doc/man1/htsn-import.1

   1 .TH htsn-import 1
   2
   3 .SH NAME
   4 htsn-import \- Import XML files from The Sports Network into an RDBMS.
   5
   6 .SH SYNOPSIS
   7
   8 \fBhtsn-import\fR [OPTIONS] [FILES]
   9
  10 .SH DESCRIPTION
  11 .P
  12 The Sports Network <http://www.sportsnetwork.com/> offers an XML feed
  13 containing various sports news and statistics. Our sister program
  14 \fBhtsn\fR is capable of retrieving the feed and saving the individual
  15 XML documents contained therein. But what to do with them?
  16 .P
  17 The purpose of \fBhtsn-import\fR is to take these XML documents and
  18 get them into something we can use, a relational database management
  19 system (RDBMS), otherwise known as a SQL database. The structure of
  20 relational database, is, well, relational, and the feed XML is not. So
  21 there is some work to do before the data can be imported into the
  22 database.
  23 .P
  24 First, we must parse the XML. Each supported document type (see below)
  25 has a full pickle/unpickle implementation (\(dqpickle\(dq is simply a
  26 synonym for serialize here). That means that we parse the entire
  27 document into a data structure, and if we pickle (serialize) that data
  28 structure, we get the exact same XML document tha we started with.
  29 .P
  30 This is important for two reasons. First, it serves as a second level
  31 of validation. The first validation is performed by the XML parser,
  32 but if that succeeds and unpicking fails, we know that something is
  33 fishy. Second, we don't ever want to be surprised by some new element
  34 or attribute showing up in the XML. The fact that we can unpickle the
  35 whole thing now means that we won't be surprised in the future.
  36 .P
  37 The aforementioned feature is especially important because we
  38 automatically migrate the database schema every time we import a
  39 document. If you attempt to import a \(dqnewsxml.dtd\(dq document, all
  40 database objects relating to the news will be created if they do not
  41 exist. We don't want the schema to change out from under us without
  42 warning, so it's important that no XML be parsed that would result in
  43 a different schema than we had previously. Since we can
  44 pickle/unpickle everything already, this should be impossible.
  45
  46 .SH SUPPORTED DOCUMENT TYPES
  47 .P
  48 The XML document types obtained from the feed are uniquely identified
  49 by their DTDs. We currently support documents with the following DTDs:
  50 .IP \[bu] 2
  51 AutoRacingResultsXML.dtd
  52 .IP \[bu]
  53 Auto_Racing_Schedule_XML.dtd
  54 .IP \[bu]
  55 Heartbeat.dtd
  56 .IP \[bu]
  57 Injuries_Detail_XML.dtd
  58 .IP \[bu]
  59 injuriesxml.dtd
  60 .IP \[bu]
  61 newsxml.dtd
  62 .IP \[bu]
  63 Odds_XML.dtd
  64 .IP \[bu]
  65 scoresxml.dtd
  66 .IP \[bu]
  67 weatherxml.dtd
  68 .IP \[bu]
  69 GameInfo
  70 .RS
  71 .IP \[bu]
  72 CBASK_Lineup_XML.dtd
  73 .IP \[bu]
  74 cbaskpreviewxml.dtd
  75 .IP \[bu]
  76 cflpreviewxml.dtd
  77 .IP \[bu]
  78 Matchup_NBA_NHL_XML.dtd
  79 .IP \[bu]
  80 MLB_Fielding_XML.dtd
  81 .IP \[bu]
  82 MLB_Gaming_Matchup_XML.dtd
  83 .IP \[bu]
  84 MLB_Lineup_XML.dtd
  85 .IP \[bu]
  86 MLB_Matchup_XML.dtd
  87 .IP \[bu]
  88 MLS_Preview_XML.dtd
  89 .IP \[bu]
  90 mlbpreviewxml.dtd
  91 .IP \[bu]
  92 NBA_Gaming_Matchup_XML.dtd
  93 .IP \[bu]
  94 NBA_Playoff_Matchup_XML.dtd
  95 .IP \[bu]
  96 NBALineupXML.dtd
  97 .IP \[bu]
  98 nbapreviewxml.dtd
  99 .IP \[bu]
 100 NCAA_FB_Preview_XML.dtd
 101 .IP \[bu]
 102 NFL_NCAA_FB_Matchup_XML.dtd
 103 .IP \[bu]
 104 nflpreviewxml.dtd
 105 .IP \[bu]
 106 nhlpreviewxml.dtd
 107 .IP \[bu]
 108 recapxml.dtd
 109 .IP \[bu]
 110 WorldBaseballPreviewXML.dtd
 111 .RE
 112 .IP \[bu]
 113 SportInfo
 114 .RS
 115 .IP \[bu]
 116 CBASK_3PPctXML.dtd
 117 .IP \[bu]
 118 Cbask_All_Tourn_Teams_XML.dtd
 119 .IP \[bu]
 120 CBASK_AssistsXML.dtd
 121 .IP \[bu]
 122 Cbask_Awards_XML.dtd
 123 .IP \[bu]
 124 CBASK_BlocksXML.dtd
 125 .IP \[bu]
 126 Cbask_Conf_Standings_XML.dtd
 127 .IP \[bu]
 128 Cbask_DivII_III_Indv_Stats_XML.dtd
 129 .IP \[bu]
 130 Cbask_DivII_Team_Stats_XML.dtd
 131 .IP \[bu]
 132 Cbask_DivIII_Team_Stats_XML.dtd
 133 .IP \[bu]
 134 CBASK_FGPctXML.dtd
 135 .IP \[bu]
 136 CBASK_FoulsXML.dtd
 137 .IP \[bu]
 138 CBASK_FTPctXML.dtd
 139 .IP \[bu]
 140 Cbask_Indv_Scoring_XML.dtd
 141 .IP \[bu]
 142 CBASK_MinutesXML.dtd
 143 .IP \[bu]
 144 Cbask_Polls_XML.dtd
 145 .IP \[bu]
 146 CBASK_ReboundsXML.dtd
 147 .IP \[bu]
 148 CBASK_ScoringLeadersXML.dtd
 149 .IP \[bu]
 150 Cbask_Team_ThreePT_Made_XML.dtd
 151 .IP \[bu]
 152 Cbask_Team_ThreePT_PCT_XML.dtd
 153 .IP \[bu]
 154 Cbask_Team_Win_Pct_XML.dtd
 155 .IP \[bu]
 156 Cbask_Top_Twenty_Five_XML.dtd
 157 .IP \[bu]
 158 CBASK_TopTwentyFiveResult_XML.dtd
 159 .IP \[bu]
 160 Cbask_Tourn_Awards_XML.dtd
 161 .IP \[bu]
 162 Cbask_Tourn_Champs_XML.dtd
 163 .IP \[bu]
 164 Cbask_Tourn_Indiv_XML.dtd
 165 .IP \[bu]
 166 Cbask_Tourn_Leaders_XML.dtd
 167 .IP \[bu]
 168 Cbask_Tourn_MVP_XML.dtd
 169 .IP \[bu]
 170 Cbask_Tourn_Records_XML.dtd
 171 .IP \[bu]
 172 LeagueScheduleXML.dtd
 173 .IP \[bu]
 174 minorscoresxml.dtd
 175 .IP \[bu]
 176 Minor_Baseball_League_Leaders_XML.dtd
 177 .IP \[bu]
 178 Minor_Baseball_Standings_XML.dtd
 179 .IP \[bu]
 180 Minor_Baseball_Transactions_XML.dtd
 181 .IP \[bu]
 182 mlbbattingavgxml.dtd
 183 .IP \[bu]
 184 mlbdoublesleadersxml.dtd
 185 .IP \[bu]
 186 MLBGamesPlayedXML.dtd
 187 .IP \[bu]
 188 MLBGIDPXML.dtd
 189 .IP \[bu]
 190 MLBHitByPitchXML.dtd
 191 .IP \[bu]
 192 mlbhitsleadersxml.dtd
 193 .IP \[bu]
 194 mlbhomerunsxml.dtd
 195 .IP \[bu]
 196 MLBHRFreqXML.dtd
 197 .IP \[bu]
 198 MLBIntWalksXML.dtd
 199 .IP \[bu]
 200 MLBKORateXML.dtd
 201 .IP \[bu]
 202 mlbonbasepctxml.dtd
 203 .IP \[bu]
 204 MLBOPSXML.dtd
 205 .IP \[bu]
 206 MLBPlateAppsXML.dtd
 207 .IP \[bu]
 208 mlbrbisxml.dtd
 209 .IP \[bu]
 210 mlbrunsleadersxml.dtd
 211 .IP \[bu]
 212 MLBSacFliesXML.dtd
 213 .IP \[bu]
 214 MLBSacrificesXML.dtd
 215 .IP \[bu]
 216 MLBSBSuccessXML.dtd
 217 .IP \[bu]
 218 mlbsluggingpctxml.dtd
 219 .IP \[bu]
 220 mlbstandxml.dtd
 221 .IP \[bu]
 222 mlbstandxml_preseason.dtd
 223 .IP \[bu]
 224 mlbstolenbasexml.dtd
 225 .IP \[bu]
 226 mlbtotalbasesleadersxml.dtd
 227 .IP \[bu]
 228 mlbtriplesleadersxml.dtd
 229 .IP \[bu]
 230 MLBWalkRateXML.dtd
 231 .IP \[bu]
 232 mlbwalksleadersxml.dtd
 233 .IP \[bu]
 234 MLBXtraBaseHitsXML.dtd
 235 .IP \[bu]
 236 MLB_Pitching_Appearances_Leaders.dtd
 237 .IP \[bu]
 238 MLB_ERA_Leaders.dtd
 239 .IP \[bu]
 240 MLB_Pitching_Balks_Leaders.dtd
 241 .IP \[bu]
 242 MLB_Pitching_CG_Leaders.dtd
 243 .IP \[bu]
 244 MLB_Pitching_ER_Allowed_Leaders.dtd
 245 .IP \[bu]
 246 MLB_Pitching_Hits_Allowed_Leaders.dtd
 247 .IP \[bu]
 248 MLB_Pitching_Hit_Batters_Leaders.dtd
 249 .IP \[bu]
 250 MLB_Pitching_HR_Allowed_Leaders.dtd
 251 .IP \[bu]
 252 MLB_Pitching_IP_Leaders.dtd
 253 .IP \[bu]
 254 MLB_Pitching_Runs_Allowed_Leaders.dtd
 255 .IP \[bu]
 256 MLB_Pitching_Saves_Leaders.dtd
 257 .IP \[bu]
 258 MLB_Pitching_Shut_Outs_Leaders.dtd
 259 .IP \[bu]
 260 MLB_Pitching_Starts_Leaders.dtd
 261 .IP \[bu]
 262 MLB_Pitching_Strike_Outs_Leaders.dtd
 263 .IP \[bu]
 264 MLB_Pitching_Walks_Leaders.dtd
 265 .IP \[bu]
 266 MLB_Pitching_WHIP_Leaders.dtd
