XML Data Request

feriso · 7 Jun 2012 at 13:33

I could do with a little help or point in the right direction.

I have a datalogger at work that generates a html/xml file to view realtime data. Now the resulting webpage shows quite a lot of items but I only want to display certain tags.

How can I read an xml file and then pull the bits of data I want from it and display in another page (just basic text will do me)

Sorry if it sounds confusing but half the problem is being able to ask the right question.

Example xml in spoiler that I'm trying to pull info from - I want to pull tag and corresponding value tags.

<Channels>
<DeviceTag>Mills Logger</DeviceTag>
<SerialNumber>11230692</SerialNumber>
<EnabledAnalogChannels>4</EnabledAnalogChannels>
<EnabledDigitalChannels>0</EnabledDigitalChannels>
<EnabledRemoteChannels>0</EnabledRemoteChannels>
<EnabledVirtualChannels>0</EnabledVirtualChannels>
<AnalogChannels>
<Channel>
<Tag>Mill 11</Tag>
<Value> -0.012971</Value>
<Unit/>
<Logged>Yes</Logged>
</Channel>
<Channel>
<Tag>Mill 12</Tag>
<Value> 0.057503</Value>
<Unit/>
<Logged>Yes</Logged>
</Channel>
<Channel>
<Tag>Mill 21</Tag>
<Value> 0.000720</Value>
<Unit/>
<Logged>Yes</Logged>
</Channel>
<Channel>
<Tag>Mill 22</Tag>
<Value> 0.000711</Value>
<Unit/>
<Logged>Yes</Logged>
</Channel>
</AnalogChannels>
<VirtualChannels/>
</Channels>

GravyMonster · 7 Jun 2012 at 13:39

What languages does your server support? XML parsing is quite easy to do. There's even one for javascript/jQuery if you want to do it front-end, although I'd only recommend that if the XML files are going to be small - say 200 lines absolute max.

feriso · 7 Jun 2012 at 14:03

No idea, this is why I'm asking what questions I need to ask

Can it be done through a web browser as javascript then? As my first intention is to generate another webpage puling just bits of data I need from numerous xml files

GravyMonster · 7 Jun 2012 at 14:25

Here's a tutorial on how to do it using jQuery: http://www.switchonthecode.com/tutorials/xml-parsing-with-jquery

GaryH-21 · 7 Jun 2012 at 15:53

You can do it with an XSL style sheet, so all you need to do is open the XML file with your browser

something like this:

File: channels.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="Style.xsl"?>

<Channels>
<DeviceTag>Mills Logger</DeviceTag>
<SerialNumber>11230692</SerialNumber>
<EnabledAnalogChannels>4</EnabledAnalogChannels>
<EnabledDigitalChannels>0</EnabledDigitalChannels>
<EnabledRemoteChannels>0</EnabledRemoteChannels>
<EnabledVirtualChannels>0</EnabledVirtualChannels>
<AnalogChannels>
<Channel>
<Tag>Mill 11</Tag>
<Value> -0.012971</Value>
<Unit/>
<Logged>Yes</Logged>
</Channel>
<Channel>
<Tag>Mill 12</Tag>
<Value> 0.057503</Value>
<Unit/>
<Logged>Yes</Logged>
</Channel>
<Channel>
<Tag>Mill 21</Tag>
<Value> 0.000720</Value>
<Unit/>
<Logged>Yes</Logged>
</Channel>
<Channel>
<Tag>Mill 22</Tag>
<Value> 0.000711</Value>
<Unit/>
<Logged>Yes</Logged>
</Channel>
</AnalogChannels>
<VirtualChannels/>
</Channels>

File: Style.xsl

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/">
<html>
<body>
<table border="1">
<tr bgcolor="#9acd32">
<th>Tag</th>
<th>Value</th>
</tr>

<xsl:for-each select="Channels/AnalogChannels/Channel">
<tr>
<td>
<xsl:value-of select="Tag" />
</td>
<td>
<xsl:value-of select="Value" />
</td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Just make sure they are saved in the same directory, then open Channels.xml up in your web browser