One of the quantum changes in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is the inclusion of the XML data type. This data type is a first class type, just like INT or VARCHAR, and SQL Server 2005 allows in-place querying and processing of this data type using a series of XML-specific functions. There is also support for storing collections of XML schemas in the database, enabling database-based schema validation. In addition, SQL Server 2005 greatly expands the functionality of XML composition (the SELECT ... FOR XML dialects), extends the OpenXML() XML decomposition function, and provides a new nodes() function on the XML data type for more lightweight decomposition.
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