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Overview

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Use

a

an

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to

action to process XML data, and convert it into specific data objects that can be used by PhixFlow for processing. The XML Node extracts one or more records from the provided XML document using the XPath specified.

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Basic Settings

Expect literal values or expressions encapsulated within ${} syntax, for example ${in.MyValue}. A worked example of the JSON Node is provided at the end of this page.

Field Description Example Value
Name Name given to the XML Node. This will be displayed on the actionflow canvas. `MyXMLReader`
Input Expression
This field is mandatory.
The input expression provides the source of the XML data to be operated upon. Typically, this will be a simple expression pointing at an incoming attribute, such as, the body from a HTTP Node.
// Consists of the pipe name and the name of a mapped attribute
`in.body`
XPath
The XPath expression is evaluated against the XML document provided by the Input Expression and returns a list of XML elements. It determines which elements are extracted from the

JSONis the dot-

XML.

Note that the XPath determines the number of elements that are processed, which directly correlates to the number of records returned by the XML Node. For example, if the path returns the route element of the XML Document only one record will be returned. Whereas a path that returns children nodes will return one record for each child element.

// XML XPath

/root/main/title

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name	XPathSyntax

XPath Syntax

Expression	Description

$

/ symbol

refers

used to

the root element.

@ symbol refers to the current element.

.

traverse down into the XML structure. It is the child operator,

which is

used to denote a child element of the current element. All elements are delimited using this notation e.g. `/rss/Item/Date`, will return the value held in the Date element.
..	is used to traverse up 1 element in the hierarchy from child to parent.
`[ ]`	is used to select a child element of the current element (by name or index number).
@	is used to select all attributes with the specified name e.g. //`@foo` will return all attributes named foo in the XML document. See Attributes vs Elements for details.
`//`	Selects elements, from within the current element, that match the selection regardless of their location e.g. `/root/item//bar` will return all bar elements from within item.
`*`	a wildcard, returning all elements regardless of their name.

Attribute Expression Syntax

Expression Description

.

symbol is used to traverse down into the XML structure. It is the child operator, used to denote a child element of the current element.

All elements are delimited using this notation e.g. _result.Feed.Tilte, will return the value held in Title element.

^ symbol is used to traverse up 1 element in the hierarchy from child to parent.

[ ] is used to select a child element of the current element (by name or index number).

Worked examples are provided at the end of this page.

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 Attribute Expression syntax in an output attribute. To add an output attribute click the

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button and complete the appropriate details. For example:

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Namespaces

XML documents containing namespaces are supported.

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

Add a Namespace

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

Remove Namespace

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

Example

See Worked Example below.

Advanced

Field

Description

Prioritise Throughput Over Ordering

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Worked Example

Code Block

language	xml

<root xmlns:h="http://example.com/schema"> 
	<main page="PF Main Page">

<h:title

<title name="PF Title">PF Title Text

">

<h:datarow>

<datarow>

<h:data

<data

h:

initials="AA">Alistair

Andrews<data>

Andrews</data>

<h:data

<data

h:

initials="BB">Bert Brown</data> 
			</

h:

datarow> 
		</

h:

title> 
	</main> 
</root>

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Input Connection Points

Can Accept a single Insert excerpt_driving_input_connection_point_driving_input_connection_pointnopaneltrue.

The grid contains a list of all input connection points and their type.

To add a new input connection point, in the section toolbar click Insert excerpt_add_addnopaneltrue to open a new input connection point and set its properties; see Input Connection Points.

To edit an existing input connection point, double-click it in the list to open its properties.

To remove an input connection point, select one and in the section toolbar click Insert excerpt_delete_deletenopaneltrue.

Output Connection Points

This section has a toolbar with standard buttons. The grid contains a list of all output connection points.

To add a new output path, in the section toolbar click Insert excerpt_add_addnopaneltrue to open a new output path and set the expression; see Output Connection Points.

To edit an existing output path, double-click it in the list to open its properties.

To remove an output path, select one and in the section toolbar click Insert excerpt_delete_deletenopaneltrue.

Output Attributes

JSON is converted into data objects that can be used by PhixFlow, this information is accessed using the syntax, _result.AttributeName.

Worked Example

Below is an example JSON object passed to the JSON Node:

Code Block

language	js
theme	Eclipse
firstline	1
title	Example JSON
linenumbers	true

// Example JSON string.
{
    "main_page": {
        "page": "PF Main Page",
        "title": {
            "name": "PF Title Text",
            "data": [
                {"initials": "AA", "value" : "Alistair Andrews"},
                {"initials": "BB", "value" : "Bert Brown"}
            ]
        }
    }
}

JSON Path: $.main_page.title

This path will bring back all elements matching the JSON path including the parent/grandparents and all child elements. The path defines the starting point from which we reference the JSON nodes.

The following examples show how to reference the returned JSON data:

_result.name, returns PF Title Text
_result.^.page, returns PF Main Page
1. The ^ traverses up the JSON hierarchy.
listToString(_result.data.initials), returns "AA, BB"
1. Because there are multiple JSON nodes under _result.data.initials, an array of data is returned. See Array Handling Functions.

Info

title	Note the use of

^ traverses up the hierarchy 1 layer.
. is the separator between nodes
using .. traverses down the hierarchy 1 layer.

XPath

/root/main/title

A record is created for each element returned by the path. Therefore we do not recommend returning the root as this only returns a single record.

Results

The following examples show how to reference the returned xpaths xml data structure in an Output Attribute:

Xpath value: _result → returns the elements from the path.
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 is used to handle multiple matching child values.

Namespace Example

Code Block

language	xml

<root xmlns:h="http://example.com/schema"> 
	<main page="PF Main Page"> 
		<h:title name="PF Title" h:id="1007">PF Title Text
			<h:datarow> 
				<h:data h:initials="AA">Alistair Andrews</h:data>
				<h:data h:initials="BB">Bert Brown</h:data> 
			</h:datarow> 
		</h:title> 
	</main> 
</root>

Within the XPath expression they are referred to using semicolons

/root/main/h:title

A record is created for each element returned by the path. Therefore we do not recommend returning the root as this only returns a single record.

Within Attribute Expressions a $ is used instead of the normal : namespace notation

Xpath element attributes: _result.name → returns 'PF Title'
Xpath element attributes in a namespace: _result.h$id → returns '1007'
Xpath child attributes: listToString(_result.h$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'

The namespace prefix used here 'h' must be configured in the XML Namespace.

Learn More

For links to all pages in this topic, see Understanding Actionflows.

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