Difference between revisions of "XQuery 3.0"

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This article summarizes the most important features of the upcoming [http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/ Version 3.0] of the XQuery language that have already been implemented in BaseX.
+
This article is part of the [[XQuery|XQuery Portal]]. It provides a summary of the most important features of the [https://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/ XQuery 3.0] Recommendation.
  
==Group By==
+
=Enhanced FLWOR Expressions=
  
FLWOR expressions have been extended to include the [http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-group-by group by] clause, which is well-established among relational database systems. <code>group by</code> can be used to apply value-based partitioning to query results:
+
Most clauses of FLWOR expressions can be specified in an arbitrary order: additional {{Code|let}} and {{Code|for}} clauses can be put after a {{Code|where}} clause, and multiple {{Code|where}}, {{Code|order by}} and {{Code|group by}} statements can be used. This means that many nested loops can now be rewritten to a single FLWOR expression.
  
 
'''Example:'''  
 
'''Example:'''  
<pre class="brush:xquery">  
+
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
for $country in db:get('factbook')//country
 +
where $country/@population > 100000000
 +
for $city in $country//city[population > 1000000]
 +
group by $name := $country/name[1]
 +
count $id
 +
return <country id='{ $id }' name='{ $name }'>{ $city/name }</country>
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
==group by==
 +
 
 +
FLWOR expressions have been extended to include the [https://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-group-by group by] clause, which is well-established in SQL. <code>group by</code> can be used to apply value-based partitioning to query results:
 +
 
 +
'''XQuery:'''
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 
for $ppl in doc('xmark')//people/person   
 
for $ppl in doc('xmark')//people/person   
 
let $ic := $ppl/profile/@income
 
let $ic := $ppl/profile/@income
let $income := if($ic<30000) then
+
let $income :=
                  "challenge"  
+
  if($ic < 30000) then
                else if($ic >= 30000 and $ic<100000) then  
+
    "challenge"  
                  "standard"  
+
  else if($ic >= 30000 and $ic < 100000) then  
                else if($ic >= 100000) then  
+
    "standard"  
                  "preferred"  
+
  else if($ic >= 100000) then  
                else  
+
    "preferred"  
                  "na"   
+
  else  
 +
    "na"   
 
group by $income
 
group by $income
 
order by $income
 
order by $income
return element {$income} {count($ppl)}
+
return element { $income } { count($ppl) }
 
 
 
</pre>  
 
</pre>  
  
This query is a rewrite of [http://www.ins.cwi.nl/projects/xmark/Assets/xmlquery.txt| Query #20] contained in the [http://www.ins.cwi.nl/projects/xmark|XMark Benchmark Suite] to use <code>group by</code>.
+
This query is a rewrite of [https://www.ins.cwi.nl/projects/xmark/Assets/xmlquery.txt Query #20] contained in the [https://projects.cwi.nl/xmark/ XMark Benchmark Suite] to use <code>group by</code>.
 
The query partitions the customers based on their income.  
 
The query partitions the customers based on their income.  
  
 
'''Result:'''  
 
'''Result:'''  
<pre class="brush:xml">
+
<pre lang="xml">
 
<challenge>4731</challenge>
 
<challenge>4731</challenge>
 
<na>12677</na>
 
<na>12677</na>
<prefered>314</prefered>
+
<preferred>314</preferred>
 
<standard>7778</standard>
 
<standard>7778</standard>
 
</pre>
 
</pre>
  
In contrast to the relational GROUP BY statement, the XQuery counterpart
+
In contrast to the relational GROUP BY statement, the XQuery counterpart concatenates the values of all non-grouping variables that belong to a specific group. In the context of our example, all nodes in <code>//people/person</code> that belong to the <code>preferred</code> partition are concatenated in <code class="brush:xquery">$ppl</code> after grouping has finished. You can see this effect by changing the return statement to:
concatenates the values of all non-grouping variables that belong to a specific group.
 
In the context of our example, all nodes in <code>//people/person</code> that belong to the <code>"preferred"</code> partition are concatenated in <code class="brush:xquery">$ppl</code> after grouping has finished.
 
You can see this effect by changing the return statement to:
 
  
<pre class="brush:xquery">  
+
<pre lang='xquery'>  
 
...
 
