Re: XML and Postgres - Mailing list pgsql-novice

From Greg Lindstrom
Subject Re: XML and Postgres
Date
Msg-id 42399849.7000404@novasyshealth.com
Whole thread Raw
In response to Re: XML and Postgres  (brew@theMode.com)
Responses Re: XML and Postgres
List pgsql-novice
brew@theMode.com wrote:
<blockquote cite="midPine.BSF.4.58.0503170223470.35543@themode.com"
 type="cite">
  Hopefully someone can tell you of a direct solution, but I can tell you my
experiences using perl.

Thanks for the reply.  Can I ask some more basic questions before I
jump into this?


  Do I understand correctly that using one of these tools I can
hand my xml-formatted data file to postgres and it will be inserted
into the database?
  How does the database "know" the layout?  I am dealing with
health case claim data using the EDI X12 standard (such as it is).  It
is well defined, but large and complex (well beyond the "mailing list"
examples I've seen).  Do I need to post a DTD or Schema to Postgres? 
Or does it simply (!) create tables and links to accommodate whatever
relationships are defined in the data file? Or is the xml dumped into 1
large field?

  When I add additional data to the database (another claim file
from another vendor or day), will it be added to the existing data, or
-- I assume -- entered into the base using the new root node?
  How do I extract data from the database?  Do I use XPath type
queries?
  Is it possible to insert, update, change, delete data from the
data file on the base?  If so, can I issue a command to extract the
entire document with the modified data?
  Can you point me to documentation on any of this?  Is it worth
the trouble?  Or should I dissect the file into traditionally
normalized tables?

Thank-you so much for your help and advice.  This is a new world to me
and I'd like to understand what I might be getting in to.

--greg
Greg Lindstrom               501 975.4859
Computer Programmer          greg.lindstrom@novasyshealth.com
NovaSys Health
Little Rock, Arkansas

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."  W.W.

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