DataDirect Technologies has launched software designed to cut time and complexity in transforming data between relational databases and XML for Java applications.

jXTransformer is written entirely in Java and is aimed at web application architects and developers who convert XML to and from SQL.

The software provides components which create XML documents from any of the leading relational databases - each of which uses its own flavour of SQL - or update the databases from an XML input source. Users write XML code once for all database access.

jXTransformer includes an SQL builder graphical user interface (GUI) for SQL writers to enter its compact SQL code once. The software then generates the much longer native SQL.

For example, a database update from XML that required only 186 characters within the GUI, took 760 characters in Oracle, 870 in IBM DB2 and 1,441 in Microsoft SQL Server.

"This is about solving the problem of consistent behaviour across different platforms," said Paul Hessinger, chief marketing officer at DataDirect. "For instance, developers do not want to have to handle the syntactical differences between databases."

An Oracle database makes extensive use of stored procedures, while IBM's DB2 does not use them. Hessinger said that jXTransformer would trap and handle these differences.

He explained that the benefits include faster time to market for original equipment manufacturer software vendors, and broad and reliable data connectivity out of the box.

While relational databases had been enhanced with complex XML extensions, Hessinger explained that these only worked with their specific database.

Tony Lock, senior analyst at Bloor Research, said: "SQL was originally meant to be a standard. But now it is very much individual flavours.

"Clearly XML is being used more and more so I can see a lot of use for this sort of software, particularly among independent software vendors.

"Tight integration with databases is where [DataDirect] grew up, so I wouldn't expect performance to be an issue."