Re: [xsl] Approaches for validating database transformations using XML/XSLT tools?

["Dave Pawson dave.pawson@xxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

https://docs.python.org/3/library/unittest.html might be more appropriate.

regards

On Sun, 15 Mar 2026 at 18:49, Roger L Costello costello@xxxxxxxxx <
xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> I have been given a very short-term task (40 hours total) to do some
> testing and I wanted to get your input before starting.
>
> A person whom I will call Jane wrote Python code that extracts data from
> tables in a Workday database, processes the data, and then inserts the
> processed data into a user database called the *Semantic* database from
> which users will make their queries. The structure of the Workday database
> is considered too complicated for users to query directly. The Semantic
> database is simpler (e.g., table names and column headers are more
> user-friendly) and contains less data (users do not need all the details
> that are in the Workday tables).
>
> My task is to test whether the Python codebs transformation is *complete,
> consistent, and accurate*.
>
> My plan is to leverage XML tools.
>
> I can use SQL to obtain the data that the Python code extracted from the
> Workday database. The front-end application to Workday and Semantic allows
> me to run SQL commands. The application can display the retrieved data in a
> raw form or export it as a *CSV file*.
>
> Here are two possible approaches that I could take:
>
> *1. Export to CSV and convert to XML via Excel*
>
> Get a CSV file from querying the Workday database. Do the same for the
> Semantic database. Open each CSV file in Excel and then *File b Save As
> XML*. Now I have XML. (Yes!) I can then create an XML Schema for the
> Workday data and an XML Schema for the Semantic data. I can also create a
> Schematron schema to check constraints between the two datasets. Validate,
> validate, validate.
>
> The advantage of this approach is that I can get the data into XML quickly.
>
> The disadvantage is that Excel, when generating XML, might silently change
> some databfor example, dropping non-printable characters or converting
data
> from the character set used by Workday into UTF-8. Do you know whether
> Excel performs such behind-the-scenes transformations? Such transformations
> would be undesirablebI want full knowledge of what data is in the Workday
> database so I can see if any data is missing or altered in the Semantic
> database.
>
> *2. Extract raw text and transform with XSLT*
>
> I could query the Workday database using the front-end application,
> capture the raw data displayed by the application into a text file (select,
> copy, paste), and then use the XSLT unparsed-text() function to read the
> data and generate XML (while carefully inspecting for non-printable
> characters and character-set issues). I would do the same for the Semantic
> database.
>
> The advantage of this approach is that I would have more control over how
> the XML is generated and there would be no silent, behind-the-scenes
> conversions.
>
> The disadvantage is that writing XSLT to carefully inspect the data and
> generate XML will take time, and I do not have much time.
>
> Perhaps there are other approaches?
>
> What do you recommend?
>
> /Roger
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Dave Pawson
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