Defining an XMLport schema

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You use an XMLport object to export and import data between an external source and Dynamics 365 Business Central. The schema determines which and how data is extracted from or inserted into the Dynamics 365 Business Central database tables through an XMLport. For more information, see XMLport Object.

You build the XMLport schema from nodes. A node can be:

  • A text element

  • A text attribute

  • A table element

  • A field element

  • A field attribute

You nest nodes inside other nodes in order to define the structure of the XMLport schema. Use the following keywords to define the structure.

Keyword Description
textelement Defines a new text element in the XMLport. It is used for XML elements that do not map to a database item or when the database does not need the information.
textattribute Defines a new text attribute in the XMLport. It is used for XML attributes that do not map to a database item or when the database does not need the information.
tableelement Defines a new table element in the XMLport. It is used for XML elements that map to a table in the database, which is specified in the SourceTable Property. When the XMLport is run, the code nested inside the table element is iterated for all records in the underlying table.
fieldelement Defines a new field element in the XMLport. It is used for XMLport elements that map to a field in the database, which is specified in the SourceField Property. You must specify it inside the parent table element of the field.
fieldattribute Defines a new field attribute in the XMLport. It is used for XMLport attributes that map to a field in the database, which is specified in the SourceField Property.

Note

There can only be one <root> node, which must be an element. If the Format Property is set to Xml, it must be a textelement node.

There can be several attributes for a single element and their order does not matter. Attribute nodes must be specified inside the element nodes they refer to and before other element nodes. They cannot have nested element nodes.

Snippet support

Typing the shortcut txmlport will create the basic layout for an XMLport object when using the AL Language extension for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in Visual Studio Code.

Example

The following example adds the Customer table as a table element, the Address field as a field element and the County and City fields as field attributes.

schema
{
    textelement(Customers)
    {
        tableelement(Customer; Customer)
        {
            fieldelement(Address; Customer.Address)
            {
                fieldattribute(County; Customer.County){}
                fieldattribute(City; Customer.City){}
            }
        }
    }
}

For more information about designing XMLports, see XMLport Overview.

For more information about data consistency and validation against possible errors when using XMLports, see the blog post Importing and exporting valid data using XMLports in Dynamics 365 Business Central.

For information about the use of namespaces in XMLports see Using Namespaces with XMLports.

See Also

XMLport Object
XMLport Data Type
Using Namespaces with XMLports
XMLport Triggers Request Pages
XMLport Overview