broad  
implementation in industry products from BEA, Data Direct, IBM,  
Innovomax, Mark Logic, Microsoft and Oracle; as well as Open Source  
software. For more information, please contact Janet Daly, W3C Global  
Communications Officer at +1 617 253 5884 <janet@w3.org> or the W3C  
Communications Team representative in your region.


W3C XQuery 1.0 and XSLT 2.0 Become Standards: Tools to Query,  
Transform, and Access XML and Relational Data
Newest Open Web Standards Already Widely Supported in Industry

Contact Americas, Australia --
     Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe, Africa and the Middle East --
     Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
     Yasuyuki Hirakawa <chibao@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170

Web Resources:
	This Press release
		In English: http://www.w3.org/2007/01/qt-pressrelease.html.en
		In French: http://www.w3.org/2007/01/qt-pressrelease.html.fr
		In Japanese: http://www.w3.org/2007/01/qt-pressrelease.html.ja

	Testimonials from DataDirect, IBM, Innovimax, Mark Logic  
Corporation, Michael Kay,
		and Microsoft:
		http://www.w3.org/2007/01/qt-testimonial

	The full list of new Web Standards
	   1. XML Path Language (XPath) 2.0
		http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-xpath20-20070123/
   	   2. XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 2.0
		http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-xslt20-20070123/
    	   3. XQuery 1.0: An XML Query Language
		http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-xquery-20070123/
    	   4. XML Syntax for XQuery 1.0 (XQueryX)
		http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-xqueryx-20070123/
    	   5. XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model (XDM)
		http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-xpath-datamodel-20070123/
    	   6. XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators
		http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-xpath-functions-20070123/
    	   7. XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Formal Semantics
		http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-xquery-semantics-20070123/
    	   8. XSLT 2.0 and XQuery 1.0 Serialization
		 http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/REC-xslt-xquery-serialization-20070123/
	

http://www.w3.org/ -- 23 January 2007 -- Based on widespread  
implementation experience and extensive feedback from users and  
vendors, W3C has published eight new standards in the XML Family to  
support the ability to query, transform, and access XML data and  
documents. The primary specifications are XQuery 1.0: An XML Query  
Language, XSL Transformations (XSLT) 2.0, and XML Path Language  
(XPath) 2.0; see the full list below.

These new Web Standards will play a significant role in enterprise  
computing by connecting databases with the Web. XQuery allows data  
mining of everything from memos and Web service messages to multi- 
terabyte relational databases. XSLT 2.0 adds significant new  
functionality to the already widely deployed XSLT 1.0, which enables  
the transformation and styled presentation of XML documents. Both  
specifications rely on XPath 2.0, also significantly enriched from  
its previous version.

W3C's XSL Working Group and XML Query Working Group, who created  
these specifications, have addressed thousands of comments from  
implementers and the interested public to ensure that the  
specifications meet the needs of diverse communities.

XML Query 1.0 Joins Database and Document Worlds

XML Query (XQuery) describes a database query language for XML data.

"XQuery will serve as a unifying interface for access to XML data,  
much as SQL has done for relational data," said Don Chamberlin of IBM  
Almaden Research Center, co-inventor of the original SQL Query  
language and one of the co-editors of XQuery 1.0. "Since virtually  
any kind of information can be represented using XML, I expect XQuery  
to play a central role in unifying information from many different  
sources. Companies across a wide range of industries can use XQuery  
to pull together structured and semi-structured information for  
processing in a unified way."

The XML Query Working Group catalogued over forty implementations of  
XQuery and reported on how fourteen of them satisfy a test suite  
consisting of more than 14,000 test cases, demonstrating  
unprecedented levels of interoperability. XML Query is already  
available in products from all of the major relational database  
vendors as well as in XML-native database systems, middleware, XML  
editing systems and numerous open source products. W3C Member  
organizations have also announced implementations of XQuery or plans  
for implementations.

