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Import from MS Excel Files

Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin provides several methods for importing MS Excel files into an XML file. The first method is to use the Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin Smart Paste mechanism by simply copying data from Excel and pasting it into a document in Author mode (note that this is only supported in DITA, DocBook, TEI, JATS, and XHTML documents). You can also copy data from Excel and paste it into inserted cells in Grid mode, but this is a more manual process. If you want to import an entire Excel file, Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin also offers a configurable import wizard that works with any type of XML document.

Smart Paste Method in Author Mode

If you are importing data into DITA, DocBook, TEI, JATS, or XHTML documents, you can open the Excel spreadsheet in your office application, copy its content, and simply paste it into your document in Author mode.

The Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin Smart Paste mechanism will convert the pasted content to the equivalent XML markup and considers various pasting solutions to keep the resulting document valid, while preserving the original text styling (such as bold, italics, underline) and formatting (such as lists, tables, paragraphs).

Grid Mode Method

The Grid mode in Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin displays all content in an XML document as a structured grid of nested tables and you can work with the cells in those tables much like you would with any spreadsheet application. When importing Excel data into Grid mode, you first need to insert new cells in the particular nested table and then you can paste data from Excel the same as you would in any table or spreadsheet.
  1. Copy the particular cells from your Excel spreadsheet that you want to import into an XML file.
  2. Switch to Grid mode in Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin.
  3. Expand the particular nodes and locate the nested table where you want to insert the copied cells.
  4. Right-click a particular row or column where you want to insert the data and select Insert row or Insert column, depending on the structure of the copied cells.
  5. Paste the copied cells from the clipboard into the newly inserted cells in Grid mode.
  6. You may need to make some manual adjustments. For example, if the selection of copied cells contained an empty cell, Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin might ignore that cell.

Import Wizard Method

To use the Import wizard to import an Excel file into an XML file, follow these steps:

  1. Go to File > Import/Convert > Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin > MS Excel file to XML.
  2. Select the URL of the Excel file. The sheets of the document you are importing are presented in the Available Sheets section of this dialog box.
  3. Click the Next button to proceed to the next stage of the wizard.

    Figure 1. Import Wizard

  4. Configure the settings for the conversion. This stage of the wizard offers the following options:

    Import settings section
    Presents the input data in a tabular form. By default, all data items are converted to element content ( symbol), but this can be overridden by clicking the individual column headers. Clicking a column header once causes the data from this column to be converted to attribute values ( symbol). Clicking a second time causes the column data to be ignored ( symbol) when generating the XML file. You can cycle through these three options by continuing to click the column header.
    First row contains field names
    If this option is selected, the default column headers are replaced (where such information is available) by the content of the first row. In other words, the first row is interpreted as containing the field names. The changes are also visible in the preview panel.
    Customize
    This button opens a Presentation Names dialog box that allows you to edit the name, XML name, and conversion criterion for the root and row elements. The XML names can be edited by double-clicking the desired item and entering the label. The conversion criteria can also be modified by selecting one of the following option in the drop-down menu: ELEMENT, ATTRIBUTE, or SKIPPED.
    Import Settings
    Clicking this button opens the Import preferences page that allows you to configure more import options.
    Import formatted data (as displayed in Excel)
    If this option is selected, the imported data retains the Excel data formatting (such as the representation of numeric values or dates). If deselected, the data formatting is not imported.
    XML Import Preview panel
    Contains an example of what the generated XML document will look like.
    Save in file
    If selected, the new XML document is saved in the specified path.
  5. Click Finish to generate the XML document.

Resources

For more information about exchanging data between Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin and spreadsheet applications, watch our video demonstration: