When to use XML as a BIP data source
Use an XML data source when:
- Report data comes from an OIC integration output (JSON converted to XML)
- You’re processing FBDI error report XML files
- Data originates from a system that exports XML natively
- You need to combine static XML with a live SQL dataset
XML data source types in BIP
File (upload): upload an XML file to the data model directly. Useful for testing or one-off reports.
JDBC or REST via OIC: more commonly for live data, OIC generates XML and pushes it to BIP via the BI Publisher REST API, which triggers report generation.
HTTP XML feed: BIP polls an HTTP endpoint that returns XML.
XML schema and XPath
The XML data source requires you to define the structure using XPath expressions. BIP parses the XML document tree and maps elements to report groups:
<!-- Sample XML structure -->
<INTEGRATION_RESULT>
<SUMMARY>
<TOTAL_RECORDS>150</TOTAL_RECORDS>
<SUCCESS_COUNT>143</SUCCESS_COUNT>
<ERROR_COUNT>7</ERROR_COUNT>
</SUMMARY>
<ERRORS>
<ERROR>
<ROW_NUMBER>14</ROW_NUMBER>
<FIELD>AMOUNT</FIELD>
<MESSAGE>Invalid number format</MESSAGE>
</ERROR>
</ERRORS>
</INTEGRATION_RESULT>
Map in BIP data model:
- Group G_SUMMARY: XPath
/INTEGRATION_RESULT/SUMMARY - Group G_ERRORS: XPath
/INTEGRATION_RESULT/ERRORS/ERROR
Combining XML and SQL datasets
BIP data models support multiple datasets of different types. You can combine:
- XML dataset (integration result)
- SQL dataset (reference data from Oracle DB)
Link them with bind parameters if they share a key, or keep as independent datasets rendered in different sections of the template.
OIC-to-BIP report generation pattern
- OIC integration runs, produces processed data as XML
- OIC calls BIP REST API:
POST /xmlpserver/rest/v1/reports - Pass XML as the request body along with report path and output format
- BIP generates the PDF/Excel and returns it or saves to UCM
- OIC retrieves the file URL and emails/delivers to recipients
This pattern enables fully automated, data-driven report generation without any user interaction.