Section - 2 : Searching an XML Extract File

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Keep in mind the extract list and the XML tree are separate. Once the XML tree is loaded, it remains loaded and can be searched by subsequent rules — just like any extract list.

The system lets you use these search methods:

• An XDB token reference such as ?TOKEN looked up in the XDB to get the actual search text
• The legacy Offset,Mask method such as 10,HEADERREC)
• An XML search text, such as !/descendant::Item

In most cases, the XBD token reference will be the preferred method.

An XDB entry can return either a legacy offset/length search mask or an XML search path. XML search masks must begin with an exclamation mark (!). The leading exclamation mark is not actually sent to the search routine.

You can use text movement and formatting rules, like Move_It, MoveNum, FmtDate, and FmtNumber, to do simple operations, but keep in mind some of the more complicated options may not work.

For instance, Move_It supports a same record flag. This does not work in XML searches. Likewise, Move_Num supports several binary input data types like BCD and you cannot include those in XML at present.

More complicated rules that have multiple search criteria like SetAddr, SubExtractList, and Concat do not work with XML files.