"The XQuery Working Group engaged in exhaustive review and  
collaborative work, both with other W3C Working Groups and with the  
developer community," explained Jim Melton of Oracle, XML Query  
Working Group co-chair and co-editor of two of the standards  
published today. "Over 1,000 comments from developers helped ensure a  
resilient and implementable set of database technologies."

"These specifications provide a much needed bridge between two  
worlds: documents with complex but irregular internal structure on  
the one hand and databases and simple data with atomic values on the  
other," said W3C's Michael Sperberg-McQueen, one of the editors of  
the original XML 1.0 specification.

Rich XSLT, XPath 2.0 Feature Set Based on Seven Years of Experience

XSLT 1.0, published in 1999, is widely deployed on Web servers and in  
browsers and is an important part of today's business and engineering  
infrastructure. Years of experience with the language have culminated  
in an impressive list of new features in XSLT 2.0 and XPath 2.0,  
including a greatly enlarged library of functions, new facilities for  
grouping and aggregation, and more powerful text processing using  
regular expressions.

"This is a red-letter day for XSLT users," said Michael Kay, editor  
of the XSLT 2.0 specification, "both for those who have been waiting  
patiently for this Recommendation to appear before they could use the  
new features, and for those who have taken a gamble by deploying the  
new technology before its final stamp of approval. Our biggest  
achievement, in my view, has been to deliver a huge step forward in  
functionality and developer productivity, while also retaining a very  
high level of backwards compatibility, thereby keeping transition  
costs to the minimum."

XSLT 2.0 can optionally use XML Schema, enabling improved detection  
of errors both at compile time and at run-time, and thus provides the  
robustness needed in enterprise applications. Implementations of the  
new specification have been available since 2002, maturing in  
parallel with the specification. With over 150,000 downloads of  
various implementations, there is a wealth of experience  
demonstrating the benefits of the new features. Indeed, many  
organizations, from publishing houses to investment banks, are  
already using XSLT 2.0 in their operational systems.

The eight Recommendations published today that together increase the  
power of the XML family are:

    1. XML Path Language (XPath) 2.0
    2. XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 2.0
    3. XQuery 1.0: An XML Query Language
    4. XML Syntax for XQuery 1.0 (XQueryX)
    5. XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Data Model (XDM)
    6. XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators
    7. XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Formal Semantics
    8. XSLT 2.0 and XQuery 1.0 Serialization

Testimonials from BEA, DataDirect, IBM, Innovimax, Mark Logic  
Corporation, Microsoft Corporation and Oracle

In English


BEA is pleased to see the XQuery 1.0 specification making the  
transition to being an official W3C Recommendation. We see the  
declarative nature of XQuery as designed to provide an important  
foundation for a variety of XML processing needs, ranging from  
transforming and routing messages to integrating data from disparate  
sources to querying and manipulating semi-structured information.  
XQuery has already become a foundational technology for XML data  
handling in several of our products, and both we and our customers  
are pleased with its standardization. BEA is proud to have  
contributed to the development of XQuery 1.0, and we look forward to  
its success and to our ongoing participation in its evolution.

-- Ed Cobb, VP of Architecture and Standards, BEA Systems, Inc.

     DataDirect Technologies is very pleased that XQuery 1.0 is now a  
W3C Recommendation. We believe that XQuery is a key technology for  
XML processing and for data integration. We have actively  
participated in the XML Query Working Group, and are dedicated to  
supporting XQuery in our XML products, including DataDirect XQuery,  
which provides fast,reliable and scalable XQuery for XML, relational  
data, SOAP messages,EDI, or a combination of data sources. XQuery is  
also supported inStylus Studio, our XML IDE, which fully supports  
XQuery with an XQueryeditor, debugging, mapping and visualization tools.
     -- Robert Evelyn, VP Strategy and General Manager XML  
ProductsGroup, DataDirect

