XML Conversion Utility Help

The XML Conversion Utility converts an XML file into a pipe (|) delimited output file.

This help describes how to perform the following tasks in the utility:

It also includes Utility Processing Statistics based on tests performed to determine the processing time of award and IDV files based on file size.

Specifying the Input Files and Output File:

On the XML File Conversion tab, there are three fields from which you can select or specify the input and output files to use when running the utility:

Field Description

Input XML File

Select the Extensible Markup Language (XML) file that you want to convert. The file consists of tags and text.
Input XSLT File Select the Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) file to use for the conversion. This file specifies the formatting of the XML file.

Output File

Specify an output file name to use for the conversion. This file will be the pipe (|) delimited text file that the utility generates. You can also select an existing text file to use as the output file; the utility will append the converted XML to the file.

Converting the XML File:

Once you specify the input files and the output file, click the Convert XML File button to start the XML file conversion. The process indicator updates you on the status of the conversion process. When the process is complete, the indicator states that:

Conversion complete: output file created.

Note: The conversion time varies based on the size of the XML file; for XML files that are quite sizable the conversion time will be greatly increased. See Utility Processing Statistics for more information.

After the conversion is complete, you can manipulate the output file as needed by opening it or copying it from its directory.

Using the Sample Files:

The utility zip file includes two sample XML files:
AwardInput.xml and IDVInput.xml. These are found in the samplexmls directory. There are also two sample XSLT files: Award_pipe_delimiter.xslt and IDV_pipe_delimiter.xslt. These are found in the XSL directory. If you would like to take a quick look at the utility, you can select one of the sample XML input files and then select its respective sample XSLT file. Then specify an output file and click the Convert XML File button. The sample XSLT files provide complete conversions of the sample XML files; all XML elements are represented in the output file.

Utility Processing Statistics:

The following tests were performed to determine the processing time of award and IDV files based on file size.

Note: These tests were run on a PC with 1.0 GB RAM, and a Pentium 4 CPU (3.2 GHZ) with a maximum heap size for the application set to 512 MB.

File Size Award File IDV File
0.5GB Processing time: 3 minutes
Application closing time: 1 second
Processing time: 3 minutes
Application closing time: 1 second
1 GB Processing time: 5 minute
Application closing time: 1 second
Processing time: 5 minute
Application closing time: 1 second
2 GB Processing time: 10 minutes
Application closing time: 1 second
Processing time: 10 minutes
Application closing time: 1 second
3 GB Processing time: 15 minutes
Application closing time: 1 second
Processing time: 15 minutes
Application closing time: 1 second
4 GB Processing time: 20 minutes
Application closing time: 1 second
Processing time: 20 minutes
Application closing time: 1 second