Oxygen XML Forum

I would like to be able to use oXygen XML Editor to write, run, and debug XQuery against the BaseX XML database from https://basex.org/
I would like this to include the full scope of BaseX modules (full text, higher order functions, etc.) as well as XQuery 3.1 (and eventually XQuery 4).
I would like some reasonably current version of BaseX to ship with oXygen XML Editor.
I would like to be able to do the full CRUD set of XML database functionality from inside oXygen XML Editor.

BaseX is open source, written in Java, small (< 10 MB) and reasonably documented, so this seems to be like a technically plausible ask. It's also far and away the best XQuery processor I know of, since it's nigh-complete against the XQuery 3.1 spec and highly performant.

Why would you want to? XQuery has something of a chicken-and-egg problem; it'd be great to use if people could use it. If they can use it, it solves many legibility problems for large XML content sets that don't have effective alternative solutions. Providing a way to use XQuery ought to wedge open the door to a market.

Hi,

There is an Oxygen plugin developed by Axxepta that that provides inside Oxygen:
https://github.com/axxepta/project-argon
http://argon-author.com/

I suggest giving it a test and see how it performs against your requirement. It has quite a lot of feature.
I've also added your vote for an internal BaseX support inside Oxygen.

Best regards,
Alex

Hi Alex --
While that plugin does look interesting, I observe that the gitHub repository hasn't been updated in five years and that the plugin is unsigned.
Putting myself in a position where I have to explain why I installed something unsigned on a work machine isn't something I would want to do.

Might there be an appropriate way for other people to express interest in adding internal support for BaseX in oXygen?

Thanks!
Graydon

Hi Graydon,

Whenever people ask us for a feature, on the forum, on our support email address or when we meet them in person during conferences, we add their vote for the feature and we increase its priority. Because our development resources are limited, there is always a challenge to weight and decide which feature should be included in the roadmap.

I observe that the gitHub repository hasn't been updated in five years and that the plugin is unsigned.

We used to meet the Axxepta team quite frequently during conferences and there was a time when they develop intensively the plugin. Perhaps now they consider it mature enough. If you write an email on support@oxygenxml.com I can try and put you in contact with them.
Signing the plugin requires a certificate issued by a trusted authority. If a company doesn't have such a certificate already for other reasons, unfortunately it is a slim chance for it to purchase such a certificate only for signing an Oxygen addon.

Best regards,
Alex

Hi Alex --
Thank you! Appreciate the clarity on the weighting process.

It wouldn't be possible for me to advocate for an unsigned anything in a work context, is what I was trying to get at there. (Nor do I think it ought to be.)

Thank you!
Graydon