     IBM is pleased to see XQuery 1.0, XSLT 2.0 and XPath 2.0 advance  
to Recommendation status. We have supported the W3C in this effort by  
providing the XSL Working Group chair, an XQuery Working Group co- 
chair, as well as XQuery, XSLT and XPath specification editors. As  
key additions in the XML family, these standards allow businesses to  
flexibly access, query, manipulate and present their data for  
heterogeneous customers and partners. IBM has several market leading  
products that offer support for these important standards, in  
particular IBM DB2 Version 9.1 with support for XQuery, and we  
anticipate real benefits to our customers.
     -- Karla Norsworthy, VP Software Standards, IBM

     Innovimax is very pleased to have participated in the effective  
collaborative effort that permits XSLT 2.0, XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0  
to become Recommendations of the W3C. It is a great step forward in  
making XML transformations more and more a core component of XML  
ecosystem. Great challenges would become more accessible as the  
market will use those specifications and Innovimax will help media  
companies to improve.
     -- Mohamed Zergaoui, President and Chief Technology Officer,  
Innovimax

     As the provider of the industry's leading XML content server,  
and a long-standing member of the XQuery Working Group, Mark Logic is  
very pleased that the W3C has released the new standards in the XML  
Family. We designed MarkLogic Server, based on the W3C-standard  
XQuery language, to query, manipulate, and render XML content, which  
enables our customers to unlock the value of their information. The  
addition of the W3C's new XML standards signifies an important step  
towards creating even more opportunities for improving the way our  
customers find and utilize content.
     -- Dave Kellogg, CEO, Mark Logic Corporation

     Microsoft is proud to have participated in the development of  
XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 at the W3C and is pleased to see it    
successfully release as a final recommendation. We feel XQuery adds  
important functionality to the XML processing stack and we already  
deploy SQL Server 2005 with integrated XQuery support on the XML data  
type. We believe that the advance of XQuery to a W3C Recommendation  
provides a solid foundation for future advances in our XML support  
inside the database to address our customers’ need in XML data  
processing.
     -- Michael Rys, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft

     Oracle is delighted with the progression of XQuery to  
Recommendation status and celebrates along with the XML community the  
completion of this important language. Oracle's commitment to W3C and  
XQuery is reflected in Jim Melton's serving as co-chair of the the  
XML Query Working Group and in the contribution of our technical  
representative to that effort Dana Florescu -- co-inventor of Quilt,  
the language that served as the starting point for XQuery. Our  
participation in XQuery's development reflects our corporate  
philosophy to support open standards forums, such as the W3C.  
Oracle's database products, XML DB and Berkeley DB, were the first to  
deliver an embedded XQuery implementation, and progression of XQuery  
to Recommendation status gives our customers further confidence in  
using that important new capability.
     -- Donald Deutsch, Ph.D, Vice President of Standards Strategy  
and Architecture, Oracle Corporation

En Français

     Innovimax est particulièrement heureux d'avoir participé à la  
contribution internationale ayant mené à l'adoption par le W3C des  
recommandations XSLT 2.0, XQuery 1.0 et XPath 2.0. Cette évolution  
majeure permettra de remettre au cur de l'écosystème XML les  
transformations de données XML. Les challenges dans ces domaines  
trouveront dans l'implémentation de ces spécifications de nouvelles  
solutions et Innovimax fournira l'expertise nécessaire aux  
fournisseurs de contenus multimédia.
     -- Mohamed ZERGAOUI, Gérant et Directeur de l'innovation, Innovimax




About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium  
where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work  
together to develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission  
through the creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to  
ensure long-term growth for the Web. Over 400 organizations are  
Members of the Consortium. W3C is jointly run by the MIT Computer  
Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the  
USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics  
(ERCIM) headquartered in France and Keio University in Japan, and has  
additional Offices worldwide. For more information see http:// 
www.w3.org/

Received on Tuesday, 23 January 2007 18:14:25 UTC