1. A method for generating a schema ( 22 ) for a relational database ( 14 ) corresponding to a document ( 12 ) having a document-type definition ( 18 ) and data ( 16 ) complying with the document-type definition ( 18 ), the document-type definition ( 18 ) having content particles representative of the structure of the document data ( 16 ), as well as loading the data into the relational database ( 14 ) in a manner consistent with the relational schema ( 22 ), the method comprising the steps of: extracting ( 24 ) metadata ( 34 ) representative of the document-type definition ( 18 ) from the document-type definition ( 18 ); generating ( 28 ) the schema ( 22 ) for the relational database ( 14 ) from the metadata ( 34 ), wherein at least one table ( 20 ) is thereby defined in the relational database ( 14 ) corresponding to at least one content particle of the document-type definition ( 18 ) via the metadata ( 34 ); and loading ( 30 ) the document data ( 16 ) into the at least one table ( 20 ) of the relational database ( 14 ) according to the relational schema ( 22 ) in a manner driven by the metadata ( 34 ).