Home:Developers:Newsletter Archive:June 2007

Bringing Together Data Integration and SOA

Dear XML Friend,

Welcome to the XML eXtra newsletter! We've expanded the XQuery eXtra to encompass news about DataDirect XML Converters. Your new XML eXtra will continue to bring you all the latest news about XQuery, and it will also provide up-to-the-minute information on XML-related standards and technologies — like SOA and Web services — and how best to leverage them in the constantly evolving data integration.

Summer School is now in session! In this inaugural issue of the XML eXtra, we present new podcasts, webcasts, tutorials, and other exciting ways to help you learn about SOA, Web Services, Data Integration, and XQuery. These innovative developer resources will get you on your way to being an XML data integration expert in no time at all, and the lessons learned will save you time in future projects. Be sure to check these out while you're at the pool this summer!

Sincerely,
Robert Evelyn
Vice President, XML Products Group
DataDirect Technologies

Table of Contents, June 2007

> Webcast: Bringing Together Data Integration and SOA
> Podcast: Unleashing XQuery's Power to Streamline Development & Data Integration
> Online Video Tutorial: Using the .NET API for Data Conversion
> An XQuery Web Service Example

1) Webcast: Bringing Together Data Integration and SOA

Web services require the ability to integrate disparate data resources. This webcast with noted SOA consultant David Linthicum will look at the impact of XML, including XQuery, on SOA data integration and identify how to provide universal data access through a data services layer. Attend this expert on-demand webcast to learn the impact of XML and capabilities needed for proper SOA data integration, including data abstraction and metadata mapping.

2) Podcast: Unleashing XQuery's Power to Streamline Development and Data Integration

Today's web services, web sites, data integration, and publishing applications need data from many sources in many different shapes, including XML, relational, SOAP and EDI messages, and legacy formats. Download this podcast, hosted by Dr. Carlo Innocenti, to learn how to use a single W3C Standard language to process these data sources in a unified way and deliver the performance and scalability necessary for large-scale XML processing needs.

This podcast details how to significantly simplify data integration and reduce the amount of code developers write and maintain, enabling them to complete development projects quickly and efficiently. Discover how to support data integration needs of legacy formats such as EDI or flat files with high-performance components that convert virtually any non-XML format to and from XML.

3) Online Video Tutorial: Using the .NET API for Data Conversion

DataDirect XML Converters are stand-alone Microsoft .NET and Java components that provide bi-directional, programmatic access to any non-XML file including EDI, comma delimited files, tab delimited files, and other legacy and flat file formats. A new online video tutorial entitled Using the .NET API for Data Conversion demonstrates how to use DataDirect XML Converters for .NET in a C# project, both as a stand-alone application, and in conjunction with XSLT. No registration is required, so watch this informative video demonstration and learn how to convert legacy data to XML and back again from your .NET applications today.

4) Example: Creating a Web Service using DataDirect XQuery

Web services depend on XML processing and data integration. In SOA, services must efficiently process XML from requests, using a variety of data sources to create a response. A service might use data from the request itself, data stored in relational databases, XML files and Web service calls, combining and restructuring this data to create the response. The service might need to manage XML input or output that is extremely large or complex. DataDirect XQuery 3.0 seamlessly supports the ability to create SOAP requests, specify endpoints, invoke Web services, and consume SOAP responses from the XQuery query without writing additional code. Furthermore, your XQuery can be exposed as a Web service for creating data services, enabling DataDirect XQuery to fit easily into any SOA.

A new XQuery Web service example, complete with source code and documentation, shows you how to create a Web Service and generate the WSDL from an XQuery using DataDirect XQuery. To get started, you'll need to download the latest version of DataDirect XQuery 3.0, along with the example files.