XML Processing

Spring Batch RS provides XML processing capabilities using the quick-xml crate. Read XML elements by tag name and write structured XML documents with custom root and item tags.

Quick Start

use spring_batch_rs::item::xml::{XmlItemReaderBuilder, XmlItemWriterBuilder};

// Read XML elements by tag
let reader = XmlItemReaderBuilder::<Book>::new()
    .tag("book")
    .from_reader(file);

// Write XML with custom structure
let writer = XmlItemWriterBuilder::<Book>::new()
    .root_tag("catalog")
    .item_tag("book")
    .from_path("output.xml");

Features

• Tag-based reading: Extract elements by XML tag name
• Attribute support: Handle XML attributes with serde
• Nested elements: Process complex XML hierarchies
• Custom output structure: Define root and item tags for writing
• Format conversion: Convert to/from JSON, CSV

Complete Example

The xml_processing example demonstrates:

1. XML to JSON: Convert a book catalog to JSON format
2. Create XML: Generate XML from JSON data
3. XML to CSV: Export XML data as CSV with transformation
4. XML to XML: Transform XML structure

Run the Example

cargo run --example xml_processing --features xml,json,csv

API Reference

XmlItemReaderBuilder

Method	Description
tag(name)	Set the XML element tag to search for (required)
capacity(usize)	Set buffer capacity (default: 1024 bytes)
from_reader(R)	Create reader from any Read source

XmlItemWriterBuilder

Method	Description
root_tag(name)	Set root element tag (required)
item_tag(name)	Set item element tag (required)
from_writer(W)	Create writer for any Write destination
from_path(P)	Create writer to file path

Working with Attributes

Use serde’s rename attribute with @ prefix for XML attributes:

#[derive(Deserialize, Serialize)]
struct Book {
    #[serde(rename = "@id")]  // XML attribute
    id: u32,
    title: String,           // XML element
    author: String,          // XML element
}

This handles XML like:

<book id="1">
    <title>The Rust Programming Language</title>
    <author>Steve Klabnik</author>
</book>

Input Format

The XML reader extracts elements matching the specified tag:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<catalog>
    <book id="1">
        <title>Clean Code</title>
        <author>Robert Martin</author>
    </book>
    <book id="2">
        <title>Design Patterns</title>
        <author>Gang of Four</author>
    </book>
</catalog>

Common Patterns

Reading Nested XML

#[derive(Deserialize)]
struct House {
    #[serde(rename = "@id")]
    id: u32,
    address: String,
    city: String,
    rooms: Vec<Room>,
}

#[derive(Deserialize)]
struct Room {
    name: String,
    size: f64,
}

Converting XML to CSV

// Processor to flatten XML structure for CSV
struct XmlToCsvProcessor;

impl ItemProcessor<House, HouseCsv> for XmlToCsvProcessor {
    fn process(&self, item: &House) -> Result<HouseCsv, BatchError> {
        Ok(HouseCsv {
            id: item.id,
            address: item.address.clone(),
            city: item.city.clone(),
            room_count: item.rooms.len() as u32,
        })
    }
}

Writing Custom XML Structure

let writer = XmlItemWriterBuilder::<Person>::new()
    .root_tag("people")
    .item_tag("person")
    .from_path("output.xml");

// Produces:
// <people>
//   <person>...</person>
//   <person>...</person>
// </people>

See Also

• JSON Processing - Convert XML to JSON
• CSV Processing - Convert XML to CSV
• Advanced Patterns - Multi-format pipelines