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Create an XML variable

Use an XML variable to use all or part of the XML document.

To use a part of the document, you must create an XML expression to identify the required section of the document.

XML documents can be represented as tree view nodes, and the XML Path Language (XPath) describes a path through the XML document to select elements that match the path.

The XPath is the expression type of the XML expression variable. For example, to select the first number element of the XML document, the XPath is:"//number" or to select all the book nodes under the bookstore element, the XPath is: xmlDoc.selectNodes("/bookstore/book")

You can create an XML variable at the server as well as the process level.

  • An XML variable created at the server level can be shared between business process maps, where the same XML is used but for different purposes.

  • An XML variable created at the process level can only be used with the process map for which it is created, and the XML variable is local to that process map.

  1. Open the process map in which to create the variable.
  2. On the process modeling bar, click Variables and click New.

    The New variable dialog box is displayed.

  3. Enter a unique Name for the variable.
    By default, the name of the variable becomes the ID of the variable; however, you can change the ID if needed.
  4. On the Type list, select XML. (Default: String)
  5. To use the variable for process initialization, select Initialization.
  6. Use either option for Value:

    • To enter the XML document data directly, type the relevant data in the Value box.

    • To store the path to an XML document, click Browse and select the document. For example, c:\Program Files_(x86)\TotalAgility\Schemas\addnote_in.xml.

  7. Click Add and close.
  8. Save the process.