Using XML content sources

Fields of XML content sources are bound to HTML elements in exactly the same manner as other database content sources. Unlike database content sources, the names of the fields of an XML content source have a structure that matches the XML element hierarchy. That is, elements that are children of other elements have a multi-part name that is formed from the name of the XML element and all of its parents.

Consider the following example of XML:

<addresses>

    <entry>

        <name>Russell</name>

        <address_list>

            <address type="usa">

                <number>1435</number>

                <street>Oregon Ave</street>

                <city>Washington</city>

            </address>

            <address>

                <number>2434</number>

                <street>Main Street</street>

                <city>San Jose</city>

            </address>

        </address_list>

    </entry>

    <entry>

        ...   

    </entry>

</addresses>

If we create an XML data source that makes all of these fields bindable, we end up with a content source with the following fields:

name

address_list/address/@type

address_list/address/number

address_list/address/street

address_list/address/city

Note that the attribute (type on the element <address>) appears with an @ symbol indicating that it is an attribute.

Note the top level structure of the XML: there is a top level element (<addresses>) that encloses a series of <entry> elements. Each of these is treated as a record, and you can use a table with Replace Rows enabled (or a Repeat Content container) to have each <entry> element appear in a row. This structure of XML allows representation of multiple records.