Skip to main content
WolfShade
WolfShade
Brainiac
February 23, 2017
Answered

ColdFusion and XML - what am I doing incorrectly??

  • February 23, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 2250 views

Hello, all,

I've been handed a project - a very simple one - that involves uploading an XML document, parsing the data, and then populating a database with the results.

However, what isn't simple is the XML document.  It's slightly over 3mb in size.

I'm setting a variable with the XML document contents (XmlParse()), and am using (successfully, for the most part) XmlSearch() to get the data.

However, I have run into a bit of a snag; and I'm not having much luck on Google.

The data is for locations around the US - each location has one ID, one Name, one City, one State, one Zip code.  But each location has multiple phone numbers and email addresses.  I'm trying to parse the data in such a way as I can loop through child nodes of the main information and grab only one email address and one phone number.

But no matter what I do, I cannot seem to extract a "length" or structcount of the child nodes that contain the email and phone contact information.  I have tried StructCount(), ArrayLen(), xmlElement.length, and other things to no avail.  Most of the error messages are: "element is undefined in Java object of type class coldfusion.xml.XmlNodeMap referenced as ''"  Huh? 

Anyhoo.. it's almost time to go home, but I'll try to get some code examples up, when I can.

V/r,

^_^

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer haxtbh

    *headdesk*  *headdesk*  *headdesk*

    I just searched the XML document.  Out of the slightly-more-than 1000 records, not all of them have "email_org_id".  WTF??

    Sorry.. we are getting this XML from the customer, who (apparently) doesn't understand what we mean when we ask "Do all orgs within record have all elements, even if empty, in the XML data?"  (As you suggested in #7.)

    Which brings me to my next question.. how do I check if the XML element exists before checking for length???  I know how to check CF elements (StructKeyExists(scope,'variable')), but not XML from XmlSearch().

    V/r,

    ^_^


    You should be able to do something like StructKeyExists(DATA_ARRAY[idx].g_org_id.list_g_info.g_info, "email_org_id")

    1 reply

    WolfShade
    WolfShadeAuthor
    Brainiac
    February 24, 2017

    Okay.. I have some pseudo-code samples.

    Here is a basic XML structure that I'm working with:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="WINDOWS-1252" ?>
    <contact_info>
        <list_g_org_id>
            <g_org_id>
                <org_id1>1000</org_id1>
                <list_g_info>
                    <g_info>
                        <country>UNITED STATES</country>
                        ...
                        <pp_org_id>543</pp_org_id>
                        ...
                        <email_org_id>
                            <org_id>
                                <org_idp>234</org_idp>
                                <org_email>
                                    <pp_email>
                                        <email_type>Customer Service</email_type>
                                        <email_address>john.doe@this.org</email_address>
                                    </pp_email>
                                    <pp_email>
                                        <email_type>Distribution</email_type>
                                        <email_address>jane.doe@this.org</email_address>
                                    </pp_email>
                                    <pp_email>
                                        <email_type>Billing</email_type>
                                        <email_address>jacob.doe@this.org</email_address>
                                    </pp_email>
                                </org_email>
                            </org_id>
                        </email_org_id>
                    </g_info>
                </list_g_info>
            </g_org_id>
        </list_g_org_id>
        <list_g_org_id>
        ... repeat 1000x
        </list_g_org_id>
    </contact_info>

    Truncated because it's just too freakin' long, but this is the basic layout.

    Now, I set a variable with the XML document object as the value.

    thisXML = XmlParse(xmlObj);
    DATA_ARRAY = XmlSearch(thisXML,'/contact_info/list_g_org_id');

    This can get me most of the information that I need to work with.  I can get the org_id (1000) by using:

    DATA_ARRAY[idx].g_org_id.org_id1.XmlText;
    DATA_ARRAY[idx].g_org_id.list_g_info.g_info.country.XmlText;

    etc and so on..

    But when I try to get a length of how many email addresses an org has (it won't always be a set number), I keep getting error messages about something being undefined.  What is the proper CF method of accessing XML node children/information?

    V/r,

    ^_^

    Dave Ferguson
    Dave Ferguson
    Participating Frequently
    February 24, 2017

    This is where using the xmlChildren syntax will help.

    If you use: DATA_ARRAY[idx].g_org_id.list_g_info.g_info.email_org_id.org_id.org_email.XMLChildren

    You will get an array of child nodes.  You can then use arraylen and other array function on that to get the data and counts.

    Dave Ferguson
    Dave Ferguson
    Participating Frequently
    February 24, 2017

    Per line 05 of my posted code examples, I've already tried ArrayLen() of the XmlChildren and still get the "element is undefined in Java object of type class coldfusion.xml.XmlNodeMap referenced as ''" error message.  Since I'm assigning the XmlSearch() to the XML, already, could this be screwing things up?

    V/r,

    ^_^


    I used your exact code and it worked just fine.  What version of CF are you running?  My tests were ran against CF11.  You might want to check the element exists before you try and get the length or wrap it in a try/catch.

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices