Replacing values in an XML by a script

[reprokaiser]

Dear All,



after Bens quite nice primer on creating an XML file it's mostly clear how to author such a file. However, I ran into a problem using those methods: how can I actually change a value in an existing XML by using a script?



After studying the manual and the reference I can't help just to acquire all the data out of an existing XML and create a new one with the altered data. There has to be an easier way to change just one value in a node, without re-creating the whole file. Example:



original:







ABCDE





after the script I want to have a file like this:







FGHIJK





I guess this has to be pretty simple, just I can't find any reference to this. Any help appreciated,



Kind regards,



Peter Nagy

[bens]

Szia Peter,



Unfortunately the only way to change an XML is to completely re-write it. But this is not really as bad as it sounds: the whole parsing and rewriting part is done in the background. There are only 4 steps to go through:



1. open the XML

This is a single line:

var xmlDocument = new Document( "/path/to/file.xml" );

2. locate (the parent of) the node you want to change

Depending on your needs, this too may be a single line:

var theNode = xmlDocument.evalToNode( "/jobInfo/code" );

3. change the node

This involves getting the node you want to change (=the existing node), creating a new node, and calling replaceChild(). For example:

var theNewTextNode = xmlDoc.createText( "FGHIJK" );

theNode.replaceChild( theNewTextNode, theNode.getFirstChild() );

4. save the file

Again, a single line:

xmlDoc.save( "/path/to/newfile.xml" );



In a real situation you'll have more code than this of course - but for your example these 5 lines already work

[reprokaiser]

Hi Bens,



thanks for the quick reply, it's working perfectly!



Kind regards,



Peter

[Clive Andrews]

OK - I'm still in trouble...



To try and get my head round this - it took your script parts, and edited them to initially just change the job number:







var xmlDocument = new Document ( "C:/Tests/101615.jdf" );



var theNode = xmlDocument.evalToNode( "/JDF/JobID" );



var theNewTextNode = xmlDoc.createText( "103999" );



theNode.replaceChild theNewTextNode, theNode.getFirstChild();



xmlDoc.save( "c:/Tests/103999.jdf" );





But all I'm getting is "Expected end of statement" error - 800A0401



Mr Microsoft says I'm missing something - but after half a day of trawling and editing - I can't see what. My theory is if I can prove this, I want to use the same way to extract data from a node - and pass it onto another (or as part of the same) script...



I know, new boy, doesn't understand and all that - but I'm getting there virtually self taught!

[dkelly]

Clive, the syntax error was caused by missing parentheses.



theNode.replaceChild( theNewTextNode, theNode.getFirstChild() );





However, the code won't work even after you fix this problem because JobID is an attribute not an element. Here's the correct method.





var xmlDocument = new Document( "C:/Tests/101615.jdf" );

if (xmlDocument != null) {

var theElem = xmlDocument.getDocumentElement();

theElem.addAttribute( "JobID", null, "103999" );

xmlDocument.save( "c:/Tests/103999.jdf" );

}





Dwight Kelly

Apago, Inc.

dkelly@apago.com

[Clive Andrews]

Thanks, once again, are in order Dwight - that gives me something to build on!



(",)

[Clive Andrews]

dkelly wrote: Clive, the syntax error was caused by missing parentheses.



theNode.replaceChild( theNewTextNode, theNode.getFirstChild() );





However, the code won't work even after you fix this problem because JobID is an attribute not an element. Here's the correct method.





var xmlDocument = new Document( "C:/Tests/101615.jdf" );

if (xmlDocument != null) {

var theElem = xmlDocument.getDocumentElement();

theElem.addAttribute( "JobID", null, "103999" );

xmlDocument.save( "c:/Tests/103999.jdf" );

}






Dwight - still getting errors- "Expected end of statement" on Char 31 - i.e. at end of 1st Bracket (var xmlDocument = new Document()- am I just a bit thick here, it's on a Win server 2003 machine if that helps...

[dkelly]

Clive, I just reran the script and it worked fine here. Can you send me your flow and I'll take a look?



Dwight Kelly

dkelly@apago.com

[Clive Andrews]

Ah - therein lies the probable fault, I was kind of hoping to call this from the Apogee machine - I have an AGFA script to call an archive to be recovered, which works manually - I'm trying to tie that into a rename routine, to call an archive back - and then update the files to a current job number. (The Apogee script has to be local as it calls a service)



Classic case of desire exceeding my ability I think!