XMLTX - XML Transaction Engine

Architecture

• XML Database: All data stored in structured XML files
• XSLT Application Logic: Complete web app logic defined in XSL transforms
• Transactional XPath Updates: Append-only transaction log eliminates file locking and destructive rewrites
• Event Sourcing: All mutations logged to SQLite for replay, auditing, and rollback
• XPath Routing: URL paths become nested XML for elegant template matching
• Zero JavaScript: HTMX for dynamic interactions, semantic HTML + modern CSS

Framework Features

• Efficient XPath Updates: Instead of locking files for destructive rewrites, append precise XPath-based mutations to transaction log
• Semantic Update Operations: x:put, x:rm, x:mv provide clear, reversible operations with surgical precision
• Nested Route Matching: /films/123/edit → <route><films><n123><edit/></n123></films></route>
• Template Pattern Matching: route[films/*], route[admin/settings]
• Real XML Mutations: Mutations contain actual XML elements, not escaped text strings
• Lock-Free Concurrency: Multiple processes can append mutations simultaneously without blocking
• Clean Architecture: 60 lines of PHP runtime + XSLT transforms

Usage

            
require_once 'xmltx.php';

$app = new XMLTX('data.xml');
$app->handleRequest();
        
          

XSLT Application Logic

The entire web application is defined in XSLT templates. The framework builds a combined XML document containing your data plus HTTP request information:

Your XSL templates match routes and generate responses:

Key concepts:

• Nested Routes: URL segments become XML elements for pattern matching
• Template Modes: mode="get" for pages, mode="post" for actions
• XPath Data Access: //film[@id=$id] queries your data directly
• Mutation Generation: Templates output x:put, x:rm, x:mv for updates
• HTML Response: Templates generate XHTML that framework converts to HTML

Routing System

Common routing patterns and their XSLT templates:

Route matching patterns:

• route[root] → /
• route[films[not(*)]] → /films (no children)
• route[films/*[not(edit)]] → /films/123 (has child, not edit)
• route[films/*/edit] → /films/123/edit (has edit child)
• route[admin/settings] → /admin/settings

XML Mutations

Templates generate XML mutations for data updates:

Mutation operations:

• x:put: Insert or replace content with swap attributes
• x:rm: Remove elements matching XPath target
• x:mv: Move elements to new location
• Transactional: All mutations logged to SQLite transaction log
• Reversible: Full audit trail and rollback capability

Why XMLTX?

• No File Locking: Concurrent updates via append-only transaction log
• Surgical Precision: XPath targets exact elements for updates
• Event Sourcing: Complete history of all data changes
• Template Pattern Matching: Elegant routing with XSLT patterns
• XML-First: Leverage XML's structure for application logic
• Minimal Runtime: 60 lines of PHP, everything else in XSLT