XMLReader

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Short Description
Ports
Metadata
XMLReader Attributes
Details
Examples
Best Practices
Compatibility
See also

Short Description

XMLReader reads data from XML files using DOM technology. It can also read data from compressed files, input port, and dictionary.

[Note]Which XML Component?

Generally, use XMLExtract. It is fast and has GUI to map elements to records. It is based on SAX.

XMLReader can use more complex XPath expressions than XMLExtract, e. g. it allows you you to reference siblings. On the other hand, this XMLReader is slower and needs more memory than XMLExtract. XMLReader is based on DOM.

XMLReader supersedes the original XMLXPathReader. XMLXPathReader can use more complex XPath expressions than XMLExtract. XMLXPathReader uses DOM.

Component Data source Input ports Output ports Each to all outputs Different to different outputs [1] Transformation Transf. req. Java CTL Auto-propagated metadata
XMLReaderXML file0-11-n
no
yes
no
no
no
no
no

[1]   XMLReader, XMLExtract and XMLXPathReader send data to ports as defined in their Mapping or Mapping URL attribute.

Icon

Ports

Port typeNumberRequiredDescriptionMetadata
Input0
no
For port reading. See Reading from Input Port.One field (byte, cbyte, string).
Output0 ... n-1
yes
For correct data records. Connect more than one output ports if your mapping requires that. Any
n
no
Error portRestricted format. See Metadata.

Metadata

Metadata Propagation

XMLReader does not propagate metadata.

Metadata Templates

XMLReader has metadata templates on error port. There are two templates: XMLReader_TreeReader_ErrPortWithoutFile and XMLReader_TreeReader_ErrPortWithFile.

Table 53.15. Error Metadata for XMLReader

Field numberField nameData typeDescription
0portintegernumber of the output port where errors occurred
1recordNumberintegerrecord number (per source and port)
2fieldNumberintegerfield number
3fieldNamestringfield name
4valuestringvalue which caused the error
5messagestringerror message
6filestringsource name; This field is optional

Requirements on Metadata

Input metadata has one field with datatype byte, cbyte or string.

The metadata on each of the output ports does not need to be the same. Each of these metadata can use Autofilling Functions.

If you intend to use the last output port for error logging, metadata has to have a fixed format. Field names can be arbitrary, field types must be same as from the template.

XMLReader Attributes

AttributeReqDescriptionPossible values
Basic
File URLyes Specifies which data source(s) will be read (XML file, input port, dictionary). See Supported File URL Formats for Readers.  
Charset Encoding of records that are read. When reading from files, the charset is detected automatically (unless you specify it yourself).

[Important]Important

If you are reading from a port or dictionary, always set Charset explicitly (otherwise you will get errors). There is no autodetection as in reading from files.

ISO-8859-1 (default) | <other encodings>
Data policy  Determines what should be done when an error occurs. See Data Policy for more information. Strict (default) | Controlled | Lenient
Mapping [1] Mapping the input XML structure to output ports. See Mapping Definition for more information. 
Mapping URL[1] External text file containing the mapping definition. See Mapping Definition for more information. 
Implicit mapping If true, map element values to the fields having same name in record. Example: An element (salary) is automatically mapped onto field of the same name (salary). false (default) | true
Advanced
XML features Sequence of individual true/false expressions related to XML features which should be validated. The expressions are separated from each other by semicolon. See XML Features for more information. 

[1]  One of these has to be specified. If both are specified, Mapping URL has higher priority.

Details

Mapping Definition
Context Tag Attributes
Mapping Tag Attributes
Input Mapping Attributes
Reading Multivalue Fields
Mapping Input Fields

Records and fields to be send out to the output ports are specified using xml elements and attributes. Each Context element corresponds to one output port attached. Each Mapping element defines a mapping to one field. See the example below.

