Method, server extension and database management system for storing non XML documents in a XML database

1. A method for storing at least one non-XML document in an XML database, the method comprising:

transforming the at least one non-XML document into at least one XML document by one or more transformation functions, the at least one XML document conforming to a schema comprising references to the one or more transformation functions;

storing the at least one XML document in the XML database; and

directly updating the at least one transformed XML document in the XML database as a response to an XQuery update, the direct update being applied on contents of the non-XML document,

wherein the schema defines a root element and wherein the at least one XML document comprises the root element and further comprises at least one child element of the root element, the at least one child element comprising the transformed content of the at least one non-XML document, and

wherein the at least one child element may indicate the type of the at least one non-XML document.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one XML document comprises all the content of the at least one non-XML document.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-XML document is a structured non-XML document.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more transformation functions are configured to transform different types of the at least one non-XML document.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transforming the at least one XML document in the XML database into the at least one non-XML document by one or more inverse transformation functions, the schema comprising references to the one or more inverse transformation functions; and

retrieving the at least one non-XML document from the database.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the schema includes references to either or both of a plurality of implementations of the transformation, and inverse transformation functions are referenced by the schema.

7. A server extension for storing at least one non-XML document in an XML database, the server extension being implemented in a computer including at least one processor configured to perform the method of claim 1 .

8. A database management system including at least one processor and comprising the server extension according to claim 7 .

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing thereon a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, perform the method of claim 1 .