Orbital

Data formats

XML Format

Working with XML data in Orbital

To declare that a type should be read/written as Xml, add the com.orbitalhq.formats.Xml annotation to a model:

import com.orbitalhq.formats.Xml
@Xmlmodel Person {  firstName : FirstName inherits String}

Declaring Attributes

By default, scalar items within a model are expected to be an Xml Element.

To declare something should be read / written as an attribute, use the @lang.taxi.xml.XmlAttribute annotation.

For example:

import com.orbitalhq.formats.Xmlimport lang.taxi.xml.XmlAttribute  @Xmlmodel Actor inherits Person {    @XmlAttribute    id : ActorId           fullName : FullName}

Would read/write the following xml:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><Actor id="3">    <fullName>Jimmy Smith</fullName></Actor>

Collections

Collections are indicated by a repeating group with the attribute name.

For example:

@Xmlmodel Movie {  actors : Actor[]}

would expect a repeated actors element:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><Movie>    <actors id="1">        <firstName>Mel</firstName>        <lastName>Gibson</lastName>    </actors>    <actors id="2">        <firstName>Jack</firstName>        <lastName>Spratt</lastName>    </actors></Movie>

Expressions

Expressions can be decalred on a model.

Serializing

Expression values are written out as normal elements

Deserializing

If an element or attribute is present for the field where the expression is declared, the expression is ignored, and the value from the source is taken.

If there’s no value present, then the expression is evaluated.

import com.orbitalhq.formats.Xmlimport lang.taxi.xml.XmlAttribute
@Xmlmodel Actor {    firstName : FirstName inherits String    lastName : LastName inherits String    fullName : FullName inherits String = FirstName + ' ' + LastName}

Given the following XML:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><Actor id="3">    <firstName>Jimmy</firstName>    <lastName>Smith</lastName></Actor>

Then the value is read as:

{  "firstName" : "Jimmy",  "lastName" : "Smith",  "fullName" : "Jimmy Smith"}

Using xpath() references

It’s possible (but discouraged) to use by xpath("") references to declare a column:

model Person {  firstName : FirstName by xpath("//fName")}