I guess maybe I would be better off coming up with an automated way to create an eztemplate based on an xml file. Am I on the right track? Has anyone done anything similar?
Do need those content as content objects in eZ Publish? There are some contributions that can handle import for you. Check contrib section. You can of course write your own PHP import script that parse that external XML and creates content objects in eZ Publish. Check ez.no forum for PHP import script examples also book http://www.packtpub.com/book/ezpublish might be useful.