Insert XML Elements

Inserts an XML fragment at an XPath location inside an XML string. A common use is back-filling empty elements with a placeholder so they survive a later parse. The output is the modified XML string.

Supported Telemetry Types

Logs	Metrics	Traces
✓	✓	✓

Choose Telemetry Type picks one signal per processor instance. Add another instance to handle a second signal.

Configuration

Basic Configuration

What to insert, and where

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Choose Telemetry Type	Telemetry Selector	Yes	Logs	The signal this instance runs on: Logs, Metrics, or Traces (one at a time).
XPath	String	Yes	—	The XPath selecting the element(s) to insert into. Applies to all selected telemetry types.
XML To Insert	String	Yes	—	The XML fragment to insert at the XPath, for example <value>-</value>. Applies to all selected telemetry types.
Condition	OTTL Condition	No	(empty)	Insert only into records that match. Empty runs on every record.

Source and target fields

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Source Field Type	Enum: Resource, Attribute, Body, Custom	Yes	Attribute	Where the XML string is read from. Body is logs-only. Custom takes any OTTL path.
Source Field	OTTL Field	Yes *	—	The field holding the XML. Bracket notation for nested fields. For a Body source, leave empty to use the whole body.
Target Field Type	Enum: Resource, Attribute, Body, Custom	Yes	Attribute	Where the modified XML is written. Body is logs-only.
Target Field	OTTL Field	Yes *	—	Destination for the modified XML. Point it at the source to edit in place. For a Body target, leave empty to use the whole body.

* The Body field type is the exception: it's optional, and leaving it empty targets the entire body.

Body is available for Logs only. For Metrics and Traces, the field type options are Resource, Attribute, and Custom.

Examples

Back-fill empty elements before a parse

XPath with a quoted predicate

XPath predicates and inserted fragments with quotes are entered as-is; embedded quotes are escaped safely when the config is generated.

Configuration Tips

• Use this ahead of Parse Simplified XML to protect empty elements, which the parser would otherwise drop.

Troubleshooting

Nothing gets inserted

Symptoms: the document is unchanged after the processor runs.

Solutions:

1. Verify the XPath matches at least one node in the source document.
2. Confirm the XML To Insert fragment is well-formed (balanced tags), and that the Condition evaluates true.

Standalone Processor

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Processor
metadata:
  name: insert-xml-elements
spec:
  type: xml_insert_elements
  parameters:
    - name: telemetry_types
      value: Logs
    - name: log_condition
      value: not IsMap(body)
    - name: xpath
      value: //Data[not(text())]
    - name: xml_value
      value: <value>-</value>
    - name: log_source_field_type
      value: Body
    - name: log_body_source_field
      value: ""
    - name: log_target_field_type
      value: Body
    - name: log_body_target_field
      value: ""

Related Resources

• InsertXML — OTTL function reference

Bindplane Resources

These XML and slice processors are designed to work together. Chain them to normalize, parse, and reshape XML end to end:

• Convert XML Attributes To Elements
• Convert XML Text To Elements
• Parse Simplified XML
• Slice to Map
• Get XML
• Remove XML