How do I import XML files using an SSIS package?

xml xsd ssis

11,620

Solution 1

This may not be the answer to your problem. I used trial and error to find only the cause of the problem. One of the possible solution seems to be that you need to reconstruct your XML file with the element names as defined in the XSD file.

I took your XML file and XSD file to create a new SSIS package. I used XML Source within Data Flow Task to read the files.

When I executed the package, I got the below results. All the values were NULL as you had described in your question.

NULL values

After looking at the XSD file, I felt that the names you have defined in the elements in XSD files like ORDERNUM and BusinessStream should have corresponding nodes in the XML file but they were missing. So, I changed the first element that had the nodes value to ORDERNUM and BusinessStream.

Changed Nodes

Re-executed the package and this time the values were shown correctly. Note that I changed the values only in the first row and left the second row unchanged. That's why the values are still NULL.

Correct values

Hope that helps.

Solution 2

The second of the two articles below shows how to use an XLST file in SSIS to transform the XML source file into something you can use for your described purpose. I provide two XSLT file contents at the bottom.

http://sqlserverpedia.com/blog/sql-server-bloggers/loading-xml-using-ssis/

http://blog.hoegaerden.be/2011/04/20/loading-complex-xml-using-ssis/

Repairs to listed data sample:

1) Remove the space in what appears to be a comment at the beginning: '...xmldata/1/ xmldata.xsd...' to 'xmldata/1/xmldata.xsd'

2) Add </data></dataset> to the very end of the data.

You can test it here (Hmmmm, it doesn't seem to work there!):

http://www.w3schools.com/xsl/tryxslt.asp?xmlfile=cdcatalog&xsltfile=cdcatalog

Or add this as the second line of XML to test in IE by opening the XML file:

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

Look over the xslt listings carefully and note the differences in the 'output' element. Note that I needed to define in my XSLT file the namespace that was used in the XML file's 'dataset' element, and give it a name which I can use to prefix references to the nodes defined within 'dataset'. Assume case sensitivity matters everywhere because it probably does. Do some reading on XSLT elements at:

http://www.w3schools.com/xsl/

Cognos.xsl to list contents as 'pipe' (vertical bar) delimited file. There will be an empty column at the end - due to the trailing delimiter - which you will need to ignore in your code that uses the file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
 xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
 xmlns:cog="http://developer.cognos.com/schemas/xmldata/1/">
 <xsl:output method="text" encoding="UTF-8" indent="no" 
  omit-xml-declaration="yes"
/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <xsl:apply-templates select="cog:dataset/cog:metadata/cog:item">
    </xsl:apply-templates>
    <xsl:text>&#13;&#10;</xsl:text>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="cog:dataset/cog:data/cog:row">
    </xsl:apply-templates>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="cog:dataset/cog:metadata/cog:item">
      <xsl:value-of select="@name"/>
    <xsl:text>|</xsl:text>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="cog:dataset/cog:data/cog:row">
    <xsl:text>&#13;&#10;</xsl:text>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="./cog:value">
      </xsl:apply-templates>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="cog:dataset/cog:data/cog:row/cog:value">
      <xsl:value-of select="."/>
    <xsl:text>|</xsl:text>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Cognos.xsl to list contents as HTML table:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
 xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
 xmlns:cog="http://developer.cognos.com/schemas/xmldata/1/">
 <xsl:output method="html" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes" 
/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <html><body>
    <table border="1"><tr>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="cog:dataset/cog:metadata/cog:item">
    </xsl:apply-templates>
    </tr>
    <xsl:text>&#13;&#10;</xsl:text>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="cog:dataset/cog:data/cog:row">
    </xsl:apply-templates>
    </table>
    </body></html>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="cog:dataset/cog:metadata/cog:item">
    <td>
    <xsl:value-of select="@name"/>
    </td>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="cog:dataset/cog:data/cog:row">
    <tr>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="./cog:value">
    </xsl:apply-templates>
    </tr>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="cog:dataset/cog:data/cog:row/cog:value">
    <td>
    <xsl:choose>
      <xsl:when test=". !='' and . !=' '">
        <xsl:value-of select="." />
      </xsl:when>
      <xsl:when test=". =' '">
        <xsl:text>space</xsl:text>
      </xsl:when>
      <xsl:otherwise>
        <xsl:text>null</xsl:text>
      </xsl:otherwise>
    </xsl:choose>
    </td>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

And, yes, you are all welcome for this concise collection of requirements, fixes, links, and techniques which I have spent nearly 14 hours researching. Maybe I will turn this in to an article.

