Published on

October 18, 2007

Understanding XML Namespaces in SQL Server

XML is a widely used format for storing and exchanging data. It provides a way to structure data in a hierarchical manner. However, when dealing with XML documents that have elements with the same name but different contexts, ambiguity can arise. This is where XML namespaces come into play.

Namespaces in XML are used to uniquely identify elements and avoid ambiguity. They provide a way to differentiate between elements that have the same name but belong to different contexts. This is particularly important when XML documents are consumed by software or applications, as they may not be able to resolve ambiguity using contextual references.

Let’s take a look at an example in SQL Server. When writing a TSQL query that involves multiple tables, if a column exists in more than one table, it must be qualified with a table alias to avoid ambiguity. Failure to do so will result in an “Ambiguous column name” error.

WITH
    Employees AS (
        SELECT 'J001' AS Code, 'Jacob' AS EmployeeName, 1 AS Dept
        UNION
        SELECT 'S001', 'Sebastian', 2
    ),
    Departments AS (
        SELECT 1 AS Code, 'IT' AS DepartmentName
        UNION
        SELECT 2, 'Finance'
    )
SELECT *
FROM Employees e
INNER JOIN Departments d ON d.Code = e.dept
WHERE e.code IS NOT NULL

In the above example, the column “code” exists in both the “Employees” and “Departments” tables. To resolve the ambiguity, we need to qualify the column with the table alias, like “e.code”.

The concept of namespaces is not limited to SQL Server. It is commonly used in other programming languages as well. For example, in VB.NET, namespaces are used to differentiate between classes with the same name.

Namespace internet
    Public Class Connection
        Public Provider As String
        Public Speed As String
    End Class
End Namespace

Namespace Database
    Public Class Connection
        Public Provider As String
        Public Protocol As String
        Public Authentication As String
    End Class
End Namespace

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim c1 As New Database.Connection
        Dim c2 As New internet.Connection

        c1.Authentication = "Windows"
        c1.Protocol = "TCP/IP"
        c1.Provider = "SQL Server Client Provider"

        c2.Provider = "World Wide Internet Providers"
        c2.Speed = "512 KBPS"
    End Sub
End Module

In the above VB.NET example, two classes named “Connection” exist, but they belong to different namespaces (“internet” and “Database”). This allows us to differentiate between the two classes.

When working with XML, namespaces can be used to resolve ambiguity. By adding namespace information to XML elements, we can ensure that the correct element is identified and read by an application.

For example, consider the following XML:

<configuration>
    <connection>
        <provider>World Wide Internet Providers</provider>
        <speed>512 KBPS</speed>
    </connection>
    <connection>
        <provider>SQL Client Provider</provider>
        <protocol>TCP/IP</protocol>
        <Authentication>Windows</Authentication>
    </connection>
</configuration>

An application reading this XML may not be able to identify the correct element to read. By using namespaces, we can resolve the ambiguity:

<configuration
    xmlns:net="urn:www.dotnetquest.com/internetconnection"
    xmlns:db="urn:www.dotnetquest.com/databaseconnection">
    <net:connection>
        <net:provider>World Wide Internet Providers</net:provider>
        <net:speed>512 KBPS</net:speed>
    </net:connection>
    <db:connection>
        <db:provider>SQL Client Provider</db:provider>
        <db:protocol>TCP/IP</db:protocol>
        <db:Authentication>Windows</db:Authentication>
    </db:connection>
</configuration>

In the above XML, the elements are prefixed with the corresponding namespace to ensure that they are uniquely identified.

In SQL Server, we can generate XML data that includes namespace information using the “WITH XMLNAMESPACES” keyword. Here’s an example:

WITH XMLNAMESPACES
(
    'urn:www.dotnetquest.com/internetconnection' AS net,
    'urn:www.dotnetquest.com/databaseconnection' AS db
)
SELECT
    net.Provider AS 'net:Connection/net:Provider',
    net.Speed AS 'net:Connection/net:Speed',
    db.Provider AS 'db:Connection/db:Provider',
    db.Protocol AS 'db:Connection/db:Protocol',
    db.Authentication AS 'db:Connection/db:Authentication'
FROM NetConnection net
CROSS JOIN DbConnection db
FOR XML PATH('Configuration')

The above code generates XML data with namespace information:

<Configuration
    xmlns:db="urn:www.dotnetquest.com/databaseconnection"
    xmlns:net="urn:www.dotnetquest.com/internetconnection">
    <net:Connection>
        <net:Provider>World Wide Internet Providers</net:Provider>
        <net:Speed>512 KBPS</net:Speed>
    </net:Connection>
    <db:Connection>
        <db:Provider>SQL Client Provider</db:Provider>
        <db:Protocol>TCP/IP</db:Protocol>
        <db:Authentication>Windows</db:Authentication>
    </db:Connection>
</Configuration>

In conclusion, XML namespaces are essential for avoiding ambiguity when working with XML documents. They allow us to uniquely identify elements and differentiate between elements with the same name but different contexts. Whether you’re working with SQL Server or any other programming language, understanding and utilizing namespaces is crucial for effective XML processing.

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