NAME

xml_to_db - convert a subset of XML into fsdb

SYNOPSIS

    xml_to_db -k EntityField <source.xml

DESCRIPTION

Converts a very limited subset of XML into Fsdb format.

The input is XML-format (not fsdb). The input is parsed as XML, and each entity of type ENTITYFIELD is extracted as a row. ENTITYFIELD can have mutliple components separated by slashes to walk down the XML tree, if necessary.

The input XML file is assumed to be very simple. All rows are assumed to be sequential in one entity. Any other than the specified ENTITYFIELD are ignored. The schema is assumed to be defined by the first instances of that field.

The output is two-space-separated fsdb. (Someday more general field separators should be supported.) Fsdb fields are normalized version of the CSV file: spaces are converted to single underscores.

OPTIONS

-e EmptyValue or --empty

Specify the value newly created columns get.

This module also supports the standard fsdb options:

-d

Enable debugging output.

-i or --input InputSource

Read from InputSource, typically a file name, or - for standard input, or (if in Perl) a IO::Handle, Fsdb::IO or Fsdb::BoundedQueue objects.

-o or --output OutputDestination

Write to OutputDestination, typically a file name, or - for standard output, or (if in Perl) a IO::Handle, Fsdb::IO or Fsdb::BoundedQueue objects.

--autorun or --noautorun

By default, programs process automatically, but Fsdb::Filter objects in Perl do not run until you invoke the run() method. The --(no)autorun option controls that behavior within Perl.

--help

Show help.

--man

Show full manual.

SAMPLE USAGE

Input:

        <?xml version='1.0' standalone='yes'?>
        <gnuPod>
         <files>
          <file addtime="3389919728" album="Born to Pick" artist="7th Day Buskers" title="Loch Lamor" />
          <file addtime="3389919728" album="Born to Pick" artist="7th Day Buskers" title="The Floods" />
          <file addtime="3389919735" album="Copland Conducts Copland" artist="Aaron Copland" title="Our Town" />
         </files>
         <playlist name="new shows" plid="97241" >
           <regex artist="^(Le Show|This American Life)$" />
         </playlist>
        </gnuPod>

Command:

        xml_to_db -k files/file <gnupod.xml

Output:

        #fsdb -F S addtime album artist title
        3389919728  Born to Pick  7th Day Buskers  Loch Lamor
        3389919728  Born to Pick  7th Day Buskers  The Floods
        3389919735  Copland Conducts Copland  Aaron Copland  Our Town
        #   | xml_to_db -k files/file

SEE ALSO

Fsdb.

CLASS FUNCTIONS

new

    $filter = new Fsdb::Filter::xml_to_db(@arguments);

Create a new xml_to_db object, taking command-line arguments.

set_defaults

    $filter->set_defaults();

Internal: set up defaults.

parse_options

    $filter->parse_options(@ARGV);

Internal: parse command-line arguments.

_find_entities

    $filter->_find_entities

Internal: walk the ENTITYFIELD specification through the XML::Simple data structure. Returns an aref.

setup

    $filter->setup();

Internal: setup, parse headers.

run

    $filter->run();

Internal: run over each rows.

AUTHOR and COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2011-2018 by John Heidemann <johnh@isi.edu>

This program is distributed under terms of the GNU general public license, version 2. See the file COPYING with the distribution for details.