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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_Gaming_Matchup_XML.dtd
81 .IP \[bu]
82 MLB_Lineup_XML.dtd
83 .IP \[bu]
84 MLB_Matchup_XML.dtd
85 .IP \[bu]
86 MLS_Preview_XML.dtd
87 .IP \[bu]
88 mlbpreviewxml.dtd
89 .IP \[bu]
90 NBA_Gaming_Matchup_XML.dtd
91 .IP \[bu]
92 NBA_Playoff_Matchup_XML.dtd
93 .IP \[bu]
94 NBALineupXML.dtd
95 .IP \[bu]
96 nbapreviewxml.dtd
97 .IP \[bu]
98 NCAA_FB_Preview_XML.dtd
99 .IP \[bu]
100 NFL_NCAA_FB_Matchup_XML.dtd
101 .IP \[bu]
102 nflpreviewxml.dtd
103 .IP \[bu]
104 nhlpreviewxml.dtd
105 .IP \[bu]
106 recapxml.dtd
107 .IP \[bu]
108 WorldBaseballPreviewXML.dtd
109 .RE
110 .IP \[bu]
111 SportInfo
112 .RS
113 .IP \[bu]
114 CBASK_3PPctXML.dtd
115 .IP \[bu]
116 Cbask_All_Tourn_Teams_XML.dtd
117 .IP \[bu]
118 CBASK_AssistsXML.dtd
119 .IP \[bu]
120 Cbask_Awards_XML.dtd
121 .IP \[bu]
122 CBASK_BlocksXML.dtd
123 .IP \[bu]
124 Cbask_Conf_Standings_XML.dtd
125 .IP \[bu]
126 Cbask_DivII_III_Indv_Stats_XML.dtd
127 .IP \[bu]
128 Cbask_DivII_Team_Stats_XML.dtd
129 .IP \[bu]
130 Cbask_DivIII_Team_Stats_XML.dtd
131 .IP \[bu]
132 CBASK_FGPctXML.dtd
133 .IP \[bu]
134 CBASK_FoulsXML.dtd
135 .IP \[bu]
136 CBASK_FTPctXML.dtd
137 .IP \[bu]
138 Cbask_Indv_Scoring_XML.dtd
139 .IP \[bu]
140 CBASK_MinutesXML.dtd
141 .IP \[bu]
142 Cbask_Polls_XML.dtd
143 .IP \[bu]
144 CBASK_ReboundsXML.dtd
145 .IP \[bu]
146 CBASK_ScoringLeadersXML.dtd
147 .IP \[bu]
148 Cbask_Team_ThreePT_Made_XML.dtd
149 .IP \[bu]
150 Cbask_Team_ThreePT_PCT_XML.dtd
151 .IP \[bu]
152 Cbask_Team_Win_Pct_XML.dtd
153 .IP \[bu]
154 Cbask_Top_Twenty_Five_XML.dtd
155 .IP \[bu]
156 CBASK_TopTwentyFiveResult_XML.dtd
157 .IP \[bu]
158 Cbask_Tourn_Awards_XML.dtd
159 .IP \[bu]
160 Cbask_Tourn_Champs_XML.dtd
161 .IP \[bu]
162 Cbask_Tourn_Indiv_XML.dtd
163 .IP \[bu]
164 Cbask_Tourn_Leaders_XML.dtd
165 .IP \[bu]
166 Cbask_Tourn_MVP_XML.dtd
167 .IP \[bu]
168 Cbask_Tourn_Records_XML.dtd
169 .IP \[bu]
170 LeagueScheduleXML.dtd
171 .IP \[bu]
172 minorscoresxml.dtd
173 .IP \[bu]
174 Minor_Baseball_League_Leaders_XML.dtd
175 .IP \[bu]
176 Minor_Baseball_Standings_XML.dtd
177 .IP \[bu]
178 Minor_Baseball_Transactions_XML.dtd
179 .IP \[bu]
180 mlbbattingavgxml.dtd
181 .IP \[bu]
182 mlbdoublesleadersxml.dtd
183 .IP \[bu]
184 MLBGamesPlayedXML.dtd
185 .IP \[bu]
186 MLBGIDPXML.dtd
187 .IP \[bu]
188 MLBHitByPitchXML.dtd
189 .IP \[bu]
190 mlbhitsleadersxml.dtd
191 .IP \[bu]
192 mlbhomerunsxml.dtd
193 .IP \[bu]
194 MLBHRFreqXML.dtd
195 .RE
196 .P
197 The GameInfo and SportInfo types do not have their own top-level
198 tables in the database. Instead, their raw XML is stored in either the
199 \(dqgame_info\(dq or \(dqsport_info\(dq table respectively.
