ConvertToXML and ConvertFromXML Nodes

ConvertToXML nodes convert non-XML input (like a CSV file or an EDI message type) to XML; ConvertFromXML nodes convert XML input to a non-XML format. Both nodes use built-in DataDirect XML Converters or user-defined custom XML conversions to convert input.

Figure 490. ConvertToXML Node in retrieveData.pipeline

Specifying an XML Converter URL

Both ConvertToXML and ConvertFromXML nodes are defined by specifying an XML Converter URL that evaluates to either a

l Built-in DataDirect XML Converter (converter:CSV or converter:EDI, for example) or a

l User-defined converter (converter:file:///c:/XMLconverters/myConverter.conv, for example)

You can manually type a URL in the node's XML Converter URL property, but the XML converter URL syntax can be complex, and it is easy to make errors or to leave settings that you might wish to use unspecified. For example, a completely specified XML Converter URL for the CSV XML Converter might look like this:

converter:CSV:newline=cr:sep=|:first=yes:number=yes:collapse=yes

The recommended way to specify an XML Converter URL is to select the built-in XML Converter or user-defined custom XML conversion from the Select XML Converter dialog box, which you display by clicking the XML Converter URL field, and then clicking the more button ( ) when it appears.:

Figure 491. Select XML Converter Dialog Box

The value in the URL field changes when you select an XML Converter. Properties and their settings (like decode=no in Figure 491) are displayed only if you change a default value.

Creating a ConvertToXML Node

You can create a ConvertToXML node manually, by dragging the ConvertToXML icon from the Toolbox pane and dropping it on the XML pipeline canvas. See Create a ConvertToXML Node for order.edi for a description of this procedure.

ConvertToXML nodes are created automatically if an XML Converter URL has been used as a data source for another document represented in the XML pipeline, or if you drag a converted document from the Project window and drop it on the canvas. The Extract full order information XQuery node in the order.pipeline uses two non-XML data sources that convert text and EDI message types to XML for processing. When this XQuery is added to an XML pipeline, its data sources, represented as ConvertToXML nodes, also appear in the XML pipeline.

Input Port

ConvertToXML and ConvertFromXML nodes have a single input port that you use to specify the file to be converted to XML (or vice versa). You can specify a default value, or the value can be dynamic (the output from another node in the XML pipeline, for example).