...
return element {$income} {count($ppl)}
+
return element { $income } { $ppl }
 
</pre>
 
</pre>
 +
 
'''Result:'''
 
'''Result:'''
<pre class="brush:xml">
+
<pre lang="xml">
 
<challenge>
 
<challenge>
 
   <person id="person0">
 
   <person id="person0">
Line 54: Line 66:
 
</pre>
 
</pre>
  
==Try/Catch==
+
Moreover, a value can be assigned to the grouping variable. This is shown in the following example:
 +
 
 +
'''XQuery:'''
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
let $data :=
 +
  <xml>
 +
    <person country='USA' name='John'/>
 +
    <person country='USA' name='Jack'/>
 +
    <person country='Germany' name='Johann'/>
 +
  </xml>
 +
for $person in $data/person
 +
group by $country := $person/@country
 +
return element persons {
 +
  attribute country { $country },
 +
  for $name in $person/@name
 +
  return element name { data($name) }
 +
}
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
'''Result:'''
 +
<pre lang="xml">
 +
<persons country="USA">
 +
  <name>John</name>
 +
  <name>Jack</name>
 +
</persons>
 +
<persons country="Germany">
 +
  <name>Johann</name>
 +
</persons>
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
==count==
 +
 
 +
The {{Code|count}} clause enhances the FLWOR expression with a variable that enumerates the iterated tuples.
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
for $n in (1 to 10)[. mod 2 = 1]
 +
count $c
 +
return <number count="{ $c }" number="{ $n }"/>
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
==allowing empty==
 +
 
 +
The {{Code|allowing empty}} provides functionality similar to outer joins in SQL:
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
for $n allowing empty in ()
 +
return 'empty? ' || empty($n)
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
==window==
 +
 
 +
Window clauses provide a rich set of variable declarations to process sub-sequences of iterated tuples. An example:
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
for tumbling window $w in (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14)
 +
    start at $s when true()
 +
    only end at $e when $e - $s eq 2
 +
return <window>{ $w }</window>
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
More information on window clauses, and all other enhancements, can be found in the [https://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-windows specification].
 +
 
 +
=Function Items=
 +
 
 +
One of the most distinguishing features added in ''XQuery 3.0'' are ''function items'', also known as ''lambdas'' or ''lambda functions''. They make it possible to abstract over functions and thus write more modular code.
 +
 
 +
'''Examples:'''
 +
 
 +
Function items can be obtained in three different ways:
 +
 
 +
<ul>
 +
<li>Declaring a new ''inline function'':
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>let $f := function($x, $y) { $x + $y }
 +
return $f(17, 25)</pre>
 +
'''Result:''' <code>42</code>
 +
</li>
 +
<li>Getting the function item of an existing (built-in or user-defined) XQuery function. The arity (number of arguments) has to be specified as there can be more than one function with the same name:
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>let $f := math:pow#2
 +
return $f(5, 2)</pre>
 +
'''Result:''' <code>25</code>
 +
</li>
 +
<li>''Partially applying'' another function or function item. This is done by supplying only some of the required arguments, writing the placeholder <code>?</code> in the positions of the arguments left out. The produced function item has one argument for every placeholder.
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>let $f := substring(?, 1, 3)
 +
return (
 +
  $f('foo123'),
 +
  $f('bar456')
 +
)</pre>
 +
'''Result:''' <code>foo bar</code>
 +
</li>
 +
</ul>
 +
 
 +
Function items can also be passed as arguments to and returned as results from functions. These so-called [[Higher-Order Functions]] like <code>for-each</code> and <code>fold-left</code> are discussed in more depth on their own Wiki page.
 +
 
 +
=Simple Map Operator=
 +
 
 +
The [https://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-map-operator simple map] operator {{Code|!}} provides a compact notation for applying the results of a first to a second expression: the resulting items of the first expression are bound to the context item one by one, and the second expression is evaluated for each item. The map operator may be used as replacement for FLWOR expressions:
 +
 
 +
'''Example:'''
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
(: Simple map notation :)
 +
(1 to 10) ! element node { . },
 +
(: FLWOR notation :)
 +
for $i in 1 to 10
 +
return element node { $i }
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
In contrast to path expressions, the results of the map operator will not be made duplicate-free and returned in document order.
  
