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Oracle® Database SQL Reference
10g Release 2 (10.2)

Part Number B14200-02
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Oracle Compliance with SQL/XML:2005

At the time of the release of this documentation, a new edition of SQL/XML, to be known as SQL/XML:2005, is expected but not yet available in final form. This section reflects our best understanding, based on preliminary drafts and accepted change proposals. However, it is not based on the final form of SQL/XML:2005.

The XML datatype in the standard is XML. The Oracle equivalent datatype is XMLType. We consider a feature of the standard to be fully supported if the only difference between Oracle and the standard is the spelling of the datatype name.

Table B-8 lists the XML features of the standard that are fully supported by Oracle.

Table B-8 Fully Supported Features of SQL/XML:2005

Feature ID Feature

X010

XML type

X016

Persistent XML values

X020

XML Concatenation

X031

XMLElement

X032

XMLForest

X034

XMLAgg

X035

XMLAgg: ORDER BY option

X036

XMLComment

X036

XMLPi

X041

Basic table mapping: null absent

X042

Basic table mapping null as nil

X043

Basic table mapping: table as forest

X044

Basic table mapping: table as element

X045

Basic table mapping: with target namespace

X046

Basic table mapping: data mapping

X047

Basic table mapping: metadata mapping

X049

Basic table mapping: hex encoding

X060

XMLParse: Character string input and CONTENT option

X061

XMLParse: Character string input and DOCUMENT option

X070

XMLSerialize: Character string serialization and CONTENT option

X071

XMLSerialize: Character string serialization and DOCUMENT option

X072

XMLSerialize: Character string serialization

X086

XML namespace declarations in XMLTable

X120

XML parameters in SQL routines

X121

XML parameters in external routines

X201

XMLQuery: RETURNING CONTENT

X203

XMLQuery: passing a context item

X204

XMLQuery: initializing an XQuery variable

X221

XML passing mechanism BY VALUE

X251

Persistent XML values of XML(DOCUMENT(UNTYPED)) type

X252

Persistent values of type XML(DOCUMENT(ANY))

X256

Persistent values of XML(DOCUMENT(XMLSCHEMA)) type

X302

XMLTable with ordinality column

X303

XMLTable: column default option

X304

XMLTable: passing a context item

X305

XMLTable: initializing an XQuery variable


Note to Table B-8: Features X041 through X047, basic table mappings: Oracle table mappings are available through a Java interface and through a package. Oracle table mappings have been generalized to map queries and not just tables. To map only a table: SELECT * FROM table_name.

Table B-9 lists the features of SQL/XML:2005 that are partially supported.

Table B-9 Partially Supported Features of SQL/XML:2005

Feature ID, Feature Partial Support

X040, Basic table mapping

Oracle supports the following elements of this feature:

  • X041, Basic table mapping: null absent

  • X042, Basic table mapping: null as nil

  • X043, Basic table mapping: table as forest

  • X044, Basic table mapping: table as element

  • X045, Basic table mapping: with target namespace

  • X046, Basic table mapping: data mapping

  • X047, Basic table mapping: metadata mapping

  • X049, Basic table mapping: hex encoding

Oracle does not support the following element of this feature:

  • X048, Basic table mapping: base64 encoding

X060, "XMLParse: character string input and CONTENT option

Oracle does not support the {PRESERVE | STRIP} WHITESPACE syntax. The behavior is always STRIP WHITESPACE.

X200, XMLQuery

Oracle fully supports the following elements of this feature:

  • X201, XMLQuery: RETURNING CONTENT

  • X203, XMLQuery: passing a context item

  • X204, XMLQuery: initializing an XQuery variable

Oracle does not support the following elements of this feature:

  • X202, XMLQuery: RETURNING SEQUENCE

  • { NULL | EMPTY } ON EMPTY syntax.

  • Mandatory BY {REF | VALUE} in the PASSING clause. (Oracle supports only value semantics.)

X300, XMLTable

Oracle does not support reverse axes in the column path expressions. Aside from that restriction, Oracle fully supports the following elements of this feature:

  • X086, XML namespace declarations in XMLTable

  • X302, XMLTable with ordinality column

  • X303, XMLTable: column default option

  • X304, XMLTable: passing a context item

  • X305, XMLTable: initializing an XQuery variable

Oracle does not support the following elements of this feature:

  • X301, XMLTable: derived column list option

  • Mandatory BY {REF | VALUE } in the PASSING clause. Oracle supports only BY VALUE semantics currently.


Table B-10 lists the features of SQL/XML:2005 that are supported through equivalent functionality in Oracle:

Table B-10 Equivalent Functionality for SQL/XML:2005 Features

Feature ID, Feature Equivalent Functionality

X011, Arrays of XML Types

In Oracle, array types must be named, whereas in the standard they are anonymous.

