Well, there you have it: we need PHP5 as a standard to do this.<br>Perhaps this module could be one of the first to require PHP5.<br>I have too much on my plate at the moment, but would certainly be willing to help anyone who wants to have a go. I have good XML / XPATH experience and have used simplexml quite a bit.
<br><br>Victor Kane<br><a href="http://awebfactory.com.ar">http://awebfactory.com.ar</a><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 8/15/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">David Metzler</b> <<a href="mailto:metzlerd@metzlerd.com">
metzlerd@metzlerd.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Add php5, simplexml to drupal_execute and a little glue function to
<br>iterate through the xml and build form_value arrays and you have a<br>powerful combination.<br><br>Good luck,<br><br>Dave<br>On Aug 15, 2007, at 12:23 PM, Steven Jones wrote:<br><br>> Hey,<br>><br>> Just yesterday, I wrote a importer for some data that came out of
<br>> filemaker pro, in xml format.<br>><br>> Actually it was very easy, but I knew the fields that were in the<br>> data. What I did was to build up a form_values array for a node<br>> submission form, and then pass it in to drupal_execute.
<br>><br>> The only tricky bit was making sure the taxonomy terms existed, and<br>> creating them if they didn't. I guess you could read the xml file, and<br>> build a CCK node type to hold the inserted data, and then import the
<br>> data.<br>><br>> The import/export api's seemed far too confusing, but maybe they're<br>> good and worth a closer look.<br>><br>><br>> On 15/08/07, Chris <<a href="mailto:drupal_support.lists@toastfirst.com">
drupal_support.lists@toastfirst.com</a>> wrote:<br>>><br>>><br>>><br>>> Requirements:<br>>><br>>> Assumption: Input file = standard XML file {e.g<br>>> <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/xml/note.xml">
http://www.w3schools.com/xml/note.xml</a>}<br>>><br>>> i) Enable user input of custom XML page by provision of web<br>>> address url to<br>>> an XML page (in similar fashion to feed; but it is not a feed)
<br>>> Possible enable user input via browser paste (thoughts for/against<br>>> welcome)<br>>> ii) Primary parse to display and allow 'deselection' of fields<br>>> from XML<br>>> import that are not required (by default, or set default to 'select'
<br>>> required)<br>>> iii) Import XML (with additional parameters set in ii) to [custom]<br>>> node type<br>>> iii) Enable edit of imported node list (such as deletion of non-<br>>> required
<br>>> records from list - can/may arguably be done with content listing<br>>> by type)<br>>> iv) Enable linking of key# data field in XML import to key# data<br>>> field in<br>>> existing nodes (of type) for duplicate identification and/or
<br>>> replacement [or<br>>> default global replace - achieved by relevant call to drupal].<br>>><br>>> My findings suggest that:<br>>> - there is nothing currently available to import XML pages with
<br>>> custom data<br>>> sets<br>>> - there are some that require same<br>>> - CCK and Views may be suitable to help make this a generic<br>>> contribution by<br>>> way of creating destination node type? Also 'know of node import'
<br>>> but not<br>>> yet investigated relevancy<br>>> (question to note - if use CCK do we have access to data [ie is<br>>> it stored<br>>> seperately?] in DB for later export or additional requirments?)
<br>>> - there are some existing API's for RSS/XML but I'm not sure if<br>>> anything of<br>>> use for this application<br>>> - there is some 'Google SUmmer of Code' work to look at feeds; but
<br>>> I do not<br>>> think this is relevant.<br>>><br>>> I have not developed anything custom for Drupal for a couple of<br>>> years and<br>>> find the mix of contribs in this area 'confusing' so please lend
<br>>> me your<br>>> wisdom:<br>>><br>>> - any suggested approaches to re-use existing API's and contributions<br>>> - any existing projects underway that this might impact or work with<br>
>> - any willing developers / helpers /shadowers to help ramp up and/<br>>> or to<br>>> build a module for this<br>>><br>>> Additional Comments:<br>>> This capability would be great for commercial applications.
<br>>> If I do this it is likely to be in the near future and to customer<br>>> time<br>>> constraints I would be happy to contribute back to drupal.<br>>> As you can see this i not specd yet but these are my ideas so far
<br>>> based on<br>>> my client requirement and 'quick' initial look at available options<br>>> Any head start with better approach, where to look, who to talk to<br>>> and what<br>>> to research to measure viability/effort required would be very
<br>>> welcome<br>>> indeed.<br>>><br>>> regards<br>>><br>>> Chris.<br>><br>><br>> --<br>> Regards<br>> Steven Jones<br><br></blockquote></div><br>