200
201 .SH DATABASE SCHEMA
202 .P
203 At the top level (with two notable exceptions), we have one table for
204 each of the XML document types that we import. For example, the
205 documents corresponding to \fInewsxml.dtd\fR will have a table called
206 \(dqnews\(dq. All top-level tables contain two important fields,
207 \(dqxml_file_id\(dq and \(dqtime_stamp\(dq. The former is unique and
208 prevents us from inserting the same data twice. The time stamp on the
209 other hand lets us know when the data is old and can be removed. The
210 database schema make it possible to delete only the outdated top-level
211 records; all transient children should be removed by triggers.
212 .P
213 These top-level tables will often have children. For example, each
214 news item has zero or more locations associated with it. The child
215 table will be named <parent>_<children>, which in this case
216 corresponds to \(dqnews_locations\(dq.
217 .P
218 To relate the two, a third table may exist with name
219 <parent>__<child>. Note the two underscores. This prevents ambiguity
220 when the child table itself contains underscores. The table joining
221 \(dqnews\(dq with \(dqnews_locations\(dq is thus called
222 \(dqnews__news_locations\(dq. This is necessary when the child table
223 has a unique constraint; we don't want to blindly insert duplicate
224 records keyed to the parent. Instead we'd like to use the third table
225 to map an existing child to the new parent.
226 .P
227 Where it makes sense, children are kept unique to prevent pointless
228 duplication. This slows down inserts, and speeds up reads (which are
229 much more frequent). There is a tradeoff to be made, however. For a
230 table with a small, fixed upper bound on the number of rows (like
231 \(dqodds_casinos\(dq), there is great benefit to de-duplication. The
232 total number of rows stays small, so inserts are still quick, and many
233 duplicate rows are eliminated.
234 .P
235 But, with a table like \(dqodds_games\(dq, the number of games grows
236 quickly and without bound. It is therefore more beneficial to be able
237 to delete the old games (through an ON DELETE CASCADE, tied to
238 \(dqodds\(dq) than it is to eliminate duplication. A table like
239 \(dqnews_locations\(dq is somewhere in-between. It is hoped that the
240 unique constraint in the top-level table's \(dqxml_file_id\(dq will
241 prevent duplication in this case anyway.
242 .P
243 The aforementioned exceptions are the \(dqgame_info\(dq and
244 \(dqsport_info\(dq tables. These tables contain the raw XML for a
245 number of DTDs that are not handled individually. This is partially
246 for backwards-compatibility with a legacy implementation, but is
247 mostly a stopgap due to a lack of resources at the moment. These two
248 tables (game_info and sport_info) still possess timestamps that allow
249 us to prune old data.
250 .P
251 UML diagrams of the resulting database schema for each XML document
252 type are provided with the \fBhtsn-import\fR documentation.
253
254 .SH XML Schema Oddities
255 .P
256 There are a number of problems with the XML on the wire. Even if we
257 construct the DTDs ourselves, the results are sometimes
258 inconsistent. Here we document a few of them.
259
260 .IP \[bu] 2
261 Odds_XML.dtd
262
263 The <Notes> elements here are supposed to be associated with a set of
264 <Game> elements, but since the pair
265 (<Notes>...</Notes><Game>...</Game>) can appear zero or more times,
266 this leads to ambiguity in parsing. We therefore ignore the notes
267 entirely (although a hack is employed to facilitate parsing).
268
269 .IP \[bu]
270 weatherxml.dtd
271
272 There appear to be two types of weather documents; the first has
273 <listing> contained within <forecast> and the second has <forecast>
274 contained within <listing>. While it would be possible to parse both,
275 it would greatly complicate things. The first form is more common, so
276 that's all we support for now.
