XML Generator

XML Specification

Creating an empty element

Each XML-element is specified as a nested json object. All elements require the name parameter so the most simple specification we can have is

{
    "-name": "file"
}

This will however generate an error since no empty elements are created by default and XML files without elements are invalid. We can fix this by setting the -allowEmpty parameter:

{
    "-name": "file",
    "-allowEmpty": true
}

Which will generate

<file/>

XML Variables

XML variables are what allows us to reuse the same profile for multiple IPs with different values.

In the specification for a XML file we can write the following to define an element with its text set to a variable

{
    "-name": "myelement",
    "#content": [{"var": "myvar"}]
}

If we create this with myvar = "hello world" we get the following XML

<myelement>hello world</myelement>

We could also add a static prefix and/or suffix

{
    "-name": "myelement",
    "#content": [{"text": "hello "}, {"var": "myvar"}, {"text": ", how are you?"}]
}

Used with myvar = "world" we get

<myelement>hello world, how are you?</myelement>

Reserved XML Variables

This is a list of reserved variables that can be used in profiles to get more dynamic, automatically populated data.

`_UUID`	Generates a new UUID
`_OBJID`	ID of the IP
`_OBJUUID`	UUID of the IP
`_OBJLABEL`	Label of the IP
`_OBJPATH`	Path of the IP
`_STARTDATE`	Start date of the IP
`_ENDDATE`	End date of the IP
`_NOW`	Time at generation of element
`_USER`	Logged in user
`_XML_FILENAME`	Name of XML file being generated
`_EXT`	The directory name for the current external XML file
`_EXT_HREF`	The directory path and name for the current external XML file
`_IP_CREATEDATE`	Timestamp of when the tar/zip-file was generated
`_IP_CONTAINER_FORMAT`	The container format of the IP, e.g. tar or zip
`_SA_ID`	The id of the Submission Agreement
`_SA_NAME`	The name of the Submission Agreement
`_IP_ARCHIVIST_ORGANIZATION`	The archivist organization of the Information Package
`_INFORMATIONCLASS`	The information class of the Information Package
`_POLICYUUID`	The policy uuid of the Information Package
`_POLICYID`	The policy id of the Information Package
`_POLICYNAME`	The policy name of the Information Package
`_PROFILE_TRANSFER_PROJECT_ID`	transfer project profile id
`_PROFILE_SUBMIT_DESCRIPTION_ID`	submit description profile id
`_PROFILE_SIP_ID`	sip profile id
`_PROFILE_AIP_ID`	aip profile id
`_PROFILE_DIP_ID`	dip profile id
`_PROFILE_CONTENT_TYPE_ID`	content type profile id
`_PROFILE_AUTHORITY_INFORMATION_ID`	authority information profile id
`_PROFILE_ARCHIVAL_DESCRIPTION_ID`	archival description profile id
`_PROFILE_PRESERVATION_METADATA_ID`	preservation metadata profile id
`_PROFILE_DATA_SELECTION_ID`	data selection profile id
`_PROFILE_IMPORT_ID`	import profile id
`_PROFILE_WORKFLOW_ID`	workflow profile id

In addition to the list above, all parameters can also be accessed with the _PARAMETER_{ENTITY} syntax where {ENTITY} is the name of the parameter.

XML Formatters

XML formatters are suffixes that can be used to transform variables. They can be used by appending a __{FORMAT} suffix to a variable:

{
    "#content": [{"var": "created___DATE"}]
}

If we create this with created = "2018-02-05 12:30:25" we get the following XML

<myelement>2018-02-05</myelement>

`DATE`	Keep only the date part of the variable
`LOCALTIME`	Convert the variable to local timezone with a UTC offset

Django Templates

In addition to the variables and formatters above we can also use the Django Template Engine by using a string instead of a dictionary:

{
    "-name": "myelement",
    "#content": "hello {{myvar}}, how are you?"
}

used with myvar = "world" results in

<myelement>hello world, how are you?</myelement>

All Django tags and filters works too:

{
    "-name": "myelement",
    "#content": "{% load tz %}The time is now {% timezone 'UTC' %}{% now 'c' %}{% endtimezone %}"
}

<myelement>The time is now 2018-03-05T12:36:55.089440+00:00</myelement>

Template Tags

In addition to Django’s built-in tags there are the essxml template tags available by using {% load essxml %}

uuid4

Generates a version 4 UUID