I want to convert the database definition of an existing SQL database into an XML schema, so I can use the schema with model-driven development tools (Eclipse Modeling Framework) to create a new distributed application that works with the data. Are there tools available for converting SQL databases into XML?

Several SQL-to-XML conversion and translation tools are available. The Enterprise and Professional versions of the XMLSpy products from Altova.com can produce an XML schema from a relational database. The DB2XML package is a Java tool set that converts the results of database queries of your entire database into XML or HTML documents. This package can be run as a stand-alone, as a servlet or as part of your application using the DB2XML API. An unrelated program, called DB2XML.asp (available here) shows how to perform such conversions using .Net code. Stylus Studio is a commercial offering that uses ADO to convert between SQL and XML. There also is the XML Converter. Each program has its strengths, but there are enough choices that you should find one or more that perform the conversion you're looking for. This can be a large undertaking. The XML APIs for databases article is worth reviewing in case you can meet your needs without doing an all-out conversion.

Blass, a network architect at Change@Work in Houston, can be reached at dr.internet@change_atwork.com.