[xquery-talk] Looking to use XQuery as a reporting language

[Ronald Bourret]

Functions can easily return tuples. For example, the following function 
returns the child elements of an input element:

define function children($e as element()) as element()*
{
    $e/element()
}

A function that returns what you want might look like:

define function my_func() as element()*
{
   <foo>Some Text</foo>
   <bar>Some More Text</bar>
}

By the way, many of the XQuery specs are quite readable. I suggest 
reading the main XQuery spec [1] and using the Functions and Operators 
spec [2] for reference. The data model spec [3] is also useful, but a 
bit thicker to read.

-- Ron

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery/
[2] http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath-functions/
[3] http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath-datamodel/

Nikolas Everett wrote:
> I've been looking into ways to do reports from one XML data set to another.
> When I found XQuery just last Friday I thought that I had hit the jackpot! A
> simple, functional language that both queries and outputs XML. All is going
> well, but I am having some trouble with output formatting, and I wonder if
> anyone could help me out.
> 
> It looks as though function calls can only return three things in XQuery:
> 
> 1. Some data (xs:string, xs:integer, or whatever)
> 2. An XML subtree
> 3. A tuple of XML subtrees
> 
> My problem is that I have only found one way to return number 3: the FLWOR
> clauses. I am looking for something slightly more general. I would like to
> make a function return something more like:
> <foo>Some Text</foo>
> <bar>Some More Text</bar>
> 
> I would read the specs, but they are so huge that I honestly don't know
> where to start.
> 
> --Nik
> 
> 
> 
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