XML-based complex lab data representing, storing and publishing

The problem of heterogeneous data integration in industrial supervisory control is presented and analyzed. The demand and difficulties of complex lab data representing, storing and publishing are outlined and analyzed in this paper. It is pointed out that a self-descriptive data structure with clear organization of contents and easy connection to human-machine interface is needed. A solution based on XML (eXtended Mark-up Language) is proposed with combination of different layers of data storage, data logic and presentation, human-machine interface. An XML-based system is developed to meet the demands of laboratory data publishing with complex structure. Construction of user interface from XML schema, conversion of lab data into XML, algorithm of storing XML into RDBMS (relation database manager system), query and reconstruction of XML documents from the RDBMS are touched upon. The data structure is described in details and its unique advantage is presented.