Idea for an XmlExportPlugin

Getting data out of TWiki is already possible, for example with the WebRssBase feeds, or with a topic that has a FormattedSearch suitable for another web application. It is also useful to export TWiki topic content in XML format, say to sync it up with other TWikis and/or wikis. Also, TWiki topic content in XML format can further be massaged via XSLT.

Last but not least, TWiki listed at WikiMatrix could checkmark the "XML export" feature as implemented.

A simple solution is to write a XmlExportPlugin that presents the current topic content in XML format, for example with an ?xmlexport=xml URL parameter to the view script. The XML format could be TWiki markup converted into XHML with TWiki variables changed into XML markup, e.g. from %FOO{ param1="value 1" param2="value 2" }% into <foo param1="value 1" param2="value 2"> or <twiki:foo param1="value 1" param2="value 2">. It could also just convert the TWiki variables and leave the TWiki markup unchanged.

Example topic content:

%META:TOPICINFO{author="PeterThoeny" date="1137402538" format="1.0" version="1.4"}%
---+ Hello World
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam...
   * one
   * two

| A1 | B1 |
| A2 | B2 |
%COMMENT{type="table"}%

%META:FORM{name="WebForm"}%
%META:FIELD{name="TopicSummary" title="TopicSummary" value="Something to say"}%
%META:FIELD{name="RelatedTopics" title="RelatedTopics" value="ChartPlugin"}%

Example XML output: (sans header)

<twiki:meta:topicinfo author="PeterThoeny" date="1137402538" format="1.0" version="1.4">
 </twiki:meta:topicinfo>
<h1>Hello World</h1>
<p>
 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam...
</p>
<ul>
 <li>one</li>
 <li>two</li>
</ul>
<table>
 <tr>
  <td>A1</td>
  <td>B1</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td>A2</td>
  <td>B2</td>
 </tr>
</table>
<twiki:comment type="table">
 </twiki:comment>
<twiki:meta:form name="WebForm">
 </twiki:meta:form>
<twiki:meta:field name="TopicSummary" title="TopicSummary" value="Something to say">
 </twiki:meta:field>
<twiki:meta:field name="RelatedTopics" title="RelatedTopics" value="ChartPlugin">
 </twiki:meta:field>

-- PeterThoeny - 20 Jan 2006

Wouldn't a DITA conform output be even more usefull?!

-- FranzJosefSilli - 20 Jan 2006

That is a good point, the output could be transformed into several DTDs, such as DITA and DocBook. This tranformation could be done outside of this Plugin, or by the Plugin (with ?xmlexport=dita or ?xmlexport=docbook URL parameters.)

-- PeterThoeny - 21 Jan 2006

More points to think about

• using multiple topics to create a single xml document
• adding means to extract application specific information from a topic, i.e. only its formfields

-- MichaelDaum - 26 Jan 2006

I've been waiting for a TWiki solution to create XML with links to attachments. Could this be feasible?

-- ArthurClemens - 02 Feb 2006

Arthur, I am not sure I understand. Could you make an example?

-- PeterThoeny - 02 Feb 2006

Just realized that topic content can be exported with the XmlQueryPlugin.

-- PeterThoeny - 09 Feb 2006

It seems like the XmlQueryPlugin does not include content outside of tables, actions, etc? How about the rest of a twiki topic?

-- PalWerdenhoff - 24 May 2006

Hi everyone! I saw on WikiMatrix that TWiki has XML export support, but have so far been unable to find out exactly how I would go about exporting topics from TWiki to an XML file, and what format they will be. Could anyone point me toward documentation about this?

-- TWikiGuest - 24 Mar 2007