 267 .IP \[bu]
 268 MLB_Pitching_Wild_Pitches_Leaders.dtd
 269 .IP \[bu]
 270 MLB_Pitching_Win_Percentage_Leaders.dtd
 271 .IP \[bu]
 272 MLB_Pitching_WL_Leaders.dtd
 273 .IP \[bu]
 274 NBA_Team_Stats_XML.dtd
 275 .IP \[bu]
 276 NBA3PPctXML.dtd
 277 .IP \[bu]
 278 NBAAssistsXML.dtd
 279 .IP \[bu]
 280 NBABlocksXML.dtd
 281 .IP \[bu]
 282 nbaconfrecxml.dtd
 283 .IP \[bu]
 284 nbadaysxml.dtd
 285 .IP \[bu]
 286 nbadivisionsxml.dtd
 287 .IP \[bu]
 288 NBAFGPctXML.dtd
 289 .IP \[bu]
 290 NBAFoulsXML.dtd
 291 .IP \[bu]
 292 NBAFTPctXML.dtd
 293 .IP \[bu]
 294 NBAMinutesXML.dtd
 295 .IP \[bu]
 296 NBAReboundsXML.dtd
 297 .IP \[bu]
 298 NBAScorersXML.dtd
 299 .IP \[bu]
 300 nbastandxml.dtd
 301 .IP \[bu]
 302 NBAStealsXML.dtd
 303 .IP \[bu]
 304 nbateamleadersxml.dtd
 305 .IP \[bu]
 306 nbatripledoublexml.dtd
 307 .IP \[bu]
 308 NBATurnoversXML.dtd
 309 .IP \[bu]
 310 NCAA_Conference_Schedule_XML.dtd
 311 .IP \[bu]
 312 nflfirstdownxml.dtd
 313 .IP \[bu]
 314 NFLFumbleLeaderXML.dtd
 315 .IP \[bu]
 316 NFLGiveTakeXML.dtd
 317 .IP \[bu]
 318 NFLInside20XML.dtd
 319 .IP \[bu]
 320 NFLKickoffsXML.dtd
 321 .IP \[bu]
 322 NFLMondayNightXML.dtd
 323 .IP \[bu]
 324 NFLPassLeadXML.dtd
 325 .IP \[bu]
 326 NFLQBStartsXML.dtd
 327 .IP \[bu]
 328 NFLSackLeadersXML.dtd
 329 .IP \[bu]
 330 nflstandxml.dtd
 331 .IP \[bu]
 332 NFLTeamRankingsXML.dtd
 333 .IP \[bu]
 334 NFLTopPerformanceXML.dtd
 335 .IP \[bu]
 336 NFLTotalYardageXML.dtd
 337 .IP \[bu]
 338 NFL_KickingLeaders_XML.dtd
 339 .IP \[bu]
 340 NFL_NBA_Draft_XML.dtd
 341 .IP \[bu]
 342 NFL_Roster_XML.dtd
 343 .IP \[bu]
 344 NFL_Team_Stats_XML.dtd
 345 .IP \[bu]
 346 Transactions_XML.dtd
 347 .IP \[bu]
 348 Weekly_Sched_XML.dtd
 349 .IP \[bu]
 350 WNBA_Team_Leaders_XML.dtd
 351 .IP \[bu]
 352 WNBA3PPctXML.dtd
 353 .IP \[bu]
 354 WNBAAssistsXML.dtd
 355 .IP \[bu]
 356 WNBABlocksXML.dtd
 357 .IP \[bu]
 358 WNBAFGPctXML.dtd
 359 .IP \[bu]
 360 WNBAFoulsXML.dtd
 361 .IP \[bu]
 362 WNBAFTPctXML.dtd
 363 .IP \[bu]
 364 WNBAMinutesXML.dtd
 365 .IP \[bu]
 366 WNBAReboundsXML.dtd
 367 .IP \[bu]
 368 WNBAScorersXML.dtd
 369 .IP \[bu]
 370 wnbastandxml.dtd
 371 .IP \[bu]
 372 WNBAStealsXML.dtd
 373 .IP \[bu]
 374 WNBATurnoversXML.dtd
 375 .RE
 376 .P
 377 The GameInfo and SportInfo types do not have their own top-level
 378 tables in the database. Instead, their raw XML is stored in either the
 379 \(dqgame_info\(dq or \(dqsport_info\(dq table respectively.
