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basex(1) The XML Database basex(1)

NAME

basex - XML database system and XPath/XQuery processor (command line mode)

SYNOPSIS

basex [-bcCdiIoOqQrRstuvVwWxz] [input]

DESCRIPTION

basex is a fast and powerful, yet light-weight and platform independent XML database system and XPath/XQuery processor.

OPTIONS

A short description of option can be obtained from



    $ basex -h
or by browsing https://docs.basex.org/main/Command-Line_Options#standalone

DATABASE COMMANDS

A list of supported Database commands can be obtained from



    $ basex -c help
or by browsing https://docs.basex.org/main/Commands

EXAMPLES

•
XQuery evaluation (no database, no interaction, script mode):



   $ basex 19+23


   42


   $ basex -q "<answer>{ 23+19 }</answer>"


   <answer>42</answer>
•
Import an XML file into database, output its content (query its root) and be verbose:



    $ basex -V -c "CREATE DB input /usr/share/doc/basex/examples/input.xml" -c "XQUERY /"


    Database 'input' created in 136.84 ms.


    <html>


      <!-- Header -->


      <head id="0">


        <title>XML</title>


      </head>


      <!-- Body -->


      <body id="1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000CC">


        <h1>Databases &amp; XML</h1>


        <div align="right">


          <b>Assignments</b>


          <ul>


            <li>Exercise 1</li>


            <li>Exercise 2</li>


          </ul>


        </div>


      </body>


      <?pi bogus?>


    </html>


    Query:


    /


    Optimizing:


    - evaluate context value: . -> db:get-pre("input", 0)


    - evaluate util:root(nodes): util:root(db:get-pre("input", 0)) -> db:get-pre("input", 0)


    Optimized Query:


    db:get-pre("input", 0)


    Parsing: 1.94 ms


    Compiling: 0.39 ms


    Optimizing: 0.94 ms


    Evaluating: 0.01 ms


    Printing: 1.30 ms


    Total Time: 4.58 ms


    Hit(s): 1 Item


    Updated: 0 Items


    Printed: 358 b


    Read Locking: input


    Write Locking: (none)


    Query executed in 4.58 ms.
•
XPath evaluation (with existing database):



    $ basex -c "OPEN input; XQUERY //li[1]"


    <li>Exercise 1</li>
•
Retrieve XML from the web and perform XPath query:



    $ basex -q "doc('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BaseXdb/basex/12.4/basex-core/src/test/resources/input.xml')//li"


    <li>Exercise 1</li>


    <li>Exercise 2</li>
•
W3C XQuery Full-Text (make use of full-text index and perform fuzzy query with a typing error):



    $ basex


    BaseX 12.4 [Standalone]


    Try "help" to get more information.


    > SET FTINDEX on 


    Full-Text Index: ON


    > CREATE DB input /usr/share/doc/basex/examples/input.xml


    Database 'input' created in 94.42 ms.


    > XQUERY //b[text() contains text 'Asisgnment' using fuzzy] 


    <b>Assignments</b>


    Query executed in 8.37 ms.
•
Update the database and show result:



    > XQUERY delete node //ul


    Query executed in 2.79 ms.


    > XQUERY replace value of node //b with 'Debian rules'


    Query executed in 2.94 ms.


    > XQUERY //div


    <div align="right">


      <b>Debian rules</b>


    </div>


    Query executed in 1.01 ms.
•
Open an input xml file, execute a query and write result into file:



    $ basex -i /usr/share/doc/basex/examples/input.xml -o out.xml -q //div


    $ cat out.xml


    <div align="right">


      <b>Assignments</b>


      <ul>


        <li>Exercise 1</li>


        <li>Exercise 2</li>


      </ul>


    </div>
•
Query an already existing database called 'input'. If a file named 'input' exists in current working directory it takes precedence:



    $ basex -i input -q //div


    <div align="right">


      <b>Assignments</b>


      <ul>


        <li>Exercise 1</li>


        <li>Exercise 2</li>


      </ul>


    </div>
•
Let basex process query input from standard in:



   $ echo '19+23' | basex -q-


   42
•
Execute commands from script file:



   $ cat commands.txt


   create db debian <debian_db/>


   xquery /


   list


   $ basex -C commands.txt | grep debian


   <debian_db/>


   debian              1          4639       debian.xml
•
Parse non well-formed HTML (needs libtagsoup-java installed):



   $ cat bad.html         


   <html>


     <ul>


       <li>A


       <li>B


     </ul>


   </html>


   $ basex -c "SET PARSER html" -c "CREATE DB htmldb bad.html"


   $ basex -q "doc('htmldb')"


   <html>


     <body>


       <ul>


         <li>A</li>


         <li>B</li>


       </ul>


     </body>


   </html>


   Alternative (parse directly in a query, passing parser options):


   $ basex -q 'fetch:doc("bad.html", map { "parser": "html" })'


   <html>


     <body>


       <ul>


         <li>A</li>


         <li>B</li>


       </ul>


     </body>


   </html>


   For further documentation on how to configure the HTML Parser refer to 


   https://docs.basex.org/main/Parsers#html_parser

SEE ALSO

basexgui(1), basexserver(1), basexclient(1)



   .basexhome                can be created by a user to mark a folder as home directory.


   .basex                    BaseX (standalone and server) properties


   .basexgui                 BaseX additional GUI properties 


   .basexhistory             contains commands that have been typed in most recently.


   ${basexhome}/data         Default database directory


   ${basexhome}/data/.logs   Server logs


   ${basexhome}/repo         Package repository
BaseX Documentation Wiki: https://docs.basex.org

HISTORY

BaseX started as a research project of the Database and Information Systems Group (DBIS) at the University of Konstanz in 2005 and soon turned into a feature-rich open source XML database and XPath/XQuery processor.

LICENSE

New (3-clause) BSD License

AUTHOR

BaseX is primarily developed by Christian Grün <cg@basex.org> with the help of various contributors <https://basex.org/about/open-source/>

The man page was written by Alexander Holupirek <alex@holupirek.de> while packaging BaseX for Debian GNU/Linux.

24 July 2026