JSON to XML

Contents

Overview
Configuration
Examples

Overview

You can use the JSON to XML filter to convert a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) document to an XML document. For details on the mapping conventions used, see: https://github.com/beckchr/staxon/wiki/Mapping-Convention

Configuration

To configure the JSON to XML filter, specify the following fields:

Name:

Enter a suitable name that reflects the role of the filter.

Virtual root element:

If the incoming JSON document has multiple root elements, enter a virtual root element to be added to the output XML document. This is required because multiple root elements are not valid in XML. Otherwise, the XML parser will fail. For more details, see the section called “Examples”.

Insert processing instructions into the output XML representing JSON array boundaries:

Select this option if you wish to enable round-trip conversion back to JSON. This inserts the necessary processing instructions into the output XML. This option is not selected by default. For more details, see the section called “Examples”.

[Note] Note

This option is recommended if you wish to convert back to the original JSON array structures. This information would be lost during the translation back to XML.

For more details, see the topic on XML to JSON.

Convert JSON object names to valid XML element names:

Select this option if you wish to convert your JSON object names to XML element names. This option is not selected by default.

[Important] Important

You should ensure that your JSON object names are also valid XML element names. If this is not possible, this option analyses each object name and automatically performs the conversion. This has a performance overhead and is not recommended if you wish to convert back to the original JSON.

Examples

This section shows examples of using JSON to XML filter options.

Multiple Root Elements

For example, the following incoming JSON message has multiple root elements: 

{
     "firstName": "John",
     "lastName": "Smith",
     "age": 25,
     "address":
     {
         "streetAddress": "21 2nd Street",
         "city": "New York",
         "state": "NY",
         "postalCode": "10021"
     },
     "phoneNumber":
     [
         {
           "type": "home",
           "number": "212 555-1234"
         },
         {
           "type": "fax",
           "number": "646 555-4567"
         }
     ]
 }

If you enter customer in the Virtual root element field, this results in the following output XML: 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<customer>
    <firstName>John</firstName>
    <lastName>Smith</lastName>
    <age>25</age>
    <address>
        <streetAddress>21 2nd Street</streetAddress>
        <city>New York</city>
        <state>NY</state>
        <postalCode>10021</postalCode>
    </address>
    <phoneNumber>
        <type>home</type>
        <number>212 555-1234</number>
    </phoneNumber>
    <phoneNumber>
        <type>fax</type>
        <number>646 555-4567</number>
    </phoneNumber>
</customer>

Inserting processing instructions into the output XML

For example, take the following incoming JSON message: 

{
  "customer" : {
    "first-name" : "Jane",
    "last-name" : "Doe",
    "address" : {
      "street" : "123 A Street"
    },
    "phone-number" : [ {
      "@type" : "work",
      "$" : "555-1111"
    }, {
      "@type" : "cell",
      "$" : "555-2222"
    } ]
  }
}

When the Insert processing instructions into the output XML representing JSON array boundaries option is selected, the output XML is as follows: 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<customer>
    <first-name>Jane</first-name>
    <last-name>Doe</last-name>
    <address>
        <street>123 A Street</street>
    </address>
    <?xml-multiple phone-number?>
    <phone-number type="work">555-1111</phone-number>
    <phone-number type="cell">555-2222</phone-number>
</customer>

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