XML for Analysis is a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)-based XML API, designed specifically for standardizing the data access interaction between a client application and a data provider working over the Web.

Under traditional data access techniques, such as OLE DB and ODBC, a client component that is tightly coupled to the data provider server must be installed on the client machine in order for an application to be able to access data from a data provider. Tightly coupled client components can create dependencies on a specific hardware platform, a specific operating system, a specific interface model, a specific programming language, and a specific match between versions of client and server components. The requirement to install client components and the dependencies associated with tightly coupled architectures are unsuitable for the loosely coupled, stateless, cross-platform, and language independent environment of the Internet. To provide reliable data access to Web applications the Internet, mobile devices, and cross-platform desktops need a standard methodology that does not require component downloads to the client. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is generic and can be universally accessed. What if, instead of invoking the proprietary interface of a client component, you could call methods and transfer data through XML HTTP messages without any client component? What if the application developer could build client components without concern for tight coupling to a server component or application? What if an application, developed with any programming language and running on any platform, could access data from any place on the Web without having to plan for specific platform support or even a specific provider version? The XML for Analysis specification answers these questions with XML for Analysis. XML for Analysis advances the concepts of OLE DB by providing standardized universal data access to any standard data source residing over the Web without the need to deploy a client component that exposes COM interfaces. XML for Analysis is optimized for the Web by minimizing roundtrips to the server and targeting stateless client requests to maximize the scalability and robustness of a data source. The specification defines two methods, Discover and Execute, which consume and send XML for stateless data discovery and manipulation. ,/p>

The specification is built upon the open Internet standards of HTTP, XML, and SOAP, and is not bound to any specific language or technology. The specification references OLE DB so that application developers already familiar with OLE DB can see how XML for Analysis can be mapped and implemented. These references also provide background information on the OLE DB definitions that the specification extends. The specification cover data mining and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing). This talk will briefly walk you through a few simple steps from creating a data mining model to scoring a new data source with an existing mining model. How PMML (Predictive Modeling Markup Language) plays a role in the specification will also be discussed.