X012, Multisets of XML type

The Oracle equivalent of a multiset of XML type is a nested table with a single column of XML type.

X013, Distinct types of XML

A distinct type can be emulated using an object types with a single attribute.

X014, Attributes of XML type

In Oracle, attributes of object types may be of type XMLType, but the syntax for creating object types is nonstandard.

X025, XMLCast

Oracle provides equivalents for the following elements of this feature:

  • To cast from XML to a scalar type, use EXTRACTVALUE. If the XML value is typed, the result is in the nearest analog to the XML type, otherwise the result type is VARCHAR(4000). Use CAST to convert to any other scalar type.

  • To cast from a scalar type to XML, pass the scalar value in to XMLQuery and insert it in a document constructor.

Since Oracle has only one XML type, there is no need to cast from XML to XML.

X076, XMLSerialize: VERSION option

Use XMLRoot to set the XML version prior to serialization.

X080, Namespaces in XML publishing

In the Oracle implementation of XMLElement, XMLAttributes are used to define namespaces (XMLNamespaces is not implemented. However, XMLAttributes is not supported for XMLForest.

X090, XML document predicate

In Oracle, you can test whether an XML value is a document by using the ISFRAGMENT method.

X096, XMLExists

Use EXISTSNODE to evaluate an XPath, returning 1 if a node is found, 0 if not. XQuery expressions other than XPath expressions are not supported. Also, Oracle supports XPath 1.0 expressions (not XPath 2,0, which is a subset of XQuery).

X121, XML parameters in external routines

Oracle supports XML values passed to external routines using a non-standard interface.

X141, IS VALID predicate: data drive case

The XMLISVALID method is equivalent to the IS VALID predicate, and supports the data-driven case.

X142, IS VALID predicate: ACCORDING TO clause

The XMLISVALID method is equivalent to the IS VALID predicate, and includes the equivalent of the ACCORDING TO clause.

X143, IS VALID predicate: ELEMENT clause

The XMLISVALID method is equivalent to the IS VALID predicate, and includes the equivalent of the ELEMENT clause.

X144, IS VALID predicate: schema location

The XMLISVALID method is equivalent to the IS VALID predicate, and supports the specification of a schema location for a registered XML Schema.

X145, IS VALID predicate outside check constraints

The XMLISVALID method is equivalent to the IS VALID predicate, and may be used outside check constraints.

X151, IS VALID predicate with DOCUMENT option

The XMLISVALID method is equivalent to the IS VALID predicate, and performs validation equivalent to the DOCUMENT clause. (XMLISVALID does not support "content" validation.)

X156, IS VALID predicate: optional NAMESPACE with ELEMENT clause

The XMLISVALID method is equivalent to the IS VALID predicate, and may be used to validate against an element in any namespace.

X157, IS VALID predicate: NO NAMESPACE with ELEMENT clause

The XMLISVALID method is equivalent to the IS VALID predicate, and may be used to validate against an element in the "no name" namespace.

X160, Basic Information Schema for registered XML Schemas

The Oracle static data dictionary view ALL_XML_SCHEMAS provides a list of the registered XML schemas that are accessible to the current user. The ALL_XML_SCHEMAS.SCHEMA_URL column corresponds to the standard XML_SCHEMAS.XML_SCHEMA_LOCATION column. The target namespace of the registered XML Schemas can be learned by examining ALL_XML_SCHEMAS.SCHEMA. Oracle has no equivalents for the other columns of the standard's XML_SCHEMAS.

X161, Advanced Information Schema for registered XML Schemas

Oracle does not have static data dictionary views corresponding to XML_SCHEMA_NAMESPACES and XML_SCHEMA_ELEMENTS in the standard. However, all the information about registered XML Schemas may be learned by examining the actual XML Schema, which is found in the ALL_XML_SCHEMAS.SCHEMA column. This may also be examined to learn whether a registered XML Schema is nondeterministic, and which of its namespaces and elements are nondeterministic.

X191, XML(DOCUMENT

(XMLSCHEMA)) type

Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table can be constrained by a registered XML Schema, in which case all values of the column will be of XML(DOCUMENT(XMLSCHEMA)) type.

X221, XML passing mechanism BY VALUE

Oracle supports only value semantics, but does not support the explicit BY VALUE clause.

X232, XML(CONTENT(ANY)) type

Oracle does not support this syntax as a type modifier, but the Oracle XMLType supports this data type for transient values. Persistent values are of type XML(DOCUMENT(ANY)), which is a subset of XML(CONTENT(ANY)).

X241, RETURNING CONTENT in XML publishing

Oracle does not support this syntax. In Oracle, the behavior of the publishing functions (XMLAgg, XMLComment, XMLConcat, XMLElement, XMLForest, and XMLPi) is always RETURNING CONTENT.

X260, XML type, ELEMENT clause

Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table may be constrained by a top-level element in a registered XML Schema.

