Tamino XML Server and its components offer a wide range of solutions for developing and deploying Electronic Business applications. Here is a typical scenario: A company's Web-based applications (that is, those in which the user interface is supplied by a Web browser, either on a PC or some other Web-enabled device such as a PDA) must integrate data from a number of diverse back office systems. An ordinary Web server will be the ultimate integration point - the user will point a browser at the server, request (perhaps via an HTML form, or by requesting data via a URL) some specific information, and the Web server must somehow access the necessary data and prepare it for display in the browser. The Tamino XML Server functions as a "virtual database" that presents an XML view of the underlying data. You can use a vast array of XML tools, techniques, and products to manipulate the XML view from any modern development environment. For example, if the back-end data can be presented as XML, you can use XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) to specify the output format.

Another scenario involves the use of web services in an SOA (service oriented architecture) environment. Suppose that you wish to expose parts of your business operations to partners or customers as a service offered in the Web, that is, you wish to allow access to your services to those who use the SOAP protocol, i.e., an XML-formatted message requesting some operations to be performed and the result returned in XML format. Many of the advantages of using the Tamino XML Server to build Web applications that humans can read apply when a computer ultimately "reads" the data. Building Web services on an XML virtual database view is easier, more portable, and cheaper than doing this with ordinary programming.

But in essence, whether you wish to store XML data in Tamino, to use Tamino to update external databases, to integrate existing data sources for retrieval, to build Web applications or to produce different output formats, the basic procedure for working with Tamino is the same in each case. Steps one and two (see below) are optional, since a native XML store such as Tamino can store and retrieve any well-formed XML document, even if the DTD of the document is not available. In addition, it is possible to store non-XML documents, e.g. graphic files, not needing a DTD or schema.

1. Describe the structure of your XML data using a schema. Tamino accepts XML Document Type Definitions (DTDs) via its Schema Editor, or XML Schema and converts them into Tamino schemas (in a separate step).

2. Define a Tamino schema. Tamino is based on XML Schema, thus providing a schema language recommended by the W3C that describes the rules according to which data are stored and can be retrieved. You can either write a Tamino schema using a text editor, or use Tamino's graphical Schema Editor.

3. Once a Tamino schema is defined, you can store instances of the schema. Tamino stores and retrieves information according to the rules specified in the schema.

4. Use the standard query language XQuery (based on the W3C recommendation) to retrieve your data. You can query your data via your favorite browser, with the Tamino Interactive Interface, or with the Tamino X-Plorer.

5. Build an application with the data returned, using Tamino's vast array of tools and services.

Tamino's possibilities are manifold. For an introductory description of the single steps including examples, refer to the Tamino document Getting Started.

Detailed and advanced information about working with Tamino can be found in the documentation. Also, take a look at the Tamino Developer Community for questions and answers and important news.