[xquery-talk] Open source XQuery processors

[Schwartz, Christine]

I'm preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled "Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool." I'd like to provide the attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their own XQuery programming environment at their home institutions. Open source software is usually preferred by librarians, especially for grant projects.

I feel a little handicapped in this area as I've been using MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with open source XQuery tools.

Any recommendations on what should be on this list?

Thanks,

Chris

Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
***@ptsem.edu<mailto:***@ptsem.edu>

[Michael Dyck]

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled “Using
XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to provide the attendees
with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their own XQuery
programming environment at their home institutions. Open source software
is usually preferred by librarians, especially for grant projects.
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?

The W3C's XQuery page <http://www.w3.org/XML/Query/> includes a list of
implementations (about 23 of which are marked "open source"), and suggests
some criteria by which to choose one.

-Michael



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[Adam Retter]

I recently trawled the list here -
http://www.w3.org/XML/Query/#implementations for a survey of
implementations that I am producing. Unfortunately I found many of the
links to be out of date. I guess some of these companies/projects have
moved on or folded. Certainly todays list of implementations is much
shorter. I wonder if we should not update that list even if it has an
"archive" part?

Post by Michael Dyck

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled “Using
XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to provide the attendees
with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their own XQuery
programming environment at their home institutions. Open source software
is usually preferred by librarians, especially for grant projects.
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?

The W3C's XQuery page <http://www.w3.org/XML/Query/> includes a list of
implementations (about 23 of which are marked "open source"), and suggests
some criteria by which to choose one.
-Michael
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--
Adam Retter

skype: adam.retter
tweet: adamretter
http://www.adamretter.org.uk

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[Adam Retter]

Hi Christine,

Here are some suggestions for you -

XML Native Databases -> eXist, BaseX, and Sedna (still maintained?)

XQuery standalone processors -> Saxon, XQilla (still maintained?) and
Apache VXQuery

XSLT standalone processors -> Saxon.

XML IDE -> Oxygen (not Open Source, but relatively cheap) and eXide
(eXist only).

Also if you have to do any work with RDF and Sparql, then I can
recommend Apache Jena.

Cheers Adam.

On 7 May 2015 at 18:06, Schwartz, Christine

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled “Using
XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to provide the attendees with a
list of XQuery resources so they can set up their own XQuery programming
environment at their home institutions. Open source software is usually
preferred by librarians, especially for grant projects.
I feel a little handicapped in this area as I’ve been using MarkLogic for
over seven years and have not had to work with open source XQuery tools.
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?
Thanks,
Chris
Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
_______________________________________________
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

[Liam R. E. Quin]

Post by Schwartz, Christine
I'm preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled
"Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool." I'd like to provide the
attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their
own XQuery programming environment at their home institutions. Open
source software is usually preferred by librarians, especially for
grant projects.
I feel a little handicapped in this area as I've been using
MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with open
source XQuery tools.

I on the other hand have not used MarkLogic.

BaseX and eXist seem to be the most widely used. There is also Zorba,
although I found it difficult to set up, and Sedna, which seems not to
be actively maintained.

Usually I send people to BaseX in the first instance, as the easiest
to get started (it's written in Java and has a GUI, and can be used
also from PHP, Perl, etc.; most people I've spoken with seem to have
their first query running within a few minutes of downloading the
software).

For a mixed relation + XML model, Virtuoso supports XQuery, although I
have not tried it.

What I believe is most important is to keep any software-specific
extensions isolated from the main queries, so you can easily switch.

I should really update www.w3.org/XML/Query/ to reflect XQuery 3.0
reality.

Liam

Post by Schwartz, Christine
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?
Thanks,
Chris
Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

_______________________________________________
***@x-query.com
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

[Per Bothner]

Post by Liam R. E. Quin
I should really update www.w3.org/XML/Query/ to reflect XQuery 3.0
reality.

Qexo (Kawa-XQuery) is still maintained but not actively developed. I.e. I still
make occasional fixes, and I run the testsuite frequently to make sure
I don't break it when I make unrelated changes to the Kawa framework.
Qexo only supports XQuery 1.0, and there are no current plans to add
the newer extensions.

Qexo is file-oriented (not database-oriented) and it's easy to set up and run.
It does have a REPL.

[Liam R. E. Quin]

On Thu, 2015-05-07 at 14:17 -0400, Liam R. E. Quin wrote:
[...]

