No more learning complex, proprietary data access codes. Just get on the Internet and do your search in plain English. REWebcom and OpenMLS have teamed to produce the first XML-based Internet real estate listing search technology with a new product called Xsearch!

Making its debut in Texas and Michigan, the OpenMLS-designed search tool is based entirely on XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and will "revolutionize the way we mine data from the web" says Doug Greenwood, president of OpenMLS.

Greenwood explains that traditional sites index information by crawling the Web and inspecting pages written in HTML code. Keywords are simply collected without regard to meaning or context. Just as HTML defines the display of data, XML defines the meaning of data. By reading XML code, indexing software will be able to correlate meaning with data. "This is precisely the approach OpenMLS has taken with Xsearch!. We index real estate documents that are stored in XML. The result? Fast searches that return listings meeting precise criteria."

Kevin Fowler, president of REWebcom, describes the first installation of Xsearch! as the new alternative to the traditional searching for real estate information. "The important distinction here is that we are searching actual XML documents out there on the web, not searching records in a database management system. Our point and click (software) interface contains the standard real estate search categories, such as: property type, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet and price range. But due to XML technology, we additionally can provide a free-format input field, allowing searches based on any text (proprietary code) the consumer desires."

For example, users of Xsearch! can type in the name of their city, plus additional keywords such as "lakes" or "views." The search result returns all available listings in the area which include some description of a lake and views. This adds more functionality than HTML programs in which typing in the city, or a particular lake, would limit the listing search results to two distinct geographical locations.

"These examples demonstrate the power of XML; the ability to define information so that fine-tuned searches deliver accurate results with only a single request to the web server and without the use of traditional database systems," says Fowler.

Xsearch! utilizes the open standard XML specification, RELML (Real Estate Listing Markup Language). RELML is formalized in a Document Type Definition developed in a collaboration between OpenMLS, 4thWORLD Telecom, and HomeSeekers.com. The principals emphasize that Xsearch! is a stand-alone Internet product. It can also integrate with existing Real Estate Listing Management Systems that export XML documents.

"XML is the means by which the World Wide Web will meet its promise of easy access for consumers to world-class information services. Our mission is to assist the real estate industry in taking advantage of it," says Greenwood.

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Published: May 24, 1999

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