Introduction to Xml2OleDb

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Have you ever wanted to add your XML data files into a database? Xml2OleDb will
demonstrate how easy ASP.NET makes it to add XML data to any OleDb database
including SQL Server, Access, Excel, Visual FoxPro, FoxPro, and dBase.

XML is definitely the best way to share data via the World Wide Web. XML data can
easily be integrated into web applications for many uses. However, at some point you
(or someone you work for) will want XML data added to a database. Hopefully this
will be an easy task for you by the time you finish reading this article and looking at
the code sample. Now let’s get started.

The first step is to load the XML file into a DataSet and get the first table. This table is
the DataTable we will be adding to the database. Next remove the extension from the
XML file. The file name minus the extension will be used as the table name in the
database. An error message will be displayed if the XML file is not in the proper
format. Look at the Authors.xml file include in the download to see the proper format.

// Load the XML file into a DataSet using the

// file name submitted from the web form
dataSetXml.ReadXml(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(textBoxXml.Text));
// Get the first table in the DataSet
dataTableXml = dataSetXml.Tables[0];
// Remove the extension from the XML file. The file name minus
// the extension will be used as the table name in the database.
tableName = textBoxXml.Text.Substring(0,textBoxXml.Text.Length -4);

Once the XML file has been loaded, check to see if the DataTable contains any data
(rows). Next call two routines: the first checks to see if the table exists in the
database and creates the table if it does not exist, and the second inserts the data
from the XML file into the database. Finally, if there were no errors, display a
message stating that the XML file was successfully inserted into the database.

// Check to see if table one contains any data (rows)

if(dataTableXml.Rows.Count > 0)
Creating the Database Table
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This next routine checks to see if the table exists in the database and creates the
table if it does not exist. Start by creating an OleDb database connection using the
connection string provided when the web form is submitted. Open the database
connection and retrieve database schema information for only the table we are
looking for and place it in a DataTable. In this example the table name is the name of
the XML file without the extension.

// Create an OleDb database connection using the connection string

// provided when the web form is submitted
OleDbConnection oledbConn = new OleDbConnection(textBoxOleDb.Text);
// Open the database connection
oledbConn.Open();
// Retrieve database schema information for only the table we are
looking for
// and place it in a DataTable.
// In this example the table name is the name of the XML file without
the extension
DataTable schemaTable =
oledbConn.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables,
new object[] {null, null, tableName, "TABLE"});

Using the DataTable that contains the database schema check to see if the table
exists. If the table exists in the schema there will be one row in the DataTable. If the
table does not exist in the schema, the DataTable row count will be zero.

// Check to see if the table exists in the database schema

// If the table exists in the schema there will be 1 row in the
DataTable
// If the table does not exist in the schema the DataTable row count
will be zero
if(schemaTable.Rows.Count < 1)

If the table does not exist in the database, create it. Make the create table SQL
command by iterating through the XML file's columns. This way the database columns
will have the same name as the XML file. In this example we create all columns as
CHAR (text/string) data type with a length of 100. This simplifies the code, because
not all data types are supported by all OleDb databases. Once the SQL command is
created, it is executed against the database using the ExecuteNonQuery method of
the OleDbCommand.

// Make the create table SQL command by iterating through the XML file's
// columns. This way the database columns will have the same name as the
XML file.
sqlCmd = "create table " + tableName + " (";
for(int i = 0;i < dataTableXml.Columns.Count;i++)
{
// This adds each column as a text/string type with a length of 100
sqlCmd = sqlCmd + dataTableXml.Columns[i].ColumnName.ToString() + "
char(100),";
}
// Remove the last ","
sqlCmd = sqlCmd .Substring(0,sqlCmd.Length - 1) + ");";
// Create and execute the create table command
OleDbCommand oledbCmd = new OleDbCommand(sqlCmd,oledbConn);
oledbCmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
Adding the XML Data to the Database
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Now that we know the database has a table that can hold the XML file we start
inserting records. Again we create and open an OleDbConnection to the database and
iterate through the rows in the DataTable from the XML file, creating a SQL insert
command for each row of data. Do this by iterating through the DataTable columns to
get the column names and values for the current row. Finally, use the
OleDbCommand ExecuteNonQuery method to insert each row into the database.

// Iterate rows in the DataTable

foreach(DataRow dr in dataTableXml.Rows)
{
// Create the sql insert command for each row
string sqlCmd = "insert into [" + tableName + "] (";
// Iterate the datatable columns
for(int i = 0;i < dataTableXml.Columns.Count;i++)
{
// Add the column name
sqlCmd = sqlCmd + dataTableXml.Columns[i].ColumnName.ToString()
+ ",";
}
sqlCmd = sqlCmd.Substring(0,sqlCmd.Length - 1) + ") values (";
// Iterate the DataTable columns
for(int x = 0;x < dataTableXml.Columns.Count;x++)
{
// Add the column value for this row
sqlCmd = sqlCmd + "'" + dr[x].ToString().Replace("'","''") +
"',";
}
sqlCmd = sqlCmd.Substring(0,sqlCmd.Length - 1) + ");";
// Create and execute the insert command
OleDbCommand oledbCmd = new OleDbCommand(sqlCmd,oledbConn);
oledbCmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
Code Sample Instructions and Conculsion
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Now let’s discuss using the sample code. Place all of the files from the download into
a virtual directory. You do not need to compile the source, because I have included
the assembly (.dll) file in the download. This sample creates tables in databases, but
it does not create the database. You will need to create the database before adding
XML data to it. I have included an empty Access database (Database.mdb) and an
empty Excel database/workbook (Database.xls) for you to use. You need to give the
ASP.NET process account (default is MACHINENAME\ASPNET) write permissions on
the database file. For FoxPro/dBase this could be just an empty directory.

Navigate to the virtual directory you created. Enter the name of the XML file (must be
in the same virtual directory). Don’t enter the path, just the file name (Authors.xml).
I have included a sample XML file (Authors.xml) that you can use. Next, enter the
OleDb connection string and click the submit button.

Example connection strings:

Access: Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\data\database.mdb;
Excel: Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data
Source=C:\data\database.xls;Extended Properties=Excel 8.0;
FoxPro/dBase: Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=c:\data;Extended
Properties=dBASE IV;
SQL Server: Provider=SQLOLEDB; Data Source=localhost; Initial
Catalog=database;User ID=sa;Password=;

When I started thinking about writing this article I imagined that code would be very
complicated. I was very pleased to find out how few lines of code it took. That’s how
easy ASP.NET makes it to add XML data into the OleDb database of your choice.