11,620

Author by

Kevin Ross

I have been programming in VBA for about 6 years now, mostly in access with a dab of excel. I branched out into VB.net just over a year ago. I work in the contact centre industry and most of my work is very specialist for that area. #SOreadytohelp

Updated on June 13, 2022

Comments

Kevin Ross almost 2 years

I’m trying to import a XML file into SQL server using SSIS. The XML file is structured like this

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<dataset  xmlns="http://developer.cognos.com/schemas/xmldata/1/"  xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<!--
<dataset
    xmlns="http://developer.cognos.com/schemas/xmldata/1/"
    xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xs:schemaLocation="http://developer.cognos.com/schemas/xmldata/1/ xmldata.xsd"
>
-->
    <metadata>
          <item name="ORDERNUM" type="xs:string" length="26"/>
          <item name="Business Stream" type="xs:string" length="482"/>
          <item name="ORDERNO" type="xs:decimal" precision="8"/>
          <item name="ORDERTYPE" type="xs:string"/>
          <item name="ITEM_NO" type="xs:decimal" precision="8"/>
          <item name="ITEM_NO2" type="xs:string" length="52"/>
          <item name="PG" type="xs:int" precision="1"/>
          <item name="SG" type="xs:int" precision="1"/>
          <item name="LINEDESC" type="xs:string" length="122"/>
          <item name="CUSTNO" type="xs:decimal" precision="8"/>
          <item name="ORDERQNTY" type="xs:decimal" scale="3" precision="77"/>
          <item name="COST_VALUE" type="xs:decimal" scale="5" precision="77"/>
          <item name="EXTD_LIST" type="xs:decimal" scale="4" precision="77"/>
          <item name="EXTD_VALUE" type="xs:decimal" scale="4" precision="77"/>
          <item name="LINE_NO" type="xs:decimal" precision="9"/>
          <item name="TDATE" type="xs:date"/>
          <item name="TQUARTER" type="xs:decimal" precision="1"/>
          <item name="INVOICEDAT" type="xs:date"/>
          <item name="IQUARTER" type="xs:decimal" precision="1"/>
          <item name="ORIGNUM" type="xs:decimal" precision="10"/>
          <item name="ORIGTYPE" type="xs:string" length="22"/>
          <item name="TYPECALC" type="xs:string"/>
          <item name="SEQ" type="xs:int" precision="1"/>
          <item name="INC_IN_COU" type="xs:string"/>
          <item name="COSTMOD" type="xs:string" length="4"/>
          <item name="GROSSMOD" type="xs:string" length="4"/>
          <item name="CHFLOOR" type="xs:string" length="16"/>
          <item name="Group Customer Description" type="xs:string" length="482"/>
          <item name="Sales Area Description" type="xs:string" length="482"/>
          <item name="Sales Area" type="xs:string" length="8"/>
          <item name="Segment / Region Description" type="xs:string" length="482"/>
          <item name="Segment / Region" type="xs:string" length="8"/>
          <item name="ScheduledDespatchDate" type="xs:date"/>
          <item name="Status Sid" type="xs:int" precision="1"/>
          <item name="ShiptoCustomerNumber" type="xs:decimal" precision="8"/>
          <item name="CONT_TYPE" type="xs:string" length="122"/>
          <item name="EST_START" type="xs:date"/>
          <item name="EST_COMPLTN" type="xs:date"/>
          <item name="ACT_START" type="xs:date"/>
          <item name="ACT_COMPLTN" type="xs:date"/>
          <item name="Project_Status" type="xs:string" length="18"/>
    </metadata>
    <data>
        <row>
            <value>SO1897977</value>
            <value>Products &amp; Applications</value>
            <value>1897977</value>
            <value>SO</value>
            <value>731305</value>
            <value>0670800</value>
            <value>67</value>
            <value>3</value>
            <value>3/4&quot; HM10/8 CI Steam TrapBSP</value>
            <value>20021</value>
            <value>1</value>
            <value>62.136</value>
            <value>187.1</value>
            <value>187.1</value>
            <value>1000</value>
            <value>2011-11-17</value>
            <value>4</value>
            <value>2011-11-17</value>
            <value>4</value>
            <value xs:nil="true" />
            <value> </value>
            <value>SO</value>
            <value>1</value>
            <value>Y</value>
            <value>N</value>
            <value>N</value>
            <value>PDQ/KSP</value>
            <value>Other Customers</value>
            <value>Crumb Jonathan</value>
            <value>917</value>
            <value>Southern Division</value>
            <value>STH</value>
            <value>2011-11-17</value>
            <value>70</value>
            <value>60206</value>
            <value xs:nil="true" />
            <value>1900-01-01</value>
            <value>1900-01-01</value>
            <value>1900-01-01</value>
            <value>1900-01-01</value>
            <value xs:nil="true" />
        </row>
        <row>
            <value>SO1897977</value>
            <value>Products &amp; Applications</value>
            <value>1897977</value>
            <value>SO</value>
            <value>799262</value>
            <value>1643100</value>
            <value>164</value>
            <value>60</value>
            <value>1/2&quot; FIG12 Bronze Y Type BSP+ 0.8 SS</value>
            <value>20021</value>
            <value>5</value>
            <value>54.051</value>
            <value>130.2</value>
            <value>130.2</value>
            <value>2000</value>
            <value>2011-11-17</value>
            <value>4</value>
            <value>2011-11-17</value>
            <value>4</value>
            <value xs:nil="true" />
            <value> </value>
            <value>SO</value>
            <value>1</value>
            <value>Y</value>
            <value>N</value>
            <value>N</value>
            <value>PDQ/KSP</value>
            <value>Other Customers</value>
            <value>Crumb Jonathan</value>
            <value>917</value>
            <value>Southern Division</value>
            <value>STH</value>
            <value>2011-11-17</value>
            <value>70</value>
            <value>60206</value>
            <value xs:nil="true" />
            <value>1900-01-01</value>
            <value>1900-01-01</value>
            <value>1900-01-01</value>
            <value>1900-01-01</value>
            <value xs:nil="true" />
        </row>