BaseX and eXist seem to be the most widely used. There is also >

Zorba, although I found it difficult to set up, and Sedna, which >
seems not to be actively maintained.

Somehow I forgot to mention Saxon (a filestore-based implementation),
sorry about that.

I should really update www.w3.org/XML/Query/toreflect XQuery 3.0

reality.

Or should I move it to a wiki?


Liam

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[William Candillon]

Post by Liam R. E. Quin

Post by Schwartz, Christine
I'm preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled
"Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool." I'd like to provide the
attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their
own XQuery programming environment at their home institutions. Open
source software is usually preferred by librarians, especially for
grant projects.
I feel a little handicapped in this area as I've been using
MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with open
source XQuery tools.

I on the other hand have not used MarkLogic.
BaseX and eXist seem to be the most widely used. There is also Zorba,
although I found it difficult to set up, and Sedna, which seems not to
be actively maintained.

That is absolutely true. We are currently tackling this problem.
We are providing a simple docker container for Zorba at the moment:
https://registry.hub.docker.com/u/wcandillon/zorba/
We are looking to provide in the future a Zorba service via docker
that can be consumed easily from php, java and son.

In the list of open source IDEs, I would like to add Atom
(https://atom.io/packages/language-jsoniq) and Cloud9.

Post by Liam R. E. Quin
Usually I send people to BaseX in the first instance, as the easiest
to get started (it's written in Java and has a GUI, and can be used
also from PHP, Perl, etc.; most people I've spoken with seem to have
their first query running within a few minutes of downloading the
software).
For a mixed relation + XML model, Virtuoso supports XQuery, although I
have not tried it.
What I believe is most important is to keep any software-specific
extensions isolated from the main queries, so you can easily switch.
I should really update www.w3.org/XML/Query/ to reflect XQuery 3.0
reality.
Liam

Post by Schwartz, Christine
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?
Thanks,
Chris
Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

_______________________________________________
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

_______________________________________________
***@x-query.com
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

[Ghislain Fourny]

Hi Liam,

There is also Zorba, although I found it difficult to set up

This has changed :-) There is now a Docker container for Zorba, so no
more specific setup is required besides installing Docker and the
Zorba container. All the dependencies are encapsulated and installed
in the container.

https://registry.hub.docker.com/u/wcandillon/zorba/

Kind regards,
Ghislain
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[daniela florescu]

Ghislain,

no matter how much gift wrapping paper and Christmas bows you try to put on it, the Zorba code
is dead, because of the Zorba team doesn’t exist anymore, and no-one maintains almost a million lines of
C++ code.


So please don’t lead our users into that.


It’s not fair to them.


If others teams want to mislead their users, let them do, but, but as an ex-architect of Zorba I feel the need to be honest with our users.

Zorba is dead (or frozen in time for the moment).


Best regards
Dana

Post by Benito van der Zander
Hi Liam,

There is also Zorba, although I found it difficult to set up

This has changed :-) There is now a Docker container for Zorba, so no
more specific setup is required besides installing Docker and the
Zorba container. All the dependencies are encapsulated and installed
in the container.
https://registry.hub.docker.com/u/wcandillon/zorba/
Kind regards,
Ghislain
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http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/

[Michael Kay]

Are you looking for database implementations of XQuery, or “filestore” implementations?

Michael Kay
Saxonica
***@saxonica.com
[phone]

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled “Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to provide the attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their own XQuery programming environment at their home institutions. Open source software is usually preferred by librarians, especially for grant projects.
I feel a little handicapped in this area as I’ve been using MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with open source XQuery tools.
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?
Thanks,
Chris
Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
_______________________________________________
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

[Schwartz, Christine]

Thank you to all who responded to my question. I’m anticipating that most people attending this workshop will not have a programming background. So, simplicity is important. I’d like participants to leave feeling empowered and not overwhelmed (at least that’s my goal).

In answer to Michael’s question, while I think a database implementation would be preferable (for working with XQuery), there are some librarians who may not have the IT support for a database implementation and I’d like to guide them to “filestore” implementations also.

Thanks,

Chris

From: talk-***@x-query.com [mailto:talk-***@x-query.com] On Behalf Of Michael Kay
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2015 2:20 PM
To: Schwartz, Christine
Cc: ***@x-query.com
Subject: Re: [xquery-talk] Open source XQuery processors

Are you looking for database implementations of XQuery, or “filestore” implementations?

