JSON Connector

JSON connectors support converting XML data into JSON and JSON data into XML.

Key Capabilities

Bidirectional JSON to XML conversion with automatic format detection
Minimal configuration required (the connector typically works with the default configurations)
Configurable attribute prefixes and text property handling for accurate translations
Custom formatting options including minification and root element naming
Type conversion support with JSON type annotations for precise data handling

Overview

The JSON connector enables conversion between JSON and XML without requiring much configuration. The connector automatically detects whether input files are JSON or XML, and then the connector translates the file to the other format. The connector supports configurable syntax for distinguishing attributes and ensuring that the output is valid XML or JSON.

Connector Settings

This section contains all of the configurable connector properties.

Settings Tab

Connector Settings

Settings related to the core operation of the connector.

Setting	Description
Connector Id	The static, unique identifier for the connector.
Connector Type	Displays the connector name and a description of what it does.
Connector Description	An optional field to provide a free-form description of the connector and its role in the flow.
Root Element Name	When converting from JSON to XML, this value is used as the name of the root element in the resulting XML document. This ensures that the output XML has a single root element regardless of the structure of the input JSON.
Attribute Prefix	The prefix is used to identify attributes in JSON. When converting from JSON to XML, the connector interprets values with this prefix as attributes in the resulting XML. When converting from XML to JSON, the connector adds this prefix to attribute values in the resulting JSON. See the Examples section for more information.
Text Property Name	When a JSON object has attribute values and a non-attribute value, this name identifies the non-attribute value. When converting from JSON to XML, values associated with this name are set in the text of the resulting XML element. When converting from XML to JSON, the text in the element is set as the value for this name. See the Examples section for more information.
Minify	When enabled, this option instructs the connector to reduce the whitespace in the resulting XML or JSON document. This option conserves space, but it can make the output more difficult for humans to read.

Other Settings

Setting	Description
Invalid XML Name Prefix	When a JSON element has a name that would not be valid XML, the connector adds this prefix to the beginning of the XML element name. For example, a JSON element named `10price` must be modified to translate it to XML. Although a JSON element name can start with a number, XML element names cannot. If you set this field to `num`, the `10price` JSON element becomes `num10price` in the XML output.
Local File Scheme	A scheme for assigning filenames to messages that are output by the connector. You can use macros in your filenames dynamically to include information such as identifiers and timestamps. For more information, see Macros.

Advanced Tab

Logging

Other Settings

Setting	Description
Processing Delay	The amount of time (in seconds) by which the processing of files placed in the Transactions tab is delayed. This is a legacy setting. Best practice is to use a File connector to manage local file systems instead of this setting.

Miscellaneous

Automation Tab

Automation Settings

Settings related to the automatic processing of files by the connector.

Setting	Description
Send	A toggle that instructs the connector to automatically send files when they are ready.

Performance

Alerts Tab

SLAs Tab

Macros

Examples

Conversion Examples

Examples of converting between XML and JSON with the JSON connector are below.

XML to JSON

XML input:

<Fable>
  <Author alive="false">Aesop</Author>
  <Title>Tortoise and the Hare</Title>
  <Characters>
    <Character id="1" slow="true">Tortoise</Character>
    <Character id="2" slow="hardly">Hare</Character>
  </Characters>
  <Moral>Persistence over speed</Moral>
</Fable>

JSON output:

{
  "Fable": {
    "Author": {
      "@alive":"false",
      "#text":"Aesop"
    },
    "Title":"Tortoise and the Hare",
    "Characters": {
      "Character": [
        {
          "@id":"1",
          "@slow":"true",
          "#text":"Tortoise"
        },
        {
          "@id":"2",
          "@slow":"hardly",
          "#text":"Hare"
        }
      ]
    },
    "Moral":"Persistence over speed"
    }
}

JSON to XML

JSON input:

{ 
  "Catch": [
    {
      "type": "salmon",
      "quantity": "2",
      "weight": "20.2 lbs"
    },
    {
      "type": "pike",
      "quantity": "21",
      "weight": "521 lbs"
    }
  ],
  "Lake": "Boulder",
  "Weather": "Clear",
  "808s": "Loud" 
}

XML output:

<Items>
  <Catch>
    <type>salmon</type>
    <quantity>2</quantity>
    <weight>20.2 lbs</weight>
  </Catch>
  <Catch>
    <type>pike</type>
    <quantity>21</quantity>
    <weight>521 lbs</weight>
  </Catch>
  <Lake>Boulder</Lake>
  <Weather>Clear</Weather>
  <_808s>Loud</_808s>
</Items>

JSON Type Conversions

When converting from XML to JSON, the connector treats all XML elements as strings except in two cases:

If the connector detects multiple elements or values in the same XML structure in the XML input, it treats them as an array.
If you apply an XML attribute to specify the JSON output format, this attribute overrides the default string behavior. These attributes are listed in the table below.

Attribute	Description
json:array=“true”	If you have a single-element array, you can apply this attribute to ensure that the connector treats it as an array instead of a string.
json:type=“number”	Instructs the connector to treat the XML element as a number.
json:type=“boolean”	Instructs the connector to treat the XML element as a boolean.
json:type=“object”	Instructs the connector to treat the XML element as an object.
json:type=“null”	The connector treats empty XML elements as strings of length zero. This command forces the output to be `null` instead of an empty string.
xsi:nil=“true”	Same functionality as json:type=“null”.

Getting Started

Flows

EDI Trading Partner Management Console

Connectors

Mapping

Admin API

How-To Guides

Scripting

Software License and Third-Party Copyrights

Key Capabilities

Overview

Connector Settings

Settings Tab

Connector Settings

Other Settings

Advanced Tab

Logging

Other Settings

Miscellaneous

Automation Tab

Automation Settings

Performance

Alerts Tab

SLAs Tab

Macros

Examples

Conversion Examples

XML to JSON

JSON to XML

JSON Type Conversions

​Key Capabilities

​Overview

​Connector Settings

​Settings Tab

​Connector Settings

​Other Settings

​Advanced Tab

​Logging

​Other Settings

​Miscellaneous

​Automation Tab

​Automation Settings

​Performance

​Alerts Tab

​SLAs Tab

​Macros

​Examples

​Conversion Examples

​XML to JSON

​JSON to XML

​JSON Type Conversions

Key Capabilities

Overview

Connector Settings

Settings Tab

Connector Settings

Other Settings

Advanced Tab

Logging

Other Settings

Miscellaneous

Automation Tab

Automation Settings

Performance

Alerts Tab

SLAs Tab

Macros

Examples

Conversion Examples

XML to JSON

JSON to XML

JSON Type Conversions