The [http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-try-catch try/catch] construct can be used to handle errors at runtime:
+
=Try/Catch=
 +
 
 +
The [https://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-try-catch try/catch] construct can be used to handle errors at runtime:
  
 
'''Example:'''  
 
'''Example:'''  
<pre class="brush:xquery"> try {
+
<pre lang='xquery'>
  1 + '2'
+
try {
} catch *($code, $desc) {
+
  1 + '2'
  concat('Error [', $code, ']: ', $desc)
+
} catch err:XPTY0004 {
}</pre>  
+
  'Typing error: ' || $err:description
'''Result:''' <code>Error [XPTY0004]: '+' operator: number expected, string found.</code>
+
} catch * {
 +
  'Error [' || $err:code || ']: ' || $err:description
 +
}
 +
</pre>
 +
'''Result:''' <code>Typing error: '+' operator: number expected, xs:string found.</code>
 +
 
 +
Within the scope of the catch clause, a number of variables are implicitly declared, giving information about the error that occurred:
 +
 
 +
* {{Code|$err:code}} error code
 +
* {{Code|$err:description}}: error message
 +
* {{Code|$err:value}}: value associated with the error (optional)
 +
* {{Code|$err:module}}: URI of the module where the error occurred
 +
* {{Code|$err:line-number}}: line number where the error occurred
 +
* {{Code|$err:column-number}}: column number where the error occurred
  
==Switch==
+
=Switch=
  
The [http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-switch switch] statement is available in many other programming languages. It chooses one of several expressions to evaluate based on its input value.
+
The [https://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-switch switch] statement is available in many other programming languages. It chooses one of several expressions to evaluate based on its input value.
  
 
'''Example:'''  
 
'''Example:'''  
<pre class="brush:xquery">
+
<pre lang='xquery'>
 
for $fruit in ("Apple", "Pear", "Peach")
 
for $fruit in ("Apple", "Pear", "Peach")
 
return switch ($fruit)
 
return switch ($fruit)
Line 81: Line 214:
 
'''Result:''' <code>red green pink</code>
 
'''Result:''' <code>red green pink</code>
  
==Serialization==
+
The expression to evaluate can correspond to multiple input values.
 +
 
 +
'''Example:'''
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
for $fruit in ("Apple", "Cherry")
 +
return switch ($fruit)
 +
  case "Apple"
 +
  case "Cherry"
 +
    return "red"
 +
  case "Pear"
 +
    return "green"
 +
  case "Peach"
 +
    return "pink"
 +
  default
 +
    return "unknown"
 +
</pre>
 +
'''Result:''' <code>red red</code>
 +
 
 +
=Expanded QNames=
 +
 
 +
A ''QName'' can be prefixed with the letter {{Code|Q}}, the namespace URI wrapped in curly braces and the local name.
 +
 
 +
'''Examples:'''
 +
* <code><nowiki>Q{http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions/math}pi()</nowiki></code> returns the number π
 +
* <code>Q{java:java.io.FileOutputStream}new("output.txt")</code> creates a new Java file output stream
 +
 
 +
=Namespace Constructors=
 +
 
 +
New namespaces can be created via so-called 'Computed Namespace Constructors'.
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
element node { namespace pref { 'http://url.org/' } }
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
=String Concatenations=
 +
 
 +
Two vertical bars <code>||</code> (also named ''pipe characters'') can be used to concatenate strings. This operator is a shortcut for the {{Code|concat()}} function.
 +
 
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
'Hello' || ' ' || 'Universe'
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
=External Variables=
 +
 
 +
Default values can be attached to external variable declarations. This way, an expression can also be evaluated if its external variables have not been bound to a new value.
  
[http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery-30/#id-serialization Serialization parameters] can now be defined within XQuery expressions. All available parameters are supported, which are specified in the [http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt-xquery-serialization-30/ W3C Serialization Document]. Parameters are placed in the query prolog and need to be specified as option declarations, using the <code>output</code> prefix.
+
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
declare variable $user external := "admin";
 +
"User:", $user
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
=Serialization=
 +
 
 +
[[Serialization]] parameters can be defined within XQuery expressions. Parameters are placed in the query prolog and need to be specified as option declarations, using the <code>output</code> prefix.
  