Example 53.8. Mapping in XMLReader

<Context xpath="/employees/employee" outPort="0">
    <Mapping nodeName="salary" cloverField="basic_salary"/>
    <Mapping xpath="name/firstname" cloverField="firstname"/>
    <Mapping xpath="name/surname" cloverField="surname"/>
    <Context xpath="child" outPort="1" parentKey="empID" generatedKey="parentID"/>
    <Context xpath="benefits" outPort="2" parentKey="empID;jobID" generatedKey="empID;jobID" 
                              sequenceField="seqKey" sequenceId="Sequence0">
        <Context xpath="financial" outPort="3" parentKey="seqKey" generatedKey="seqKey"/>
    </Context>
    <Context xpath="project" outPort="4" parentKey="empID;jobID" generatedKey="empID;jobID">
        <Context xpath="customer" outPort="5" parentKey="projName;projManager;inProjectID;Start" 
                                  generatedKey="joinedKey"/>
    </Context>
</Context>

Nested structure of <Context> tags is similar to the nested structure of XML elements in input XML files.

However, Mapping attribute does not need to copy all XML structure, it can start at the specified level inside the whole XML file.

Defining the Mapping

  • The Mapping definition is specified in the Mapping URL attribute or in the Mapping attribute.

  • Every Mapping definition consists of <Context> tags. Each <Context> tag defines a mapping of particular xml subtree to record being sent to the specified output port.

  • Each <Context> tag can surround a serie of nested <Mapping> tags. These allow to map XML elements or attributes to Clover fields.

  • Each of these <Context> and <Mapping> tags contains some Context Tag Attributes and Mapping Tag Attributes, respectively.

XMLReader Context Tags and Mapping Tags
  • Empty Context Tag (Without a Child)

    <Context xpath="xpathexpression" />

    See Context Tag Attributes.

  • Non-Empty Context Tag (Parent with a Child)

    <Context xpath="xpathexpression">

    (nested Context and Mapping elements (only children, parents with one or more children, etc.)

    </Context>

    See Context Tag Attributes.

  • Empty Mapping Tag (Renaming Tag)

    • xpath is used:

      <Mapping xpath="xpathexpression" />

    • nodeName is used:

      <Mapping nodeName="elementname" />

    Mapping Tag Attributes

XMLReader Context Tag Attributes

xpath
outPort
parentKey
generatedKey
sequenceId
sequenceField
namespacesPath
  • xpath

    Required

    The xpath expression can be any XPath query.

    Example: xpath="/tagA/.../tagJ"

  • outPort

    Optional

    Number of output port to which data is sent. If not defined, no data from this level of Mapping is sent out using such level of Mapping.

    Example: outPort="2"

  • parentKey

    Both parentKey and generatedKey must be specified.

    Sequence of metadata fields on the next parent level separated by semicolon, colon, or pipe. Number and data types of all these fields must be the same in the generatedKey attribute or all values are concatenated to create a unique string value. In such a case, key has only one field.

    Example: parentKey="first_name;last_name"

    Equal values of these attributes assure that such records can be joined in the future.

  • generatedKey

    Both parentKey and generatedKey must be specified.

    Sequence of metadata fields on the specified level separated by semicolon, colon, or pipe. Number and data types of all these fields must be the same in the parentKey attribute or all values are concatenated to create a unique string value. In such a case, key has only one field.

    Example: generatedKey="f_name;l_name"

    Equal values of these attributes assure that such records can be joined in the future.

  • sequenceId

    When a pair of parentKey and generatedKey does not insure unique identification of records, a sequence can be defined and used.

    Id of the sequence.

    Example: sequenceId="Sequence0"

  • sequenceField

    When a pair of parentKey and generatedKey does not insure unique identification of records, a sequence can be defined and used.

    A metadata field on the specified level in which the sequence values are written. Can serve as parentKey for the next nested level.

    Example: sequenceField="sequenceKey"

  • namespacePaths

    Optional

    Default namespaces that should be used for the xpath attribute specified in the <Context> tag.

    Pattern: namespacePaths='prefix1="URI1";...;prefixN="URIN"'

    Example: namespacePaths='n1="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/";n2="http://ops.com/"'.

    [Note]Note

    Remember that if the input XML file contains a default namespace, this namespacePaths must be specified in the corresponding place of the Mapping attribute. In addition, namespacePaths is inherited from the <Context> element and used by the <Mapping> elements.

XMLReader Mapping Tag Attributes

xpath
nodeName
cloverField
trim
namespacePaths
  • xpath

    Either xpath or nodeName must be specified in <Mapping> tag.

    XPath query.

    Example: xpath="tagA/.../salary"

  • nodeName

    Either xpath or nodeName must be specified in <Mapping> tag. Using nodeName is faster than using xpath.

