Patent ID: 7461074

Claim:
A method of sectioning an XML document having one or more nodes, said method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: obtaining a set of sectioning rules; wherein each sectioning rule in the set of sectioning rules comprises matching criteria and a table identifier that identifies a database table in which a fragment of the XML document that matches the matching criteria is to be persistently stored; receiving an XML document to be stored in a relational database system; based on the set of sectioning rules, identifying one or more database tables in the relational database system in which to store fragments of the XML document; storing the fragments of the XML document in the one or more database tables, wherein storing the fragments of the XML document comprises selectively sectioning the XML document based on the set of sectioning rules by performing steps that include: for each particular fragment of the XML document that matches particular matching criteria included in a particular sectioning rule: determining a particular database table of the one or more database tables that is identified by a particular table identifier included in the particular sectioning rule; and storing the particular fragment in the particular database table.