 
'''Example:'''  
 
'''Example:'''  
<pre class="brush:xquery">
+
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
declare namespace output = "http://www.w3.org/2010/xslt-xquery-serialization";
 
declare option output:omit-xml-declaration "no";
 
declare option output:omit-xml-declaration "no";
 
declare option output:method "xhtml";
 
declare option output:method "xhtml";
&lt;html/&gt;
+
<html/>
 
</pre>  
 
</pre>  
 
'''Result:''' <code>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;&lt;html&gt;&lt;/html&gt;</code>
 
'''Result:''' <code>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;&lt;html&gt;&lt;/html&gt;</code>
  
==Functions==
+
In BaseX, the {{Code|output}} prefix is statically bound and can thus be omitted. Note that all namespaces need to be specified when using external APIs, such as [http://xqj.net/basex/ XQJ].
 +
 
 +
=Context Item=
 +
 
 +
The context item can be specified in the prolog of an XQuery expression:
 +
 
 +
'''Example:'''
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
declare context item := document {
 +
  <xml>
 +
    <text>Hello</text>
 +
    <text>World</text>
 +
  </xml>
 +
};
 +
 
 +
for $t in .//text()
 +
return string-length($t)
 +
</pre>
 +
'''Result:''' <code>5 5</code>
 +
 
 +
=Annotations=
 +
 
 +
XQuery 3.0 introduces annotations to declare properties associated with functions and variables. For instance, a function may be declared %public, %private, or %updating.
 +
 
 +
'''Example:'''
 +
<pre lang='xquery'>
 +
declare %private function local:max($x1, $x2) {
 +
  if($x1 > $x2) then $x1 else $x2
 +
};
 +
 
 +
local:max(2, 3)
 +
</pre>
 +
 
 +
=Functions=
 +
 
 +
The following functions have been added in the [https://www.w3.org/TR/xpath-functions-31/ XQuery 3.0 Functions and Operators] Specification:
 +
 
 +
<code>analyze-string</code>, <code>available-environment-variables</code>, <code>element-with-id</code>, <code>environment-variable</code>, <code>filter</code>, <code>fold-left</code>, <code>fold-right</code>, <code>for-each</code>, <code>for-each-pair</code>, <code>format-date</code>, <code>format-dateTime</code>, <code>format-integer</code>, <code>format-number</code>, <code>format-time</code>, <code>function-arity</code>, <code>function-lookup</code>, <code>function-name</code>, <code>generate-id</code>, <code>has-children</code>, <code>head</code>, <code>innermost</code>, <code>outermost</code>, <code>parse-xml</code>, <code>parse-xml-fragment</code>, <code>path</code>, <code>serialize</code>, <code>tail</code>, <code>unparsed-text</code>, <code>unparsed-text-available</code>, <code>unparsed-text-lines</code>, <code>uri-collection</code>
 +
 
 +
New signatures have been added for the following functions:
 +
 
 +
<code>document-uri</code>, <code>string-join</code>, <code>node-name</code>, <code>round</code>, <code>data</code>
 +
 
 +
=Changelog=
 +
 
 +
;Version 7.7
 +
 
 +
* Added: [[#Enhanced FLWOR Expressions|Enhanced FLWOR Expressions]]
 +
 
 +
;Version 7.3
  
This paragraph lists all new functions of the [http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath-functions-30/ XQuery 3.0 Specification] that are already supported in BaseX.
+
* Added: [[#Simple Map Operator|Simple Map Operator]]
  
The following functions have been added:
+
;Version 7.2
  
* <code>math:pi()</code>, <code>math:sin()</code>, and many others (see [[Math Functions]])
+
* Added: [[#Annotations|Annotations]]
* <code>fn:head()</code>
+
* Updated: [[#Expanded QNames|Expanded QNames]]
* <code>fn:tail()</code>
 
* <code>fn:generate-id()</code>
 
* <code>fn:analyze-string()</code>
 
* <code>fn:environment-variable()</code>
 
* <code>fn:available-environment-variables()</code>
 
* <code>fn:unparsed-text-available()</code>
 
* <code>fn:unparsed-text-lines()</code>
 
* <code>fn:unparsed-text()</code>
 
* <code>fn:element-with-id()</code>
 
* <code>fn:parse-xml()</code>
 
* <code>fn:uri-collection()</code>
 
* <code>fn:serialize()</code>
 
  
New signatures have beeen added for the following functions:
+
;Version 7.1
  
* <code>fn:document-uri()</code> with 0 arguments
+
* Added: [[#Expanded QNames|Expanded QNames]], [[#Namespace Constructors|Namespace Constructors]]
* <code>fn:string-join()</code> with 1 argument
 
* <code>fn:node-name()</code> with 0 arguments
 
* <code>fn:round()</code> with 2 arguments
 
* <code>fn:data()</code> with 0 arguments
 
  
The following functions are partially supported:
+
;Version 7.0
  
* <code>fn:format-integer()</code>
+
* Added: [[#String Concatenations|String Concatenations]]
* <code>fn:format-number()</code>
 
* <code>fn:format-dateTime()</code>
 
* <code>fn:format-date()</code>
 
* <code>fn:format-time()</code>
 
  
 
[[Category:XQuery]]
 
[[Category:XQuery]]
[[Category:Finish]]
 

Latest revision as of 17:38, 1 December 2023

This article is part of the XQuery Portal. It provides a summary of the most important features of the XQuery 3.0 Recommendation.

