can we use SAS xml map file output the define.xml?

[zhanglianbo35]

Input is easy, how about output define.xml?

[jmangori]

I have not been successful doing output. I think it requires a 1:1 relationship between (one) dataset and XML file. This may be a flaw in the XMLMAP technology. Please share if you are successful

[lexjansen]

I wouldn't so much call it a flaw, but a limitation in the XMLMAP technology. What is supported is to export one SAS dataset to XML using an updated XMLMAP to an XML file. Indeed a 1:1 relationship. . You have to add an OUTPUT element. See: https://documentation.sas.com/doc/en/vdmmlcdc/1.0/engxml/p030dni55gms3qn1xxc7xxpzn06p.htm
Much better in my view is to let existing XML technology like XSLT do the heavy lifting, not SAS. You can can output all datasets to a 'flat' XML file (a cube with structure ) and then use XSL stylesheets to transform that to Define-XML. You can use the same principles for the other way around. These concepts were used in the SAS Clinical Standards Toolkit.

[KatjaGlassConsulting]

@lexjansen, I remember I tried once to use XLST for tasks but somehow failed. How to automatically use XLST to "render" a define.xml to a CSV file for example? Or how to "render" a flat XML file to create a new XML file with a different format? Do you have an example to share?

[lexjansen]

By using a different output method (text) XSLT just creates text. For examples of creating text see:
https://www.lexjansen.com/phuse/2010/cd/CD10.pdf
This example creates SAS code from Define-XML.
The SAS Clinical StAndards Toolkit (not being developed anymore) contains stylesheets to transform between Define-XML and a simple XML cube.
Here is an example of turning part of the ODM terminology XML file into CSV:

<xsl:stylesheet xmlns="http://www.cdisc.org/ns/odm/v1.3"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
xmlns:odm="http://www.cdisc.org/ns/odm/v1.3"
xmlns:nciodm="http://ncicb.nci.nih.gov/xml/odm/EVS/CDISC"
version="2.0">
<xsl:output method="text" encoding="iso-8859-1"/>

<xsl:strip-space elements="*" />

<xsl:template match="/">
xsl:text"Short Name","C-Code","Description","CodeList Extensible","CodedValue","C-Code"</xsl:text>
xsl:text </xsl:text>

<xsl:for-each select="//odm:EnumeratedItem">
  <xsl:sort data-type="text" order="ascending" select="Name"/>
  <xsl:text>"</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="../nciodm:CDISCSubmissionValue"/><xsl:text>",</xsl:text>
  <xsl:text>"</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="../@nciodm:ExtCodeID"/><xsl:text>",</xsl:text>
  <xsl:text>"</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="../odm:Description/odm:TranslatedText"/><xsl:text>",</xsl:text>
  <xsl:text>"</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="../@nciodm:CodeListExtensible"/><xsl:text>",</xsl:text>
  <xsl:text>"</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="@CodedValue"/><xsl:text>",</xsl:text>
  <xsl:text>"</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="@nciodm:ExtCodeID"/><xsl:text>"</xsl:text>
  <xsl:text>&#xa;</xsl:text> 
</xsl:for-each>

</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

[lexjansen]

This is another example:
https://github.com/lexjansen/sas-papers/tree/master/pharmasug-2018/xslt
It uses XSLT for the heavy lifting and XML maps for converting flat XML to SAS.
I use PROC XSL in this example. This SAS procedure is quite limited though. It cannot handle included stylesheets.
Nowadays I always use Saxon either through the command line, or you could write a small Java program to use it through the Java object in the data step.