XMLDataBases

Comparison of Askemos as a XML data base

Askemos relies on a persistant storage for it's places, which are usually XML objects. For that purpose it comes with an data base module, which is optimized to store XML objecst. The following table tries to compare feature wise.

The table was prepared at Nov. 2001 and might be out of date. Please send corrections.

Feature	dbxml	Tamino	XMLStore	Askemos	Sedna
structure	hierarchy	hierarchy	network	network
storage unit	xml document	xml document	xml document	pair of xml documents
query language	xpath	xquery	xpath	any (as understood by the document object code)
scripting language	none, not applicable	? n/a	XPath	several + xsql / dsssl
data base - application connection	ipc, corba	? n/a	?	direct reference (in process, no transfer)
external communication	corba	several	java...	http (soap), smtp
indexing	on fields	exists, details n/a	none	arbitrary
relational data connectivity	none	several	not applicable	xsql (mysql)
transactions	??? n/a	yes	yes	yes (every process step)
security	none	???	not applicable	grantable capabilities, no super power nor intruder can overrule

other xml data bases

Since the test was conducted, other native xml data base products where found:

Sedna http://www.modis.ispras.ru/downloads/sedna_license.htm .
http://www.x-hive.com
http://exist-db.org/ Found index based storage superior to full trees. TODO we should add index capabilities (should be easy, just requires work).

Those will have to be evalutated as alternatives to engine used in the current implementation of askemos.