Michael Kay
Saxonica
***@saxonica.com<mailto:***@saxonica.com>
[phone]



On 7 May 2015, at 18:06, Schwartz, Christine <***@ptsem.edu<mailto:***@ptsem.edu>> wrote:

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled “Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to provide the attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their own XQuery programming environment at their home institutions. Open source software is usually preferred by librarians, especially for grant projects.

I feel a little handicapped in this area as I’ve been using MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with open source XQuery tools.

Any recommendations on what should be on this list?

Thanks,

Chris

Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
***@ptsem.edu<mailto:***@ptsem.edu>


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http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

[Ronald Bourret]

One thing to consider in this regard is how much data you have. It's
easy to imagine libraries having a lot of data and this could cause
performance problems.

As a general rule, file-based XQuery implementations parse XML documents
at run-time, rather than at file-load time, as is the case with database
XQuery implementations. This can be quite slow for large documents. In
addition, file-based XQuery implementations will have at best limited
indexes, which also adversely affects performance.

-- Ron

In answer to Michael’s question, while I think a database implementation
would be preferable (for working with XQuery), there are some librarians
who may not have the IT support for a database implementation and I’d
like to guide them to “filestore” implementations also.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com

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[Benito van der Zander]

Hi,

I wrote one: http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/xidel.html

Online version:
http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/xidelcgi?xquery=(1 to 50)

It is interpreting a language half way between XQuery 1 and XQuery 3 at
the moment.
As well as JSONiq.

Sometimes its error checking is too weak and it evaluates stuff that is
not valid XQuery

Originally it was a library app, which lets you view your library
account and do stuff like automatically
renewing everything, before it is due.
To allow everyone to add their own catalog without much effort, I
implemented a language similar
to XPath with some extensions. But then everyone said that is far too
complicated and they won't do it.
So I had mostly stopped working on that aspect and changed it to become
a standard-compatible
XQuery engine instead, without anything related to libraries.

Best,
Benito

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled
“Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to provide the
attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their own
XQuery programming environment at their home institutions. Open source
software is usually preferred by librarians, especially for grant
projects.
I feel a little handicapped in this area as I’ve been using MarkLogic
for over seven years and have not had to work with open source XQuery
tools.
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?
Thanks,
Chris
Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
_______________________________________________
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

[Liam R. E. Quin]

Post by Benito van der Zander
Hi,
I wrote one: http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/xidel.html

Benito, I'm glad you posted - I added Xidel to www.w3.org/XML/Query
and should have added it last year.

Liam

Post by Benito van der Zander
http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/xidelcgi?xquery=(1 to 50)
It is interpreting a language half way between XQuery 1 and XQuery 3
at the moment.
As well as JSONiq.
Sometimes its error checking is too weak and it evaluates stuff that
is not valid XQuery
Originally it was a library app, which lets you view your library
account and do stuff like automatically
renewing everything, before it is due.
To allow everyone to add their own catalog without much effort, I
implemented a language similar
to XPath with some extensions. But then everyone said that is far
too complicated and they won't do it.
So I had mostly stopped working on that aspect and changed it to
become a standard-compatible
XQuery engine instead, without anything related to libraries.
Best,
Benito

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled
“Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to provide the
attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their
own XQuery programming environment at their home institutions.
Open source software is usually preferred by librarians,
especially for grant projects.
I feel a little handicapped in this area as I’ve been using
MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with open
source XQuery tools.
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?
Thanks,
Chris
Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

_______________________________________________
***@x-query.com
http://x-

[Benito van der Zander]

Hi Liam,

oh, you did add it last year.

Now it is listed there three times!

Once as VideLibri from the time it was XPath 2 only. (still has a
"accept only XPath 2" mode)

Bye,
Benito

Post by Liam R. E. Quin

Post by Benito van der Zander
Hi,
I wrote one: http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/xidel.html

Benito, I'm glad you posted - I added Xidel to www.w3.org/XML/Query
and should have added it last year.
Liam

Post by Benito van der Zander
http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/xidelcgi?xquery=(1 to 50)
It is interpreting a language half way between XQuery 1 and XQuery 3
at the moment.
As well as JSONiq.
Sometimes its error checking is too weak and it evaluates stuff that
is not valid XQuery
Originally it was a library app, which lets you view your library
account and do stuff like automatically
renewing everything, before it is due.
To allow everyone to add their own catalog without much effort, I
implemented a language similar
to XPath with some extensions. But then everyone said that is far
too complicated and they won't do it.
So I had mostly stopped working on that aspect and changed it to
become a standard-compatible
XQuery engine instead, without anything related to libraries.
Best,
Benito