Enhanced FLWOR Expressions[edit]

Most clauses of FLWOR expressions can be specified in an arbitrary order: additional let and for clauses can be put after a where clause, and multiple where, order by and group by statements can be used. This means that many nested loops can now be rewritten to a single FLWOR expression.

Example:

for $country in db:get('factbook')//country
where $country/@population > 100000000
for $city in $country//city[population > 1000000]
group by $name := $country/name[1]
count $id
return <country id='{ $id }' name='{ $name }'>{ $city/name }</country>

group by[edit]

FLWOR expressions have been extended to include the group by clause, which is well-established in SQL. group by can be used to apply value-based partitioning to query results:

XQuery:

for $ppl in doc('xmark')//people/person  
let $ic := $ppl/profile/@income
let $income :=
  if($ic < 30000) then
    "challenge" 
  else if($ic >= 30000 and $ic < 100000) then 
    "standard" 
  else if($ic >= 100000) then 
    "preferred" 
  else 
    "na"  
group by $income
order by $income
return element { $income } { count($ppl) }

This query is a rewrite of Query #20 contained in the XMark Benchmark Suite to use group by. The query partitions the customers based on their income.

Result:

<challenge>4731</challenge>
<na>12677</na>
<preferred>314</preferred>
<standard>7778</standard>

In contrast to the relational GROUP BY statement, the XQuery counterpart concatenates the values of all non-grouping variables that belong to a specific group. In the context of our example, all nodes in //people/person that belong to the preferred partition are concatenated in $ppl after grouping has finished. You can see this effect by changing the return statement to:

 
...
return element { $income } { $ppl }

Result:

<challenge>
  <person id="person0">
    <name>Kasidit Treweek</name>
    …
  <person id="personX">
    …
</challenge>

Moreover, a value can be assigned to the grouping variable. This is shown in the following example:

XQuery:

let $data :=
  <xml>
    <person country='USA' name='John'/>
    <person country='USA' name='Jack'/>
    <person country='Germany' name='Johann'/>
  </xml>
for $person in $data/person
group by $country := $person/@country
return element persons {
  attribute country { $country },
  for $name in $person/@name
  return element name { data($name) }
}

Result:

<persons country="USA">
  <name>John</name>
  <name>Jack</name>
</persons>
<persons country="Germany">
  <name>Johann</name>
</persons>

count[edit]

The count clause enhances the FLWOR expression with a variable that enumerates the iterated tuples.

for $n in (1 to 10)[. mod 2 = 1]
count $c
return <number count="{ $c }" number="{ $n }"/>

allowing empty[edit]

The allowing empty provides functionality similar to outer joins in SQL:

for $n allowing empty in ()
return 'empty? ' || empty($n)

window[edit]

Window clauses provide a rich set of variable declarations to process sub-sequences of iterated tuples. An example:

for tumbling window $w in (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14)
    start at $s when true()
    only end at $e when $e - $s eq 2
return <window>{ $w }</window>

More information on window clauses, and all other enhancements, can be found in the specification.

Function Items[edit]

One of the most distinguishing features added in XQuery 3.0 are function items, also known as lambdas or lambda functions. They make it possible to abstract over functions and thus write more modular code.

Examples:

Function items can be obtained in three different ways:

  • Declaring a new inline function:
    let $f := function($x, $y) { $x + $y }
    return $f(17, 25)

    Result: 42

  • Getting the function item of an existing (built-in or user-defined) XQuery function. The arity (number of arguments) has to be specified as there can be more than one function with the same name:
    let $f := math:pow#2
    return $f(5, 2)

    Result: 25

  • Partially applying another function or function item. This is done by supplying only some of the required arguments, writing the placeholder ? in the positions of the arguments left out. The produced function item has one argument for every placeholder.
    let $f := substring(?, 1, 3)
    return (
      $f('foo123'),
      $f('bar456')
    )

    Result: foo bar

Function items can also be passed as arguments to and returned as results from functions. These so-called Higher-Order Functions like for-each and fold-left are discussed in more depth on their own Wiki page.

