Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Native XPath enabled storage and retrieval with MySQL

Abstract: XML has become a standard for the exchange and retrieval of data between different platforms but is not currently a standard in storing XML documents in relational databases. A standard implies wide acceptance and usage. In this paper we present a new Open Source approach towards native XML support in relational databases especially for the common and widely used MySQL database system 1. We have developed a digital multilingual research platform which uses native XPath database support. We show means of input, storage and manipulation of XML documents in relational databases and contribute new insights to the document retrieval research area. Therefore we present the design of the platform and finally give an outlook towards further opportunities implicated by our approach to the information retrieval scientific community.