Blogs
The new Build 4 of M/DB:X transforms it into something very exciting and wholly unique. M/DB:X is now not only a Native XML Database. By now also supporting JSON strings as inputs and optionally outputting its responses as JSON strings instead of XML, M/DB:X is now a JSON/XML hybrid database. What's the significance of this? Well there are several important consequences: If you feed a JSON string into M/DB:X's Parse Action, it will convert the JSON object into a corresponding XML DOM and store it. Now in XML DOM format, all the standard M/DB:X XML DOM API methods can be used to modify and manipulate what was originally a Javascript object, and the XML DOM can be searched using XPath. This is a very cool capability and extremely powerful. The DOM can be returned in JSON format: M/DB:X will convert any XML DOM into a corresponding JSON object. This now places M/DB:X in esteemed company: for example CouchDB and Persevere. JSON is increasingly being used as the lingua franca for describing objects, not just Javascript objects. And unlike CouchDB which is still an alpha-grade Apache project, M/DB:X is underpinned by the tried and tested GT.M database with its solid commercial pedigree in the demanding banking industry. The M/DB:X documentation will be updated to reflect the new JSON capability as soon as possible, but Build 4 is available for immediate download and use. Watch this space for the next step which will be a mechanism for requesting a temporary secure token to allow restricted access to M/DB:X directly from a browser. This will allow M/DB:X to act as a persistent Javascript object store without the need for an intermediate proxy layer (except to make the authenticated request for a token). This is what CouchDB is aspiring to be but they're still struggling, it seems, with the security layer! Oh and just for good measure, if you add the name/value pair OutputFormat=JSON to M/DB, it too will output its responses as JSON rather than the standard Amazon SimpleDB format XML ! See http://www.mgateway.com/mdbx.html for full details and documentation. Furthermore, renowned XML database guru Ronald Bourret has added M/DB:X to his definitive list of Native XML Databases. |
|||
Due to weak demand we have regrettably decided to cancel the Denbies 2009 Out of the Slipstream conference. All those who have registered will be notified in due course and will receive a full refund of their conference fee. The Slipstream Workshop will still be held but will now be on Thursday 2nd July rather than Friday 3rd July. The venue is unchanged, George James Software's offices in Shepperton. There is no charge for this event and anyone who signed up for the Slipstream conference may like to come to the Slipstream Workshop instead. |
|||
This is a brand new concept: an XML Database that's simple and easy to use, entirely accessed via HTTP/REST, and ready for use in the Cloud. There's nothing else like it out there, and it's ready to turn the whole idea of handling and storing XML on its head! It's called M/DB:X, it's already released and it's ready for use. You can get all the details at http://www.mgateway.com/mdbx.html. So what, in a nutshell, is M/DB:X? It's an XML database for the Cloud. What does that mean? Well, it's a set of REST services that allow you to create and manipulate persistent XML Document Object Models (DOM). You can import XML Documents either as a stream of XML that you send to it in a REST request, or you can ask M/DB:X to fetch a file over the Internet, perhaps from an Amazon S3 bucket. Alternatively you can build a DOM from scratch, starting with an empty shell containing just a single tag to which you add new tags using simple REST requests. So what? It can store XML? What's the big deal? Well, once a DOM is created in M/DB:X you can: * Display it using the outputDOM Action. The XML document is returned in the HTTP response ..all using simple REST requests. There are, of course, Native XML Database out there already, but what differentiates M/DB:X is two key things: - its simplicity. M/DB:X disposes of most of the formality and complexity normally associated with handling XML - you access it using HTTP/REST requests and it returns its responses as XML. Basically it's like Amazon SimpleDB meets XML in the Cloud! All the other Native XML Databases are heavyweight and very formal affairs, built around the concept of XML being validated against a schema and with rigorous adherence to XML namespacing rules. M/DB:X throws all that away and takes the "good enough" approach, simplifying the concept right M/DB:X also bucks the trend by using a non-validating parser. Basically you can throw anything that looks vaguely like XML at M/DB:X and it will do its best to turn it into an XML DOM. It won't return errors and it won't complain that what you gave it doesn't conform to a particular schema or that it wasn't properly structured XML. If it can turn it into a DOM, it will. This will have the XML gurus out there wailing and gnashing their teeth of course! So why's this a cool thing and not a problem? Well, for example, it means that you can get it to import "lazy" structured HTML pages from any URL you like and it will tidy it up as best it can and turn it into an XML DOM for you. Once it's done that for you, you can analyse that page, take bits out of it, find stuff in it, all using proper XML techniques and XPath queries instead of hacking about with the raw page text. Relax, however: give M/DB:X a properly structured valid XML document and it will produce the DOM you'd expect! Speed, simplicity, ease of operation and near-zero administration are the objectives of M/DB:X. It's a simple-to-install extension to the M/DB Virtual Appliance, so you can be up and running in no time at all. XML databases just got simple! Go and check it out! Oh, and did I mention: M/DB:X is free Open Source software. Rob |
|||
On Thursday 2nd July there will be a Slipstream Workshop at our offices in Shepperton. It will be an informal day where anyone involved in Slipstream projects, or interested in getting involved, can get together in one room to share ideas and plans. George James Software will be providing the room, the coffee and pizza. The rest is up to you. There will be no advanced agenda other than a start time of 10am. The plan for the day will be worked out by those who attend. Everyone involved in a Slipstream project, or interested in getting involved, is invited to attend. If you have some ideas that are not part of a project at the moment but you think would be relevant to the goals of Slipstream, then please do come along and share your ideas. Let me know if you think you'll attend just so we know how much coffee to brew. Regards Date: Friday 3rd July |
|||
