Elsevier announces xqDoc: open source cross-referencing tool for XQuery applications
Amsterdam, 24 March 2005 - Elsevier is pleased to announce xqDoc, an open source cross-referencing tool for XQuery applications, and recognizes Darin McBeath, an Elsevier employee in the company’s Advanced Technology Group, as the developer of the code. The tool is now freely available to the open source community.
XQuery, under development by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) , is a new query/programming language based on XML and used in conjunction with XML databases such as MarkLogic, a commercial database, and eXist on the open source side. As XQuery applications became more complex, it became evident that a tool was needed to assist with documenting the ever growing and equally complex XQuery modules.
McBeath has been developing applications in XQuery for the past several years, and as more developers within Elsevier began to experiment with and use XQuery, McBeath received recurring requests for sample XQuery code and supporting explanation. As McBeath began to assist developers with their XQuery applications, he quickly realized the importance of a XQuery cross-referencing tool to expedite understanding of an XQuery application.
The goal of xqDoc is to provide a vendor neutral solution for documenting XQuery applications, as well as tools to generate a user-friendly representation of this documentation and cross-referencing information (e.g., how different functions are used by each other). This is accomplished through several components, including a new commenting convention that extends the currently defined XQuery comment style. This convention is modeled after Java™’s Javadoc commenting style, and provides a simple, uniform way to document XQuery source code. Javadoc is a widely used tool for providing the same sort of information for Java programs that xqDoc provides for XQuery programs. It is hoped that xqDoc achieves the same level of adoption and success for XQuery that Javadoc has for Java.
For further information on xqDoc, visit www.xqdoc.org.
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About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier’s online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby’s Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai’s Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a world leading provider of professional information solutions. The group employs more than 30,000 people, including more than 15,000 in North America. Reed Elsevier Group plc is owned equally by two parent companies, Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. Their shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RUK and ENL.
