DataDirect Technologies announced the development of DataDirect XQuery, an embeddable software product that enables Java developers to access both relational and XML data sources using a single query. Built to accommodate XQuery, the language for querying and creating XML documents, DataDirect XQuery will join DataDirect Technologies’ offering of data connectivity components. Primarily queried from relational databases, business-critical data is increasingly required to be exchanged and processed as either XML data, or a combination of XML data and relational data. Recognizing this, the W3C has developed XQuery as a uniform language for data exchange. In the same way that SQL provides a query language for relational databases, XQuery will provide a common language for accessing both XML and relational data stores. DataDirect XQuery is scheduled to be available in the first half of 2005. A strategic beta program is scheduled to be available this fall. www.datadirect.com