Oracle Compliance with SQL/XML:2008

The XML data type in the standard is XML. The Oracle equivalent data type is XMLType. A feature of the standard is considered to be fully supported if the only difference between Oracle and the standard is the spelling of the data type name.

Table C-3 provides a mapping from XMLSchema built-in types to Oracle SQL data types in XQuery.

Table C-3 Mapping from XML Schema Built-in Types to SQL Data Types in XQuery

XML Schema Type	Oracle SQL Type
string	`VARCHAR2`(4000)
decimal	`NUMBER`
float	`BINARY_FLOAT`
double	`BINARY_DOUBLE`
DateTime	`TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE`
time	`TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE`
date	`TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE`
gDay	`TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE`
gMonth	`TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE`
gYear	`TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE`
gYearMonth	`TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE`
gMonthDay	`TIMESTAMP` `WITH` `TIME` `ZONE`
dayTimeDuration	`INTERVAL` `DAY` `TO` `SECOND`
yearMonthDuration	`INTERVAL` `YEAR` `TO` `MONTH`
normalizedString	`VARCHAR2`(4000)
untypedAtomic	`VARCHAR2`(4000)
integer	`NUMBER`
nonPositiveInteger	`NUMBER`
negativeInteger	`NUMBER`
long	`NUMBER`
int	`NUMBER`
short	`NUMBER`
byte	`NUMBER`
nonNegativeInteger	`NUMBER`
unsignedLong	`NUMBER`
unsignedInt	`NUMBER`
unsignedShort	`NUMBER`
unsignedByte	`NUMBER`
positiveInteger	`NUMBER`

Table C-4 describes Oracle's support for the features of SQL/XML:2008.