277
278 .SH OPTIONS
279
280 .IP \fB\-\-backend\fR,\ \fB\-b\fR
281 The RDBMS backend to use. Valid choices are \fISqlite\fR and
282 \fIPostgres\fR. Capitalization is important, sorry.
283
284 Default: Sqlite
285
286 .IP \fB\-\-connection-string\fR,\ \fB\-c\fR
287 The connection string used for connecting to the database backend
288 given by the \fB\-\-backend\fR option. The default is appropriate for
289 the \fISqlite\fR backend.
290
291 Default: \(dq:memory:\(dq
292
293 .IP \fB\-\-log-file\fR
294 If you specify a file here, logs will be written to it (possibly in
295 addition to syslog). Can be either a relative or absolute path. It
296 will not be auto-rotated; use something like logrotate for that.
297
298 Default: none
299
300 .IP \fB\-\-log-level\fR
301 How verbose should the logs be? We log notifications at four levels:
302 DEBUG, INFO, WARN, and ERROR. Specify the \(dqmost boring\(dq level of
303 notifications you would like to receive (in all-caps); more
304 interesting notifications will be logged as well. The debug output is
305 extremely verbose and will not be written to syslog even if you try.
306
307 Default: INFO
308
309 .IP \fB\-\-remove\fR,\ \fB\-r\fR
310 Remove successfully processed files. If you enable this, you can see
311 at a glance which XML files are not being processed, because they're
312 all that should be left.
313
314 Default: disabled
315
316 .IP \fB\-\-syslog\fR,\ \fB\-s\fR
317 Enable logging to syslog. On Windows this will attempt to communicate
318 (over UDP) with a syslog daemon on localhost, which will most likely
319 not work.
320
321 Default: disabled
322
323 .SH CONFIGURATION FILE
324 .P
325 Any of the command-line options mentioned above can be specified in a
326 configuration file instead. We first look for \(dqhtsn-importrc\(dq in
327 the system configuration directory. We then look for a file named
328 \(dq.htsn-importrc\(dq in the user's home directory. The latter will
329 override the former.
330 .P
331 The user's home directory is simply $HOME on Unix; on Windows it's
332 wherever %APPDATA% points. The system configuration directory is
333 determined by Cabal; the \(dqsysconfdir\(dq parameter during the
334 \(dqconfigure\(dq step is used.
335 .P
336 The file's syntax is given by examples in the htsn-importrc.example file
337 (included with \fBhtsn-import\fR).
338 .P
339 Options specified on the command-line override those in either
340 configuration file.
341
342 .SH EXAMPLES
343 .IP \[bu] 2
344 Import newsxml.xml into a preexisting sqlite database named \(dqfoo.sqlite3\(dq:
345
346 .nf
347 .I $ htsn-import --connection-string='foo.sqlite3' \\\\
348 .I " test/xml/newsxml.xml"
349 Successfully imported test/xml/newsxml.xml.
350 Imported 1 document(s) total.
351 .fi
352 .IP \[bu]
353 Repeat the previous example, but delete newsxml.xml afterwards:
354
355 .nf
356 .I $ htsn-import --connection-string='foo.sqlite3' \\\\
357 .I " --remove test/xml/newsxml.xml"
358 Successfully imported test/xml/newsxml.xml.
359 Imported 1 document(s) total.
360 Removed processed file test/xml/newsxml.xml.
361 .fi
362 .IP \[bu]
363 Use a Postgres database instead of the default Sqlite. This assumes
364 that you have a database named \(dqhtsn\(dq accessible to user
365 \(dqpostgres\(dq locally:
366
367 .nf
368 .I $ htsn-import --connection-string='dbname=htsn user=postgres' \\\\
369 .I " --backend=Postgres test/xml/newsxml.xml"
370 Successfully imported test/xml/newsxml.xml.
371 Imported 1 document(s) total.
372 .fi
373
374 .SH BUGS
375
376 .P
377 Send bugs to michael@orlitzky.com.