Simple Map Operator[edit]

The simple map operator ! provides a compact notation for applying the results of a first to a second expression: the resulting items of the first expression are bound to the context item one by one, and the second expression is evaluated for each item. The map operator may be used as replacement for FLWOR expressions:

Example:

(: Simple map notation :)
(1 to 10) ! element node { . },
(: FLWOR notation :)
for $i in 1 to 10
return element node { $i }

In contrast to path expressions, the results of the map operator will not be made duplicate-free and returned in document order.

Try/Catch[edit]

The try/catch construct can be used to handle errors at runtime:

Example:

try {
  1 + '2'
} catch err:XPTY0004 {
  'Typing error: ' || $err:description
} catch * {
  'Error [' || $err:code || ']: ' || $err:description
}

Result: Typing error: '+' operator: number expected, xs:string found.

Within the scope of the catch clause, a number of variables are implicitly declared, giving information about the error that occurred:

  • $err:code error code
  • $err:description: error message
  • $err:value: value associated with the error (optional)
  • $err:module: URI of the module where the error occurred
  • $err:line-number: line number where the error occurred
  • $err:column-number: column number where the error occurred

Switch[edit]

The switch statement is available in many other programming languages. It chooses one of several expressions to evaluate based on its input value.

Example:

for $fruit in ("Apple", "Pear", "Peach")
return switch ($fruit)
  case "Apple" return "red"
  case "Pear"  return "green"
  case "Peach" return "pink"
  default      return "unknown"

Result: red green pink

The expression to evaluate can correspond to multiple input values.

Example:

for $fruit in ("Apple", "Cherry")
return switch ($fruit)
  case "Apple"
  case "Cherry"
     return "red"
  case "Pear"
     return "green"
  case "Peach"
     return "pink"
  default
     return "unknown"

Result: red red

Expanded QNames[edit]

A QName can be prefixed with the letter Q, the namespace URI wrapped in curly braces and the local name.

Examples:

  • Q{http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions/math}pi() returns the number π
  • Q{java:java.io.FileOutputStream}new("output.txt") creates a new Java file output stream

Namespace Constructors[edit]

New namespaces can be created via so-called 'Computed Namespace Constructors'.

 
element node { namespace pref { 'http://url.org/' } }

String Concatenations[edit]

Two vertical bars || (also named pipe characters) can be used to concatenate strings. This operator is a shortcut for the concat() function.

 
'Hello' || ' ' || 'Universe'

External Variables[edit]

Default values can be attached to external variable declarations. This way, an expression can also be evaluated if its external variables have not been bound to a new value.

 
declare variable $user external := "admin";
"User:", $user

Serialization[edit]

Serialization parameters can be defined within XQuery expressions. Parameters are placed in the query prolog and need to be specified as option declarations, using the output prefix.

Example:

declare namespace output = "http://www.w3.org/2010/xslt-xquery-serialization";
declare option output:omit-xml-declaration "no";
declare option output:method "xhtml";
<html/>

Result: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><html></html>

In BaseX, the output prefix is statically bound and can thus be omitted. Note that all namespaces need to be specified when using external APIs, such as XQJ.

Context Item[edit]

The context item can be specified in the prolog of an XQuery expression:

Example:

declare context item := document {
  <xml>
    <text>Hello</text>
    <text>World</text>
  </xml>
};

for $t in .//text()
return string-length($t)

Result: 5 5

Annotations[edit]

XQuery 3.0 introduces annotations to declare properties associated with functions and variables. For instance, a function may be declared %public, %private, or %updating.

Example:

declare %private function local:max($x1, $x2) {
  if($x1 > $x2) then $x1 else $x2
};

local:max(2, 3)

Functions[edit]

The following functions have been added in the XQuery 3.0 Functions and Operators Specification:

analyze-string, available-environment-variables, element-with-id, environment-variable, filter, fold-left, fold-right, for-each, for-each-pair, format-date, format-dateTime, format-integer, format-number, format-time, function-arity, function-lookup, function-name, generate-id, has-children, head, innermost, outermost, parse-xml, parse-xml-fragment, path, serialize, tail, unparsed-text, unparsed-text-available, unparsed-text-lines, uri-collection

New signatures have been added for the following functions:

document-uri, string-join, node-name, round, data

Changelog[edit]

Version 7.7
Version 7.3
Version 7.2
Version 7.1
Version 7.0