XMLExchange Plus

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XMLExchange Plus is a tool for reading and writing data exchange files formatted according to the NAACCR XML Data Exchange Standard.

The scope of XMLExchange Plus has expanded to include—

  • Dictionary Maintenance. This module is intended to help users who are not XML experts produce valid NAACCR XML dictionaries. This audience includes metafile administrators who may be asked to define a user dictionary based upon custom items collected at their registry.
  • Convert. This module converts data exchange files from the flat-buffer format to NAACCR XML format (NAACCR v18 only), from NAACCR XML format to flat-buffer format, and from NAACCR XML format to delimited format.
  • Produce Flat and Delimited Files. XMLExchange Plus was developed to work with analytic software tools such as R and SAS, which do not accept NAACCR-formatted XML data files as inputs, but can accept flat and delimited files produced by this application to perform data manipulation, statistical calculation, and graphical display.
  • Run EDITS. This module runs EDITS against a NAACCR XML data file and creates a GenEDITS-style report (detail and summary).
  • Import, View, Update, Export NAACCR Data. This module allows users to—
    • Import NAACCR files.
    • View the data in a grid.
    • Update individual records in grid cells or apply batch updates for file manipulation.
    • Export updated files with or without application of filter criteria.
    • Anonymize confidential data.
    • Split files by number of records or by a field value.
    • Combine multiple NAACCR files into one data source.
    • Specify the connection string to the CRS Plus database (for CRS Plus users) and run linkage on all records in the data source against all abstracts or consolidated records in the CRS Plus database. This feature is helpful for casefinding, completeness, and prioritization of data to determine if records exist in the database prior to importing into CRS Plus.
  • Validation. This module runs schema validation to verify the xml file is a valid NAACCR xml document and that the file does not contain any data items that are not defined in the base or user-defined dictionary. It also validates the data type and length of each data item and produces a validation report.

System Requirements

XMLExchange Plus has been developed for Microsoft® Windows® 10 and subsequent operating systems. The minimum hardware requirements are the same as those of the operating system used. If your computer runs Windows satisfactorily, it should do well with this program.

Installing XMLExchange Plus 2.4

Version 2.4.0.0, build date August 18, 2022

The following changes were made in this release of XML Exchange Plus—

  • The dictionary item attribute “allowUnlimitedText” was retired in v1.6 and removed from the dictionary maintenance module in XML Exchange Plus. Starting with v1.6, no data item can have a value longer than its specified length. Text lengths have been increased in NAACCR v23 on data items that previously had this attribute.
  • Support for defining grouped items in base dictionaries was removed in v1.6. The grouped items were removed from the NAACCR v23 data dictionary (Volume II) and XML base dictionary. Grouped NAACCR data items are still considered for generation of the record layout in XML Exchange Plus for use with dictionaries prior to NAACCR v23.
  • Beginning with NAACCR v23, the data exchange layout is not planned to be packaged in the standard v23 NAACCR edit metafile; however, record layouts sorted by NAACCR item number will continue to be generated in XMLExchange Plus and can be inserted into the NAACCR edit metafile as needed. The updated EDITS51.DLL does not require a record layout in the edit metafile.
  • A new value was added for the padding attribute: “none” (meaning don’t apply any padding) and set as the default.

The XMLExchange Plus installer includes—

  • A readme file. Its contents also are displayed in the main window when the application is opened.
  • A PDF version of the XMLExchange Plus manual that can be accessed from the Help menu.
  • The NAACCR XML base dictionary for the current version of the NAACCR XML Standard.
    The base dictionaries were final at the time of release of XMLExchange Plus but are subject to change over time and can be replaced in the XMLExchange Plus Dictionary folder. Please check NAACCR’s website for the latest versions of the base dictionaries and replace the dictionaries in the Data Dictionary folder as needed.

To install the latest version of XMLExchange Plus—

  • Uninstall XML Exchange Plus if a previous version is installed.
  • Delete all files remaining in the XMLExchangePlus application folder after un-install except for folders. Folders should be retained to save user dictionaries, scripts, and reports previously generated.
  • Download the latest version of XMLExchange Plus, XMLExchangePlusInstaller.zip (ZIP file, 13 MB, August 18, 2022) to your computer.
  • Unzip the file and run setup.exe to install the application.

Technical Support

For technical support, contact cancerinformatics@cdc.gov.