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Xml Schema Validation

The XmlSchemaValidation transformation allows you to validate an XML string within each row against a provided XSD schema definition. If the XML does not conform to the schema, the entire row is forwarded to the error output.

The XmlSchemaValidation transformation is part of the ETLBox.Xml package.

Buffer Behavior

  • Non-blocking transformation
  • Single input buffer
  • Invalid rows are redirected via LinkErrorTo

Example

Start by defining the XML schema (XSD) as a string:

string xsdMarkup = @"<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema'>
   <xsd:element name='Root'>
      <xsd:complexType>
         <xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:element name='Child1' minOccurs='1' maxOccurs='1'/>
            <xsd:element name='Child2' minOccurs='1' maxOccurs='1'/>
         </xsd:sequence>
     </xsd:complexType>
   </xsd:element>
</xsd:schema>";

Define a POCO that holds the XML data. You can also use a dynamic object if preferred:

public class MyXmlRow
{
    public string Xml { get; set; }
}

Create some test data for validation:

string _validXml = @"<?xml version=""1.0"" encoding=""utf-8""?>
<Root>
  <Child1>Content1</Child1>
  <Child2>Content2</Child2>
</Root>";

string _invalidXml = @"<?xml version=""1.0"" encoding=""utf-8""?>
<Root>
  <Child1>Content1</Child1>
  <Child3>Content3</Child3>
</Root>";

Set up the validation flow:

var source = new MemorySource<MyXmlRow>();
source.DataAsList.Add(new MyXmlRow() { Xml = _validXml });
source.DataAsList.Add(new MyXmlRow() { Xml = _invalidXml });

var dest = new MemoryDestination<MyXmlRow>();
var error = new MemoryDestination<ETLBoxError>();

var schemaValidation = new XmlSchemaValidation<MyXmlRow>();
schemaValidation.XmlSelector = r => r.Xml;
schemaValidation.XmlSchema = xsdMarkup;

source.LinkTo(schemaValidation);
schemaValidation.LinkTo(dest);
schemaValidation.LinkErrorTo(error);
Network.Execute(source);

Behavior

  • The first XML is valid and will be forwarded to dest.
  • The second XML is invalid (unexpected Child3 element) and will be routed to error.

This setup ensures schema compliance for incoming XML data and cleanly separates valid and invalid entries.

Dynamic Object Support

The XmlSchemaValidation transformation also supports dynamic objects, such as ExpandoObject.

To use a dynamic object, assign the XmlSelector to extract the XML string from a property in the dynamic row. The transformation logic is otherwise identical to typed input.

Example: Using Dynamic Input

var source = new MemorySource();
dynamic row1 = new ExpandoObject();
row1.Xml = _validXml;
dynamic row2 = new ExpandoObject();
row2.Xml = _invalidXml;
source.DataAsList.Add(row1);
source.DataAsList.Add(row2);

var schemaValidation = new XmlSchemaValidation();
schemaValidation.XmlSelector = row => ((dynamic)row).Xml;
schemaValidation.XmlSchema = xsdMarkup;

var dest = new MemoryDestination();
var error = new MemoryDestination<ETLBoxError>();

source.LinkTo(schemaValidation);
schemaValidation.LinkTo(dest);
schemaValidation.LinkErrorTo(error);
Network.Execute(source);

In this example, valid XML rows will be routed to the main destination, while any XML that fails schema validation will be redirected to the error output.

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