Guru's Guide to SQL Server™ Stored Procedures, XML, and HTML, The

EXPLICIT Mode

If you need more control over the XML that FOR XML produces, EXPLICIT mode is more flexible (and therefore more complicated to use) than either RAW mode or AUTO mode. EXPLICIT mode queries define XML documents in terms of a “universal table”—a mechanism for returning a result set from SQL Server that describes what you want the document to look like, rather than composing the document itself. A universal table is just a SQL Server result set with special column headings that tell SQL Server how to produce an XML document from your data. Think of it as a set-oriented method of making an API call and passing parameters to it. You use the facilities available in Transact-SQL to make the call and pass it parameters.

A universal table ...