Generating Different Outputs

One of the design principles of TMQL is that it should be possible to not only generate tabular results, but also XML structured content and topic map content.

The reasoning behind this is that XML application servers are here to stay for a while and that embedding TM search results as XML is very, very, very handy. That a TMQL expression can also generate TM content is a natural consequence of the formalism behind TMQL. So, if it is already there, why not expose it. If you need it (it is cool to generate maps from maps when you have to mediate between different ontologies) it is there, otherwise, simply ignore it.

I do not buy the argument, that we should wait and see what bigger database vendors will give us developers in terms of XML integration. Especially not after having seen first attempts.