13. The computer implemented method of claims 8 , wherein the identifying includes identifying repeating elements in the markup language document.
8. A computer implemented method for querying a markup language document having hierarchical information including a parent node and descendent nodes related to the parent node, comprising: storing, in a data source, a markup language document; retrieving the markup language document; identifying and extracting information from the retrieved markup language document in response to a query by consulting a mapping specification containing information for locating the parent node, and if the parent node satisfies the query, storing the parent node in a first table; and locating the descendent nodes by consulting the mapping specification if the parent node satisfies the query and storing said descendent nodes in a second table.