Write XML

Write XML

Type: xml-write  ·  Package: XML Activities v1.1.1  ·  Output: string

Saves an XML text to a file. It is the last step after modifying an XML with XML Set Value or XML Add Element. Returns the path written.

How it works

Writes content to the file at path. By default it formats the XML with indentation (indent = true) so it is readable; with indent = false it saves it on a single line, with no whitespace between tags.

• Before writing, it checks that content is well-formed, safe XML (no DTD, within the package limits). See Security and limits. If it isn’t, the file is not touched.
• It writes the <?xml version="1.0" encoding="…"?> declaration with the encoding given, even if content doesn’t carry one. With "utf-8" the file is saved with a BOM.
• It creates any missing folders in the path and overwrites the file if it already exists.

Required parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
path	string	—	Path of the file to write.
content	string	—	The XML text to save (e.g. the output of XML Set Value).

Optional parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
encoding	string	"utf-8"	File encoding (e.g. "utf-8", "utf-16", "iso-8859-1").
indent	bool	true	Format with indentation. The Designer switch or an expression that returns true/false. Since 1.1.1. Any other value is an error ('indent' must be true or false.).

Output

Returns a string with the path of the file written (the same as path).

Common errors

Message	Cause and fix
'path' is required. / 'content' is required.	The parameter was left empty or its expression returned null.
XML parser message with line and position	content is not well-formed XML (for example, you passed a text that isn’t XML).
The XML declares a DTD (<!DOCTYPE>). … / The XML is too large …	The package’s security limits. See Common package errors.
.NET unsupported-encoding message	encoding is not a valid encoding name.
File system access error	No permission on the folder, or the file is open in another program.

Example

Read XML   path = filePath   → output: xml
XML Set Value   xml = xml   xpath = "//Status"   value = "Processed"   → output: newXml
Write XML   path = "C:/output/invoice.xml"   content = newXml   → output: savedPath
Log   message = "Saved to " + savedPath

Related activities

• Read XML — read an XML file.
• XML Set Value / XML Add Element — modify before saving.