What is an XML Action?
XML actions process XML data, and convert it into specific data objects that can be used by PhixFlow for processing. The XML action extracts one or more records from the provided XML document using the XPath specified.
Creating XML Actions
- Click and drag the XML icon from the toolbar onto the canvas
- Enter a name for the XML action, then select Create Action
- In the XML action
Properties on the right, populate the following details:
| Field | Description | Example Value |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Name given to the XML Node. This will be displayed on the Actionflow canvas. | MyXMLReader |
| Input Expression | 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
|
| 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 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 |
4. 
Apply and Close all settings
XPath Syntax
| Expression | Description |
|---|---|
| symbol refers to the root element. |
@ | symbol refers to the current element. |
. | is the dot-child operator, which is used to denote a child element of the current element. |
[ ] | is used to select a child element of the current element (by name or index number). |
* | a wildcard, returning all elements regardless of their name. |
| ^ | symbol is used to traverse up 1 element in the hierarchy from child to parent. |
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 
button and complete the appropriate details. For example:
XML Namespaces
The grid contains a list of the namespaces defined in an XML response.
To add a namespace to the list, click 
Create New. PhixFlow opens a new XML Namespace property pane.
To remove a namespace, use the 
Delete in the toolbar.