JSON to XML

Hi Ranjith,

This is a very good question, and the opposite of one asked a week ago...

https://community.intersystems.com/post/xml-json-ensemble

Caché has varying degrees of support for JSON which will depend on the version of Caché that you have.

Firstly, you will not find a one step solution to your problem inside of Caché.

It's important to note that there is an impedance mismatch between JSON and XML that can produce different results in a one step solution. If you really don't care about this, or the exact format of the XML then I can point you towards...

http://www.newtonsoft.com/json/help/html/ConvertingJSONandXML.htm

which is a .NET solution. You could create a simple .NET object that wraps and calls this conversion utility. You can then bind to that .NET object using these instructions...

http://docs.intersystems.com/latest/csp/docbook/DocBook.UI.Page.cls?KEY=...

making the utility feel as if it was local Cache object / function.

There are Java alternatives which you can google for, for which you would use the Java binding...

http://docs.intersystems.com/latest/csp/docbook/DocBook.UI.Page.cls?KEY=...

A two step conversion which will require a little more coding, but will enable you to control your XML output exactly as you want it.

First you will need to convert the JSON into an internal object. If you are on 2016.1 or greater then please take a look at this article...

https://community.intersystems.com/post/introducing-new-json-capabilitie...

You can use the %Object to ingest JSON into a generic object.

From here you will need a concrete class that will be used to generate your XML. Make sure it extends %XML.Adapter. It will then be a process of mapping each property from the generic object to the concrete object. Finally call its XML to string / stream method and you will have well formed and consistent XML.

If you are on an older version of Cache then take a look at the %ZEN.Auxiliary.jsonProvider class which has a %ConvertJSONToObject, apparently its much slower than the newer object which might factor in your solution. I've never used this method myself, but would think you will end up with a very similar solution to the newer %Object.

Sean.

Just to add a word of warning.  The syntax for %Object is only available in 2016.1, and is deprecated in favour of similar but incompatible objects and syntax in later versions.  If you have the choice of versions, it would be wisest to adopt 2016.2+ and use the DynamicObject class and methods, as this will be more futureproofed

Details are at https://community.intersystems.com/post/json-changes-cach%C3%A9-20162

This is a quick an dirty code I just wrote that can convert simple JSON strings to XML. Sometimes, the JSON will be simple enough for simple code like this... I am not a JSON expert but maybe this can be a good starting point for something better.

This will work only on Caché 2015.2+.

Call the Test() method of the following class:

Class Util.JSONToXML Extends %RegisteredObject
{

ClassMethod Test()
{
    Set tSC = $System.Status.OK()
    Try
    {
        Set oJSON={"Prop1":"Value1","Prop2":2}
        Set tSC = ..JSONToXML(oJSON.%ToJSON(), "Test1", .tXML1)
        Quit:$System.Status.IsError(tSC)
        Write tXML1
        
        Write !!
        Set oJSON2={"Prop1":"Value1","Prop2":2,"List":["Item1","Item2","Item3"]}
        Set tSC = ..JSONToXML(oJSON2.%ToJSON(), "Test2", .tXML2)
        Quit:$System.Status.IsError(tSC)
        Write tXML2
        
        Write !!
        Set oJSON3={
                "name":"John",
                "age":30,
                "cars": [
                    { "name":"Ford", "models":[ "Fiesta", "Focus", "Mustang" ] },
                    { "name":"BMW", "models":[ "320", "X3", "X5" ] },
                    { "name":"Fiat", "models":[ "500", "Panda" ] }
                ]
             }
        Set tSC = ..JSONToXML(oJSON3.%ToJSON(), "Test3", .tXML3)
        Quit:$System.Status.IsError(tSC)
        Write tXML3

    }
    Catch (oException)
    {
        Set tSC =oException.AsStatus()
    }
    
    Do $System.Status.DisplayError(tSC)
}

ClassMethod JSONToXML(pJSONString As %String, pRootElementName As %String, Output pXMLString As %String) As %Status
{
        Set tSC = $System.Status.OK()
        Try
        {
            Set oJSON = ##class(%Library.DynamicObject).%FromJSON(pJSONString)
            
