Understanding XML Reporting Framework

XML Code Tables

XML code tables are tables that list the valid values of an XML node. Code tables enable you to compile setup data through a single menu entry point. Use the XML Code Table (XML_CODE_TBL) component to define the auxiliary XML code tables and the valid values that your company uses. Once you define the XML code tables, you can use them to:

• Map system values to XML code table values for a node.

• Serve as validation tables for the values of a node.

You can perform both of these options when defining XML nodes through the XML Node Table component. Later in the business process, when you are completing a person's node data for an XML file during XML file generation, the system prompts you to select from the valid values that you have defined in the code table for the node.

XML Sets

An XML set is a group XML files. You can associate XML sets with functional areas. For example, Human Resources for Spain delivers XML sets for the Contrata, Delta, Contract Printing, and Tripartite Foundation functional areas.

Use the XML Set Table component to define XML set definitions for XML files. You associate XML sets with XML nodes through the XML Node Table component and with the XML templates through the XML Template Table component.

XML Node Tables

XML nodes are the core of the XML file setup. XML nodes are sets of tags within an XML file that determine the hierarchical structure of the file. They represent the XML tags that are mapped to HCM data. All tags between the open tag and closed tag of a node comprise the node. Use the XML Node Table component to define XML nodes and create the relationships between the nodes. The nodes that you create and relate to each other define the XML file structure. Through the XML generation process, the system can retrieve data that is already stored in the HCM database and write the data into the appropriate XML nodes.

You can define complex nodes or simple nodes. Complex nodes are composed of other simple or complex nodes. Complex nodes can be root nodes or children nodes. There can only be one root node per XML template that you define. A root node defines a specific XML file layout. For further embedding of XML tags, children nodes can also contain their own children nodes. Simple nodes are associated with values. To derive the values of simple nodes, you can use as source data manual values that you enter or system values.

Sometimes the data with the system as the source from which you are deriving the values of the nodes does not match the data that you need for the XML file. In such cases, you can also use the XML Node Table component to map the system data values to alternate values that fit your reporting needs. For example, PeopleSoft system data uses gender values M (male) and F (female). However, in case of GP Spain, I.N.E.M. uses H (hombre/male) and M (mujer/female). You can use the XML Node Table component to map these PeopleSoft system values to the corresponding Spain-specific I.N.E.M. values.

XML Templates

XML templates define the type of communications within each functional area, identifying the complete XML structure of the XML file that you generate for each communication. An XML template holds the keys and root node for runtime data retrieval for the XML generation process. When defining each template, you assign a root node. The root node thus contains the whole information for all of the nodes in the template thereby defining the XML file structure. At runtime, the system uses these keys to retrieve the correct values for the fields as part of the SQL Select statement when retrieving the data for the children nodes of the root node that you associate with the XML template in its definition.