XML Hammer Library

This library supports XML split and merge operations.

SPLIT operation splits a source XML file into multiple XML fragment files pivoting on a particular XML node. MERGE operation merges multiple XML fragmented files into a single XML file pivoting on a particular XML node.

Examples

Split Operation:

Input:

Company.xml

<Company>
	<Employees>
		<Employee>
			<FirstName>George</FirstName>
			<LastName>Michael</LastName>
		</Employee>
		<Employee>
			<FirstName>Maeby</FirstName>
			<LastName>Funke</LastName>
		</Employee>
	</Employees>
</Company>

Output:

Employee-1.xml

<Company>
	<Employees>
		<Employee>
			<FirstName>George</FirstName>
			<LastName>Michael</LastName>
		</Employee>
	</Employees>
</Company>

Employee-2.xml

<Company>
	<Employees>
		<Employee>
			<FirstName>Maeby</FirstName>
            <LastName>Funke</LastName>
		</Employee>
	</Employees>
</Company>

Merge Operation:

Reverse of Split operation. Merging Employee-1.xml and Employee.xml will yield Employees.xml with the content same as Company.xml.

Merge operation supports overflow feature, where given a finite set of fragmented xml files, a composite xml file of infinite fragments can be built. The operation, on reaching the last file from the finite set, rolls back to the first file and continues the iteration. The number of files to be merged is driven by start and end parameters and there is no restriction on those values. This makes it highly useful for performance testing scenarios.

Basic Usage

• -m : Merge Mode
  • Mandatory for Merge operation.
  • This is a qualifier parameter and does not need a corresponding value.
• -s : Split Mode
  • Mandatory for Split operation.
  • This is a qualifier parameter and does not need a corresponding value.
• -h : Home Directory
  • Optional
  • The home directory from where input and output directories are referenced.
  • In the absence of this parameter, current directory is used as home directory.
• -i : Input Directory
  • Optional
  • This is relative to home directory.
  • The input directory where source files are located.
  • In the absence of this parameter, home directory is used as input directory.
• -o : Output Directory (Relative to source directory)
  • Optional
  • This is relative to home directory.
  • The output directory where output files will be written.
  • In the absence of this parameter, home directory is used as output directory.
• -p : Pivot Element Name
  • Mandatory
  • The element name from the XML file on which child elements will be split/merged.
  • Example: 'Employees'.
• -n : File Name
  • Mandatory for Split operation. Does not apply to Merge operation.
  • The input xml file that need to be split.
• -f : File Name Prefix
  • Mandatory for Merge operation. Does not apply to Split operation.
  • This is the common prefix of the file names which needs to be merged.
  • The name of the files that need to be merged must follow the pattern: Prefix-${index}.xml.
  • Examples: Employee-1.xml, Employee-2.xml, Employee-3.xml.
• -x : Start Index
  • Optional. Does not apply to Split operation.
  • Starting Index of the files that need to be merged.
  • In the absence of this parameter, default base value 1 is used.
  • Example: If there are four files present in input directory of the pattern (Employee-${index}.xml), a start index of 3 will apply merge operation on files starting from (Employee-3.xml) only and leave the files with preceding (1, 2) indices.
• -y : End Index
  • Optional. Does not apply to Split operation.
  • End Index of the files that need to be merged.
  • In the absence of this parameter, max index in the input directory is used.
  • Example: If there are four files present in input directory of the pattern (Employee-${index}.xml), an end index of 2 will apply merge operation on files up to (Employee-2.xml) only and leave the files with following (3, 4) indices.
• JVM Heap Arguments:
  • On large operations, JVM might throw OutOfMemoryException due to insufficient heap space.
  • In such situations, it is recommended to pass heap size parameters in the execution command
  • The JVM heap arguments should be the preceding arguments in the argument list. Example (java -Xmx512m -jar ...).
  • Example arguments: -Xms512m -Xmx1024m.

Examples:

• java -jar xmlhammer-1.0.jar -s -h C:/Users/me -i In -o Out -n Company.xml -p Employees
• java -jar xmlhammer-1.0.jar -s -h C:/Users/me -n Company.xml -p Employees
• java -jar xmlhammer-1.0.jar -m -h C:/Users/me -i Out -o In -p Employees -f Employee -x 1 -y 2
• java -jar xmlhammer-1.0.jar -m -h C:/Users/me -i Out -o In -p Employees -f Employee
• java -jar xmlhammer-1.0.jar -m -h C:/Users/me -i -p Employees -f Employee -x 1 -y 2
• java -jar xmlhammer-1.0.jar -m -h C:/Users/me -i -p Employees -f Employee -x 5 -y 10
• java -jar xmlhammer-1.0.jar -m -h C:/Users/me -i -p Employees -f Employee -x 5
• java -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -jar xmlhammer-1.0.jar -m -h C:/Users/me -i Out -o In -p Employees -f Employee -x 1 -y 2

Installation:

mvn package

Troubleshooting:

• SplitterTest can be used to set arguments and run as test in case of any errors with the executable.
• MergerTest can be used to set arguments and run as test in case of any errors with the executable.

Going Forward:

• Support for customizing the output file names.
• Enrich unit tests and have better coverage.
• Schema Validation Algorithms
• Apache Camel support to move source files to archival directories and stream output files to target directory.
• Support for different XML parsers.

Support:

• Create a GitHub issue for any issues/requests.