Table C-4 Oracle Support for Features of SQL/XML:2008

Feature ID, Feature	Support
X010, XML type	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X011, Arrays of XML types	Oracle supports this feature using named array types (in the standard, array types are anonymous)
X012, Multisets of XML type	The Oracle equivalent of a multiset of XML type is a nested table with a single column of XML type.
X013, Distinct types of XML	A distinct type can be emulated using an object type with a single attribute.
X014, Attributes of XML type	In Oracle, attributes of object types may be of type `XMLType`, but the syntax for creating object types is nonstandard.
X016, Persistent XML values	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X020, XML Concatenation	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X025, `XMLCast`	Oracle provides equivalents for the following elements of this feature: To cast from XML to a scalar type, use `EXTRACTVALUE`. If the XML value is typed, then the result is in the nearest analog to the XML type, otherwise the result type is `VARCHAR`(4000). Use `CAST` to convert to any other scalar type. To cast from a scalar type to XML, pass the scalar value in to `XMLQuery` and insert it in a document constructor. Since Oracle has only one XML type, there is no need to cast from XML to XML.
X031, `XMLElement`	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X032, `XMLForest`	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X034, `XMLAgg`	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X035, `XMLAgg`: `ORDER` `BY` option	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X036, `XMLComment`	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X036, `XMLPi`	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X038, `XMLText`	The Oracle `XMLCData` function may be used to create a text node.
X040, Basic table mapping	Oracle table mappings are available through a Java interface and through a package. Oracle table mappings have been generalized to map queries and not just tables. To map only a table: `SELECT` `*` `FROM` `table_name`. This provides support for the following elements of this feature: X041, Basic table mapping: null absent X042, Basic table mapping: null as nil X043, Basic table mapping: table as forest X044, Basic table mapping: table as element X045, Basic table mapping: with target namespace X046, Basic table mapping: data mapping X047, Basic table mapping: metadata mapping X049, Basic table mapping: hex encoding Oracle does not support the following element of this feature: X048, Basic table mapping: base64 encoding
X060, `XMLParse`: Character string input and `CONTENT` option	Oracle does not support the {`PRESERVE` \| `STRIP`} `WHITESPACE` syntax. The behavior is always `STRIP` `WHITESPACE`.
X061, `XMLParse`: Character string input and `DOCUMENT` option	Oracle does not support the {`PRESERVE` \| `STRIP`} `WHITESPACE` syntax. The behavior is always `STRIP` `WHITESPACE`.
X070, `XMLSerialize`: Character string serialization and `CONTENT` option	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X071, `XMLSerialize`: Character string serialization and `DOCUMENT` option	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X072, `XMLSerialize`: Character string serialization	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X076, `XMLSerialize`: `VERSION` option	Use `XMLRoot` to set the XML version prior to serialization.
X080, Namespaces in XML publishing	In the Oracle implementation of `XMLElement`, `XMLAttributes` are used to define namespaces (`XMLNamespaces` is not implemented). However, `XMLAttributes` is not supported for `XMLForest`.
X086, XML namespace declarations in `XMLTable`	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X090, XML document predicate	In Oracle, you can test whether an XML value is a document by using the `ISFRAGMENT` method.
X096, `XMLExists`	Use `EXISTSNODE` to evaluate an XPath, returning 1 if a node is found, 0 if not. XQuery expressions other than XPath expressions are not supported. Also, Oracle supports XPath 1.0 expressions (not XPath 2,0, which is a subset of XQuery).
X120, XML parameters in SQL routines	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X121, XML parameters in external routines	Oracle supports XML values passed to external routines using a non-standard interface.
X141, `IS` `VALID` predicate: data drive case	The `XMLISVALID` method is equivalent to the `IS` `VALID` predicate, and supports the data-driven case.
X142, `IS` `VALID` predicate: `ACCORDING` `TO` clause	The `XMLISVALID` method is equivalent to the `IS` `VALID` predicate, and includes the equivalent of the `ACCORDING` `TO` clause.
X143, `IS` `VALID` predicate: `ELEMENT` clause	The `XMLISVALID` method is equivalent to the `IS` `VALID` predicate, and includes the equivalent of the `ELEMENT` clause.
X144, `IS` `VALID` predicate: schema location	The `XMLISVALID` method is equivalent to the `IS` `VALID` predicate, and supports the specification of a schema location for a registered XML Schema.
X145, `IS` `VALID` predicate outside check constraints	The `XMLISVALID` method is equivalent to the `IS` `VALID` predicate, and may be used outside check constraints.
X151, `IS` `VALID` predicate with `DOCUMENT` option	The `XMLISVALID` method is equivalent to the `IS` `VALID` predicate, and performs validation equivalent to the `DOCUMENT` clause. (`XMLISVALID` does not support "content" validation.)
X156, `IS` `VALID` predicate: optional `NAMESPACE` with `ELEMENT` clause	The `XMLISVALID` method is equivalent to the `IS` `VALID` predicate, and may be used to validate against an element in any namespace.
