Working with XML

christian.schou1

Hello

Are there any activities for working with XML? I would like to:

Call an API that returns XML
Deserialize XML
Store the XML elements into variables
Input variables in a data table based on some if statements

Looking forward to hearing from you guys

christian.schou1

Hello again

I have made the following in Node-RED:

alt text

My function looks like this:
alt text
My idea here is to assign the Orders object from JSON to orders.

The generated JSON from the XML looks like the following:
alt text

My Robot looks like the following and have a variable with the name orders
alt text

How do I get the data from my function into the robot? I would like to insert the JSON data into a data table for iteration within the robot. Can someone see what I am doing wrong?

Allan Zimmermann

I don't think you can use $ as a name in json, so you need to clean it up
if you you flattener your array data, you can get it as a data table ( the best solution. So arguement is of type System.Data.DataTable and you can then loop the data using "Foreach DataRow") )

msg.payload = {"orders": [
	{"id": "4976"},
	{"id": "4978"}
]}

I'm going to assume you intend on adding more info, so that makes sense. If all you are doing is sending a list of number/strings, you could also just set the type in the robot to Array of string and then use

msg.payload = ["4976" "4978"]

and lastly if you cannot or don't want to change the json structur you can simply parse the json in the robot, and set the argument type to Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JObject ( or Newtonsoft.Json.Linq.JArray )

msg.payload = {"orders": { blah blah }}

Also, in your screenshot, you use Orders in the payload but orders with lowercase in the robot. Argument parsing from the payload object is case sensitive, so please always keep both in lowercase
And don't use external hosts for images, you can paste images directly in to the edit box

christian.schou1

Hi @allan-zimmermann

Thank you very much for your reply and feedback. I managed to flatten the data and put it into an array and parse that to the robot.

I have made a Python script that converts the XML data in the future in order to generate a better format for the robot. The output is a JSON object which I don't think that OpenRPA supports (only JSON arrays)? I tried the ReadJSON activity but it asks for a JSON array and also wants to insert the data into a data table.

Is it possible in OpenRPA to just deserialize the JSON object and use xdoc to assign specific elements/descendants from the JSON file to variables and then insert the descendants into a data table that way? I have made a similar thing in UiPath where I also made a for each that inserts elements from the serialized data into a data table.

And I will paste the images into the editor next time - didn't know that was possible (way easier).

Allan Zimmermann

The idea of using an array with flat data, is you can add that to a data table.
If you prefere working with an object instead, just set the argument in the robot to the type JObject ( I already mention this as 3. in my last reply. This also removes the need to "flatteren" the json, since JObject (or JArray ) supports any json )

christian.schou1

Hi @allan-zimmermann

I need it as an object as it got some header data I need during runtime

My problem is: how can I work with JSON data in OpenRPA? What activity should I use? I had a look at the ReadJSON but I only take an array, isn't that correct, or is my understanding wrong here?

Is it possible to use xdoc when assigning data?

Best regards Christian

Allan Zimmermann

you are all over the place ... This thread is getting way to broad, please ask specific question or it's impossible to answer !

how can I work with JSON data in OpenRPA?

What do you mean ? I wouldn't know how to answer this, ask a specific question and I shall try an answer if I can.

What activity should I use?

Again, to WHAT ? I have no basis to answer on ... Use Invoke Code, Use Assign, Use ForEah ... there are millions right and/or right answers.

I had a look at the ReadJSON but I only take an array.

Yes, its for loading the data to a datatable ...

Is it possible to use xdoc when assigning data?

xdoc, as in XML ? you want to load json as xml ? that makes no sense ....

You can create a XDocument or XMLDocuement and load an xml string or xml file, and then use XPath to parse it
You can load JSon from a string using JObject.Parse(stringvar)
If you want to get from a file use System.Io.File.ReadAllText(filename) get the file content as a string

Hope it makes sense.