X262, XML type, optional NAMESPACE with ELEMENT clause

Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table may be constrained by a top-level element in a namespace other than the target namespace of a registered XML Schema.

X263, XML type: NO NAMESPACE with ELEMENT clause

Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table may be constrained by a top-level element in the "no name" namespace of a registered XML Schema.

X264, XML type: schema location

Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table may be constrained by a registered XML Schema that is identified by a schema location.

X271, XMLValidate: data driven case

The SCHEMAVALIDATE method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and supports the data-driven case.

X272, XMLValidate: ACCORDING TO clause

The SCHEMAVALIDATE method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular registered XML Schema.

X273, XMLValidate: ELEMENT clause

The SCHEMAVALIDATE method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular element of a particular registered XML Schema.

X274, XMLValidate: schema location

The SCHEMAVALIDATE method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular registered XML Schema by its schema location URL.

X281, XMLValidate with DOCUMENT option

The SCHEMAVALIDATE method is equivalent to XMLValidate. SCHEMAVALIDATE performs validation only of XML documents (not content).

X285, XMLValidate: optional NAMESPACE with ELEMENT clause

The SCHEMAVALIDATE method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular element in a namespace other than the target namespace of a particular registered XML Schema.

X286, XMLValidate: NO NAMESPACE with ELEMENT clause

The SCHEMAVALIDATE method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular element in the "no name" namespace of a particular registered XML Schema.

Xnnn *, XML Text node constructor

The Oracle XMLCData function may be used to create a text node.


* The precise feature ID is not known at the time this document is released for publication.

Table B-11 lists the SQL/XML:2003 features that are not supported by Oracle.

Table B-11 Unsupported SQL/XML:2003 Features

Feature ID Feature

X015

Fields of XML type

X030

XMLDocument

X048

Basic table mapping: base64 encoding

X050

Advanced table mapping

X051

Advanced table mapping: null absent

X052

Advanced table mapping: null as nil

X053

Advanced table mapping: table as forest

X054

Advanced table mapping: table as element

X055

Advanced table mapping: with target namespace

X056

Advanced table mapping: data mapping

X057

Advanced table mapping: metadata mapping

X058

Advanced table mapping: base64 encoding of binary strings

X059

Advanced table mapping: hex encoding of binary strings

X065

XMLParse: BLOB input and CONTENT option

X066

XMLParse: BLOB input and DOCUMENT option

X073

XMLSerialize: BLOB serialization and CONTENT option

X074

XMLSerialize: BLOB serialization and DOCUMENT option

X075

XMLSerialize: BLOB serialization

X076

XMLSerialize: VERSION

X077

XMLSerialize: explicit ENCODING option

X078

XMLSerialize: explicit XML declaration

X081

Query-level namespace declarations

X082

XML namespace declarations in DML

X083

XML namespace declarations in DDL

X084

XML namespace declarations in compound statements

X085

Predefined namespace prefixes

X091

XML content predicate

X100

Host language support for XML: CONTENT option

X101

Host language support for XML: DOCUMENT option

X110

Host language support for XML: VARCHAR mapping

X111

Host language support for XML: CLOB mapping

X131

Query-level XMLBINARY clause

X132

XMLBINARY clause in DML

X133

XMLBINARY clause in DDL

X134

XMLBINARY clause in compound statements

X135

XMLBINARY clause in subqueries

X152

IS VALID predicate with CONTENT option

X153

IS VALID predicate with SEQUENCE option

X155

IS VALID predicate: NAMESPACE without ELEMENT clause

X170

XML null handling options

X171

NIL ON NO CONTENT option

X181

XML(DOCUMENT(UNTYPED)) type

X182

XML(DOCUMENT(ANY)) type

X190

XML(SEQUENCE) type

X192

XML(CONTENT(XMLSCHEMA)) type

X202

XMLQuery: RETURNING SEQUENCE

X211

XML 1.1 support

X222

XML passing mechanism BY REF

X231

XML(CONTENT(UNTYPED)) type

X242

RETURNING SEQUENCE in XML publishing

X253

Persistent XML values of XML(CONTENT(UNTYPED)) type

X254

Persistent XML values of XML(CONTENT(ANY)) type

X255

Persistent values of XML(SEQUENCE) type

X257

Persistent values of XML(CONTENT(XMLSCHEMA)) type

X261

XML type: NAMESPACE without ELEMENT clause

X282

XMLValidate: with CONTENT option

X283

XMLVAlidate: with SEQUENCE option

X284

XMLValidate: NAMESPACE without ELEMENT clause

X290

Name and identifier mapping

X301

XMLTable: derived column list option

Xnnn *

Host language support for XML: BLOB mapping

Xnnn *

Host language support for XML: STRIP WHITESPACE option

Xnnn *

Host language support for XML: PRESERVE WHITESPACE option


* The precise feature ID is not known at the time this document is released for publication.