16.3 Creating XML-Only Applications with Oracle Text

Although it is common to create applications by using SQL SELECT statements with the CONTAINS clause, it is not the most efficient method. An alternative method is to use the XML-based RSI. With this method, you can obtain summary information (such as the total number of hits) without fetching all results of the query.

To use the RSI, you specify a Result Set Descriptor (RSD). The RSD declares the information to be returned, which can consist of:

  • Total result count of the query

  • Hitlist

  • Summary information over SDATA fields

In turn, the hitlist consists of repeating elements, each of which may contain:

  • Rowid of the hit

  • SDATA fields from the hit

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