Mapping rich XML to a single table

Question

In order to support searching and update of documents using plain SQL (a customer requirement), I want to map a rich (multilevel) XML data structure to a single relational table with a structure somewhat like
(ID varchar2(4),
Element_Name varchar2(20),
Element_Data varchar2(20))
I'll use a dot convention for nesting the structure so subelements will have names like:
"subelement.dataelement1"
"subelement.dataelement2"
Problem is this requires some work to turn it back into XML and I cannot use default tools to import and export the results.
Is there a better way to do this?
I want to be able to retrieve xml documents of the form:
<DATAELEMENTNAME>value</DATAELEMENTNAME>
where DATAELEMENTNAME is held in one col of the table and value is held in another col. BUT must be able to support value lists in the resulting document. This will allow a flexible document format while leaving the data searchable and modifyable using standard SQL. The data is mainly of the form
name1:value1
name2:value2
I can afford to store all the values as text and convert later to numbers, dates as required.

Answer 1

I have designed a simple relational table sturcture that can handle XML, in 4 brief tables. Email me [email protected] if interested.
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