Programming an XML interface

Development of an XML interface between Excel and a web portal

As the point of contact for all questions relating to energy management, the building construction department of the city of Frankfurt am Main commissioned eWorks, the Frankfurt Excel programmer, to program an Excel interface in order to transfer energy certificates entered in Excel directly to the web portal of the German Institute for Building Technology DIBt (Berlin). The aim was to quickly and easily check and transfer the energy certificate data entered in Excel and to automatically obtain a unique and centrally assigned registration number.

The Excel programming was based on an Excel file developed by the client for recording energy certificate data, which was prepared accordingly in terms of content and appearance. For data entry, a field-by-field check against the XML schema provided by the DIBt was integrated, which validates all data and reports any input errors, explains them clearly and rejects them. The specialist logic rules required for this were defined and implemented in close coordination with the client until, in the end, all processed data corresponded exactly to the specified XML format.

Following the format specification, the software development of the fully automatic data transfer to the DIBt web portal was carried out using Microsoft Excel and VBA. For this purpose, corresponding Excel macros were programmed using VBA to first validate the entered data against the XML schema, export it to XML files after successful validation and finally transfer it to the DIBt web portal via web service. The incoming web service response is in turn evaluated by the developed VBA macros and visualized to the Excel user in a convenient and comprehensible way. Last but not least, users can also quickly save their energy performance certificate data in an XML file, for example in order to be able to import and use an energy performance certificate in another compatible application.

The software development of the Excel application was carried out using the XML functionalities of Microsoft Excel 2007, Excel VBA programming and the Microsoft WebServices Toolkit. eWorks supported its client in the implementation of this Excel tool right from the start of the project: starting with the planning and Excel 2007 programming of the necessary VBA macros through to the handover and commissioning of the completed Excel solution. Following the installation, eWorks is available to its client as an Excel specialist for operating questions, any error reports (warranty) and, if necessary, further Excel programming (change requests).

Used technologies

Microsoft Office
XML

Related references

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