Reading XML

Alteryx Designer can read and parse XML through either the Input Data tool or the XML Parse tool. These examples focus on the Input Data tool configuration options.

All descriptions reference the example below.

XML Example

    <items>
	<item id="01" type="Donut">
		<name>Cake</name>
		<ppu>0.60</ppu>
		<batters>
			<batter id="10">正则</batter>
			<batter id="11">巧克力</batter>
			<batter id="12">蓝莓</batter>
			<batter id="13">恶魔蛋糕</batter>
		</batters>
		<topping>
			<topping id="100">none</topping>
			<topping id="101">糖釉</topping>
			<topping id="102">糖</topping>
			<topping id="103">糖粉</topping>
			<topping id="104">巧克力</topping>
			<topping id="105">巧克力糖屑</topping>
			<topping id="106">枫糖</topping>
		</topping>
	</item>
	<item id="02" type="Donut">
		<name>提糖</name>
		<ppu>0.65</ppu>
		<batters>
			<batter id="10">正则</batter>
		</batters>
		<topping>
			<topping id="100">none</topping>
			<topping id="101">糖釉</topping>
			<topping id="102">糖</topping>
			<topping id="104">巧克力</topping>
			<topping id="106">枫糖</topping>
		</topping>
	</item>
	<item id="03" type="Donut">
		<name>酪乳</name>
		<ppu>0.50</ppu>
		<batters>
			<batter id="10">正则</batter>
			<batter id="11">巧克力</batter>
		</batters>
	</item>
</items>

Default Settings

The Input Data tool uses these default XML settings:

Configuration Option	Setting
Return Root Element	Deselected
XML Child Element Name	Unspecified
Return Child Values	Selected
Return Outer XML	Deselected

These settings, when applied to the example XML input, generate these results:

Don't contain the root element.
Contain the child elements of the root element.
Contain the grandchild elements of the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of a specified element.
Don't contain tag formatting.

Child Element Name

Specifying an XML Child Element Name causes Alteryx to read the file from the element.

Configuration Option	Setting
Return Root Element	Deselected
XML Child Element Name	"topping"
Return Child Values	Selected
Return Outer XML	Deselected

These settings, when applied to the example XML input, generate these results:

topping_1	topping_1_id	topping_2	topping_2_id	topping_3	topping_3_id
None	100	Glazed	101	Sugar	102
None	100	Glazed	101	Sugar	102
Chocolate	104	Maple	106
Glazed	101	Sugar	102
Glazed	101	Powdered Sugar	103	Chocolate	104

These results...

Don't contain the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of the root element.
Don't contain the grandchild elements of the root element.
Contain the child elements of a specified element.
Don't contain tag formatting.

The remaining sections detail the impact on returned results when changing configuration selections from the default options.

Return Root Element

Select Return Root Element to return the parent element that encloses all other represented elements.

Configuration Option	Setting
Return Root Element	Selected
XML Child Element Name	Unspecified
Return Child Values	Selected
Return Outer XML	Deselected

These settings, when applied to the example XML input, generate these results:

items	item	item_id	item_type	item_2	item_2_id	imem_2_type	item_3	item_3_id	item_3_type
		01	Donut		02	Donut		03	Donut

These results...

Contain the root element.
Contain the child elements of the root element.
Don't contain the grandchild elements of the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of a specified element.
Don't contain tag formatting.

Child Element Name

Specifying an XML Child Element Name does not change the results. Alteryx prioritizes reading the root element.

Return Child Values

Deselect Return Child Values to return only the child values of the root element.

Configuration Option	Setting
Return Root Element	Deselected
XML Child Element Name	Unspecified
Return Child Values	Deselected
Return Outer XML	Deselected

These settings, when applied to the example XML input, generate these results:

item	id	type
	01	Donut
	02	Donut
	03	Donut

These results...

Don't contain the root element.
Contain the child elements of the root element.
Don't contain the grandchild elements of the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of a specified element.
Don't contain tag formatting.

Child Element Name

Specifying an XML Child Element Name causes Alteryx to read the file from the specified element.

Configuration Option	Setting
Return Root Element	Deselected
XML Child Element Name	"topping"
Return Child Values	Deselected
Return Outer XML	Deselected

These results...

Don't contain the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of the root element.
Don't contain the grandchild elements of the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of a specified element.
Don't contain tag formatting.

Return Outer XML

Select Return Outer XML to create additional columns containing the tag format of the child elements.

Configuration Option	Setting
Return Root Element	Deselected
XML Child Element Name	Unspecified
Return Child Values	Selected
Return Outer XML	Selected

These settings, when applied to the example XML input, generate these results:

id	type	name	name_OuterXML	ppu	ppu_OuterXML	batters_OuterXML
01	Donut	Cake	<name>Cake</name>	0.60	<ppu>0.60</ppu>	<batters>
02	Donut	Raised	<nane>Raised</name>	0.65	<ppu>0.65</ppu>	<batters>
03	Donut	Buttermilk	<name>Buttermilk</name>	0.50	<ppu>0.50</ppu>	<batters>

These results...

Don't contain the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of the root element.
Don't contain the grandchild elements of the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of a specified element.
Contain tag formatting.

Child Element Name

Specifying an XML Child Element Name causes Alteryx to read the file from the specified element.

Configuration Option	Setting
Return Root Element	Deselected
XML Child Element Name	"topping"
Return Child Values	Selected
Return Outer XML	Selected

These settings, when applied to the example XML input, generate these results:

topping_1	topping_1_id	topping_1_OuterXML	topping_2	topping_2_id
None	100	<topping id="100">None</topping>	Glazed	101
None	100	<topping id="100>None</topping>	Glazed	101
Chocolate	104	<topping id="104">Chocolate</topping>	Maple	106
Glazed	101	<topping id="101">Glazed</topping>	Sugar	102
Glazed	101	<topping id="101>Glazed</topping>	Powdered Sugar	103

These results...

Don't contain the root element.
Don't contain the child elements of the root element.
Don't contain the grandchild elements of the root element.
Contain the child elements of a specified element.
Contain tag formatting.

In this section:

Reading XML

XML Example

Default Settings

Child Element Name

Return Root Element

Child Element Name

Return Child Values

Child Element Name

Return Outer XML

Child Element Name

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