MULTI-PASS VALIDATION OF EXTENSIBLE MARKUP LANGUAGE (XML) DOCUMENTS

• US 20090249186A1
• Filed: 03/25/2008
• Published: 10/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Fetzer, Stephanie A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,875,013 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/226 Validation

Abstract

A validation sequence for an XML document can be identified. The validation sequence can include a set of validation elements. At least one validation pass can be performed for the XML document. Each validation pass can correspond to one of the validation elements. Each validation pass can be configured to validate the XML document for at least one condition defined by the validation element. A validation element result can be produced for each performed validation pass. A validation element result that indicates the XML document is invalid can cause an immediate ending of activities related to the validation sequence, which determines the XML document in general to be invalid. A validation element result that indicates the XML document is valid causes a validation pass to be performed for another one of the validation elements unless each validation element in the validation sequence has been processed. A successful validation of the XML document requires a performance of a successful execution pass for each of the plurality the validation elements.

Claims

1. A method for validating XML documents comprising:

identifying a validation sequence for an XML document, wherein said validation sequence comprises a plurality of validation elements;

performing at least one validation pass for the XML document, wherein each validation pass corresponds to one of the validation elements, and wherein each validation pass is configured to validate the XML document for at least one condition defined by the validation element; and

producing a validation element result for each performed validation pass, wherein a validation element result that indicates the XML document is invalid causes a ceasing of activities related to unprocessed ones of the validation elements in the validation sequence, wherein a validation element result that indicates the XML document is valid causes a validation pass to be performed for another one of the validation elements unless each validation element in the validation sequence has been processed, wherein a successful validation of the XML document requires a performance of a successful execution pass for each of the plurality the validation elements.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reporting a validation status of the XML document over a network to an originator of the XML document from a remotely located network node based upon results of the validation sequence.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one validation pass comprises a plurality of validation passes, and wherein at least two different computer processing units perform different ones of the validation passes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the validation elements are ordered elements, and wherein the validation passes are performed in an order of the validation elements.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of said validation elements define validation conditions unique to that validation element wherein the defined validation conditions are non-redundant with any other validation condition of the validation sequence.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the validation elements are user configurable, and wherein each of the validation elements are separately configurable from other ones of the validation elements.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing the XML document using a text parser; and

determining said validation sequence from a plurality of previously defined validation sequences based upon results of analyzing the XML document using the text parser.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining said validation sequence based upon a relationship between a sender of the XML document and a recipient of the XML document.

9. The method of claim 1, said performing further comprising:

analyzing the XML document using an XML parser, wherein the conditions defined by the validation element are structural XML conditions defined within an XML schema.

10. A computer program product for validating XML documents, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to identify a validation sequence for an XML document, wherein said validation sequence comprises a plurality of validation elements;

computer usable program code configured to perform at least one validation pass for the XML document, wherein each validation pass corresponds to one of the validation elements, and wherein each validation pass is configured to validate the XML document for at least one condition defined by the validation element; and

computer usable program code configured to produce a validation element result for each performed validation pass, wherein a validation element result that indicates the XML document is invalid causes a ceasing of activities related to unprocessed ones of the validation elements in the validation sequence, wherein a validation element result that indicates the XML document is valid causes a validation pass to be performed for another one of the validation elements unless each validation element in the validation sequence has been processed, wherein a successful validation of the XML document requires a performance of a successful execution pass for each of the plurality the validation elements.

11. A method that utilizes a multi-pass technique to validate extensible markup language (XML) documents comprising:

receiving an XML document containing a plurality of data items, wherein the plurality of data items are arranged in a predetermined format for an exchange of data;

determining a validation sequence for the XML document from a plurality of different validation sequences, wherein the validation sequence comprises a plurality of validation elements that each defines acceptable data items for at least one of the predetermined format and for the exchange of data;

executing the validation sequence upon the XML document, wherein during execution an execution pass for each validation element is executed in order;

when a failure of a specific validation element occurs during an execution of the validation sequence, immediately terminating the execution of the validation sequence and determining the XML document to be invalid;

when each validation element has been processed and determined to be valid, determining the XML document to be valid; and

conveying message detailing validation results for the XML document to an originating party of the XML document.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining step further comprises:

examining the XML document for at least one processing parameter; and

determining the validation sequence based at least in part upon the at least one processing parameter.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the examining step is performed by a document preprocessing component, wherein the document preprocessing component utilizes a text parser to determine the at least one processing parameter.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one processing parameter comprises a document data type, the originating party of the XML document, and an XML version identifier.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of validation elements comprises at least one of an XML document schema, a document type definition, a validation rule for a commercially-available validation tool, and an XML processing parameter.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one document evaluator comprises an XML parser, a text parser, and a commercially-available validation tool.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one validation element comprises at least one of an XML document schema, a document type definition, a validation rule for a commercially-available validation tool, and an XML processing parameter.

16. A system utilizing a multi-pass technique to optimize the validation of extensible markup language (XML) documents comprising:

an XML document containing a plurality of data items, wherein the plurality of data items are arranged in a predetermined format for an exchange of data;

a multi-pass XML validator configured to validate the XML document utilizing a validation sequence, wherein the validation sequence contains an order of execution for a plurality of validation element; and

at least one document evaluator configured to execute the validation sequence upon the XML document as directed by the multi-pass XML validator.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the multi-pass XML validator further comprises:

a document preprocessor configured to textually analyze the XML document for at least one preprocessing parameter;

a validation coordinator configured to determine the validation sequence for the XML document based upon the at least one preprocessing parameter determined by the document preprocessor and monitor an execution of said validation sequence; and

a message generator configured to create a rejection message upon a failure of a validation element within the validation sequence, wherein the rejection message is conveyed to an originating party of the XML document.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one preprocessing parameter determined by the document preprocessor comprises at least one of a document data type, an originating party of the XML document, and an XML version identifier.