Can Tibco spotfire use XML as datasource?

Question

I am using tibco spotfire but can not get it work with XML.

The question is: Can Tibco spotfire use XML as datasource?

Answer 1

Basically, no, at least not out-of-the-box. Spotfire always needs a table-based structure as input such as a CSV-file, and Excel-file, a database table, etc. So you always have to convert the XML into a table like structure first. Your options for this include

• Use a script (needs to be aware of the schema of your XML) to produce, e.g., a CSV file or insert data into a database table
• If the XML data is somehow already in a database, use a SQL/XML query that produces as output a "regular", XML-free table (or use a view definition)
• Use a custom data source that parses the XML (again needs to be schema-aware somehow or configurable)
• Use TIBCO Spotfire Advanced Data/Composite Information Server (additional licensing might be required), which I think supports XQuery etc. to produce table-like structures suitable for consumption in Spotfire (see http://purl.manticoretechnology.com/ImgHost/582/12917/2012/resources/datasheets/Composite_Information_Server_6_2_Datasheet.pdf)