XML to SQL is the process of converting data stored in an XML file into SQL (Structured Query Language) statements or directly into tables in a database. This is often done when you want to import hierarchical or structured XML data into a relational database system like MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, or SQLite.
There are two common approaches for this:
Converting XML to SQL statements (like INSERT, UPDATE)
XML data is parsed and converted into SQL commands that insert or update the corresponding database tables.
Directly loading XML into the database
Some databases support direct XML imports, parsing the XML and mapping it to tables and fields.
Example XML Data:
xml
<students>
<student>
<id>1</id>
<name>John Doe</name>
<age>22</age>
<grade>A</grade>
</student>
<student>
<id>2</id>
<name>Jane Smith</name>
<age>21</age>
<grade>B+</grade>
</student>
</students>
SQL Table Structure:
sql
CREATE TABLE students (
id INT PRIMARY KEY,
name VARCHAR(100),
age INT,
grade VARCHAR(2)
);
SQL INSERT Statements from XML:
sql
INSERT INTO students (id, name, age, grade) VALUES (1, 'John Doe', 22, 'A');
INSERT INTO students (id, name, age, grade) VALUES (2, 'Jane Smith', 21, 'B+');
How to Convert XML to SQL:
Using Python (with libraries like xml.etree.ElementTree, pandas, sqlite3)
Using XSLT to transform XML into SQL script
Database tools (like MySQL's LOAD XML statement)
Third-party XML to SQL conversion tools