    XML node that should be mapped to Clover field.

    Example: nodeName="salary"

  • cloverField

    Required

    Clover field to which XML node should be mapped.

    Name of the field in the corresponding level.

    Example: cloverField="SALARY"

  • trim

    Optional

    Specifies whether leading and trailing white spaces should be removed. By default, it removes both leading and trailing white spaces.

    Example: trim="false" (white spaces will not be removed)

  • namespacePaths.

    Optional

    Default namespaces that should be used for the xpath attribute specified in the <Mapping> tag.

    Pattern: namespacePaths='prefix1="URI1";...;prefixN="URIN"'

    Example: namespacePaths='n1="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/";n2="http://ops.com/"'.

    [Note]Note

    Remember that if the input XML file contains a default namespace, this namespacePaths must be specified in the corresponding place of the Mapping attribute. In addition, namespacePaths is inherited from the <Context> element and used by the <Mapping> elements.

XMLReader Input Mapping Attributes

  • cloverField

    Required

    Output Clover field to input should be mapped.

    Example: cloverField="SALARY"

  • inputField

    Required

    Input field to be used.

    Example: inputField="SALARY"

Reading Multivalue Fields

You can read only lists, however (see Multivalue Fields).

[Note]Note

Reading maps is handled as reading pure string (for all data types as map's values).

Example 53.9. Reading lists with XMLReader

An example input file containing these elements (just a code snippet):

    ...
    <attendees>John</attendees>
    <attendees>Vicky</attendees>
    <attendees>Brian</attendees>
    ...

can be read back by the component with this mapping:

    <Mapping xpath="attendees" cloverField="attendanceList"/> 
    

where attendanceList is a field of your metadata. The metadata has to be assigned to the component's output edge. After you run the graph, the field will get populated by XML data like this (that what you will see in View data):

[John,Vicky,Brian]


Mapping Input Fields

If you use input port reading in discrete or source mode, you can map particular input fields to output fields using inputField attribute.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<Context xpath="/rootPath" outPort="0">
 	<Mapping cloverField="field2" inputField="field2"/>
</Context>

Examples

Reading a XML File
Mapping Input Fields to Output
Sending Nested Elements to Different Output Ports
Reading XML with Namespace

Reading a XML File

This example shows the basic usage of XMLReader.

You have a retail.xml file with data about your retail sale.

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<orders>
 	<order id="1">
 	 	<firstname>John</firstname>
 	 	<surname>Smith</surname>
 	 	<emails>
 	 	 	<email>[email protected]</email>
 	 	 	<email>[email protected]</email>
 	 	</emails>
 	 	<item>
 	 	 	<goodName>table</goodName>
 	 	 	<items>1</items>
 	 	</item>
 	</order>
 	<order id="2">
 	 	<firstname>Ellen</firstname>
 	 	<surname>Smith</surname>
 	 	<emails>
 	 	 	<email>[email protected]</email>
 	 	</emails>
 	 	<item>
 	 	 	<goodName>chair</goodName>
 	 	 	<items>3</items>
 	 	</item>
 	 	<item>
 	 	 	<goodName>tablecloth</goodName>
 	 	 	<item>2</item>
 	 	</item>
 	</order>
</orders>

Create a list containing order_id, customer firstname, surname and email(s).

Solution

Create a metadata having 4 fields: order_id (integer), name (string), surname (string), email (string[]).

Set up attributes File URL, Implicit mapping and Mapping.

AttributeValue
File URL${DATAIN_DIR}/retail.xml
MappingSee the xml below.
Implicit mappingtrue

If you set Implicit mapping to true, fields name and surname are populated by values of corresponding elements.

Content of Mapping attribute:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<Context xpath="/orders/order" outPort="0">
 	<Mapping cloverField="order_id" xpath="@id"/>
 	<Mapping cloverField="email" xpath="./emails/email"/>
</Context>

The XMLReader will send following 2 records to it's first output port.

1  John   Smith  [[email protected], [email protected]]
2  Ellen  Smith  [[email protected]]

Mapping Input Fields to Output

This example shows reading input file while some input fields are mapped to output.

Given a list of customers and paths to the files with orders.

C001|./file001.xml
C002|./file002.xml

Each file can contain one or more products:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<products>
 	<product>A</product>
 	<product>B</product>
</products>

Create a list with customers and products:

C001|A
C001|B
C002|E
Solution

Use File URL, Charset, and Mapping attributes.

