How to upload files using the Feeds module?

Question

I created a custom content type and I want to upload an XML file using the Feeds module. Can somebody explain how to do the mapping correctly? Should I add a new importer or use a node importer?

I want to perform the upload using an XML file. I have unicode characters in my file.

I am not able to convert it to a CSV file. I have tried converting using Open Office but it is not working.

I find using feeds a bit complicated.

Are there other solutions to upload files into database?

Note: When I try to upload to says no new nodes created.

Answer 1

Using the Forena integration with the Feeds module it is possible to import data blocks.

Data blocks are files that are located in a database repository, which is a (secured) directory on the web server that contains all data block files related to a specific data source. The actual format of these files is dependent on which data provider or driver is being used for the data source:

• the most common format for these files is SQL, used for all supported data engines (Drupal, Oracle, PDO other than Drupal, Postgres or MSSQL), except for FrxFiles (XML Files).
• an alternative format for these files is XML.

For an illustration of how it is like to use Forena in combination with Feeds, have a look at the video about How to import data and reports based on data as Drupal nodes.

^{Disclosure: I'm a co-maintainer of the forena module.}

Answer 2

You need to use Feeds XPath Parser module.

You may need this module if you would like to:

• Import XML or HTML documents into nodes, users, taxonomy terms, or regular database tables.

• Scrape webpages like regular feed sources with scheduling, updating, and expiring.

• Extract content from HTML documents to create a semantic data bank or mashup.

Below links will help you to set up.

• Feeds XPath Parser, a full-fledged XML parser that utilizes the XPath syntax for scraping feeds.

• Importing from XML, from drupal.forhumanists.org.

• Drupal 101: What I learnt from hours of troubleshooting Feeds.

Answer 3

I am able to create new node by creating a csv file using google spreadsheets instead of a xml file.I created a new feed importer and mapped the elements of feed to the appropriate fields.