I have made a XSD file that looks like this

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" attributeFormDefault="unqualified" elementFormDefault="qualified" targetNamespace="http://developer.cognos.com/schemas/xmldata/1/" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <element name="dataset">
    <complexType>
      <sequence>
        <element minOccurs="0" name="data">
          <complexType>
            <sequence>
              <element minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" name="row">
                <complexType>
                  <sequence>
                      <element name="ORDERNUM" type="string" />
                      <element name="BusinessStream" type="string" />
                      <element name="ORDERNO" type="decimal"/>
                      <element name="ORDERTYPE" type="string"/>
                      <element name="ITEM_NO" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="ITEM_NO2" type="string" />
                      <element name="PG" type="int" />
                      <element name="SG" type="int" />
                      <element name="LINEDESC" type="string" />
                      <element name="CUSTNO" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="ORDERQNTY" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="COST_VALUE" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="EXTD_LIST" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="EXTD_VALUE" type="decimal"/>
                      <element name="LINE_NO" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="TDATE" type="date"/>
                      <element name="TQUARTER" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="INVOICEDAT" type="date"/>
                      <element name="IQUARTER" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="ORIGNUM" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="ORIGTYPE" type="string" />
                      <element name="TYPECALC" type="string"/>
                      <element name="SEQ" type="int" />
                      <element name="INC_IN_COU" type="string"/>
                      <element name="COSTMOD" type="string" />
                      <element name="GROSSMOD" type="string" />
                      <element name="CHFLOOR" type="string" />
                      <element name="GroupCustomerDescription" type="string" />
                      <element name="SalesAreaDescription" type="string" />
                      <element name="SalesArea" type="string" />
                      <element name="SegmentRegionDescription" type="string" />
                      <element name="SegmentRegion" type="string" />
                      <element name="ScheduledDespatchDate" type="date"/>
                      <element name="StatusSid" type="int" />
                      <element name="ShiptoCustomerNumber" type="decimal" />
                      <element name="CONT_TYPE" type="string" />
                      <element name="EST_START" type="date"/>
                      <element name="EST_COMPLTN" type="date"/>
                      <element name="ACT_START" type="date"/>
                      <element name="ACT_COMPLTN" type="date"/>
                      <element name="Project_Status" type="string" />
                  </sequence>
                </complexType>
              </element>
            </sequence>
          </complexType>
        </element>
      </sequence>
    </complexType>
  </element>
</schema>

The problem is when I run the task I get the correct number of rows but all the values are null. I’m quite new to XML so I suspect it is something really silly, can anyone help?

Kevin Ross over 12 years

Thanks for your reply and you are right that changing the nodes would work . Sadly this XML file comes from an external source so I have no control over it and cannot change the file in anyway.
B H almost 12 years

I should have pointed out that Siva's answer is correct, but maybe not the whole story.