Re: What does XA stand for

Steffen Schlachter wrote:

> Well, in fact I was looking for the meaning of the abbreviated word "XA"

Common abbreviation for 'eXtended Architecture'.

In database terms, this was used to describe a specific architecture of distributed systems that supported 'confirmed distributed transactions' using mechanisms such as two phase commit. IIRC, first appeared shortly after the release of the SQL-86 spec, but before SQL-89 (and therefore before SQL-92).

Also XA has been used to describe any 'eXtended Architecture' such as the CD-Rom 'Green Book' and 'White Book' specs; the VM/XA (Virtual Machine) (such as encountered in certain mainframe situations); and other areas.

Historically - I most frequently found this related to specs & docs that IBM has put forth, in which a standard has been extended. Usually IBM's XA proposal had a good technical reason and frequently it formed the basis of ,or a significant adjunct to, a future release of the spec. (It was also usually accompanied by marketing going into high gear <g>)

HTH
/Hans Received on Fri Apr 23 2004 - 10:57:53 CDT