X157, `IS` `VALID` predicate: `NO` `NAMESPACE` with `ELEMENT` clause	The `XMLISVALID` method is equivalent to the `IS` `VALID` predicate, and may be used to validate against an element in the "no name" namespace.
X160, Basic Information Schema for registered XML Schemas	The Oracle static data dictionary view `ALL_XML_SCHEMAS` provides a list of the registered XML schemas that are accessible to the current user. The `ALL_XML_SCHEMAS`.`SCHEMA_URL` column corresponds to the standard `XML_SCHEMAS`.`XML_SCHEMA_LOCATION` column. The target namespace of the registered XML Schemas can be learned by examining `ALL_XML_SCHEMAS`.`SCHEMA`. Oracle has no equivalents for the other columns of the standard's `XML_SCHEMAS`.
X161, Advanced Information Schema for registered XML Schemas	Oracle does not have static data dictionary views corresponding to `XML_SCHEMA_NAMESPACES` and `XML_SCHEMA_ELEMENTS` in the standard. However, all the information about registered XML Schemas may be learned by examining the actual XML Schema, which is found in the `ALL_XML_SCHEMAS`.`SCHEMA` column. This may also be examined to learn whether a registered XML Schema is nondeterministic, and which of its namespaces and elements are nondeterministic.
X191, `XML`(`DOCUMENT` (`XMLSCHEMA`)) type	Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table can be constrained by a registered XML Schema, in which case all values of the column will be of `XML`(`DOCUMENT`(`XMLSCHEMA`)) type.
X200, XMLQuery	Oracle fully supports the following elements of this feature: X201, XMLQuery: `RETURNING` `CONTENT` X203, XMLQuery: passing a context item X204, XMLQuery: initializing an XQuery variable Oracle does not support the following elements of this feature: X202, XMLQuery: `RETURNING` `SEQUENCE` { `NULL` \| `EMPTY` } `ON` `EMPTY` syntax Mandatory `BY` { `REF` \| `VALUE` } in the `PASSING` clause (Oracle supports only value semantics)
X221, XML passing mechanism `BY` `VALUE`	Oracle supports only value semantics, but does not support the explicit `BY` `VALUE` clause.
X232, `XML`(`CONTENT`(`ANY`)) type	Oracle does not support this syntax as a type modifier, but the Oracle `XMLType` supports this data type for transient values. Persistent values are of type `XML`(`DOCUMENT`(`ANY`)), which is a subset of `XML`(`CONTENT`(`ANY`)).
X241, `RETURNING` `CONTENT` in XML publishing	Oracle does not support this syntax. In Oracle, the behavior of the publishing functions (`XMLAgg`, `XMLComment`, `XMLConcat`, `XMLElement`, `XMLForest`, and `XMLPi`) is always `RETURNING` `CONTENT`.
X251, Persistent XML values of `XML`(`DOCUMENT`(`UNTYPED`)) type	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X252, Persistent values of type `XML`(`DOCUMENT`(`ANY`))	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X256, Persistent values of `XML`(`DOCUMENT`(`XMLSCHEMA`)) type	Oracle fully supports this feature.
X260, XML type, `ELEMENT` clause	Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table may be constrained by a top-level element in a registered XML Schema.
X262, XML type, optional `NAMESPACE` with `ELEMENT` clause	Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table may be constrained by a top-level element in a namespace other than the target namespace of a registered XML Schema.
X263, XML type: `NO` `NAMESPACE` with `ELEMENT` clause	Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table may be constrained by a top-level element in the "no name" namespace of a registered XML Schema.
X264, XML type: schema location	Oracle does not support this syntax. However, a column of a table may be constrained by a registered XML Schema that is identified by a schema location.
X271, XMLValidate: data driven case	The `SCHEMAVALIDATE` method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and supports the data-driven case.
X272, XMLValidate: `ACCORDING` `TO` clause	The `SCHEMAVALIDATE` method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular registered XML Schema.
X273, XMLValidate: `ELEMENT` clause	The `SCHEMAVALIDATE` method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular element of a particular registered XML Schema.
X274, XMLValidate: schema location	The `SCHEMAVALIDATE` method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular registered XML Schema by its schema location URL.
X281, XMLValidate with `DOCUMENT` option	The `SCHEMAVALIDATE` method is equivalent to XMLValidate. `SCHEMAVALIDATE` performs validation only of XML documents (not content).
X285, XMLValidate: optional `NAMESPACE` with `ELEMENT` clause	The `SCHEMAVALIDATE` method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular element in a namespace other than the target namespace of a particular registered XML Schema.
X286, XMLValidate: `NO` `NAMESPACE` with `ELEMENT` clause	The `SCHEMAVALIDATE` method is equivalent to XMLValidate, and may be used to specify a particular element in the "no name" namespace of a particular registered XML Schema.
X300, `XMLTable`	Oracle does not support reverse axes in the column path expressions. Aside from that restriction, Oracle fully supports the following elements of this feature: X086, XML namespace declarations in `XMLTable` X302, `XMLTable` with ordinality column X303, `XMLTable`: column default option X304, `XMLTable`: passing a context item X305, `XMLTable`: initializing an XQuery variable Oracle does not support the following elements of this feature: X301, `XMLTable`: derived column list option Mandatory `BY` {`REF` \| `VALUE`} in the `PASSING` clause. Oracle supports only `BY` `VALUE` semantics currently.