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Using the URL Builder

The URL Builder utility lets you connect to a relational database server, select a table or view, and render that object as an XML document. You can use this feature, implemented on the URL Builder tab of the Open dialog box, to open a new XML document anywhere in Stylus Studio - in the XML Editor, the XQuery and XSLT Mappers, and so on.

Figure 320. URL Builder Tab of the Open Dialog Box

In this section

This section covers the following topics:

Compared to DB-to-XML Data Sources

Using the URL Builder is similar to using DB-to-XML data sources, though the URL Builder does have a few characteristics that distinguish it from DB-to-XML data sources.

When to Use

Use the URL Builder any time you want to quickly render an entire table or view as XML. Any time you need more control - writing your own SQL/XML or updating the relational database, for example - use a DB-to-XML data source. See Overview of DB-to-XML Data Sources for more information.

Connection Settings

Connection settings for the URL Builder are the same as those used to define a DB-to-XML data source:

See Specifying Connection Settings for more information.

How to Open a Table or View as an XML Document

To open a table or view as an XML document:

Two new tabs appear: Browse and URL Builder.

The databases for the server you connected to appear in the URL Builder tab. For example:

Stylus Studio opens the table or view as an XML document in the editor you were using when you displayed the Open dialog box. in this example, the authors table was opened as a source document in the XQuery Mapper.

Notice that the document name contains the connection settings used to define the URL in step 4.