AttributeValue
File URLport:$0.filename:source
CharsetUTF-8
MappingSee the code below
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>

<Context xpath="/products/product" outPort="0">
 	<Mapping cloverField="productID" xpath="."/>
 	<Mapping cloverField="customerID" inputField="ID"/>
</Context>

Sending Nested Elements to Different Output Ports

This example shows reading input file with nested elements. The nested elements on different levels are sent out to the different output ports.

The input file countries-and-counties.xml contains list of countries. Each country has a name and contains several counties. Each county has a name.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<countries>
 	<country>
 		<name>England</name>
 		<county>
 			<name>Bristol</name>
 		</county>
 		<county>
 			<name>Cumbria</name>
 		</county>
 		<county>
 			<name>Devon</name>
 		</county>
 	</country>
 	<country>
 		<name>Scotland</name>
 		<county>
 			<name>Edinburgh</name>
 		</county>
 		<county>
 			<name>Fife</name>
 		</county>
 	</country>
</countries>

Make a list of countries, and make a list of counties with corresponding countries.

Solution

Assign metadata country with field countryName to the edge on the first output port.

Assign metadata county with fields countryName and countyName to the edge on the second output port.

Use File URL, Charset, and Mapping attributes.

AttributeValue
File URL${DATAIN_DIR}/countries-and-counties.xml
CharsetUTF-8
MappingSee the code below
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<Context xpath="/countries/country" outPort="0">
 	<Mapping cloverField="countryName" xpath="name"/>
 	<Context xpath="./county" outPort="1">
 	 	<Mapping cloverField="countryName" xpath="../name" />
 	 	<Mapping cloverField="countyName" xpath="name"/>
 	</Context>
</Context>

The records sent to the first output port are:

England
Scotland

The records sent to the second output port are:

England	 | Bristol
England  | Cumbria
England  | Devon
Scotland | Edinburgh
Scotland | Fife

Reading XML with Namespace

This example shows you way to read xml that contains different namespaces.

A web page contains svg graphics and links to other web pages. The links (<a>) are of two namespaces: xhtml and svg. Get URLs of links that are from svg image.

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
 	<head>
 	</head>
 	<body>
 	 	<svg width="1024" height="768"
 	 	     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"> 
 	 	 	<a href="http://www.cloveretl.com">
 	 	 	 	<circle cx="512" cy="384" r="80"/>
 	 	 	</a>
 	 	</svg>
 	 	<p>
 	 	 	<a href="http://www.example.com">www.example.com</a>
 	 	</p>
 	</body>
</html>
Solution

Use File URL, Charset, and Mapping attributes.

AttributeValue
File URL${DATAIN_DIR}/page.xhtml
CharsetUTF-8
MappingSee the code below
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<Context xpath="/xhtml:html//svg:a"
 	     namespacePaths='xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml";svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"'
 	     outPort="0">
 	<Mapping cloverField="field1" xpath="@href"/>
</Context>

The output contains on URL:

http://www.cloveretl.com

Best Practices

Implicit Mapping

To avoid typing lines like:

<Mapping xpath="salary" cloverField="salary"/>

Switch on the implicit mapping and use explicit mapping only to populate fields with data from distinct elements.

Avoid Unnecessary Context Elements

The <Context> element should be used only if you intend to send record corresponding to subtree to the output.

Use

<Context xpath="/elem1/elem11" outPort="0">
	<Mapping cloverField="field1" xpath="elem111"/>
</Context>			

instead of

<Context xpath="/elem1">
	<Context xpath="elem11" outPort="0">
		<Mapping cloverField="field1" xpath="elem111"/>
	</Context>
</Context>			

Specify Charset

We recommend users to explicitly specify Charset.

Compatibility

3.3

XMLReader is available since CloverETL 3.3.x.

As of Clover 3.3, reading multivalue fields is supported - you can read only lists, however (see Multivalue Fields).

4.1.0-M1

Since Clover 4.1.0-M1 you can assign values of fields from input port to fields on output port.

See also

JSONReader
XMLExtract
XMLXPathReader
XMLWriter
Common Properties of Components
Specific Attribute Types
Common Properties of Readers
Readers Comparison