Features

• New Dashboard and Package Manager #2438.
• Improved the performance of the Lock Table #2591.
• Improved the performance of Lock Striping #2831.
• Optimized XMLString to reduce copying.
• Spatial Index is now available again #2601.
• Options can now be passed to ft:search queries.
• A leading wildcard can now be used in ft:search queries #2468.
• Added the new function ft:index-keys-for-field for the Lucene Index to complement util:index-keys for field indexes.
• Added support for faceting with the Lucene Index #2629. See the documentation for how to attach fields or facets to an indexed node, using XQuery expressions to select/construct content. Query across fields, use them for sorting or drill down into a query result using facets.
• Added XQuery 3.1 fn:contains-token #2799, fn:parse-ietf-date #2866, and fn:random-number-generator functions.
• Added the system:get-product-name function.
• Added the xmldb:copy-resource and xmldb:copy-collection functions.
• Rewrote the Service Manager for Windows platforms.
• Docker images now use an Uber jar for easy deployment.
• New Jar Installer based on IzPack 5.

Updated Libraries

• Apache Ant 1.10.6
• Apache Commons Codec 1.13
• Apache Commons Compress 1.18
• Apache Commons Configuration 2.5
• Apache Commons Daemon 1.2.0
• Apache Commons File Upload 1.4
• Apache Commons HTTP Components 4.5.9
• Apache Commons Lang 3.9
• Apache Mina 2.1.2
• Apache Tika 1.22
• Bouncy Castle 1.62
• Caffeine 2.8.0
• cglib 3.3.0
• Eclipse AspectJ 1.9.4
• Eclipse Jetty 9.4.20.v20190813
• EXPath Pkg 1.4.1
• EXPath HTTP Client 1.2.0
• EXPath Tools 0.3.0
• FasterXML UUID Generator 3.2.0
• FastUtil 8.3.0
• IzPack 5.1.4
• j8fu 1.23.0
• Jackson 2.9.9
• JavaMail 1.6.3
• JLine 3.11.0
• Log4j 2.12.1
• LZ4 1.6.0
• MultiLock 1.0.1
• Quartz Scheduler 2.3.1
• RESTXQ 0.1.34
• RSyntaxTextArea 3.0.3
• Saxon HE 9.9.1-4
• SLF4j 1.7.28
• XMLUnit 2.6.3

Bug Fixes

• Restoring a Backup no longer overwrites newer versions of apps (unless configured to do so) #2985.
• Added missing EXPath Packages to the IzPack installer #2989.
• Fixed a deadlock which can occur with System Tasks #2984.
• Improved log reporting when deploying EXPath packages #2982.
• Fixed first-start deployment of collection.xconf.init for enabling RESTXQ #2978.
• Added missing Semver.xq to autodeploy directory #2975.
• Fixed collation comparison on empty strings #2967.
• Improved the concurrent performance of the Compiled XQuery Pool #2972.
• Improved the Lock Table lease recording performance #2963.
• Small improvements to LDAP support #2937.
• Reinstate the bin scripts in the App produced for Mac platforms #2931.
• WebSocket Server again runs correctly in Docker Container #2929.
• Java Admin Client can now restore a backup with a different admin account password correctly #2934.
• Fixed the data folder path when restoring a backup to an embedded database #2927.
• Corrected the Mac artifact name to eXist-db-$ver.dmg #2910.
• Fixed a User account leak in XQuery User Switching Function #2924.
• Added missing XML library dependencies for JDK 10+.
• Fixed non-spec compliant issues with preceding-sibling and following-sibling axes.
• Fixed a regression with XQuery Update's insert following expression #2624.
• Removed a bad optimization affecting expressions like `/a/b//cd = 123]` [#2837.
• fn:tokenize is now case-sensitive by default #2742.
• Fixed an issue where the content of XML Comments was incorrectly escaped #2740.
• Reduced the memory use and increased performance of file transfers in the XML:DB API #2630.
• Reduced the memory use and computation when sorting.
• Reduced the memory use of Collections #2688.
• Fixed an issue whereby XQSuite was not reporting all test failures #2141.
• Fixed a memory leak with QNames during XML serialization #2537.
• Fixed memory leaks with the CharArrayPool and ByteArayPool.
• Fixed an issue whereby eXist-db might not start correctly if Journal Recovery was disabled #2539.
• Fixed a regression with overlapping transactions when deploying EXPath packages.
• Made the parsing of util:serialize parameters conform with the function documentation.
• Ensure that all users have at least one Primary Group.
• Small fixes to the EnsureLockingAspect.
• Fixed an issue with the Namespace Constructor when there is an empty prefix #2584.
• Removed custom buggy Hash Table implementations in favour of those in [fastUtil](http://fastutil fastutil.di.unimi.it/) #2588.
• Fixed Collection Locking when removing a Collection.
• Fixed the analysis of global variables when loading XQuery modules dynamically #2580.
• Fix an issue with replacing binary resources when owner/group differ from the active user #2595.
• Fixed purging of old zip backups #2609.
• Fixed a NullPointerException in LDAPRealm when searching for group members #2618.
• Corrected the order of arguments in fn:for-each and fn:for-each-pair.
• Fixed the context sequence for XQuery higher-order-functions #2448.
• Fixed an ArrayOutOfBoundsException when querying documents with enclosed expressions and the fn:id function #2646.
• Fixed a problem with Collation comparison on empty strings #2671.
• Fixed a problem with parallel sorting when using Collations #2669.
• Fixed an issue where descendent nodes were incorrectly indexed in the Lucene Index #2682.
• Fixed an issue with opening a Collection using a full XML:DB URL #2693.
• Avoid a NullPointerException in AutoDeployment when dependencies are not available.
• Made sure that the Launcher correctly exits when requested #2730.
• Fixed an issue where previously replacing a document, would not remove all prior nodes which caused storage to constantly grow.
• Fixed a locking issue when deleting documents via WebDAV #2789.
• Fixed a regression with YAJSW support introduced by adding WRAPPER_UNATTENDED.
• Fixed setting the admin password setting in the installer Jar.
• Fixed setting the data directory in the installer Jar.
• Fixed an issue whereby source locations were not correctly included in the installer Jar.
• Fixed JavaDoc syntax errors #2860.

Removed

We have removed the Java Web Application Archive (WAR) build of eXist-db. We no longer support running eXist-db inside a 3rd-party Servlet container such as Apache Tomcat. If you wish to operate eXist-db as a Server, you should instead run the server using the provided Jetty start-up scripts.

We have also removed a number of previously deprecated functions, modules, and extensions:

• Removed the draft syntax for the XQuery Map Constructor, i.e. `map = "y"` #2892.
• cache module:
  • cache:cache, caches are now created on demand.
• fn module:
  • fn:map, use the Map constructor instead.
  • fn:map-pairs function, you should instead use fn:for-each-pair.
  • fn:string-pad.
• image module:
  • image:get-metadata.
• map module:
  • map:new function, you should instead use the map constructor.
  • map:for-each-entry, you should instead use map:for-each.
• response module:
  • response:set-response-header, use response:set-header instead.
• sm module:
  • sm:delete-group, use sm:remove-group instead.
  • sm:get-groups
• util module:
  • util:catch, use XQuery 3.0's try/catch expression instead.
  • util:eval-async.
  • util:parse, use XQuery 3.0's fn:parse-xml or fn:parse-xml-fragment instead.
  • util:serialize, use XQuery 3.0's fn:serialize instead.
• validation module:
  • validation:validate, you should use the other more specific functions within this module.
  • validation:validate-report, you should use the other more specific functions within this module.
• xmldb module:
  • xmldb:add-user-to-group, use sm:add-group-member instead.
  • xmldb:change-user, instead use various task specific functions in the sm module.
    • xmldb:chmod-collection, usesm:chmod instead.
  • xmldb:chmod-resource, use sm:chmod, instead.
  • xmldb:copy, use xmldb:copy-collection and xmldb:copy-resource instead.
  • xmldb:create-group, use sm:create-group instead.
  • xmldb:create-user, use sm:create-account instead.
  • xmldb:delete-user, use sm:remove-account instead.
  • xmldb:document, use fn:doc instead.
  • xmldb:exists-user, use sm:user-exists instead.
  • xmldb:get-current-user, use sm:id()//sm:real/sm:username/string() instead.
  • xmldb:get-current-user-attribute, use sm:get-account-metadata instead.
  • xmldb:get-current-user-attribute-names, use sm:get-account-metadata-keys instead.
  • xmldb:get-group, use sm:get-group instead.
  • xmldb:get-owner, use sm:get-permissions instead.
  • xmldb:get-user-groups, use sm:get-user-groups instead.
  • xmldb:get-user-home.
  • xmldb:get-user-primary-group, use sm:get-user-primary-group instead.
  • xmldb:get-users, use sm:list-users instead.
  • xmldb:group-exists, use sm:group-exists instead.
  • xmldb:is-admin-user, use sm:is-dba instead.
  • xmldb:is-authenticated, use sm:is-authenticated or sm:is-externally-authenticated instead.
  • xmldb:get-permissions, use sm:get-permissions instead.
  • xmldb:permissions-to-string, use sm:octal-to-mode instead.
  • xmldb:string-to-permissions, use sm:mode-to-octal instead.
  • xmldb:remove-user-from-group, use sm:remove-group-member instead.
  • xmldb:set-collection-permissions, use sm:chmod, sm:chown and sm:chgrp instead.
  • xmldb:set-resource-permissions, use sm:chmod, sm:chown and sm:chgrp instead.
• XQuery Context module.
• XQuery DateTime module. Consider using dtm.xqm instead.
• eXist-db's HTTP Client module. Use the EXPath HTTP Client module instead.
• eXist-db's XQuery FTP Client module. Use the EXPath FTP Client module instead.
• eXist-db's Math module. Use the XQuery 3.0 math functions instead.
• commands extension.
• fluent extension.
• Memcached extension.
• metadata extension.
• netedit extension.
• OAuth Security extension.
• OpenID Security extension.
• Scheduler extension.
• tomcat-realm extension.
• XMPP extension.
• XProcXQ extension. Consider using Calabash instead.
• xUnit extension.

Craig Berry has kindly provided a Perl script which you can run against your XQuery code to audit for most of these changes.

New Build System

The build system for eXist-db was previously Apache Ant. With 5.x.x we have completed a full migration of the build system to Apache Maven. Maven affords us a much more modular, rigorous, and flexible process, whilst reducing the maintenance burden that we experienced with Ant. We are now also able to easily publish artifacts to Maven Central for those eXist-db users that embed eXist-db within their own applications.

One major change, is that eXist-db can no longer be built "in-place" from a Git clone, instead building eXist-db now generates a distribution. It is recommended that all users working with the source code, should start with a fresh clone of eXist-db 5.0.0, as its source footprint is not compatible with 5.0.0-RC7 or older.

The Building eXist-db documentation page has been updated with the latest instructions for building eXist-db with Maven.

Backwards Compatibility

eXist-db 5.0.0 is binary compatible with eXist-db RC8, RC7, and RC6. Regardless, before upgrading to this version of eXist-db, it is strongly recommended to perform a full backup and restore. Users who are upgrading should always consult the Upgrading Guide in the documentation. For details of backwards compatibility with versions of eXist-db prior to 5.0.0-RC6, please see the Backwards Compatibility details of 5.0.0-RC6.

NOTE: Applications that shipped with previous version of eXist-db are not guaranteed to be forwards compatible. To ensure smooth operation you should clear your web browser's cache before trying to access newer apps.

Downloading this Version

• eXist-db v5.0.0 is available for download from GitHub.
• Docker images for are available from eXist-db's DockerHub.
• Maven artifacts are available from Maven Central.
• Mac users of the Homebrew package repository may acquire eXist 5.0.0 directly from there via. the exist-db cask.

High Scores!

We would like to say a big Thank You to all of those developers who contributed to eXist-db 5.0.0. Your contributions were very welcome.