URL encoding problem(?) importing XML data source

[Ben Kreunen]

(Posted too quick, should probably be moved to Importing & exporting > XML/XSL)

Hi All

I'm trying to import and XML data source but am having problems getting the data in. I can download the XML locally and import it with my XSL without a problem.  I've also tested the URL generated by the script on http://www.freeformatter.com/xsl-transformer.html successfully. I can view the URL in a web viewer object OK.

It fails when I try to import AND when I try to insert from URL into a text field.  I've tried various combinations of encoded/decoded characters in the URL but no luck yet.  Open to any suggestions (except download it locally and then import it... I could script it with wget but that's an extreme last resort)

URL calculation was initially generated by doing a manual search on http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/srw/search/peopleaustralia and copying the resulting URL into a calculation and then substituting field names where relevant.

Sample URL: http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/srw/search/peopleaustralia?query=bath.name+%3D+"Bruce"&version=1.1&operation=searchRetrieve&recordSchema=info:srw/schema/1/dc-v1.1&maximumRecords=10&startRecord=1&resultSetTTL=300&recordPacking=xml&recordXPath=&sortKeys= (double quotes are also encoded)

My XSLT: http://files.digitisation.unimelb.edu.au/xsl/nla-peopleaustralia-dc-fm12.xsl

Diagnostics in text field inserted from URL

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 
<searchRetrieveResponse xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/zing/srw/">
...
<diagnostics xmlns:ns2="http://www.loc.gov/zing/srw/">
<ns3:diagnostic xmlns:ns3="http://www.loc.gov/zing/srw/diagnostic/">
<ns3:uri>info:srw/diagnostic/1/10</ns3:uri>
<ns3:details>expected boolean, got string: &quot;Bruce&quot;</ns3:details>
...

Sample database attached. Lookup script puts the URL in a text field, the web viewer and Insert from URL into the adjacent text field.  The text field and web viewer should display the same data

NLA_PeopleAustralia.zip

Edited July 22, 2015 by Ben Kreunen

[comment]

Does this work for you?

Importer.fp7

[Ben Kreunen]

Yes. Thanks.  It's not the same URL that their form returns but it also makes sense. Should have thought of that ;-)

[comment]

It's not the same URL that their form returns

Well no, because I assumed they will supply the defaults if you don't override them explicitly. But the main point here is that you shouldn't escape the quotes or the = sign.

[Ben Kreunen]

I had tried it with a decoded URL, but not with single quotes... yes, I was too focused on one problem and not thinking about what I "should" have been using.

[comment]

I had tried it with a decoded URL, but not with single quotes

It will work with double quotes just as well:

Let ( [
template ="http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/srw/search/peopleaustralia?query=bath.name=\"$name$\""
] ;
Substitute ( template ; "$name$" ; Table::gSearchName )
)

I chose single quotes purely for convenience, to avoid the escaping within Filemaker.

[Ben Kreunen]

Built some more complex searches but used http://www.url-encode-decode.com/ to avoid making mistakes  ;-)  Back on track now.

Adding in optional criteria if available/relevant to narrow down the data retrieved eg. person was alive in the same decade of publication of journal article (for authors)... I think I'll switch to using multiple templates as in your example for the different components to reduce the clutter in the calculation for debugging.