What is an XML Action?

Creating XML Actions

1. Click and drag the 

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   _action_xml _action_xml nopanel true

    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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   _property_settings _property_settings nopanel true

    on the right, populate the following details:

4. 

XPath Syntax

Output Attributes

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

XML Namespaces

The grid contains a list of the namespaces defined in an XML response.

To add a namespace to the list, click Image Removed Create New. PhixFlow opens a new XML Namespace property pane.

To remove a namespace, use the Image Removed Delete in the toolbar.

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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   _tables _tables nopanel true

    on your 

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   _erd _erd nopanel true

    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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   _http _http nopanel true

    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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   _input _input nopanel true

    connection point node onto the

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   _http _http nopanel true

    action
5. Click on the 

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   _http _http nopanel true

    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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      _toggle_off _toggle_off nopanel true

6. Drag a 

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   _action_xml _action_xml nopanel true

    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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   _http _http nopanel true

    action and the

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   _action_xml _action_xml nopanel true

    action
   1. Map across all attributes

XML Action Setup

1. Click on the 

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   _action_xml _action_xml nopanel true

    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_save _action_save nopanel true

    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?
   Image Added

   
   

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