• Chapter 1: Getting Started with Stylus Studio®
• Chapter 2: Editing and Querying XML
• Chapter 3: Converting Non-XML Files to XML
• Chapter 4: Working with XSLT
• Chapter 5: Creating XSLT Using the XSLT Mapper
• Chapter 6: Debugging Stylesheets
• Chapter 7: Defining XML Schemas
• Chapter 8: Defining Document Type Definitions
• Chapter 9: Writing XPath Expressions
• Chapter 10: Working with XQuery in Stylus Studio
  • Getting Started with XQuery in Stylus Studio
  • An XQuery Primer
    • What is XQuery For?
    • Your First XQueries
    • Accessing XML Documents with XQuery
    • XQuery and XPath
    • Introduction to FLWOR Expressions
    • Generating XML Output with XQuery
    • Accessing Databases with XQuery
  • Understanding FLWOR Expressions
  • Building an XQuery Using the Mapper
  • Working with the XQuery collection() Function
  • Debugging XQuery Documents
  • Using DataDirect XQuery® Execution Plans
  • Creating an XQuery Scenario
  • Generating XQuery Documentation
  • Using XQuery to Invoke a Web Service
  • Using Web Services in XQuery
  • Generating Java Code for XQuery
  • Generating C# Code for XQuery
• Chapter 11: Composing Web Service Calls
• Chapter 12: Working with WSDL Documents
• Chapter 13: Building XML Pipelines
• Chapter 14: Publishing XML Data
• Chapter 15: Integrating with Third-Party File Systems
• Chapter 16: Extending Stylus Studio
• Chapter 17: The Stylus Studio Java API
• Chapter 18: Stylus Studio GUI Reference

Home > Online Product Documentation > Table of Contents > Your First XQueries

Your First XQueries

Try a few simple examples to get acquainted with XQuery. Start Stylus Studio, and open a new XQuery document ( File > New > XQuery File). Save the file now (if you do not, Stylus Studio will prompt you to save it when you preview your first XQuery).

Type the following in the XQuery Editor:

              "Hello, world!"
               

            

Now, click the Preview Result button ( ), and Stylus Studio displays the result of this XQuery in the Preview window:

"Hello, world!"
               

            

Enter a simple equation ( 2+2) and click the Preview Result button ( ). Predictably, the result is:

4
               

            

Finally, try the XQuery function current-time() and click the Preview Result button ( ):

11:27:38Z
               

            

Your results, will vary based on several conditions. For example, the XQuery processor you use to execute the XQuery will affect the precision of the time value (fractions of seconds), and the time zone (here, shown as Z) is determined by how your system is configured.

None of these is a very useful query on its own, but within a query language you need to be able to perform little calculations and XQuery has this covered. Further, XQuery is designed so that expressions can be fully nested - that is, any expression can be used within any other expression, provided that it delivers a value of the right type - and this means that expressions that are primarily intended for selecting data within a where clause can also be used as free-standing queries in their own right.