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xDBMLOne schema. Many storage technologies.

An open markup language for describing structured data across relational, document, columnar, graph, and serialization paradigms. Human-authorable, AI-readable, designed for the polyglot data stack.

xDBML

A first look โ€‹

xdbml
xdbml: 0.1

Type Address {
  street  varchar [not null]
  city    varchar [not null]
  country varchar [default: 'US']
}

Container core [type: schema] {
  Entity customers {
    id              int     [pk]
    email           varchar [unique, not null,
                             pattern: '^[^@]+@[^@]+$',
                             tags: ['pii', 'gdpr-subject']]
    primary_address Address
  }
}

Container orders_store [type: database] {
  Collection orders {
    _id          objectId  [pk]
    customer_id  int       [not null]
    placed_at    timestamp [granularity: second]
    line_items   array [
      line_item object {
        sku        varchar [not null]
        quantity   int     [not null, minimum: 1]
        unit_price decimal(10,2)
      }
    ]
    payment_method oneOf {
      card   object { last4 varchar(4), brand varchar }
      bank   object { iban varchar }
      wallet object { provider varchar }
    } [discriminator: method_kind]
  }
}

Ref: orders_store.orders.customer_id        > core.customers.id [source: '1..*', target: '1..1']
Ref: orders_store.orders.line_items.[*].sku > catalog.products.sku

This single document expresses a relational customer schema in Oracle, a MongoDB collection with nested arrays and polymorphic payment methods, a reusable address type, and cross-container relationships including one that traverses an array. It generates Oracle DDL, MongoDB $jsonSchema validators, JSON Schema, Avro schemas, and the schema section of an ODCS data contract.

Where to go next โ€‹

Project status โ€‹

xDBML is currently a draft v0.1 specification stewarded by Hackolade, with the grammar finalized and an open ecosystem of parsers, generators, and importers being built under Apache License 2.0. The path to neutral foundation governance is described in the governance model.

Feedback from real-world use will shape v1.0. Open an issue with comments, proposals, or questions.

Spec under Apache License 2.0 ยท Examples under CC0 1.0