xmlhack: Quilt implementation, XML Update Language

Dongwon Lee has announced QuiltParser, a Java parser for Quilt, an XML query language. In related news, the Infozone Group announced Lexus, a project to define an open XML update language.

QuiltParser is the first implementation for Quilt, a query language proposed by 3 members of the W3C Query working group as an illustration for their Requirements Document.

Developed by the UCLA as a part of their XPRESS project (XML Processing and Relaxation in rElational Storage System), QuiltParser is available for download both as a JavaCC grammar file or as a Java files.

Using JavaCC grammars for XSLT and XPath from Ingo Macherius and Gerald Huck, QuiltParser is a standalone product that does not require any XML parser or XSLT processor.

While update statements are out of the scope of the W3C XML Query activity, whose mission is "to provide flexible query facilities to extract data from real and virtual documents on the Web", the Infozone Group has started Lexus, a new project to define a XML update language as an open standard.

The first Lexus working draft proposes an XML syntax making use of XPath expressions to identify the nodes to update or delete and the insertion points of the nodes to insert.

The document also includes a simple example.