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled
“Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to provide the
attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their
own XQuery programming environment at their home institutions.
Open source software is usually preferred by librarians,
especially for grant projects.
I feel a little handicapped in this area as I’ve been using
MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with open
source XQuery tools.
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?
Thanks,
Chris
Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

_______________________________________________
http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

_______________________________________________
***@x-query.com
http://x

[Liam R. E. Quin]

Post by Benito van der Zander
Hi Liam,
oh, you did add it last year.
Now it is listed there three times!

OK, now you are

Post by Benito van der Zander
Once as VideLibri from the time it was XPath 2 only. (still has a
"accept only XPath 2" mode)

I left the entry for VideLibri but mentioned further work continues
under the name Xidel.

Thanks

Post by Benito van der Zander
Bye,
Benito

Post by Benito van der Zander
Hi,
I wrote one: http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/xidel.html

Benito, I'm glad you posted - I added Xidel to www.w3.org/XML/Query
and should have added it last year.
Liam

Post by Benito van der Zander
http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/xidelcgi?xquery=(1 to 50)
It is interpreting a language half way between XQuery 1 and
XQuery 3 at the moment.
As well as JSONiq.
Sometimes its error checking is too weak and it evaluates stuff
that is not valid XQuery
Originally it was a library app, which lets you view your
library account and do stuff like automatically
renewing everything, before it is due.
To allow everyone to add their own catalog without much effort, I
implemented a language similar
to XPath with some extensions. But then everyone said that is
far too complicated and they won't do it.
So I had mostly stopped working on that aspect and changed it to
become a standard-compatible
XQuery engine instead, without anything related to libraries.
Best,
Benito

I’m preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians
titled “Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool.” I’d like to
provide the attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they
can set up their own XQuery programming environment at their
home institutions. Open source software is usually preferred
by librarians,
especially for grant projects.
I feel a little handicapped in this area as I’ve been using
MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with
open source XQuery tools.
Any recommendations on what should be on this list?
Thanks,
Chris
Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
_______________________________________________

http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

http://x-query.com/mailman/listinfo/talk

_______________________________________________
***@x-query.com
http

[Schwartz, Christine]

Hi Benito,

I remember you mentioning Xidel at Balisage. I will add it to my list also.

Thanks again for all the input of open source XQuery implementations. I ended up installing BaseX this morning and have decided to use that software for the hands-on XQuery exercises that will make up half of the presentation.

Best,

Chris


Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library

From: talk-***@x-query.com [mailto:talk-***@x-query.com] On Behalf Of Benito van der Zander
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2015 3:34 PM
To: Schwartz, Christine; ***@x-query.com
Subject: Re: [xquery-talk] Open source XQuery processors

Hi,

I wrote one: http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/xidel.html

Online version: http://videlibri.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/xidelcgi?xquery=(1 to 50)

It is interpreting a language half way between XQuery 1 and XQuery 3 at the moment.
As well as JSONiq.

Sometimes its error checking is too weak and it evaluates stuff that is not valid XQuery

Originally it was a library app, which lets you view your library account and do stuff like automatically
renewing everything, before it is due.
To allow everyone to add their own catalog without much effort, I implemented a language similar
to XPath with some extensions. But then everyone said that is far too complicated and they won't do it.
So I had mostly stopped working on that aspect and changed it to become a standard-compatible
XQuery engine instead, without anything related to libraries.

Best,
Benito


On 05/07/2015 07:06 PM, Schwartz, Christine wrote:
I'm preparing an ALA preconference session for librarians titled "Using XQuery as a Library Metadata Tool." I'd like to provide the attendees with a list of XQuery resources so they can set up their own XQuery programming environment at their home institutions. Open source software is usually preferred by librarians, especially for grant projects.

I feel a little handicapped in this area as I've been using MarkLogic for over seven years and have not had to work with open source XQuery tools.

Any recommendations on what should be on this list?

Thanks,

Chris

Christine Schwartz
Metadata Librarian and XML Database Administrator
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
25 Library Place
Princeton, NJ 08540
***@ptsem.edu<mailto:***@ptsem.edu>