The dbXML project issued its first official alpha release, version 0.9 of the dbXML Core.

dbXML Core is a "native XML database designed to manage large collections of small XML documents... easily embedded into existing applications, highly configurable and openly extensible."

The new release changes license from an LGPL license to an Apache-style license. New features include:

"an XML:DB XUpdate implementation for updating XML documents, SAX support in the API and a compression mechanism to increase performance between the client and the server."

This version of dbXML Core is also the first to be labeled feature-complete.

Related stories:

• dbXML Core 0.5 debuts
• XML database API draft specification released
• dbXML reaches 0.3