 380
 381 .SH DATABASE SCHEMA
 382 .P
 383 At the top level (with two notable exceptions), we have one table for
 384 each of the XML document types that we import. For example, the
 385 documents corresponding to \fInewsxml.dtd\fR will have a table called
 386 \(dqnews\(dq. All top-level tables contain two important fields,
 387 \(dqxml_file_id\(dq and \(dqtime_stamp\(dq. The former is unique and
 388 prevents us from inserting the same data twice. The time stamp on the
 389 other hand lets us know when the data is old and can be removed. The
 390 database schema make it possible to delete only the outdated top-level
 391 records; all transient children should be removed by triggers.
 392 .P
 393 These top-level tables will often have children. For example, each
 394 news item has zero or more locations associated with it. The child
 395 table will be named <parent>_<children>, which in this case
 396 corresponds to \(dqnews_locations\(dq.
 397 .P
 398 To relate the two, a third table may exist with name
 399 <parent>__<child>. Note the two underscores. This prevents ambiguity
 400 when the child table itself contains underscores. The table joining
 401 \(dqnews\(dq with \(dqnews_locations\(dq is thus called
 402 \(dqnews__news_locations\(dq. This is necessary when the child table
 403 has a unique constraint; we don't want to blindly insert duplicate
 404 records keyed to the parent. Instead we'd like to use the third table
 405 to map an existing child to the new parent.
 406 .P
 407 Where it makes sense, children are kept unique to prevent pointless
 408 duplication. This slows down inserts, and speeds up reads (which are
 409 much more frequent). There is a tradeoff to be made, however. For a
 410 table with a small, fixed upper bound on the number of rows (like
 411 \(dqodds_casinos\(dq), there is great benefit to de-duplication. The
 412 total number of rows stays small, so inserts are still quick, and many
 413 duplicate rows are eliminated.
 414 .P
 415 But, with a table like \(dqodds_games\(dq, the number of games grows
 416 quickly and without bound. It is therefore more beneficial to be able
 417 to delete the old games (through an ON DELETE CASCADE, tied to
 418 \(dqodds\(dq) than it is to eliminate duplication. A table like
 419 \(dqnews_locations\(dq is somewhere in-between. It is hoped that the
 420 unique constraint in the top-level table's \(dqxml_file_id\(dq will
 421 prevent duplication in this case anyway.
 422 .P
 423 The aforementioned exceptions are the \(dqgame_info\(dq and
 424 \(dqsport_info\(dq tables. These tables contain the raw XML for a
 425 number of DTDs that are not handled individually. This is partially
 426 for backwards-compatibility with a legacy implementation, but is
 427 mostly a stopgap due to a lack of resources at the moment. These two
 428 tables (game_info and sport_info) still possess timestamps that allow
 429 us to prune old data.
 430 .P
 431 UML diagrams of the resulting database schema for each XML document
 432 type are provided with the \fBhtsn-import\fR documentation.
 433
 434 .SH XML Schema Oddities
 435 .P
 436 There are a number of problems with the XML on the wire. Even if we
 437 construct the DTDs ourselves, the results are sometimes
 438 inconsistent. Here we document a few of them.
 439
 440 .IP \[bu] 2
 441 Odds_XML.dtd
 442
 443 The <Notes> elements here are supposed to be associated with a set of
 444 <Game> elements, but since the pair
 445 (<Notes>...</Notes><Game>...</Game>) can appear zero or more times,
 446 this leads to ambiguity in parsing. We therefore ignore the notes
 447 entirely (although a hack is employed to facilitate parsing).
 448
 449 .IP \[bu]
 450 weatherxml.dtd
 451
 452 There appear to be two types of weather documents; the first has
 453 <listing> contained within <forecast> and the second has <forecast>
 454 contained within <listing>. While it would be possible to parse both,
 455 it would greatly complicate things. The first form is more common, so
 456 that's all we support for now.
 457
 458 .SH OPTIONS
 459
 460 .IP \fB\-\-backend\fR,\ \fB\-b\fR
 461 The RDBMS backend to use. Valid choices are \fISqlite\fR and
 462 \fIPostgres\fR. Capitalization is important, sorry.
