Selecting and configuring XML elements

Use the Select XML Elements page of the wizard to select or fine-tune the individual XML elements and attributes that will appear in the resulting Analytics table. You can also modify column properties, if necessary.

In the XML Elements treeview, Analytics provides a hierarchical representation of all elements and attributes contained in the XML file. A green check mark identifies elements or attributes you previously selected. If you previously selected multiple data structures, they are now combined in a single Preview table. Data from the selected columns is displayed if Auto Preview is checked.

Note

Generating a preview of the data in a large XML file can be slow, so the Auto Preview option is automatically deselected for XML files larger than 2 GB.

To select and configure elements:

  1. If you want to remove a column, select the column in the Preview table and click Remove.
  2. If you want to add a column, select the element or attribute in the XML Elements treeview and click Create Column.

    Note

    If adding an element violates your intended Analytics table structure and causes gaps to appear in the table, data of the same kind probably needs to be merged in a single column (step 4 below).

    If adding an element creates duplicate or multiple identical records (identical except for the added element), more than one instance of the element probably exists within a parent element and the instances need to be split into separate columns.

  3. If you want to move a column, select the column and click the left or right arrow button, or drag the column to a new position.
  4. If you want to merge data of the same type in a column, select the column in the Preview table, select the element or attribute to add in the XML Elements treeview, and click Add to Column.
  5. If you want to modify column properties, select the column in the Preview table and click Column Properties.

    Make any of the following changes in the XML Column Properties dialog box and click OK:

    • Change the name of the column.

    • Change the data type of a column.

    • If the column is assigned the Text data type, repeat the name of the column in each row of the column.

    • If an element is repeated in the data structure, assign specific instances of the repeated element to the column. For example, if there are multiple <description> elements in a data structure, you could assign only the first instance to a Description column.

    • Remove a specific column from a merged column.

  6. Click Next.