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Azure Data Factory adds support for XML format

Linda_Wang's avatar
Linda_Wang
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Jul 17, 2020

We are glad to announce that now in Azure Data Factory, you can extract data from XML files by using copy activity and mapping data flow. With such capability, you can either directly load XML data to another data store/file format, or transform your XML data and then store the results in the lake or database.

 

XML format is supported on all the file-based connectors as source. You can find the new "XML" option in the available format list:

 

When reading data from XML files, you have the flexibility to define whether to apply schema validation, to specify how to handle namespaces, and to map selective fields or reshape the hierarchy to match downstream data need.

 

Copy activity source example:

 

In mapping data flow, you can use XML as source either via an XML dataset or via inline dataset.

Data flow source example with XML dataset:

 

To learn more about XML support in Azure Data Factory, visit XML format in the documentation site.

Updated Jul 17, 2020
Version 1.0
Azure Data Integration
Copy Activity
Mapping Data Flows

34 Comments

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  • ykhabins's avatar
    ykhabins
    Brass Contributor
    Jul 20, 2020

    Hi Linda_Wang,

     

    Thanks for the good news.

     

    Few questions everybody would like to know the answers:

    • What XML processor is in use behind the scenes?
      Is it .Net Framework or something else?
    • When sink support will be introduced?
    • Any future XSLT support?
    • Any future XQuery support?
    • Excerpt from the documentation: "...When using XSD or DTD to validate XML files, the XSD/DTD must be referred inside the XML files through relative path...".
      It is a very serious limitation. Are you working to remove such dependency?
    • Is the ADF XSD Validation conformant with the XSD 1.1 standard?
      XSD 1.1 became a W3C Recommendation in April 5, 2012.
    • Does the XSD Validation support master XSD with imported or included XSDs?
      It is a very common scenario.

    For example,

    <xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xs:include schemaLocation="includeMe.xsd"/>
...
</xs:schema>