 463
 464 Default: Sqlite
 465
 466 .IP \fB\-\-connection-string\fR,\ \fB\-c\fR
 467 The connection string used for connecting to the database backend
 468 given by the \fB\-\-backend\fR option. The default is appropriate for
 469 the \fISqlite\fR backend.
 470
 471 Default: \(dq:memory:\(dq
 472
 473 .IP \fB\-\-log-file\fR
 474 If you specify a file here, logs will be written to it (possibly in
 475 addition to syslog). Can be either a relative or absolute path. It
 476 will not be auto-rotated; use something like logrotate for that.
 477
 478 Default: none
 479
 480 .IP \fB\-\-log-level\fR
 481 How verbose should the logs be? We log notifications at four levels:
 482 DEBUG, INFO, WARN, and ERROR. Specify the \(dqmost boring\(dq level of
 483 notifications you would like to receive (in all-caps); more
 484 interesting notifications will be logged as well. The debug output is
 485 extremely verbose and will not be written to syslog even if you try.
 486
 487 Default: INFO
 488
 489 .IP \fB\-\-remove\fR,\ \fB\-r\fR
 490 Remove successfully processed files. If you enable this, you can see
 491 at a glance which XML files are not being processed, because they're
 492 all that should be left.
 493
 494 Default: disabled
 495
 496 .IP \fB\-\-syslog\fR,\ \fB\-s\fR
 497 Enable logging to syslog. On Windows this will attempt to communicate
 498 (over UDP) with a syslog daemon on localhost, which will most likely
 499 not work.
 500
 501 Default: disabled
 502
 503 .SH CONFIGURATION FILE
 504 .P
 505 Any of the command-line options mentioned above can be specified in a
 506 configuration file instead. We first look for \(dqhtsn-importrc\(dq in
 507 the system configuration directory. We then look for a file named
 508 \(dq.htsn-importrc\(dq in the user's home directory. The latter will
 509 override the former.
 510 .P
 511 The user's home directory is simply $HOME on Unix; on Windows it's
 512 wherever %APPDATA% points. The system configuration directory is
 513 determined by Cabal; the \(dqsysconfdir\(dq parameter during the
 514 \(dqconfigure\(dq step is used.
 515 .P
 516 The file's syntax is given by examples in the htsn-importrc.example file
 517 (included with \fBhtsn-import\fR).
 518 .P
 519 Options specified on the command-line override those in either
 520 configuration file.
 521
 522 .SH EXAMPLES
 523 .IP \[bu] 2
 524 Import newsxml.xml into a preexisting sqlite database named \(dqfoo.sqlite3\(dq:
 525
 526 .nf
 527 .I $ htsn-import --connection-string='foo.sqlite3' \\\\
 528 .I "              test/xml/newsxml.xml"
 529 Successfully imported test/xml/newsxml.xml.
 530 Imported 1 document(s) total.
 531 .fi
 532 .IP \[bu]
 533 Repeat the previous example, but delete newsxml.xml afterwards:
 534
 535 .nf
 536 .I $ htsn-import --connection-string='foo.sqlite3' \\\\
 537 .I "              --remove test/xml/newsxml.xml"
 538 Successfully imported test/xml/newsxml.xml.
 539 Imported 1 document(s) total.
 540 Removed processed file test/xml/newsxml.xml.
 541 .fi
 542 .IP \[bu]
 543 Use a Postgres database instead of the default Sqlite. This assumes
 544 that you have a database named \(dqhtsn\(dq accessible to user
 545 \(dqpostgres\(dq locally:
 546
 547 .nf
 548 .I $ htsn-import --connection-string='dbname=htsn user=postgres' \\\\
 549 .I "              --backend=Postgres test/xml/newsxml.xml"
 550 Successfully imported test/xml/newsxml.xml.
 551 Imported 1 document(s) total.
 552 .fi
 553
 554 .SH BUGS
 555
 556 .P
 557 Send bugs to michael@orlitzky.com.