Informix XML-Enables Internet Foundation.2000; Defines Roadmap for XML Strategy - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Oct 11, 1999

Informix Corporation, the technology leader in enterprise database-powered solutions Wednesday announced support in Informix Internet Foundation.2000 for eXtensible Markup Language (XML), the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) standard for universal data exchange.

With XML, Internet Foundation.2000 customers will be able to integrate existing data with their new E-commerce applications and efficiently exchange data with their customers, partners, and suppliers. Informix also announced its strategy to support XML across all of its products to deliver the easiest and fastest way to build and integrate applications and data for the new i.Economy.

Businesses are now moving their focus from electronic storefronts to streamlining their supply chain processes through business-to-business integration. With this migration, infrastructure requirements become more and more complex. XML is a metadata-rich way of representing data that is understandable to both humans and machines. It facilitates the increasing need for the tighter integration of intracompany applications and the evolving requirements for seamless inter-company communications.

More specifically, Informix Wednesday announced: -- XML support in Internet Foundation.2000 - Available immediately, XML is supported through the newest version of the Informix Web DataBlade module. The Web DataBlade module enables Informix Internet Foundation.2000 to generate dynamic XML data and documents via a familiar SQL interface. As a result, Internet Foundation.2000 users can easily and seamlessly publish XML data over the Internet. XML can now be delivered in a scaleable way to an XML Web browser or an XML enabled-application that utilizes the HTTP protocol.

-- Hierarchical XML Data Storage - Allows Internet Foundation.2000 users the ability to import, export, store and query/index XML structures in their native hierarchical format. It provides a unique performance advantage over other approaches to storing XML documents in flat relational tables, where the use of a document's structures when processing queries is lost. Hierarchical XML data storage is open to any Java XML parser and integrates XML with pre-existing database schema. An early developer's release will be made available later this year through the Informix Developers Network (http://www.informix.com/idn).

-- XML Product Roadmap - In the first half of the year 2000, Informix will deliver other XML-enabled products, including a server-based workflow engine that supports the communication of XML documents and enables rules to be embedded in documents for exception handling or processing. An XML metadata repository is also in development, which will make metadata uniformly accessible to tools and applications, regardless of the data source. Other XML-related standards like XSL, XML Schema, XML Query Language (XQL), XML Linking, and XML Infoset are planned to be supported as they are finalized by the W3C.

"XML is critical to building Web solutions that share data across multiple applications, platforms, and tiers. Informix has the unique capability of handling XML content natively within the database, preserving its structure for maximum performance and flexibility," said Bill Hostmann, director of product management and marketing at Informix. "By combining Java and XML support directly in the database, Informix is delivering the foundation for Web solutions supporting any data on any platform across all tiers."

Informix Internet Foundation.2000 stands out from other database solutions for the "fit" between its core extensibility and companies' evolving Internet-enabled database needs. By supporting XML, Internet Foundation.2000 delivers the fastest, easiest, high performance and scaleable XML data-driven Internet applications in the market today.

"Informix is poised to establish a leadership position in XML data management with their unique approach that involves combining XML storage in its native hierarchical format with business data stored in a fully relational manner," said Carl Olofson, Research Director, International Data Corporation. "The performance one can gain in this structure will be relevant in efficient XML-based access to data and data interchange, making the Informix Internet Foundation.2000 a forerunner in data management for the Internet age."

Informix also announced its membership in the W3C and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). The W3C was founded to develop common protocols to enhance the interoperability and lead the evolution of the World Wide Web. OASIS is a nonprofit, international consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of product-independent formats based on public standards like XML.

"As the leading technology provider of database solutions, Informix brings a valuable perspective to the work of the Consortium. We welcome their contributions, particularly as we develop the XML.org Registry and Repository," noted Laura Walker, executive director of OASIS. "Participation in OASIS is crucial for any company with an interest in the success of XML. The growing diversity of OASIS membership reflects the degree to which XML is affecting the industry."