What is an XML Action?

Creating XML Actions

1. Click and drag the 

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    icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
2. Enter a name for the XML action, then select Create Action
3. In the XML action 

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    on the right, populate the following details:

4. 

XPath Syntax

What about / ?

Output Attributes

Contains Add a list of attributes to be returned by the node. In this node XML is converted into data objects that can be used by PhixFlow, this information is accessed XML action, using the syntax _result.AttributeName in an output attribute. To add an output attribute Output Attribute, click the 

XML Namespaces

XML Namespaces provide a method to avoid element name conflicts by ensuring they are unique. 

The grid contains a list of the namespaces defined in an XML responseXML documents containing namespaces are supported.

For more information on XML Namespaces, see https://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_namespaces.asp and XML Namespace.

Example XML

<root xmlns:h="http://example.com/schema"> 
	<main page="PF Main Page"> 
		<h:title name="PF Title">PF Title Text">
			<h:datarow> 
				<h:data h:initials="AA">Alistair Andrews<data>
				<h:data h:initials="BB">Bert Brown</data> 
			</h:datarow> 
		</h:title> 
	</main> 
</root>

/root/main/title 

• Xpath value: _result → returns 'PF Title Text'
• Xpath element attributes: _result.name → returns 'PF Title'
• Xpath parent attributes: _result.^.page -> returns 'PF Main Page'
• Xpath child attributes: listToString(_result.datarow.data.initials) → returns 'AA,BB'
• Xpath child attribute text values: listToString(_result.datarow.data) → returns 'Alistair Andrews,Bert Brown'

Note the use of:

• ^ to traverse to the immediate parent element.
• . to traverse to the immediate child element.

• the listToString function to handle multiple matching child elements/attributes.

Namespaces

Within path expressions, they are referred to using semicolons. 

• /root/main/h:title

Within attribute expressions, a $ is used instead of the normal : namespace notation.

• Xpath element attibutes: _result.h$name → returns 'PF Title'
• Xpath child attributes: listToString(_result.h$datarow.h$data.h$initials) → returns 'AA,BB'
• Xpath child attribute text values: listToString(_result.h$datarow.h$data.value) -> returns 'Alistair Andrews,Bert Brown'

Worked Example

Here is a worked example using an XML file from BBC News (https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml).

In this example, we are using:  

• A Shop News screen containing a blank grid and a button  - this screen was created using the Multi-tile template

GIF/SCREENSHOT OF FINISHED RESULT   

Create a RRS Feed using XML Data

In this example, we'll create a table containing BBC News from an XML file.

Table Setup

1. Create a new 

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    on your 

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    to save the BBC news data to, and ensure it contains the following attributes:
   1. Name: UID
      1. Type: Integer
      2. Expression: _NULL
   2. Name: Title
      1. Type: String
      2. Expression: _NULL
   3. Name: Description
      1. Type: Bigstring
      2. Expression: _NULL
   4. Name: Link
      1. Type: String
      2. Expression: _NULL

Actionflow Setup

1. On the Shop News screen, add an Actionflow on the Start RSS Feed button
2. Select Click to Connect and choose On Click
3. Drag a 

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    action onto the canvas and give it a suitable name - this will be used to retrieve the news from the BBC XML
4. Drag the 

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    connection point node onto the

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    action
5. Click on the 

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    action to open its Properties
   1. HTTP Method: GET
   2. URL: https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml
   3. Log Traffic: 

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6. Drag a 

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    action onto the canvas and give it a suitable name - this will be used to convert the XML data into data suitable for our BBC News table
7. Connect the out connector from the HTTP node to the XML node
8. Click on the connector between the 

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    action and the

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    action
   1. Map across all attributes

XML Action Setup

1. Click on the 

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    action to open its Properties
   1. Input Expression: in.body
   2. Path: /rss

   3. Output Attributes:
      

      Code Block
      theme Emacs title Name: Title, Type: String
      _result.channel.title

      
      

      Code Block
      theme Emacs title Name: Description, Type: Bigstring
      _result.channel.description

      
      

      Code Block
      theme Emacs title Name: Link, Type: String
      _result.channel.link

      
      

      Code Block
      theme Emacs title Name: ID, Type: String
      _NULL

      
      

2. Hover over the XML action and select out
3. Create a

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    action
   1. Primary Table: BBC_News

Save Action and Open Screen Action Setup

1. Click on the connector between the XML action and the Save action

2. Map across the XML attributes to their relevant attributes on the Save action

   Expand
   title How?

   
   

Testing

1. On the Shop News screen, lock the screen and click the Start RSS Feed button
2. If the Actionflow is working, the BBC News grid should contain all of the BBC News data

1.02 Actionflow Principles