            Set pXMLString="<?xml version=""1.0"" encoding=""utf-8""?>"_$C(13,10)
            Set pXMLString=pXMLString_"<"_pRootElementName_">"_$C(13,10)
            
            Set tSC = ..ConvertFromJSONObjectToXMLString(oJSON, .pXMLString)
            Quit:$System.Status.IsError(tSC)
            
            Set pXMLString=pXMLString_"</"_pRootElementName_">"_$C(13,10)
        }
        Catch (oException)
        {
            Set tSC = oException.AsStatus()
        }
        
        Quit tSC
}

ClassMethod ConvertFromJSONObjectToXMLString(pJSONObject As %Library.DynamicAbstractObject, Output pXMLString As %String) As %Status
{
        Set tSC = $System.Status.OK()
        Try
        {
            Set iterator = pJSONObject.%GetIterator()
            
            While iterator.%GetNext(.key, .value)
            {
                Set tXMLKey=$TR(key," ")
                Set pXMLString=pXMLString_"<"_tXMLKey_">"
                
                If value'=""
                {
                    If '$IsObject(value)
                    {
                        Set pXMLString=pXMLString_value
                    }
                    Else
                    {
                        Set pXMLString=pXMLString_$C(13,10)
                        If value.%ClassName()="%DynamicObject"
                        {
                            Set tSC = ..ConvertFromJSONObjectToXMLString(value, .pXMLString)
                            Quit:$System.Status.IsError(tSC)                            
                        }
                        ElseIf value.%ClassName()="%DynamicArray"
                        {
                            Set arrayIterator = value.%GetIterator()
                                        
                            While arrayIterator.%GetNext(.arrayKey, .arrayValue)
                            {
                                Set pXMLString=pXMLString_"<"_tXMLKey_"Item key="""_arrayKey_""">"
                                If '$IsObject(arrayValue)
                                {
                                    Set pXMLString=pXMLString_arrayValue
                                }
                                Else
                                {                                    
                                    Set tSC = ..ConvertFromJSONObjectToXMLString(arrayValue, .pXMLString)
                                    Quit:$System.Status.IsError(tSC)                            
                                }
                                Set pXMLString=pXMLString_"</"_tXMLKey_"Item>"_$C(13,10)
                            }
                            Quit:$System.Status.IsError(tSC)
                        }
                    }
                }
                
                Set pXMLString=pXMLString_"</"_tXMLKey_">"_$C(13,10)
            } //While
        }
        Catch (oException)
        {
            Set tSC = oException.AsStatus()
        }
        
        Quit tSC
}

}

Here is the output:

Do ##class(Util.JSONToXML).Test()
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Test1>
<Prop1>Value1</Prop1>
<Prop2>2</Prop2>
</Test1>
 
 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Test2>
<Prop1>Value1</Prop1>
<Prop2>2</Prop2>
<List>
<ListItem key="0">Item1</ListItem>
<ListItem key="1">Item2</ListItem>
<ListItem key="2">Item3</ListItem>
</List>
</Test2>
 
 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Test3>
<name>John</name>
<age>30</age>
<cars>
<carsItem key="0"><name>Ford</name>
<models>
<modelsItem key="0">Fiesta</modelsItem>
<modelsItem key="1">Focus</modelsItem>
<modelsItem key="2">Mustang</modelsItem>
</models>
</carsItem>
<carsItem key="1"><name>BMW</name>
<models>
<modelsItem key="0">320</modelsItem>
<modelsItem key="1">X3</modelsItem>
<modelsItem key="2">X5</modelsItem>
</models>
</carsItem>
<carsItem key="2"><name>Fiat</name>
<models>
<modelsItem key="0">500</modelsItem>
<modelsItem key="1">Panda</modelsItem>
</models>
</carsItem>
</cars>
</Test3>