X-Evolution: A Comprehensive Approach for XML Schema Evolution

In this paper we present X-Evolution, a Web system developed on top of a commercial DBMS that allows the specification of schema modifications both on a graphical representation of an XML Schema and through a specifically tailored declarative language. X-Evolution supports facilities for performing schema revalidation only when strictly needed and only on the minimal parts of documents affected by the modifications. Moreover, it supports the automatic and query-based adaptation of original schema instances to the evolved schema.