OPENXML is a SQL Server keyword that provides a rowset over in-memory XML documents which can be treated like a table or a view.
OPENXML, a Transact-SQL keyword, provides a rowset over in-memory XML documents that is similar to a table or a view. OPENXML allows access to XML data as though it is a relational rowset. It does this by providing a rowset view of the internal representation of an XML document. The records in the rowset can be stored in database tables.
OPENXML can be used in SELECT and SELECT INTO statements wherever rowset providers, a view, or OPENROWSET can appear as the source. For information about the syntax , see OPENXML (Transact-SQL).
To write queries against an XML document by using OPENXML, you must first call sp_xml_preparedocument. This parses the XML document and returns a handle to the parsed document that is ready for consumption. The parsed document is a document object model (DOM) tree representation of various nodes in the XML document. The document handle is passed to OPENXML, which then provides a rowset view of the document based on the parameters passed to it.
Source: Microsoft (OPENXML Keyword)
